J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Killington, Home to Soon To Be Smoke-Free Pico

The smoking ban that has swept across Europe in recent years has left most après ski bars and restaurants smoke free.
However several small ski areas in the US have gone a stage further and banned smoking outdoors too, on their slopes.
The latest is Pico Mountain, a stand alone part of Killington resort in Vermont.
Whether it's legally possible to ban smoking outdoors in Europe is a contentious point. Smoking is normally banned in gondolas and cable car cabins but not on chairlifts, and French resorts in particular spent hundreds of man hours collecting tens of thousands of cigarette butts from the slope beneath the chairlifts after the snow melts. In some cases resorts hand out portable she trays to try to discourage people from dropping their cigarette butts on the snow.
The smoking ban at Pico will begin on New Year's Day.
Local media reports the initiative is partly because the resort is working with cancer charities to look at the ways to reduce secondary smoke dangers to staff and resort guests, and partly due to research showing that non-smokers don't like standing in lift lines next to smoking smokers.

Serfaus

Austrian resort Serfaus has a big opening party planned from next weekend and this season will launch a new, "breakfast skiing" option from 15 December 2010
"We are all familiar with the phenomenon – first thing in the morning you push aside the curtain in your hotel room, excitedly that the snow god has deposited his white freight generously in the night. And indeed he has, hiding the entire Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis resort under a huge heap of icing sugar. You can't wait to plunge into the fleecy stuff, to surf down the mountain with skis or snowboard, to be at one with the elements. Only the mountain, the powder snow and me. You eat your breakfast hastily and soon you're at the valley station, waiting impatiently for the cable car to start at 9am." said a resort spokesperson.
The resort's new daily offer is to offer "First Tracks" 90 minutes before the regular lift opening time. It's a scheme common in North America but less frequently offered in Europe.
The price of 50 Euros per person (excluding lift pass) includes a tour escorted by the managers of the cable car operators or the ski school heads themselves plus an exclusive breakfast buffet on the mountain, which is served around 9am at the Sonnenburg family restaurant in Fiss or in the Ski Lounge in Serfaus. Reservations for the new programme have to be made by 4.30pm the day before at the cable car cash desk and you can only participate with a valid ski pass.

It's always sunny and snowy in Scotland...

The fresh snow in North Western Britain has enabled a second ski area to open for winter 2010-11 and a third hopes to follow suit tomorrow.
Glenshee has three Poma drag lifts running are reports that Sunnyside has good cover with fresh powdery snow. The Dink dink lift is running for beginners.
"Snow showers continue to fill in the runs and more may open later in the day." Says a ski area statement.
The Lecht, the second area hoping to open, says it has adequate snow cover and plans to open tomorrow, but that depends on weather conditions, which have been blizzard like in recent days. Currently (Friday 26th at 2pm) the access road is closed by drifting snow on both sides of the centre.
The centre reports there's new snow on all runs. Eagle, Osprey,Grouse, Robin, Wren and Buzzard are complete and have good cover of new snow.
The two areas will join Cairngorm Mountain which opened two weeks ago at weekends only with terrain initially only suited to beginners and intermediates and only served by the funicular railway. It is now reporting six inches of fresh powder and is open today, including the M1 Poma lift.
On the West Coast Nevis Range reports "substantial snow" above 750m but it is currently closed for annual maintenance, scheduled to continue to December 18th so it has no plans to open until then even if snow cover improves further.
That's not the case at Glencoe to the south which reports runs are "filling nicely" although no date predicted yet for opening.
The latest conditions are reported at: http://ski.visitscotland.com/conditions/

Surfing Alpine Meadows

That coquettish minx 'La Nina' (a weather trend not an X Factor candidate) is being credited with huge snowfalls in western North America over the past week and resorts there are trying to outdo each other with their claims as to which has the most exciting news as a result. It's not all good though, the sad story of the first avalanche death of the season has been reported.

But firstly here are some of the candidates for best news:

"Biggest Ever November Snowfall."

Squaw Valley on Lake Tahoe announced snowfall figures over the weekend of more than six feet (1.8m) at the start of this week, but they were trumped by less well known Alpine Meadows, which doesn't open for the season until Saturday, which had 10.3 feet (3 metres) of snow lying at 'mid mountain' after the weekends storms which it officially determined were, "the biggest in November ever."

