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J2Ski Snow Report 8th December 2022
Saalbach, Austria, now open... Heavy snow in the US and Japan, cold and snow coming in for Europe. The Snow Headlines - 8th December - Austria's largest ski areas including Saalbach and Lech-Zurs open for 22-23 seasons. - Avalanche warnings in Colorado, California, Idaho and Montana after more heavy snowfall. - Dolomiti Superski open 400km of slopes including the Sellaronda. - Japanese ski season is off to a slow start but snow falling. 
There's snow coming... find out where...
World Overview The biggest snowfalls of the past week have come, once more, in the Western US, where up to 1.5 metres (60") of fresh snow has been reported and snow depths are up above two metres (7 feet) now at several areas, the deepest in the world at present. The great snowfalls were accompanied by gale-force winds however and led to high avalanche danger warnings. In Europe, there's been more fresh snowfall with the Southern Alps and Pyrenees actually seeing some of the best snowfalls of the past week. The Pyrenees also had the resort with the most terrain open in Europe last weekend – with Spain's Baqueira Beret the first to hit 150km of slopes open. Europe Austria Around 50 Austrian ski areas have opened for the season now, still the most of any country in Europe, with that number set to double this coming weekend. Ischgl / Samnaun's Silvretta Arena and Sölden both now have more than 100km of slopes open and some of the country's biggest ski regions around the Arlberg, and Saalbach Hinterglemm, have opened for the season. Fresh snowfall has also been reported across the country with snow depths on glaciers finally beginning to recover after the long hot summer. Sölden is posting the country's deepest snowpack at 1.7 metres (nearly six feet). France The French ski season is starting to gather pace with a dozen resorts opening last weekend including big names like Alpe d'Huez, Les 2 Alpes (immediately hosting World Cup cross races), Courchevel and (a week later than planned) Val d'Isere, opening up the connection to Tignes. There was snowfall in the southern Alps at the weekend moving progressively north earlier this week meaning most areas got a nice slope refresh. Italy Perhaps the biggest news from Italy this week was the opening of the famous Sellaronda circuit which links together half-a-dozen ski valleys to create one of the world's largest linked ski regions with around 500km of slopes. Dolomiti Superski said it had 400km of slopes open this week, about a third of its full area. That's been achieved, as is often the case there, without a huge amount of snow cover, and much of it machine-made. That said there was fresh snowfall at the weekend and the start of the week as snow-bearing clouds moved north from the Mediterranean so things are now looking more wintery. Switzerland Swiss ski areas have seen low temperatures and fresh snowfall this week, improving conditions there. Andermatt and Engelberg were among the resorts reporting great snowfalls on Monday and Tuesday. More than two dozen Swiss areas are now open and that number will go past the 50 mark from Saturday. Saas Fee continues to post the deepest snow in the region at more than five feet while Zermatt and Cervinia and Samnaun and Ischgl both now offer more than 100km of open slopes. Pyrenees Spain's Baqueira Beret has been posting the most terrain open in Europe for the past week, leaping ahead of Austria's Ischgl to report over 150km of slopes open last weekend, despite having only a 30-40cm base. It managed to stay ahead of Grandvalira, the region's biggest ski area when fully open, in Andorra. It was one of the vast majority of Andorran and Spanish ski areas opening for the season last weekend along with half a dozen French areas. All have seen some good fresh snowfalls over the past week, keeping snow conditions fresh. Scotland After warmer weather at the end of last week, it has turned colder again in Scotland and Thursday saw widespread light snowfall. There's not really any sign of any centres being closer to opening much terrain at this point, but Glencoe is among the areas that have already fired up their all-weather snowmaking systems and is initially using the snow for tobogganing. Glenshee says they plan to open on the 17th. Scandinavia Scandinavia's biggest resorts are opening just as we complete this week's report. Hemsedal in Norway and Scandinavia's largest ski area Are in Sweden are both opening, joining most of the region's other large ski areas which have opened in the past week or so. Conditions have been mostly wintery, despite a bit of warmer weather at the weekend bringing rain to some more southerly centres for a short time. Mostly though it has been dry with temperatures in the range of -10 to -25C, so much colder and good weather for snowmaking. Eastern Europe Eastern Europe's ski season is underway with ski centres opening in the Czech and Slovak Republics, Poland, Romania and other countries in the region. The largest, Jasna, was among those opening last weekend. There's snow cover down to low elevations in Bulgaria too but no centres are open there yet. Bansko plans to open the week before Christmas. North America USA The start of western America's season continues to be one of the best in years with resorts in California posting over a metre, in some cases, of fresh snowfall over the last seven days. It's not all just floated down, however; there've been gales, blizzard conditions and high avalanche danger at times but the overall result is great snow cover for this early in the season and plenty of powder skiing when the weather and snowpack have been stable enough. Steamboat was among the resorts closed on Thursday by yet another storm having reached 100" of snowfall already this season. The conditions are similar across the West of the country with lots of snow in the Rockies and Pacific Northwest regions too. The Palisades in California reports nearly five feet of snowfall in the past 7 days. Canada Cold weather across Canada, coldest in the West where temperatures have consistently been double-digits below freezing. In the East, it remains rather marginal with some centres still seeing rain rather than snow, but Tremblant now reports the snow several feet deep on its higher runs and about 20km of slopes open - about a fifth of its maximum possible. There's more open in the West which continues to see heavy snowfall and powder snow conditions. There have been gales too though which impacted the Women's World Cup ski racing at the weekend with the start of the race course moved down the mountain as a result. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 1st December 2022
Snowbird, Utah, USA, where they've been riding pow for weeks, they say! Snow inbound for Japan, arriving in US, and it's cold in Europe. The Snow Headlines - 1st December - Dozens more ski areas set to open in the Alps, staying cold but more snow needed. - Further heavy snowfall for western North America as season start gets ever better. - Season to get underway in eastern Europe this weekend. - Japanese ski areas delay opening while awaiting adequate snow (which is now falling) - Most resorts in Andorra and Spain expected to open this weekend. 
