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Thanks for the update SwingBeep...
Do you know if this happened, and if anything changed? News is dominated by you-know-what this morning and I'm struggling to find anything for Switzerland that's not a few days old. |
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We know we have quite a few readers with homes (holiday and permanent) in the mountains, so were interested in this article from skiingproperty.
PR follows... The breathtaking scenery, healthy lifestyle and local market conditions are helping resorts in the French Alps to weather the effects of Covid-19 better than other second-home destinations, reported SkiingProperty.com in October.
 
Properties currently on sale include a wide range include a 2-bed apartment in Les Carroz (above left) and a 3-bed apartment in Verbier (above right). Here are six reasons interest should remain strong in the French Alps: - Healthy way-of-life. Covid-19 has created a major shift towards people wanting to be somewhere with fresh clean air, uncrowded natural space and easy access to an active lifestyle. Very few environments offer all this to the same extent as the French Alps. The unpolluted air there is beneficial to everyone, but it's especially good for helping to ease respiratory problems, including asthma, as well as reduce the effects of allergies. Being at altitude has health benefits for your heart too, helping to lower the risk of cardio-vascular diseases. Meanwhile, keeping active and doing exercise comes with the territory in the Alps, whether its doing winter sports or one of the many outdoor activities suited to the warmer months - Dual-season appeal. Skiing and other winter sports are the obvious attraction of the French Alps, but most resorts there have just as much to offer active types outside of the winter months. From outdoorsy pursuits, such as mountain-biking, climbing, rafting, canyoning and trekking, to enjoying the world-class leisure amenities available in many larger resorts, including golf courses, aqua parks, indoor sports facilities and swimming pools, health and fitness centres, there are so many ways to combine having fun with staying fit. Undoubtedly, Covid-19 has helped raise awareness of the dual seasonality of the Alps, in particular in the Haute Savoie region, which reported 2020 as being its busiest summer ever. Resorts there recorded occupancy levels of 80 per cent during July and August this year, compared with a more typical level of circa 40 per cent. This was thanks to people, in particular the French, staying away from crowded coastal resorts, instead heading to the mountains. - Choice of travel. There are four main airports serving the French Alps, namely Geneva, Grenoble, Lyon and Chambéry, making flying the most popular way to reach the slopes under normal travel conditions. However, the Eurotunnel and/or ferry services combined with France's efficient motorway system make driving to the Alps an easy option for British people, as well as travellers from wider Europe. Under normal non-Covid conditions, travelling by rail is also a viable option, thanks to Eurostar services into Moûtiers, Aime-la-Plagne and Bourg-St-Maurice. - Controlled development. New development sites are regulated carefully in the Alps, which helps to control supply and maintain values. This year, property analysts report a noticeably lower volume of new-build stock coming to the market compared to previous years, which is likely to cushion any potential negative effects on the market caused by Covid-19. In some resorts, supply of quality new properties already cannot meet demand. - Cheap mortgages. Another incentive for buyers in France are the competitive mortgage rates, currently lingering at historic lows thanks to the ECB's Euribor - to which most European banks peg lending rates - being in negative territory. Currently, even non-resident buyers can benefit from deals offering rates fixed below two per cent for 10 or 20 year terms, requiring a 20-30 per cent deposit. Even prospective cash buyers from the UK are opting for a euro mortgage, rather than cover the entire purchase price with Sterling funds that would be need to be converted and exposed to today's poor exchange rate. - Relocation, relocation, relocation! One trend picked over summer 2020 is the arrival of British and European professionals moving to or spending long periods in the French Alps. Turning their backs on busy urban environments, where Covid-19 spreads easily, they are relocating to the Alps, often with young families, where they can create their own bubbles within their home and benefit from the cleaner, healthier lifestyle of the mountains. |
