J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Formigal Today

Snow conditions in Europe this winter continue to be something of a roller coaster ride with periods of good snowfall followed by long periods without or, worse still, 'Springlike' temperatures well above zero leading to a thaw of lying snow at lower altitudes.
On the upside there's no sign of the serious snow problems resorts faced three winters ago, but for lower altitude resorts in the Alps, as well as ski areas in Eastern Europe and the Pyrenees the generalisation is "could be better."
Most areas in Western and Northern Europe had a good start to the winter with heavy snowfall in late November and early December, but that has rather petered out over the last month.
In nearly all cases that's not a huge problem as most resorts had built bases of 60 – 180cm (2 – 6 feet) meaning that they've been able to withstand short thaws and generally have hard packed on piste conditions. Ski slopes above 1800m have been 'normal.' What has suffered has been off piste freeriding opportunities – which can be described as 'limited' for winter 2010-11 to date.
Scandinavia
Ironically as Britain and countries like Belgium, The Netherlands and Denmark were locked in an icy embrace through December, Scandinavian ski areas were warmer than usual. That has changed for the better since New Years day with Norwegian and Swedish resorts reporting some of the biggest snowfalls of the first two weeks of 2011 anywhere in Europe. Coastal Voss has done especially well.
Scotland
Another great start to winter for Scotland with Cairngorm, which had been open to June 2010, re-opening in November and reporting generally good snow ever since and top-to-bottom skiing. All but one area, Glencoe, had opened by mid-December and Glencoe too opened by Christmas. All five remain open and while the valleys in the highlands finally came out of a 7 week freeze at the weekend, there was more fresh snow on the hills so it should last a while yet.
Pyrenees
After big falls in late November that had ski areas in Spain opening early there's been little since and some thawing making conditions 'challenging' for ski areas to maintain. However the ski areas have gone on a PR offensive with Formigal, one of the largest resorts in the area sending the picture above.
"Despite current temperatures, Formigal still offers a great range of skiing to its clients by having 83 Km open today." said a spokesman.
Dolomites
Italy seems to have dome about the best in mainland Europe with resorts in the dolomites reporting some of the deepest snow on the continent, up to 4.5m (15 feet) on the glaciers, although there's been little new snow since December.
Eastern Europe
Ski areas in Eastern Europe appear to have had the worst start to the winter. Banskotouristinformaton.com say, "Snow conditions for the early part of this important winter season for Bansko have so far been disappointing with only a limited amount of runs operating and conditions are being reported as sketchy! …Ulen, the mountain operator, seem to be doing all that can be done with the snow cannons to keep open all main runs."
However long term weather reports for more than a fortnight ahead are forecasting snow, so Bulgarian fingers are crossed.

CairnGorm

CairnGorm Mountain has again been given a gold award in the Green Tourism Scheme administered by Visit Scotland.
It's the latest success for the ski area above Aviemore which has achieved a 100% success rate since first entering the contest in 2004.
The Green Tourism Business Scheme has been running since 1997 and has over 2000 members across Britain and Ireland making it the largest and longest running scheme of its type in the World.
CairnGorm Mountain's first assessment took place in 2004 and in its most recent assessment achieved a score of 80% retaining its Gold Award and the report noted that "Good developments are in place since last audit."
Cairngorm's award resulted from an audit which highlighted the centre's UV treated water, ecological waste water treatment, visitor recycling facilities and the use of 100% recycled paper site wide.
Cairngorm's funicular also generates electricity and supplies it back to the National Grid when the downhill carriage is full and the uphill car is empty. This occurs towards the end of the afternoon when skiers and visitors are leaving the mountain.
"It is great that we have retained our Gold Award and as ever these is still so much more we want to achieve. This has been recognised in the audit and the whole team at CairnGorm will continue to ensure that Green work practices are implemented wherever possible and practical as standard practice within the operation." said Dougie Somerville – Green Champion at CairnGorm Mountain.

Switzerland's Adelboden staged its annual World Cup races on the Chuenisbärgli last weekend, popularly regarded as one of the world's most challenging race courses, still sticking to the same route it has done for decades.
The 44th AUDI FIS Ski World Cup Adelboden (www.weltcup-adelboden.ch) drew the world's best male downhill skiers to the legendary Chuenisbärgli mountain along with 30,000 excited fans.
And from this Friday everyone visiting Adelboden and feeling up to it has the chance to ski down the famous World Cup piste at night too. This special experience is offered between 15th January until 5th March.
The piste is open until 8pm and, in addition, from 5th February, there will be a special laser and ski show at organised by the Swiss Snow Sports School at the end of the night ski session.
Guests also have the option to end the evening is at the Skihütte Chuenisbärgli with a cheese fondue (reservations essential on +41 (0) 79 356 09 31) or just have a drink at the bar. The last cable car ascent is at 9.30pm and the last descent is at 9.45pm.