Incoming snow for Japan
World Overview The world's ski areas are starting to open in their hundreds now as we reach December. North America has had more than 100 areas open since the start of the Thanksgiving Holiday a week ago, while Europe is set to reach it this weekend when many more resorts open in the Alps, the Pyrenees and Scandinavia as well as the first of the season in other mountain ranges in Eastern Europe. North America continues to see some of the best snow conditions for this early part of the season for some years with more heavy snowfall in the last few days, particularly in the Rockies. In Europe it's a more nuanced picture with the best snow conditions still at quite high levels leading some areas to delay openings planned this Saturday by a week, while others, with access to terrain above 2,000m, have decided to open early. Europe Austria Austria has continued to lead the way in Europe, in terms of the number of areas open, and to some extent the world, in terms of how much terrain they have open. Ischgl/Samnaun, which opened for the season last weekend, currently has the most runs open in Europe at over 100km, mostly thanks to a colossal snowmaking effort. There has been some fresh snowfall this week though and fairly low temperatures, well below freezing up high. It's been drier and often sunny the past few days but snowfall should resume early next week. About 15 ski areas have opened in the country so far but that may be nearer 50 by the weekend. France Early reports from those lucky enough to get on the slopes of Tignes and Val Thorens this week, the only two French resorts open so far, are positive. It's cold, there's been some fresh snowfall this week, and it's feeling good. The only real problem is that resorts are playing catch up after the often warm and dry autumn, so there's not a lot of terrain open, particularly below about 1800m. As a result, La Clusaz, which had planned weekend openings from this weekend, has announced a delay, but Avoriaz which hadn't been due to open, is opening its highest terrain for an unscheduled preview weekend. At least a dozen other areas are due to open including some big names like Alpe d'Huez, Les 2 Alpes and (a week later than planned) Val d'Isere. The first openings of the new season in the French Pyrenees are also scheduled. Italy Italy's ski season is starting to get moving with eight ski areas now open (compared to two a week ago) and dozens more planning to join them this coming weekend. Dolomiti Superski was among the areas launching their 22-23 season this week (the 49th for the famous pass network) with Cortina d'Ampezzo opening there. Madonna di Campiglio has also opened and Cervinia now has slopes open on their side of the shared area with Zermatt. Courmayeur and Livigno are among the resorts opening this weekend. The weather is mostly cold at altitude, still a little warm in valleys by the afternoons, but snowmaking systems can fire up overnight and there has been some more fresh snowfall. Switzerland Around 15 Swiss ski areas have opened for the season already, although some of these only at weekends until now. In any case, the numbers will double to 30+ this weekend with more centres opening. Those already open will also be adding terrain with Zermatt-Cervinia announcing they'll have over 110km of slopes open this coming weekend. There's been some fresh snowfall though nothing huge at the weekend and earlier this week with mostly dry but cold weather at present, some areas in Valais and elsewhere seeing more snowfall at the weekend. Pyrenees Spain's largest ski centre, Baqueira Beret, became the first to open in the Pyrenees last weekend, reporting about 40km of slopes open and a 30-40cm base. Most other ski areas in Spain, as well as those in Andorra, are aiming to open this weekend. There are two public holidays in Spain next week so it is in their interests to be able to offer skiing then. Thankfully it has been cold and snowing, as with the Alps, at altitude. The first French Pyrenean ski areas are also due to open. Scotland It continues to be a fairly positive pre-season picture in Scotland. There's very little natural snowfall so far and the past week has seen a lot of dry, sunny weather but it has been cold – close to freezing and below and the centres have begun firing up snowmaking systems, particularly the all-weather machines. Glencoe says they'll be opening their snow sledging run soon. Scandinavia Scandinavia's season is starting to gather pace too, with some cold, snowy weather and of course very little daylight now with the winter solstice just three weeks away. The region's largest operator Skistar announced that its Vemdalen base opened last weekend on 26 November, Sälen and Trysil will open on 2 December and Åre and Hemsedal will be ready to open next week on 8 December. Eastern Europe We're still a week or so off the start of the season in Bulgaria, although Bansko reported snow down to low levels last weekend, so it's looking promising. Several ski areas in the Czech and Slovak Republics got the season started there at the weekend, including several of the larger operators. In fact, the biggest in the region Jasna, opened its first terrain for 22-23, with the best conditions at about 1500m. There's been some November snowfall but the past week has been largely dry and cloudy, with temperatures in the +2 to -5C range, so great for further snowmaking. North America USA The big news from North America continues to come from The Rockies where it has been dumping once again, with many areas reporting at least a foot more snowfall midweek. The overall picture appears very good with some beginning to say this