J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Norway's Stryn glacier summer ski area says it will open for its 2024 season this Saturday, a week earlier than planned.

The centre, one of three in the country, has warned though that its opening early because very warm spring weather means the snow there is melting "at a record rate" and says that the season will "again be short."

This is a reference to the fact that Stryn has only managed to open for a few weeks in recent years.

Norway's other two small summer ski centres Galdhopiggen and Fonna, have already opened. Galdhopiggen has one of the world's longest summer ski seasons, aiming to stay open through to next November. Fona tends to stay open until early autumn and is currently reporting snow lying more than 13 metres deep.

Elsewhere, America's only summer-only ski area, Beartooth Basin on the Montana/Wyoming border, which has faced similar issue to Stryn in recent years, has said it won't open at all in 2024 due to inadequate snow cover. The Blackcomb Glacier, Canada's only summer ski area, has made the same announcement for the same reason.

However snow depths on Alpine glaciers in Europe are above average in some areas with Passo Stelvio in Italy possibly delaying its planned opening, which was the same as Stryn's original date, June 1st, due to having too much snow to clear in order to open.

Italy's Passo Stelvio ski area looks set to delay its planned 2024 season opening, scheduled for the weekend after next, as there's "too much" snow lying and high avalanche danger.

A resort spokesperson said the amount of snow lying on the pass was "the most for a long time" and a hotel at the base area announced it was postponing its opening date until June 8th, having originally planned for May 31st.

The exact opening date of the ski centre remains uncertain. It is still down as June 1st on the centre's website, but other sources say its unlikely the access road will be declared open by the Italian government's road crews until at least June 2nd.

Snow is still falling on the area, which is a favourite with race teams from all over the world for late-spring - autumn training. It has one of the longest seasons of a summer-only destination, through to November each year.

The centre usually opens each year soon after the pass opens and the Giro d'Italia cycle race passes through, but this year the iconic race is bypassing the area due to reported high avalanche danger due to the volumes of snow above the road.

Levi in Finnish Lapland uses snowfarming to ensure a seven-month winter ski season with snow guaranteed from early October to early May.

That policy has paid off, the resort, Finland's largest, says, with record business in the 23-24 season which ended earlier this month. They did especially well at the start of the season, from October to December last autumn, when Alpine glaciers opened later than usual, in many cases not until late November.

"At the start of the season, in October 2023, the number of international overnight stays increased by 49% compared to the same period the previous year. Growth continued more moderately in November (23%) and even into the first weeks of December," a Levi spokesperson said.

Part of the focus on early opening is to provide a training ground for ski race teams who have fewer and fewer out-of-season options as glaciers close. That paid off for Levi who report that in October and November, 34 Alpine Ski World Cup teams and 11 European Cup teams trained there.

"It's great to see how investing in the Alpine Ski World Cup and improving conditions supports the overall development of tourism in the area. Our goal is to seek growth from year-round tourism, and extending the winter season is the first important step in this development. At the same time, we are investing in increasing customer flows during the snow-free period to ensure balanced and sustainable development of the area," says Satu Pesonen, CEO of Visit Levi.

The UK continues to be Levi's largest international customer base, with the French following in second place and the Dutch close behind. The number of overnight stays by Dutch, Belgian, and Irish visitors increased the most during the 2023-2024 winter season.

"During the winter season, the number of skiing customers on the slopes reached a record 570,000. Additionally, the single-day customer record was broken in week 8, when on Sunday, February 25th, there were an astonishing 10,000 skiers on the slopes. The revenue from ski pass sales increased by 7.2% compared to the previous fiscal year," says Marko Mustonen," says Marko Mustonen, Commercial Director of Levi Ski Resort.

With that 7 month season, even though its only a fortnight since the 23-24 season ended, it's now only 4.5 months until the 24-25 season begins. Next winter will kick off on Levi's trails and slopes on October 4th, and in November, the 20th anniversary of the Levi World Cup will be celebrated.

There's been up to 20cm (8") of fresh snowfall reported for what is the final weekend of Canada's 23-24 ski season.

Whistler Blackcomb will close their still-open slopes on Whistler Mountain and Sunshine ski area near Banff will close on Monday.

Both report 20-30 miles of slopes, about 30-40% of their full terrain, open for their final weekends of the season.

As usual Sunshine's finale will be its famous Slush Cup annual water skimming contest. Believed to be the world's oldest, it's back for its 94th staging this year.

Whistler's Blackcomb Glacier usually re-opens through June and into early July with a terrain park for snow camps and ski training but that's not happening in 2024, with poor snow cover blamed.

On the east coast Quebec's Sommet Saint-Sauveur often keeps some snow open at least as late as the final areas open in the West, and sometimes reopens in early June at the same time as its waterpark starts its summer opening. This year it had what looks to have been its final operation of 23-24 on Saturday evening with its highest slope, piste 70, re-opening under floodlights for a final session of snow fun.