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J2Ski Snow Report 29th October 2020
A beacon of hope? Verbier will open for weekends in November... First US and Canadian resorts open, France and Italy enter mini-lockdown, snow all over... The mountains are waiting for us... please stay safe and respect local advice on travel. We can't all go skiing just yet but we can still dream! The Snow Headlines - 29th October - Ski season underway in Canada and USA. - Mt Norquay and Lake Louise in Canada historic early openings. - Wolf Creek starts Colorado's ski season after Two Feet (60cm) of Snowfall. - Banff, Davos and Kitzbuhel open for the season. - Up to 80cm of Fresh Snowfall in 48 Hours Reported in the Alps. - Verbier to open for weekends through November. - Italy closes ski resorts (to recreational skiers) until 24th November. - France's ski areas to close until at least 1st December. - Passo Stelvio ends 2020 ski season. - Andermatt opening this weekend. - 2020 season over earlier than hoped in the southern hemisphere. Please see our note on the 1-month lockdowns announced for France, Germany and Italy. Winter 20-21 continues to pick up pace with the ski season getting underway in both Canada and the US in the past week as well as some big-name resorts in the Alps - Davos and Kitzbuhel - getting their seasons started. Around 30 areas were open in 10 countries last weekend with Canada seeing it's season start at Mt Norquay near Banff, the centre's earliest opening in its 95-year history. The US got their season underway at little-known Wild Mountain in Minnesota in the Midwest. They've since been joined by slightly bigger and better-known Wolf Creek in Colorado after the Rockies got two feet of snow to start the week. As well as more areas opening there has been lots more snow - with up to 60cm (two feet) reported in the Rockies, 80cm in the Alps and snowfall reported in almost every other ski region of the northern hemisphere; East and West coasts of North America, The Pyrenees, The Dolomites, the Tatras and Scandinavia... From 10 countries last weekend we are back down to 8 as France closes temporarily and the southern hemisphere's last survivor from a very problematic 2020 ski season, New Zealand, closed its final still-open area due to warm weather. With the pandemic on the rise in Europe, there was unwelcome news of fresk lockdowns this week. This doesn't really affect many ski areas, as most hadn't planned to open until the end of next month or December, but it's obviously a knock to confidence and it's not guaranteed things will be able to resume next month. But that's the objective! Cervinia closed again after two days but two other Italian areas, Sulden and Val Senales appear to have remained open so far. According to some reports sent into J2Ski - and local media reports they have the option to do so if regional authorities allow. In the Alpine Forecast A milder week ahead, for much of the Alps, before temperatures dip again and more snow arrives next week. 
More snow expected for Canada...
Europe Austria We are still at nine ski areas open in Austria but it's a slightly different nine! Hochkar, which had opened early a fortnight ago after some sizeable snowfalls is now closed again, whilst Kitzbuhel, thanks to snow-farming, has opened - initially at weekends only. As mentioned above there have been more big snowfalls so perhaps Hochkar will be re-opening. Otherwise, it's the country's eight glacier areas which continue to post great conditions after all the fresh snow. Following a sunny weekend, the start-of-week snow totals were 50cm at Solden, 75cm at Hintertux and 80cm at the Stubai. Most are opening more terrain each week, Hintertux now having more than 40km of runs open – the most in the world for a single ski area. France Conditions remain pretty good for October, even if no ski areas will now be open during November. Most of the country's resorts, including those down in the Pyrenees, posted some good snowfalls to start the week, many seeing snow down to resort level. Italy The ski season that was just getting started in Italy has come to an abrupt end for most of the country's ski areas – for four weeks at least – with the Italian government closing down ski areas and many other parts of Italian life where mass gatherings are possible. The closure came just after one of the country's leading resorts, Cervinia, had opened for winter, reporting great conditions with blue skies and fresh snow. There was some controversy on Saturday as some social media pics appeared to indicate social distancing wasn't happening, but the centre hit back saying staff worked hard to ensure it did. In the event though, they had to close again after