is the best early-season snow for many years. Snowbird in Utah noted on Wednesday that that had been its planned season opening date but that it had instead been "skiing deep powder for weeks". There was also an unusually good snowfall for the Midwest over the middle of this week and there's a major (snow) storm warning for the US West in force as we complete this week's report. The East Coast and New England are lagging a little behind with warm temperatures thwarting some snowmaking efforts and bringing rain showers. Most areas are open nonetheless but with thin cover and limited terrain. Killington in Vermont, which hosted World Cup ski racing last weekend, has the most open. Canada It is a similar picture in Canada to that south of the border. The best snow is in Eastern BC and Alberta with deep powder reported at resorts like Big White and Silver Star in the past few days. Most resorts are now open here but the biggest, Whistler Blackcomb, has so far only opened a small fraction – less than 10% – of its terrain. Thus resorts like Sun Peaks, Sunshine and Lake Louise currently have more trails open. In the east, similar to New England to the south, what's open is limited so far and there's not been much natural snowfall. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 24th November 2022
Alta, Utah, USA ... now open! Over 100 resorts open in the US, snow in Europe. The Snow Headlines - 24th November - Snowfall down to low elevations in the Alps. - More than 100 ski areas open in North America ahead of US Thanksgiving. - Pyrenees ski season expected to start this weekend. - More unusually heavy snowfall in Australia as summertime nears. - Scottish ski hills turn white for first time this autumn. - French ski season gets underway 'earlier than expected'. 
Where will it snow this week?
World Overview It's been a week of worldwide snowfall – on mountains at least. The biggest difference is really being felt in Europe where nearly a week of snowfall (albeit generally light snow, but cold with it) in the Alps has dramatically improved conditions with snowfall down to lower valley floors. There's also been snow reported everywhere from Portugal to Croatia and up north in Scotland, in the Tatra mountains and more for Scandinavia. Dozens more European ski areas will open this weekend to join the 30 or so already open, and those open already are adding much more already skiable terrain. Things look good across North America too, with over 100 ski areas open for the Thanksgiving weekend across the continent, including most of the big name resorts now, as well as many smaller centres. Most areas are reporting a good season start with snow depths tracking about a month ahead of average for the time of year in the Rockies. Even Australia reported still more snow – bizarrely up to 30cm just a week before the start of summertime there and long after the ski season ended. Some light snowfall up high for New Zealand too and in the Andes. Europe Austria Austrian ski areas Obergurgl and neighbouring Solden are currently posting the top two biggest ski areas open in Europe so far, with about 40km of slopes open each. Solden say they plan to open much more from this coming weekend which should take the two Otztal areas past 100km between them. Other Austrian resorts including Ischgl and Obertauern plan to start their seasons this weekend, adding to the competition. It's been a good week for snowfall with snow down to the valley floor across the country and 30-60cm of fresh on higher slopes. France The French ski season has stuttered to a start at Tignes. Having previously delayed its planned October opening to the last weekend of November, it decided it had enough snow to open a red run on the glacier last weekend, saying it was now opening 'a week early'. Ironically it couldn't open on the first day planned as the resort was stormbound as a week of snowfall began. Val Thorens went the other way, postponing its planned opening, which is now this coming weekend. Overall it's a much improved picture for the season start than previously, with snow down to the valley floor at resorts like Chamonix and Megeve and much more at higher elevations. Italy At time of writing there remain just a handful of smaller ski areas open in Italy but things should change from this weekend with big hitters Courmayeur, Cortina and Madonna di Campiglio all due to open. Cervinia, too, is due to open terrain on its side of the border with Switzerland, having up to now just provided access to the Swiss side of the ski area. As with most of Europe there's been plenty of snowfall and low temperatures with snow to low levels in the Alps and Dolomites. Switzerland Swiss centres have kept up with Austria for early season resorts opening, although more than half have just been opening weekends, until this coming one after which most go daily. Plenty of fresh snowfall and cold weather here too. Samnaun is one of the latest to open with its cross border slopes to Ischgl now open, and between them the biggest area open from Switzerland at time of writing at least – about 40km. Laax, Arosa and Adelboden among areas due to start their season this weekend. Scandinavia Scandinavia's mountains are now seeing near constant sub-zero temperatures and frequent snow showers – if not yet really big accumulations. World Cup racing at Levi in Finland last weekend showed a fully winter picture with floodlit slopes as daylight hours fast reduce. Many of the region's biggest ski areas including Trysil, Hemsedal and Geilo in Norway are expected to open this weekend. Pyrenees Plenty of fresh snowfall reported in the Pyrenes this week. The ski areas intending to