"The mountain changed literally overnight," said Rachael Woods, spokesperson for Alpine Meadows "We're thrilled with the snow conditions. Skiers and riders will experience world-class conditions on November 26, which is Alpine's opening day."
"Twice as Much Snow As This time Last Year."

Aspen, Colorado, opened with a 40 inch (metre) base on Thursday after receiving another two feet (60cm) of snow in the past week,
"We are set for a great opening this week, with more than double the snow and double the terrain open compared to last winter's opening. Crews have been working hard to preserve the snow since October and the base is perfect. With a new storm expected before Thursday, this could be one of the best Aspen/Snowmass opening days in years." said Aspen Skiing Company director Jeff Hanle just before opening day.

"Opening Early"
After Whistler did it, it's not such a novelty for British Columbian resorts, but Kicking Horse, Fernie and Silver Star are all opening early this weekend, although that doesn't include Kicking horse's much anticipated 10th birthday area expansion with its fourth bowl and 15 more chutes due to open in a few weeks time.

"The Most Snow for 10 Years."
Says Steamboat, Colorado which opened for the season on Wednesday – it has more than a metre lying and lots more fresh powder falling this week.
The First Time We've Opened All Out Terrain on Day One
Is what Jackson Hole Wyoming is promising for its opening day on Saturday thanks to all the snow there. It has never before opened all of its lifts and runs on opening day in its 45 year history. Ironically the only thing threatening full opening at the moment is too much snow, as its continuing to fall with nearly three metres accumulated pre-season already.

The First Superpipe To Open In America, Again
"Thank to the four-and-a-half feet of snow this month our new 22 ft superpipe – home to the 2011 Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix and USASA Nationals is open. Copper is proud to announce the first superpipe to open in North America, for the past six consecutive seasons." Said a company spokesman for the Colorado resort.

It's not all good news however, the small Colorado ski area of Wolf Creek reported the first avalanche death of the season when a ski patrol director was caught in a slide which carrying out avalanche control work.

Klosters

Far be it from J2ki.com to try to cash in on the happy event that is the Royal Wedding with some tacky and tenuous association with ski holidays, but several PR companies have been quick to point out that with the nuptials coming in the same week as the late Easter there's the potential for an 11 day ski holiday for three days of annual leave time, assuming you get Good Friday off.
The period from Good Friday on April 22nd to May 2nd now only includes three normal working days on the Tuesday to Thursday between Easter Monday and Royal Wedding Day on April 29th.
Although this is of course very late in the ski season there are at least 50 large ski areas around the world what will still be open then, among them Ischgl in Austria which will stage a major pop concert on April 30th; Squaw Valley and Mammoth in Colorado; Lake Louise and Sunshine in Alberta, Canada; Whistler in BC; Saas Fee and Zermatt in Switzerland and Chamonix, Les 2 Alpe, Tignes and Val Thorens in France. In Scandinavia Hemsedal in Norway, Ruka in Finland and Are in Sweden will all be open.
Of course almost all tour operators will have stopped operating by then for winter 201-11 so it will be a case of booking direct yourself, but on the upside there's deals a plenty to be had at that time of year.
Even royal favourite Klosters plans to stay open to Sunday, May 1st.