the weekend. Some reports say they are looking at ways to re-open sooner than the 24th November national target date, but these are unconfirmed. However, the latest before we completed this report was a plan to re-open for race teams, not recreational skiers, from Thursday 29th October. Two other resorts were open, apparently to all – Val Senales and Trentino's Sulden, and they seem to be staying open so far. Their move is believed to be due to local government decisions trumping national directives where they are located. Passo Stelvio, which has a spring-autumn season and had been due to end its season this weekend anyway so doing so a week early as things were quietening down isn't a huge loss. A fifth Italian area, the Presena Glacier, had apparently been targeting this weekend for opening, but that's presumably on hold now. Switzerland Swiss ski centres have been reporting great snow conditions too and lots more fresh snow this week. Zermatt with 220cm up top has the deepest base in the world at present. Saas-Fee, Engelberg and Glacier 3000 at Les Diablerets are also open, as is the Diavolezza Glacier near St Moritz. Davos opened its skiing on the historic Parsenn area at the weekend, several weeks earlier than planned. Next weekend it is Andermatt's turn to join the list of open Swiss area with their freeride area on Gemsstock due to open. Verbier has confirmed that it will open this weekend, and thereafter for weekends in November. Laax has also hinted that they may open imminently. Scandinavia It's still six ski areas open in Scandinavia – two each for Norway, Finland and Sweden. Most have used snow farming to open although Norway's Galdhopiggen Glacier has been open all summer and this coming weekend is actually the end of a five-month season. It is colder and there's been natural snowfall in the region too. Levi and Ruka up in Lapland opened at the start of this month with white streaks of last season's snow spread back on the autumnal landscape but now everything is white and new and old snow indistinguishable. Pyrenees October 2020 will go down as one of the snowiest for quite a few years in the Pyrenees with yet another 'good dump' to start this week, the heaviest falls on Monday. So quite a few areas look to have a fairly decent 20-40cm of snow lying on their upper runs on both the French and Spanish sides and there have been videos posted of ski tourers making turns. Scotland Cold and wet but not very snowy so far in Scotland. That said, Cairngorm did post images of light snow cover on its highest slopes at the start of the week. More cold and wet weather is forecast, especially in the west, over the week ahead with a fine balance between the precipitation arriving as rain or snow on the mountains. Eastern Europe Ski areas in Eastern Europe appear to be still some way from opening. Resorts in the north and east have seen some snow on higher slopes from the recent cold weather but down in Bulgaria, it has remained largely dry and sunny so far. North America Canada Canada's ski season has got off to a great start with first Mount Norquay, the local ski hill at Banff, announcing it would make the earliest opening in its 95-year history at the weekend, then Lake Louise announcing on Wednesday it too will have its earliest ever opening, this Thursday 29th October. Consistent cold weather for snow-making and some regular October snowfall helped the decision making. It's been cold across Canada this week though with snow-making systems fired up at resorts from the Atlantic to Pacific Coasts. USA The ski season in the US got underway in the perhaps unlikely location of Wild Mountain, a small centre in the Midwest state of Minnesota last week. The area had had unusually early snowfall and low temps for snow-making. There's only a terrain park open so far really but the centre can fairly claim to be the first in North America to open. It was joined on Wednesday 28th October by Wolf Creek ski area in Colorado after the ski state, which had been suffering dry weather for months and is still being impacted by forest fires, saw a cold front bring snowfall to start the week – 22 inches of it in Wolf Creek's case. Other areas that usually open early like Arapahoe Basin and Loveland look like they'll be delayed into November now. The snow in the Rockies extended to Wyoming and Utah in the north to New Mexico in the south and cold weather on East and West Coasts allowed snow-making guns to fire up from Vermont to California – the start of the season is only a few weeks away now for many US areas. Keep the faith, and please bear with us as we try to keep abreast of a fast-moving situation! |