open this weekend has been dropping but, at time of writing, Spain's biggest Baqueira/Beret and Porté Puymorens on the French side are still aiming to start their 22-23 seasons this Saturday, most others a week later. Scotland Scottish mountains turned white at the weekend with snow down to about 200 metres altitude. Ski areas have also tested snowmaking systems but most don't plan to open until shortly before Christmas unless there's a very snowy December. Eastern Europe There's been snow across Eastern Europe this week and down to low elevations too. Most ski areas don't plan to open until into December, but some, including Slovakia's largest Jasna, are due to open their first terrain from this weekend. North America Canada Canada's ski season continues to gather pace with the biggest ski areas in the East (Tremblant) and West (Whistler) both opening in the last few days, tying in with the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend south of the border. Both have had some snowfall. In Quebec ski areas opening is more thanks to snowmaking in low temperature. Many other Canadian resorts are now open with the best of the deep snow so far in central and eastern BC and Alberta. BC's Silver Star is posting the deepest base in North America so far at just under two metres. USA The US has seen a huge leap in ski areas opening in time for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The snowfall has eased in most areas but late October/first-half of November bases built have allowed around three quarters of the bigger resorts (and many smaller ones) in the west to open now while in the east cold weather has enabled snowmaking systems to make enough snow at resorts like Killington, Stowe, Sugarloaf and Sunday River for them all to open. Some natural snowfall helped, nowhere more so than upstate New York where the lake-effect snowstorm that hit last weekend, particularly at Buffalo - where six feet of snow landed in 36 hours – made international news. Mammoth has the deepest base so far with just over six-feet lying on upper slopes. Alta in Utah has one of the largest areas of terrain open this early in the season – more than 50 miles of runs. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 17th November 2022
Vail, Colorado, USA got snow this week Lots of snow and resorts opening in the US. The Snow Headlines - 17th November - French ski season start delayed again as Val Thorens moves its opening plans back a week. - Colder (and snowy) weather reported across the Alps. - More heavy snowfall and early opening resorts in western North America. - Obergurgl first non-glacier ski area in Alps to open for the season. - Ski areas in eastern North America begin opening thanks to snowmaking. - Switzerland's Andermatt opens this weekend thanks to Snow Farming. - Finland's Levi to host first women's Alpine World cup ski racing of 22-23 this weekend. 
Where will it snow this week?
World Overview North America is continuing to lead the way in terms of terrain open with dozens of western ski areas now open, many doing so early for the season after reporting 3-6 feet of snowfall in the past three weeks. Now the east is starting to catch up with the first resorts opening there after temperatures dropped, snow guns went on and now snow is falling too. Not such good news from the alps unfortunately; it's colder, there's been more fresh snow up high but the volumes are low as the main season nears and several resorts that planned to open for the season this weekend have announced delays. More promising in Scandinavia though where its looking more like winter to low levels. In the wider ski world Japan has been seeing its first snowfalls to low levels. For novelty snow news – there's been still more now very late spring snowfall in Australia, less than a fortnight now from the start of meteorological summertime there. Europe Austria Austria is holding its place, just about, as the European nation with the most areas open. It had been due to be the first country to hit double figures for the season this weekend, with Kitzbuhel, Obergurgl and Obertauern due to open and join the seven glaciers already open, but Obertauern appear to have quietly delayed their plans. Obergurgl opened on Thursday with a 5-20cm base, illustrating how marginal things are, but managing to get 30km of slopes available. Hintertux and Solden are on similar numbers for terrain open. Kitzbuhel has used snow farming so just a few kilometres there. France Another less than great week for French skiing alas, with Val Thorens forced to postpone their planned season start this weekend due to inadequate cover at resort level (they say there's plenty higher up but you can't ski back down to 2300m yet). The delay is hopefully just a week. It was to have been the first area to open in France after les 2 Alpes and Tignes failed to open last month for glacier skiing for similar reasons. Val d'Isere, due to open the weekend after next, has announced it won't open until the start of December. Against these unwelcome bits of news it is looking colder and snowier at last with unsettled weather set to increase the hope of more significant snowfall through the latter half of the month. Italy Italy's season remains yet to fully get started, partly as it's still only mid-November, partly as ski areas have been contending with the same mostly warm and dry Autumnal conditions as the rest of the Alps. There was healthy snowfall down to about 1700m to start the week though and another Italian area Sulden, has opened for the season, with a thin base and limited terrain. It joins the Val Senales glacier and that's it for now. Cortina, which had hoped to open