A season of British-backed Festivals hits the Alps and the Pyrenees this Spring with The Big snow Festival in Arinsal followed by the Little World Festival in Meribel. Then the bigger Snowbombing Festival in Mayrhofen, Austria and The BRITS in Laax, Switzerland round off the fun.
The state of the Altitude Comedy Festival, headlined by Marcus Brigstocke, remains uncertain. Rumour has it it's moving to Mayrhofen - and it's definitely leaving Meribel – but so far details are unconfirmed and the website - www.altitudefestival.com – rather dead looking.
Each Festival has its own niche, with the Big Snow Festival (www.thebigsnowfestival.com) aimed primarily at snowsports newbies, with 80% of attendees at the initial vent last inter first timer skiers or boarders. A high proportion have rebooked for this year's event, say the organisers.
The Little World Festival (www.littleworldfestival.com) has unveiled the initial line-up for Meribel Live that runs from 12 to 19 March. There'll be more than 40 separate gigs during a packed week of music in the mountains with acts including Squeeze, Sophie Ellis Bextor, The Feeling and The Freemasons. There will also be a number of special film screenings, speakers and a major comedy star is promised. However the highlight of the week will probably be the huge free outdoor concert on the piste.
The BRITS (www.the-brits.com) are long established and full of lively gigs too but have more of a sporting onus with the best British freestylers competing for national titles as well as lots of all-comer contests in multiple age categories.
Snowbombing (www.snowbombing.com) is the biggest and one of the longest established of the shows, with 5,000 people 'taking over' the lucky Austrian resort of Mayrhofen for the predominantly music and party based week. Fat Boy Slim and The Prodigy headline this year with the event running from 4 – 9 April.

Canyons

Utah's ski resorts are highlighting three lift pass deals available to international guests which run for most or all of the season. They're generally cheaper than just buying a regular ticket in resort and often have additional benefits too.
Fist up the Ski Salt Lake Super Pass is available all season and covers neighbouring Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton. This can be purchased for one to six days and discounts are often bigger when booked in conjunction with accommodation either in Salt Lake City or in the resorts. For those staying in Salt Lake City, the pass also offers free bus and light rail travel via the Utah Transit Authority to and from these four resorts. Pass holders can also get up to 25% gear rental discounts at selected outlets.
On the other side of the Wasatch Crest, the Park City resorts of Canyons, Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort are offering two different discount programmes on their lift tickets. The 3 Resort International Pass is the best value way for international guests to experience each of Park City's ski areas and allows visitors the flexibility of choosing where they wish to ski each day, rather than deciding in advance.
Alternatively the International Pass is a booklet containing one-day lift ticket vouchers for exclusive use at any of the three resorts. The flat rate booklets are sold in 6 to 10 day variants and can be picked up at any of the three resorts.

Dolomiti Superski

A new series of special one day courses are being offered from this weekend at more than 20 snow parks across the giant Dolomiti Superski region in North Western Italy.
The new "Drop In" days are staged every Wednesday and Saturday and targeted at teens aged 12 to 18.
The idea is that the young people learn how to use terrain park features properly during the six-hour sessions which run from 10am to 4pm.
Whether on twin-tip skis or snowboards, pros will teach participants to fly over the kickers and in the pipes as well as the best way to tackle rails and boarder crosses. The courses are offered at a discounted rate and freestyle equipment is included if need.
A full list of the terrain parks where the Drop In days are offered, along with contact details for the relevant ski and board school, is available online at: http://www.dolomitisuperski.com/en-US/freestyleen.html
Venues include Arabba, which has received more than a metre of snow in the past week as well as Arabba, Alta Badia, Val Gardena and the Fassa Valley.

This just in:
GO SHOPPING WITH SNOW+ROCK AND CHALET GIRL
Snow+Rock are holding three shopping events to celebrate the launch of the new movie Chalet Girl, filmed in St Anton, with Roxy riders Basa Stevulova and Aimee Fuller. Get 10% off all shopping plus Cava, cupcakes, a chance to get some tips off the ROXY pros, a goodie bag and win tickets to the Chalet Girl film premiere.
Dates:
Tuesday 25th January – Snow+Rock Kensington 7-9pm
Wednesday 26th January – Snow+Rock The Snow Centre Hemel Hempstead 6-9pm
Thursday 27th January – Snow+Rock Chill Factore Manchester 6-9pm
Visit snowandrock.com/chaletgirlevents for information and to register.

We can expect a deluge of snowsports newbies on the slopes next month, probably most of them booking packages to St Anton, thanks to the launch of new movie 'Chalet Girl' which was filmed in the top Austrian resort.
In cinemas next month (February 2011) its stars include Bill Nighy playing successful businessman Richard Masden and Brooke Shields playing the scheming mother of the main male love interest.
The plot seems vaguely familiar. Innocent young lady becomes lowly chalet girl for rich boss, working along side snooty chalet manager, she falls for son of rich boss (against wishes of his afore-mentioned scheming mum and pre-existing snooty girlfriend) and falls over a lot while learning to board before entering a pro-am boarding contest.
Described as an "ice cool rom-com", it is we're reliably informed by the producers, "...filled with laughter, romance and kick-ass snowboarding ...Chalet Girl is a hilarious and touching story about finding a talent, staying true to yourself and achieving your dreams."
These are certainly values that we here at J2SKI hold dear, so we wish the film well.
More good news is that Bill Bailey is in it.