New Campaign Poster

Fancy an après ski drink? The Foreign Office believe that a campaign they launched last winter outlining the dangers of having one too many on your ski holiday helped prevent any deaths last winter, after a succession of sad stories in previous winters when people apparently got lost in resort after drinking and died of exposure.
The message of the campaign, which will be publicised through posters in resort bars and restaurants and on information site in tour operator run accommodation, is that drinking alcohol at altitude is likely to affect your body more quickly and that ski resorts are potentially dangerous places, even off the slopes, increasing your risk.
A secondary message is the importance of insurance, but also that insurance can be invalidated if you are drunk.
Leading British tour operators including Crystal Ski, Inghams, Thomson Ski, First Choice Ski, Neilson as well as student specialists Off the Piste and Ski Alpine have agreed to collaborate.
"Following the successful safety awareness initiative to tackle alcohol misuse in ski resorts which helped ensure there were no serious incidents last season reported by British tour operators, we've decided to continue with this campaign this coming winter as well as the campaign for the necessity of full travel insurance cover." Said a statement from UK Tour Operators who are working with the Foreign Office and various bodies abroad on the information campaign,
As last year the campaign is being supported by ski resorts and regions in several Alpine countries but not all. Notable exceptions include low priced alcohol centres in Andorra, Bulgaria and Italy's Lombardy as well as the après-ski hedonism centres of Austria, however police and rescue services, tourist offices and airports in the regions of Savoie, Haute Savoie, Isère and Rhône in France as well as Piemonte and Veneto in Italy and the leading German and French speaking ski resorts in Switzerland are taking part.
Lynda St Cooke from the Foreign Office's travel safety campaign 'Know Before You Go ' said: "This is the second year we have worked with our partners to create this safety campaign. It's not about spoiling people's fun, but reminding British skiers that prevention is always better than cure and that not having appropriate travel insurance can be a very expensive mistake. Even if you have insurance you can invalidate policies by drinking. Over the years there have been a number of preventable winter sports accidents where people have underestimated the effects of alcohol on their judgement and we all need to remember, it can affect us more at high altitudes."

Bjornrike

Swedish News
Skistar, Scandinavia's largest operator of ski resorts, has unveiled their new season new for the coming winter – which is indeed already underway at most of their resorts.
On its list of resorts, the company owns the region's most successful resort, Åre, in Sweden, as well as family favourite Vemdalen, both of which are offered to the UK market by tour operator Neilson.
The good news for Swedish ski fans living north of Watford Gap is that the company is introducing a new flight route from Manchester to Östersund on 19th December. This new weekly Sunday service will run for justy over two months to 27th February 2011, and is being introduced following the success of Neilson's London Heathrow to Östersund charter flight.
Once you land in Sweden transfers from Östersund to Åre only takes an hour, with Vemdalen about two hours away.
In the resorts themselves Åre, which hosted the Alpine World Championships in 2007, is investing in its family friendly Björnen area adding several new blur and red runs which take its overall tally up to 105. More snowmaking has been added in the sector which is capable of pumping out 400 cubic metres of snow per hour, and there's an unusual addition these days, a new T Bar lift, a kilometre long.
Vemdalen too is expanding its ski area with a new sector this winter due to open on 26 December. It will offer two kilometers of new runs for all standards including rare new steep runs at the top of the area.
In the neighbouring Björnrike ski area Sweden's biggest, and Scandinavia's fastest lift, the Grizzly Express, a two kilometre long six-seater chair, is currently being built and is also due to open on the 26th December. The resort is also adding a 500m long T bar, new slow and family ski areas and enhanced low-energy snowmaking.

Beaver Creek ....nice

Beaver Creek in Colorado is not only one of the world's poshest ski areas, but also one of the youngest. The Vail owned resort turns 30 next month, and there'll be celebrations of course for the anniversary of that first winter season that began in December 1980.
Despite that fact that it is one of the most youthful ski resorts ion the planet, Beaver creek's impressive credentials as a world class venue for downhill races mean that it is currently the only US stop on the men's world cup tour and that it has been awarded the Alpine Ski World Championships for an almost unprecedented third time, in 2015.
Mere mortals can test their mettle on the course, and beaver creek's other steep runs, by attempting to ski 24,000 vertical feet (or about 8,000 vertical metres) of very steep terrain in one day.
The Talons Challenge involves skiing or riding 13 of Beaver Creek's steepest and bumpiest black diamond and double black diamond runs on the legendary World Cup Birds of Prey downhill course, Grouse Mountain, and on the flanks of Larkspur Bowl.
Now in its eighth season, Talons Challenge is open to skiers and boarders and this winter is scheduled to take place on February 26th, 2011. Participation is limited to the first 1,500 applicants and that list fills up quickly.
Should you miss out, the Beaver Creek Ski and Snowboard School will be happy to take you on their own Talons Challenge program in which they offer you tips to help you accomplish your goal.