some high terrain in late October, is still waiting but has started snowmaking. Switzerland Swiss ski areas are facing the same issues as the rest of the Alps, needing much more snowfall. But it is cold and there has been a covering down to about 1800m. Snow is in the forecast but amounts not yet certain. New openings nonetheless, albeit with very limited terrain and mostly weekends only, include Davos, Andermatt, Gstaad (Glacier 3000) and Verbier. Andermatt is actually using last season's snow spread back out on the slopes of their Gemstock mountain to create a run. Scandinavia Increasingly wintery scenes in Scandinavia this week where, at the world's most northerly ski slopes on Norway's Northern Cape, the sun is already setting for its two months below the horizon before it re-emerges and the ski season starts in late January. Other northerly (if not quite so far north) areas like Ruka and Levi in Finland are already open with Levi due to host FIS Women's World Cup Slalom races this weekend. They're currently 'on' and if they're staged will be the first women's World Cup Alpine races of the season after three planned previous races at Solden, Zermatt and Lech-Zurs had to be cancelled. Two more leading Finnish areas, Levi and Pyha, are due to start their seasons this weekend. Elsewhere the Galdhopiggen summer ski area in Norway is due to end its 2022 season but there are a handful of smaller areas opening in Norway and Sweden. North America Canada It continues to look like a good start to the season in Canada. The first BC resorts including Cypress Mountain on the Pacific coast opened last weekend and more including Silver star at Big White plan to join them this. Half a dozen Albertan ski areas are already open for several weeks with ever better conditions reported at Lake Louise and Banff. Over in the east ski resorts like Tremblant have got snowmaking underway as temperatures have dropped and some smaller centres like Sommet St Sauveur have just opened a run or two, the first for 22-23. USA The USA is really romping away with the start of the season with at least 50 ski areas now open across the country and it looking like the 100 mark will be passed this coming weekend. Of the big name destination resorts in the West it has become fashionable to announce opening a few days or a few weeks (in the case of Kirkwood in California) early thanks to the good early snowfalls. So Heavenly, Vail, Winter Park, Mammoth (posting the world's deepest snowpack) and many other have opened already, Squaw Valley, Park City (with the biggest ski area in the country) and others will do in the next few days. Over in the East and Midwest it has been much colder since the weekend allowing for around the clock snowmaking and there's been a few inches of natural snowfall too so here also there's been a rush to open. Sunday River was among the first on Thursday this week. Available terrain is also much larger than the Alps at many centres with Wolf Creek in Colorado already nearly fully open. |
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World cup winner Dave Ryding joins newly launched rental platform Snowrental.co.uk
J2Ski will be working with SnowRental this winter, to bring you some great deals on ski hire. Snowrental.co.uk, part of the Ski Company network of stores across Europe including SKISET, SKIMIUM and NETSKI, has re-launched with a new online portal that is specifically tailored for the UK market. 
World Cup slalom winner (Kitzbühel 2022) and British number one, David Ryding, joins as official ambassador Snowrental.co.uk, part of the Skiset network of stores across Europe, has re-launched with a new online portal that is specifically tailored for the UK market. With 1200 stores across Europe, it provides skiers and snowboarders with a huge choice of rental options, at the most competitive prices and with the most up to date equipment available. Stores can be found in 8 countries including Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. In France there's over 140 ski resorts that offer snowrental.co.uk services. Great Britain's number one men's Alpine skier, David Ryding, has joined the Snowrental team as a brand ambassador, helping to spread the news in a sponsorship deal that helps to support him and his team through the 2022-23 winter season. Sales Director of Skiset, Arnaud Dufour, said:
British Alpine Team ski racer and winner of the 2022 World Cup Slalom race in Kitzbuhel, Austria, Dave Ryding, said:
Prices through Snowrental.co.uk are always discounted between 10% and 50%, depending on dates and location. Examples of pricing include: There are thousands of options available across Europe all throughout the winter season and the search function on Snowrental.co.uk makes finding a rental for all levels quick and easy. 
www.snowrental.co.uk |
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J2Ski Snow Report 10th November 2022
Marmot Basin, Canadian Rockies, now open... Some decent snow in Canada, more northern hemisphere ski areas opening. The Snow Headlines - 10th November - Marmot Basin near Jasper opening with 40 runs and 130cm of snowfall already. - Three more Swiss areas – Murren, St Moritz and Verbier – to open at weekends. - Breckenridge opens early for the season, Copper and Vail follow this weekend. - Italy's Passo Stelvio closes at end of their 2022 season. - Big White announces it'll open first in BC after over a metre of snowfall. - At least a dozen areas open this weekend in the US. The start of the main ski season is now only a week or two away and more big-hitter ski areas like Breckenridge, Verbier, Vail, Solitude and Jasper have opened or will do in the next few days. 
