J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Admin wrote:I think the words "Unbelievable" or "Flawed" need to be inserted at the beginning of this thread title Mr News Editor!

...sorry boss I just pulled out the most headline grabbing line. Now we're not allowed to phone hack anymore you have to allow me some journalistic traits, surely?

I thought exactly that. Those stats were buried at the end of the press release in small print so I put them up at the start

A new survey paid for by the Post Office has found that over half of skiers admit they rarely or never wear a helmet when on the slopes (51 per cent), despite the risk of serious injury.

The research released today by Post Office Travel Insurance Research was conducted for them by a company called Populus last month (October 2011) among 508 UK adults who have been on a skiing holiday within the last five years.

It found that the least likely to don a helmet are seasoned skiers, who have been on more than five skiing holidays in the last five years. Nearly all of them rarely or never wear a helmet (94 per cent) when on the slopes. In comparison first time skiers are savvier on the slopes with just under half wearing a helmet (49 per cent).

Over 55s were found to be the least likely to have worn a helmet on a skiing holiday (36 per cent), compared to over half (58 per cent) of 18 to 34 year olds who are more safety conscious.

'Never having considered wearing one' is the principle reason (48 per cent) why skiers have never worn a helmet. For just over a quarter, not seeing skiing or snowboarding as a sport where people wear helmets (27 per cent) and it being a habit not to wear one (27 per cent) are other reasons given for not wearing a helmet on the slopes. Over confidence is also a key reason for many not to protect themselves, with a quarter admitting they don't think they need one (25 per cent).

Three in five women think it is unfashionable to wear a helmet and believe it messes up their hair (15 per cent). Only 3% of men said they worried about how a helmet will make them look. Men are more likely to give in to bravado, shunning a helmet because they think they just don't need it (30 per cent).

Of those skiers who do wear a helmet, one in five (20 per cent) say they felt it was necessary as a result of either having an accident previously (10 per cent), suffering a serious head injury themselves (2 per cent) or a close friend or relative suffering a serious head injury (8 per cent).

For those who are planning to wear a helmet on their next skiing holiday, reports in the media of bad skiing accidents (48 per cent) and seeing more people wearing helmets on the slopes (43 per cent) are the key reasons why.

Dr Mike Langran, ski patrol doctor at CairnGorm Mountain in the Scottish Highlands and GP at the Aviemore Medical Practice said: "Helmets have been a hot topic in the snow-sports safety forum for many years now. I am a helmet wearer and would always recommend others to wear one too. There is good evidence to indicate that a helmet will protect you against many of the common injuries that the head is susceptible too when on the slopes, although the overall risk of injury remains low. A variety of recent studies have concluded that wearing a helmet may reduce your risk of head injury by up to 60%.

"Remember though, wearing a helmet does not make you invincible! If you do buy a helmet make sure it fits properly and is designed for snow sports by meeting one or more of the following standards - ASTM F2040, Snell RS98 or CEN 1077."

"Although we don't insist our customers wear a helmet on the slopes, it is something that we strongly recommend." Said Sarah Munro, Head of Travel Insurance at the Post Office. "Whilst wearing a helmet doesn't make you immune to injury, it does add another layer of protection – so you can relax and enjoy your holiday knowing you've done everything you can to be as safe as possible. Making sure you have travel insurance that specifically covers winter sports is another precaution that will be invaluable should you have an accident."

Think it is starting around 9th/10th Feb for most?

Same with me up in Scotland, and the second week has New Years Day in it, bad planning by someone...

Anyone still waiting to secure their ski holiday for the coming winter might be interested to hear the views of one leading tour operator on how 2011-12 looks set to play out, particularly for families.

"Our reservation team tell me that quite a lot of clients still haven't yet realised that most English schools break up on Friday 16 December so families can get a week of skiing and be back for Christmas and pay 25-40% less than following week,"
said Xavier Schouller, boss of French ski specialists Peak Retreats (www.peakretreats.co.uk), the tour operator which takes guests to unspoilt, traditional villages in the French Alps and which recently won 'Best Ski Company' for the third consecutive year in the prestigious annual Guardian/Observer Travel Awards.

Then later on in the winter, for the February half-term holiday 2012, the following scenario is explained by Mr Schouller,
"We had thought that because the English February half-term was going to fall on the first and traditionally considerably quieter week of the February holidays when only a third of French schools are on holiday from the 11th there was going to be much more availability than in previous years but this prediction is proving wrong and availability for that week is becoming as tight as in previous years."

There's no repeat of the end-of-April Easter in 2012 and here are Mr Schouller's views:

"At the end of the season most schools break-up for Easter holidays on the 31st of March, instead of in April, this is making a is psychological difference for us as March still seems like winter whereas April is the beginning of summer and bookings are already 150% up on Easter last year."

