J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

Yesterday was the last day for skiing and riding at the last ski area still open for the 2008/2009 season in Canada. Whistler Mountain ended the season on Sunday, May 31st, two weeks ahead of the publicised closing date of June 14th.

"Epic spring conditions that were enjoyed up until this past weekend have deteriorated very quickly over the past few days," says Bob Dufour, Whistler Blackcomb's vice president of operations. "The snow quality is quickly diminishing and posing more hazards by the day. Looking at the warm weather and sunshine in the forecast, the conditions will obviously deteriorate further."

A number of closures had already been forced, including popular runs in the Emerald zone such as Green Acres, Bobcat, Chipmunk and Beansprout.

Deterioration of conditions has also required crews to close the terrain park located on the Upper Dave Murray; a few park features were relocated for the final days to upper Jolly Green Giant. Crews continued to work hard to maintain ski outs to the bottom of the Emerald and Red Chairs through to Sunday.

In addition, the Peak Chair had to be closed intermittently last week due to high avalanche danger because of warming conditions.

"Guest and employee safety is obviously our number one concern and there are just too many hazards that are emerging to operate safely. With a season as long as Whistler Blackcomb's, it is always a race against the weather to the very end." continued Dufour.

There'll now be a near three week break for Canadian snow sports before glacier skiing begins on Blackcomb Mountain on Saturday, June 20th. A variety of ski and snowboard summer camps kick into high gear, and public skiing and riding will be available on the Horstman Glacier through July, weather permitting.
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Two new six-seater chairlifts are currently under construction in the French Grand Massif region which includes the resorts of Flaine, Morillon, Samoens, Sixt and Les Carroz.

The first lift in Samoens, the new "Chariande Express," will cut transfer time from bottom to top of the Samoens ski area by a third and more than double capacity on the route. The lift replaces two old chairlifts and one old ski lift.

At the same time important slope improvement work will be completed as well, to offer a great playground on this part of the ski area making it vary attractive for all Grand Massif skiers (from Flaine, Morillon, Samoens and Sixt).

The other six person detachable chairlift will be in les Carroz. The new "Les Molliets" chair will replace an old detachable quad chairlift and will increase capacity on the route by two thirds.

The new lift will allow skiers and boarders based in Morillon to return much faster when coming back from Flaine. Important additional slope work will also improve access to Morillon dramatically.
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Sunny skies, bubbles and smiles all round were the hallmarks of the opening of the ski season at Mt Hutt in New Zealand today (Saturday, May 30).

More than 2000 Cantabrians and visitors to the region turned out to welcome the snow and celebrate skiing in May at Mt Hutt.

The high country ski area opening was two weeks ahead of schedule as a result of early snow coverage.

Ski Area Manager Dave Wilson says it was the first time the mountain had opened in May for more than a decade.

"We have a one metre snow base which is phenomenal for this time of year. Getting the mountain open early has been a huge challenge for staff but we had a great day today making it well worth the effort.Feedback and support from the local Methven community has been very much appreciated – everyone is delighted to be open early. It's a fantastic start."

First on the chair honours, complete with t-shirts, went to Suzanne Fenwick, Ian Beale, Mike Roberson and Stef Waldon of Christchurch on the Quad while Ashburton's Michael Borland, Michael Geddes, Benjamin Mort, Lance Cotter, Callum Brooker were first on the Summit Six along with 11-year-old Sophie Sinke of Christchurch.

Lindauer flowed for the early birds and glasses raised to toast the 2009 season just on 9am as the chairs opened.

Mr Wilson said stormy weather bringing more snow was expected to hit the mountain tonight (Saturday) and Sunday with weather clearing again for Monday.

"Today's weather was really one out of the bag. The forecast wasn't too flash so we were rapt to wake up to a bluebird day. Definitely life as it ought to be today."

Mt Hutt is expected to remain open until early October. Coronet Peak in Queenstown is scheduled to open next Saturday, June 6 with The Remarkables following on Saturday June 20.
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The Burton NZ Snowboard Open (NZO) have announced that ater three years of tremendous competition at Snow Park NZ, contest will step back across the valley to Cardrona, where it all began.

With Cardrona having invested heavily in new facilities over the past couple of years and with 22-foot pipes now being the 'standard' globally for high level events, this is a strategic move for the organisers of the Burton NZ Open.

"We are pleased with the move," says event manager Reuben Yeoman. "We have enjoyed a great three years at Snow Park NZ and it is with some sadness but also enthusiasm that we have made this move. Cardrona have done a phenomenal job over the past couple of years in bringing their pipe and park up to international competition standard and in doing so have created a great venue for hosting international events. We are simply moving with the times and giving the riders what they want."

The first stop on both the prestigious Burton Global Open Series and TTR World Tour, the Burton NZ Open will run from Tuesday 11th through to Saturday 15th August.