Where will it snow this week?
World Overview The snowfall headlines continue to come from the Western US and Western Canada where ski areas are opening early with lots of terrain from day one after big snowfalls – several reporting more than four feet (1.2 metres) in the past fortnight. In Europe it's a little tenser as - although the picture is fairly promising with cooling temperatures and more snowfall up high at the weekend - it's been mostly sunny, again, and a little too warm for snowmaking at lower elevations. This generally means resorts starting to run late on snowmaking although great conditions up on glaciers with sunshine after the fresh snowfall. The planned World Cup races at Lech / Zurs this weekend are the latest to be cancelled because of the weather issues. It is looking more promising after the weekend though with overcast skies, lower temperatures and increasingly wintery weather forecast next week. Europe Austria A mixed picture from Austria with fresh snowfall up high at the weekend leading to sublime conditions on the country's half-dozen already open glaciers this week, but the fact that it has been mostly warmer than resorts would hope and dry at lower elevations means there's not much snow yet on the slopes beneath the eternal ice. Planned parallel slalom races at Lech Zurs this weekend are the latest casualties at the start of the 22-23 FIS World Cup Tour, taking the tally of cancelled competitions in the Alps over the past four weekends to 11 out of 14. In good news, the Molltal Glacier has opened at last for its 22-23 season today (Thursday 10th November) and all being well the season will start at non-glacier ski areas Obergurgl and Obertauern in just over a week. France The unusual scenario of there still being no centres open in France continues, although resorts have been posting their switch to "winter mode" and the highest slopes are turning white at resorts like Tignes, thanks to weekend snowfall. Val Thorens is due to be the first ski area to open in the country for 22-23, at the end of next week. Italy Italy's ski areas require a good snow fix too to really get the season started there, but there have been promising signs. Bormio has had groomers out on its high-altitude slopes and Cortina has finally been able to turn on its highest-altitude snow guns on the terrain it had hoped to have opened at the end of October, had the first half of autumn been a little colder. For now, though it's just one glacier centre open – Val Senales, as Passo Stelvio, the main summer glacier area, has ended its 2022 season. Cervinia also provides access to the glacier terrain shared with Zermatt, and Sulden in Trentino is believed to be the next Italian area scheduled to open. Switzerland Slightly mixed messages from Switzerland this week with Verbier announcing that it is opening one run at weekends from this Friday on through November, while Andermatt, which had hoped to open for the season at the end of last month, reckons it'll be at least the 19th before it can – saying there's not enough fresh snow or cold enough weather on the Gemmstock for adequate snow cover. It seems, then, that as elsewhere in the Alps, it's cold enough on glaciers but not quite cold enough still much lower down. Murren has though managed to open some high-altitude terrain, joining the open glacier slopes of Engelberg, St Moritz (Diavolezza), Zermatt and Saas Fee. Scandinavia Scandinavia has seen the most wintery weather in Europe over the past week. The region's biggest resort of Are in Sweden celebrated its slopes turning white in the last few days thanks to natural snowfall. Snowmaking guns have also been firing across the region. There's still not much open and most of those that are – Ruka and Levi in Finland and several areas in Sweden – used snow farming to get started, although most have since seen natural snowfall and fresh snowmaking on top. North America Canada Western Canada's looking good with more snow falling, and temperatures staying low. Lake Louise and Sunshine have already been open a week, and are due to be joined by Nakiska and the third Banff resort, Norquay, for this weekend as well as Marmot Basin up near Jasper – which says it will have 40 runs open and has had over 1.3 metres of snowfall already. Over in BC, Big white has announced it's opening a week early, from the 18th, thanks to over a metre of pre-season snowfall so far and Silver Star has already opened its cross-country ski trails. In the East, they're waiting for cold weather but a number of areas say they're ready to go as soon as they can fire up their snowmaking systems. In fact, one of the keenest to open early, Sommet St Sauveur, already did on Wednesday saying it was getting more reliably colder. Tremblant has also been making snow. USA The US is a country divided at present with conditions getting better and better in the West, while ski areas in the East are increasingly frustrated as warm weather lingers, delaying any meaningful start to snowmaking so far. There have been more great snowfalls in the West with ski areas reporting up to two feet more snow, although at times this has been arriving in storms that have also brought 100mph winds and iced-up lifts. But the big picture is definitely good; Mammoth, the first to open in California a week ago, has expanded its early season terrain and it will be joined by a second Californian area, Mount Rose, this weekend. More than half-a-dozen resorts are open in Colorado with Breckenridge opening a few days early and Vail set to join them this weekend. The first resort has also opened for the season in Utah with Brian Head opening at the weekend, Solitude is set to join it this coming weekend. Timberline is also due to open in Washington State, less than three-months after it's 21-22 season ended. We're getting there... see you next week! |
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J2Ski Snow Report 3rd November 2022
Sauze d'Oulx, Italian Alps, this afternoon... A little more snow, and a little more cold for the north. The Snow Headlines - 3rd November - Colorado's Winter Park posts earliest-ever opening, on Halloween. - Up to 1-2 Feet of snow forecast for the Alps To end this week - Mammoth in California and Sunshine in Alberta open early, this week. - Antarctic winds bring snowfall to Australia nearly a month after season end. - No French resorts opened in October for first time in, it's believed, over 50 years. - Canada's ski season getting underway. - Mt Hutt, last area still open in New Zealand and southern hemisphere, ends 22 season. 