And it seems skiers and boarders are still putting best-value ahead of near snow-certainty

"We thought that more people would ask for glacier resorts this year. This is not the case as people are still looking for great value for money after all (and some snowsure but lower resorts offer considerably better value than the Val d'Iseres of this world) and people have come to understand that last season was a freak season," said Mr Schouller,

"With recent massive investments in snowmaking by French resorts most were still open in April when many people thought that the season at ended. Samoens for instance closed on 10/04/11 and it is one of those resorts that many people wrongly perceive as not as snowsure as others. Flaine, also part of the Grand Massif ski area, often boasts the biggest snow depth of the French Alps despite going only to 2500m at the top. It is also clear talking to clients that many people also did their research and looked at historical snow records over longer periods and booked resorts that have been proven to offer consistent snowsure skiing."

Scottish skiing has always relied a good deal on its snow fencing. Though rarely mentioned in PR, strong winds hitting the exposed, treeless slopes of the highlands can created both fun-filled drifts and blast the snow from the slopes. Snow fencing holds the snow on the mountain side.

Workers at Nevis Range have been busy through the summer installing 1200 metres of fencing. The fencing is either completely new, or has been re built.

900 metres of this fencing is brand new rail style fencing with horizontal rails as opposed to the more commonly used thin stakes held together by wire netting. This rail type of fencing is much cleaner as there's no wire used in the construction and, ultimately, it improves the look of the mountain and is in keeping with Nevis Range's environmental policy.

The fencing on the lower part of Warrens run has been now completely re-built using wooden rails - a total of 400 meters. The Alpha traverse fencing has also been completely re-built to the Goose burn - a total of 200 meters. The Alpha "get off" has been re-aligned to give better access to "Yokies" and Warrens drive. There's been ongoing repairs to Switch and the Goose up-track.

There's completely new rail fencing on Goose to Fairway and the lower Rabbit run. A new line of rail fence has been built into the rocks from near the Goose drive to the Home Run Bridge which will give much improved access across the burn and will eliminate the dip, making the traverse much easier.

Plans to connect two Utah ski areas with a gondola lift have received a mixed reaction.

Under the plan, already named 'SkiLink' and given its own website – skilink.com, Canyons ski area near Park City and Solitude would be connected by an eight seat gondola that would connect the two in 11 minutes with a capacity of 1000 passengers per hour.

Unlike in the Alps, creating a physical link between two ski areas is quite rare in North America, but Utah does already have more connected ski areas that any other US state. Solitude is already connected by ski run to another neighbouring resort, Brighton, and the two have on previous occasions sold a joint ticket, most recently called 'SolBright' – although this is not currently advertised on either re1sort's website. Alta and Snowbird do still offer a joint ticket however.

There have also been long-standing suggestions that Park City's three ski areas – Canyons again, along with Deer Valley and Park City mountain resort have some sort of link to one another to form North America's largest ski area with around 9,000 acres of terrain, rather more than Wistler Blackcomb. But so far they have not come to anything.

Canyons say the link will mean the combined ski areas can claim a joint tally of 6,000 acres putting it in the top 5 in North America for size, although as with Paradiski in the French Alps the two ski areas will not be linked by piste, only the lift.

Indeed one of the groups of objectors to the plan are those who hike up to ski the terrain in what they consider a pristine wilderness, the presence of a gondola crossing which they regard as an intrusion, even though the resorts say the lift will not have any mid-way stops between the two resorts and will not eexpand the existing terrain at either ski area. The other main group of objectors are environmentalists who say that although Canyon's research shows the lift would cut road traffic between the resorts, the bigger attraction would bring more people to the mountains.

"SkiLink creates a game-changing advantage for Utah and for the U.S. snowsport industry," said Mike Goar, managing director of Canyons. "It would establish Utah as the most interesting and convenient mountain destination in the U.S. and will positively benefit our local economies. Utah features 'The Greatest Snow on Earth' and with SkiLink now delivers an unrivalled skiing experience of the largest expanse of ski terrain in the country."

"An economic impact analysis reported that SkiLink would produce more than 500 new permanent jobs for Utah's travel and tourism industry and could initially infuse $51 million into our local economy," said Goar. "An estimated 20-year total economic impact could be $101 million per year from SkiLink's ongoing operation."

A traffic analysis carried out on behalf of Canyons found that SkiLink would reduce ski season traffic through Big Cottonwood Canyon by as much as 18,000 cars per year. Initially that means around 1 million fewer miles driven per year and around 1 million fewer pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

No timescale for the development, said to have been under consideration "for years" has been given. To move forward it requires certain legal agreements involving the Utah state government and public consultation, both of which are currently underway.