Cardrona offers terrain suited to all ability levels and is famed for its wide open, undulating terrain that is perfect for beginners and intermediates, whilst the Arcadia and Tulips chutes offer extra challenge for more advanced riders. Trails are up to 1.5km (just under a mile) in length, the toughest being the Arcadia chutes. Uplift includes quads and magic carpets for beginners.

The resort is also home to some of New Zealand's premier terrain parks, with up to four half pipes, a gravity cross and a range of beginner freestyle features.

Cardrona is located in the Crown Range between Queenstown (57kms/60mins) and Wanaka (34kms/35mins) in the South Island of New Zealand.

www.cardrona.com / www.opensnowboarding.com
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As more results are posted on the results of the 800+ ski areas across North America, a clear trend is emerging.

Overall the US National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) report business down a little more than 5% on last season. As last season was a best-ever year the fall isn't seen as as bad aas it might have been, and results still remain one of the better years and above the multi-year average.

The best results have been posted by previously unlikely success stories, small local hills that had been suffering long term decline in many cases have posted record results as people have returned to skiing 'local.'

The worst results have inevitable been posted by the big-name destination resorts who have boomed over the past decade or so, thanks to a largely base-property sales driven success.

The Denver-based Mountain Travel Research Program reported business down by about a quarter in their study of more than 200 property management companies in 15 ski resorts in Colorado, Utah, California and British Columbia. They said clients stayed away and to fill rooms prices had to be cut.

The study's authors believe that the size of the drop in business is "unparalleled" but still think it might have been worse had not a sizable number of skiers and boarders refused to give up on their annual vacation and indeed looked forward to it as the highlight of an otherwise gloomy year.
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The 2008-9 season is still continuing in Ruka, Finland where a ski run is kept open to mid-June. Next season isn't far away either with the opening party for 2009-20 to take place on the November 6th-8th weekend.

The resort has announced improvements ahead of next winter. To begin with the first part of the new RukaVillage hotel combining the best services of hotels and apartments, will be opened in September 2009. In total the building comprises 120 high-quality apartments (ranging in size from 30-90 square metres) and hotel rooms, each with a sauna and kitchen, and breakfast is also included.

On the slopes, the Masto MiniPark will be reshaped in order to make it more like the resort's bigger famous BatteryPark, only easier, as the Masto Park is planned for kids and beginners mostly. There will be new jumps and rails and lots more. The Mini Cross track will be replaced with giant waves, which are fun and safe to ride. Snow waves for some skiing fun will also be created on slope 25 at Vuosseli.

The ever-popular children's Rosa andRudolf adventure route will also be further improved, as well as the other children's and beginner areas. Furthermore, the lift loading and unloading areas are improved in order to improve the service for our guests.

In the same way as partner resort Pyhä got it's new FIS slalom slope on season 08-09, Ruka will have it's own on ready for the winter season 2010-11.

Building of the new FIS slalom slope will begin in the summer 2009 from the top of Ruka fell down towards the ski stadium. The length of this slope will be longer than any of the former competition slopes, at 680 meters, and the difference in altitude a total of 180 m.
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Oi Wickers - back on yer bike until you can do all this...



...I've got as far as the falling off bit at the beginning... :shock:

Austria's Bad Gastein is installing a new eight-seater gondola lift which rises in two sections from the resort to the Stubnerkogel summit.

The Stubnerkogel lift is the key facility in Gastein's ?core skiing territory' Stubnerkogel – Angertal - Schlossalm. The number of ascents on the first section of the lift during a normal winter is between 300,000 and 400,000 and on the second section between 400,000 and 600,000. It is the only feeder lift from Bad Gastein to the core skiing territory.

The gondola is technically equivalent to the Sender lift which was newly constructed last year and is a single stage carrier in two sections with cabins to seat 8 persons and access even with the ground.

It is 2.6 kilometres long and covers a difference in altitude of 1,136 metres. Lift capacity will be increased from the current 2,375 persons per hour on the route to 2,800 persons.

Work began on dismantling the old facility at the end of the winter season. During the coming months the Stubnerkogel lift will be newly constructed so that it is completed ready for operation next winter season. The last Stubnerkogel lift was built in 1987 and is in operation in summer as well as winter. Due to its age and the type of construction some spare parts are no longer available. Although the lift is well cared for and serviced, there was an increasing risk of breakdown.

As the Stubnerkogel is exposed to wind, great importance is also attached in this option to the reduction of vulnerability to wind. This is, for example, achieved through reduced height and a change in the position of the supporting pillars - particularly in the sections where the lift enters the stations, higher roller rims, heavier cabins providing better behaviour under windy conditions as well as the use of the latest technology, such as automatic monitoring of the rope position.

The investment costs for the Stubnerkogel lift are around Euro 14.3 million. It is the largest part of a 16.5 million Euro spend for next winter which will also see run improvements, more snow making and a new bridge. In the last three years alone the Gasteiner lift company has invested 45 million Euro in infrastructure improvements.
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