A bit more winter in the forecast...
World Overview November is looking more promising than all of October in many ski areas. In North America, there's been increasingly heavy snowfall in the west, including snow in California, and more than a dozen ski areas will be open this weekend including Mammoth, ski centres in Banff and the first in Utah for the season. Several of these are opening early. In the Alps, we appear to be on the cusp of the first 'decent dump' of the autumn, hopefully, over the end of this week and through the weekend which will hopefully get things looking much better and stop the stalled season openings for high altitude resorts. It may not be massive, but it's a start. Elsewhere there's been the first significant snowfall on peaks in Scotland, more snow in Japan and unusually heavy snowfall (up to 35cm) reported on Australia's ski slopes where the 2022 season ended nearly a month ago and summer starts in under four weeks. Europe Austria Austria continues to be the country with the most ski areas open in the world at present. Although the USA is set to overtake it this weekend as more centres open there whereas Austria has had the same dozen or so glacier resorts open for a month now with little change after a largely dry and sunny October. November is looking more promising with snow forecast this week and high altitude areas which aren't glacier dependent like Obergurgl and Obertauern set to open in just a fortnight's time now. For now though Hintertux's 35km of open slopes is the most anywhere in the world. The other five glaciers open are Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn, Pitztal, Solden and Stubai. The Dachstein is also open for cross-country skiing only. France Sadly there was no ski area open in France in October, which isn't thought to have happened for more than five decades. Neither les 2 Alpes nor Tignes, the two areas that had hoped to open by now, were able to due to the lack of snow on their glaciers after a predominantly dry autumn following a record-hot summer. Tignes still say they'll open if there's a good snowfall but currently Europe's highest resort of Val Thorens is the earliest French resort opening date on the books – in a fortnight's time. That said, the coming week is looking much more promising with at least a foot of snow forecast over the weekend and high mountain passes closing as a precautionary measure. Fresh snow has already been falling on high slopes over the past few days, including at Tignes, so perhaps it may still be first after all? Italy Italy too has had another fairly dry, mostly sunny week with little change to report on seven days ago. Bormio did say they had 30cm of snow lying at the top of their slopes but it was unclear how freshly fallen that was. There are the two glacier areas at Passo Stelvio and Val Senales open although it is believed this is the final weekend of the season at Stelvio (which is mostly open from June to October) unless it extends. Cervinia also continues to provide access to the glacier slopes above Zermatt just across the border. Cortina was unable to open their first slopes on the final weekend of October as they'd hoped, but the start of November is looking more promising here too with colder temperatures and snowfall forecast over the next seven days. Switzerland Swiss glacier ski areas are in a similar position to the rest of the alps with the warm, dry October (following a hot spring and summer) making conditions less than ideal. The same three areas that have been open, mostly for over a month – Engelberg, Saas Fee and Zermatt – remain the only three open while areas that would like to be including Andermatt, Adelboden and the Diavolezza Glacier near St Moritz, are on hold. A decent fall of snow is Forecast for the weekend though so that might get things moving at last. Saas Fee is posting the deepest snow depth of an open area – 1.4 metres. Scandinavia More and more Scandinavian ski centres have been getting a taste of winter with the majority due to open later this month. Hemsedal was one of the latest to post images of its slopes turning white. For now though the same handful of centres remain open. In Finland Levi and Ruka opened thanks to snowfarming, but now topped up with fresh snowmaking and natural snowfall. Then Sweden's Kåbdalis used the same technique to open a run and Norway's Galdhopiggen summer ski glacier is still open for a few weeks more. North America Canada Things are looking very good in Western Canada. Lake Louise and Mount Norquay, two of Banff's three ski areas, were set to be first to kick off the country's ski season this weekend after over a week of cold weather and several feet of snowfall, but Banff's other ski area, Sunshine, has now decided to open a week early, from Thursday 3rd November, opening its strawberry terrain. Two other Albertan ski centres, Nakiska nearest to Calgary and Marmot Basin near Jasper to the North, also plan to open in the next week, all being well. Lake Louise is now set to host the first World Cup downhill races of the winter. More snowfall was reported on high slopes in the east in Quebec and Ontario too where several resorts including