Australian ski areas have begun snowmaking ahead of the start of their 2024 ski season, which for most is three weeks away this weekend.

Snowmaking teams have been hard at work overnight firing up snowmaking systems to give Mother Nature a helping hand. Below freezing temperatures as low as -5C and some natural snowfall has helped efforts.

The country's largest resort, Perisher, pictured above this morning, reported 5cm of snowfall on the ground this morning with more expected through the day, as well as the perfect opportunity to make some snow.

"It's a great feeling having both our snow guns and Mother Nature working together to give us the help we need to cool the ground and prepare for our opening day on 8 June," said Maddi Ventura, Perisher's Marketing Manager, adding, "We can't wait to welcome our guests back for a fantastic season ahead."

Most Australian ski areas open for the King's Birthday long weekend from 8-10 June regardless of weather conditions.

Australian ski areas saw a good pre-season snowfall in April but most of that has gone during drier, warmer weather in the weeks since, so the temperature drop and snowy weather now is well timed.

The former indoor snow centre at Braehead near Glasgow in Scotland is to reopen as an indoor karting centre, it has been announced.

Most recently known as Snow Factor, but originally built as Xscape by a group which also built the still operating (but for many years now separately run) Snozone indoor snow centres in Milton Keynes and Castleford (between Leeds and Hull), the facility closed down in autumn 2022 blaming high energy costs as well as ongoing maintenance, and repair needs.

"The reuse of the vacant ski slope is essential for the future well-being of the XSite centre which requires the replacement of the former anchor use in the building to support the creation of new jobs and the long-term viability of the centre," commented Phil Pritchett, director of Pritchett Planning Consultancy, which is involved in the reconfiguration of the space.

The new 63,733sq/ft ekarting rink will be created on the ski slope area while the slope's bar-restaurant and service areas will be retained.

Although the closure of the indoor snow centre was partly blamed on the cost of the 5900kwh of energy required to run it every day, more than 100 other indoor snow centres that now exist in more than 30 countries on six continents (including five in England) have managed to keep operating. A growing number have fully or completely switched to green energy they generate from vast solar arrays on their huge roofs, some now exporting excess energy to the grid so making a profit from their self-power generation.

Mt Buller ski area in Australia has taken delivery of its fifth SnowFactory all-weather snowmaking machine, believed to be the most in action simultaneously anywhere in the world.

SnowFactories produce a snowlike mix of crushed ice, creating the snow within their refrigerated interiors at about -9C ready to spray out on to the slopes whatever the temperature.

Four of Scotland's five ski centres have now been operating either one or two SnowFactories each, allowing them to offer beginner lessons, create terrain park features, short runs or, in Glencoe's case a sledging slope, even when mother nature does not deliver natural snowfall or consistently cold temperatures for conventional snowmaking.

The machines are labour and energy intensive and the snow produced needs replenishing as it thaws and do not produce as much snow or cover as big areas as conventional machines, but it does mean that ski areas can be confident that they can offer snow and book ski school classes and similar through the ski season.

Mt Buller's world-leading all-weather snowmaking arsenal means it can now cover an ever larger area its main run with snow whatever the weather. With just over three weeks to go to the start of Australia's 2024 season and temperatures still in double figures above freezing in the afternoons, it may prove another wise investment.

Adaptive ski and snowboard charity, Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK) are giving Taylor Swift fans the chance to win a highly sought-after ticket for the singers sold show in Edinburgh on Saturday 8th June.

The online raffle provides an opportunity for one lucky fan to win a concert ticket for the star's record-breaking Eras Tour at Murrayfield Stadium on the second night of three sold-out performances taking place in the Scottish capital.

The official ticket is a single seat in section E6 in the East Stand of the stadium, upper tier and does not include travel, accommodation, or expenses.

Raffle tickets are available to fans at £10 per entry, with every one sold helping Disability Snowsport UK in empowering people living with disabilities through skiing and snowboarding; enabling disabled people to be more active, make friends and have fun by taking part in snowsport, regardless of disability, injury or experience.

Entries are open now and will close at midnight on Thursday May 30th, with no limit on the number of entries that can be purchased per person.

The lucky winner will be drawn at random and contacted on May 31st, with a mobile ticket will be issued directly via the official Ticketmaster app. The ticket is strictly non-transferable and not for resale as DSUK aim to provide a genuine fan with the chance to attend this incredible event.

Donations to the charity are also welcomed - but it should be noted if you chose to provide a donation addition to the purchase of a raffle ticket/s that donations are separate and do not count as a raffle ticket entry.

Raffle tickets can be purchased directly here.
https://uk.givergy.com/TaylorSwiftCharityRaffle/?controller=home