Mont Tremblant have turned on their snowmaking guns. It keeps snowing in the west. USA It's beginning to feel a lot like winter in the US, particularly the Western side of the country, with the second week of cold temperatures and moderate to heavy snowfall in the mountains, some areas (not yet open) have now had more than four feet (1.2 metres) of snowfall in the past fortnight. Colorado hasn't had the heaviest snow but most areas have had a decent dump for this early in the season and combined with October snowmaking Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Loveland and Winter Park are now open with Wolf Creek saying they'll open for the weekend. A good dump in California has also led to Mammoth saying they'll open about a week earlier than expected, this Saturday 5th November and Utah's first ski area to open, also this coming weekend, will be Brian Head. With several areas still open in the Midwest it means the US will have the most ski areas open and the first to be back in double figures for areas open since last spring. Not so much snowfall in the East but it has been cold enough for snowmaking overnight. |
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A New Book From "J2SkiNews"* Tells The Stories Behind the Slopes
*a.k.a. ski writer Patrick Thorne 
J2Ski has always tried to bring you ski news from around the world, as well as the main stories from famous resorts, over the past decade or so. It should be no surprise therefore that the new book from our news editor, Patrick "The Snow Hunter" Thorne, aka "J2SkiNews", should be a collection of ski runs around the planet - where each has an interesting tale for you to ponder as you ski down it. "Around The World in 50 Slopes", published by Wildfire Books at £16.99, takes skiers on a journey between ski runs located in 30 countries across six continents and is now available to buy in book stores and online. Patrick, whose last book "Powder, The World's 50 Greatest Ski Runs", topped Amazon's ski-books best-seller list for over six years, has taken a different approach in choosing his 50 runs for his new book. "There are lots of lists online covering the world's steepest, most challenging runs and it's normally the usual suspects, but I'm more interested in runs that have a story to them, an added dimension beyond just being great runs. In short, I wanted to compile all the amazing stories I've been collecting over the past four decades," says Patrick. The runs take us to the world's most northerly and southerly ski areas, to slopes skiable 365 days a year, or on the only slope for thousands of miles in southern Africa, down a volcano in the Andes or under the phenomenal northern lights. There are slopes connected to James Bond, Franz Klammer, St Patrick, The Beatles, Santa Claus, Jesus Christ, Emperor Hadrian, Kim Jong-un, Count Dracula and even the Greek God Zeus. One run follows the line below the flight of a witch and another a route once popular with smugglers. Although having famous runs is not a priority, the book does contain the steepest and longest runs, along with several legendary World Cup and Olympic downhill courses. Some of the runs are important in the history of snow sports, marking key points in the evolution of many of the world's great ski areas, including Mammoth Mountain, St Moritz and the Colorado run where (arguably) the first snowboarding competition took place. Some of the more serious subjects raised include the development of ski areas to reverse rural depopulation, the battle by indigenous tribes to keep control of their ancestral lands (Several opting to run their own ski areas), the connections between different religions and ski resorts, how former mining communities reinvented themselves thanks to 'white gold', the fight for gay rights, a ski area recovered from the Taliban, how some ski areas developed thanks to the growth of rail networks and even ski areas that developed thanks to mountain warfare training. The climate emergency is another subject that Patrick, who also runs SaveOurSnow.com, and other skiers have witnessed first-hand. One famous run graphically illustrates the impact of melting glaciers. But then many of the runs are just simple fun with themes like cheese, love and Christmas. "The late great ski filmmaker Warren Miller got it spot on when he said his favourite ski run was his next ski run. It doesn't matter if it's the longest or the steepest, if you're a great skier or a novice, so long as you are loving your life in the snow," Patrick concludes. Each of the 50 slopes includes a fact box and a hand-drawn map with the run's location marked on. Around The World in 50 Slopes is a 246-page hardback book published by Wildfire Books priced at £16.99 and available now in bookshops and online. The Kindle edition is £8.99. "Around The World in 50 Slopes" is published by Wildfire Books at £16.99 and is available in all good bookshops and online where there's usually a discount offered. Patrick says he is also happy to sign/dedicate books direct, send a private message to him for more details. Around the World in 50 Slopes - Hachette website 
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