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Warren Miller's 'Future Retro' launches in the UK with new virtual platform
- Warren Miller's 71st feature film, Future Retro, will stream across the United Kingdom at 8pm on November 27, 2020 - Early bird ticket price of £12.00 (plus £1.48 booking fee) up until November 6, then £15.00 (plus £1.62 booking fee) - All ticket sales qualify for 3 months FREE subscription to ADVENTURE+ with access to watch the 3 previous Warren Miller Films; Timeless, Face of Winter, and Line of Descent - All ticket sales up until November 20 will qualify holders for a discount coupon code of 20% off non-sale items on www.hellyhansen.com and HH stores. (Valid only in Great Britain and Northern Ireland until 11th December 2020) In the first-ever digital release of a full-length Warren Miller feature film, Warren Miller Entertainment (WME) is excited to bring its audience the digital release of the brand's 71st film, Future Retro. In Future Retro, progressive, young female skiers Lexi duPont and Amie Engerbretson journey to the heart of deep-rooted ski culture in Switzerland, and freeskiers Baker Boyd and Victor Major rip the endless peaks of Iceland, using a 1,300-year-old farm as their base camp. Trio of world-class snowboarders Elena Hight, Danny Davis and Nick Russell travel to Antarctica and witness the impact of climate change. Legendary skiers Scot Schmidt and the Egan brothers show a new crop of athletes how they were responsible for the extreme-skiing movement of the '80s and '90s, and the next generation of skiers and riders show us what it means to challenge the status quo. From competitive triumph on the road to the podium at the World Cup in Killington to pushing boundaries of big-mountain skiing in Alaska, Future Retro will be that connection - past, present and future. 
As winter enthusiasts gear up to get outside this season, the health and wellness of the Warren Miller audience is considered a top priority. With this in mind, the world-renowned production company has opted to share the 2020 film via a premium, virtual film format in November 2020. Like any Warren Miller film premiere, these virtual events will be lively and will act as the official kick-off to winter. Consisting of behind-the-scenes interviews, sponsor shout-outs and vintage throwbacks. Viewers will be invited to transform their living room, garage, backyard, basement or beyond into the ultimate ski film premiere venue. Small, socially-safe watch parties are welcome for the livestreaming events, and attendees can stream or cast the film from their internet browser onto their smart TVs or streaming devices via their smartphones or desktop. Viewers will have access to the event for up to 48 hours, and each virtual ticket can be used on multiple household devices (up to 4) and include entry into the major prize draw. Josh Haskins, 20-year Warren Miller filmmaking veteran and producer, said: "Hopefully the convenience and accessibility of the virtual experience will reach a new and wider audience, who may not have been able to attend a live show for geographical or other reasons. And of course we're excited to provide the event atmosphere virtually to our dedicated long-time fans. They will just need to be their own bartenders during the show." David Robertson, from Action Outdoors, one of the sponsors of the UK movie screening, said: "We were delighted to sponsor the Warren Miller tour for last season 19/20, of course we are disappointed that the films can't be shown on the big screen, however we hope that the online version will whet our appetites to hopefully be back on the snow again very soon". The virtual tour will take place through the ADVENTURE+ streaming platform UK & Ireland show: Friday, Nov. 27, 8pm Tickets cost £15 (+£1.62 booking fee), early bird £12 (+£1.48 ) up until November 6 Tickets available here: http://bit.ly/future-retro-ticket warrenmiller.co.uk |
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J2Ski Snow Report 22nd October 2020
Passo Stelvio, Italy, yesterday morning, picture courtesy of Snoworks Ski Courses... It's snowing, lifts are turning, and skiers are skiing... The mountains are waiting for us... please stay safe and respect local advice on travel. We can't all go skiing just yet but we can start planning! The Snow Headlines - 22nd October - Les 2 Alpes and Tignes kick-off French 20-21 Ski Season. - North America's 2020-21 Season starts next week in Canada, possibly sooner in the US. - Cervinia opening for 20-21 Season this weekend. - Ski areas in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Austria opening thanks to snow-farming. - Southern Hemisphere's 2020 Season largely over but two NZ areas still open. - Davos and Gstaad open early for 2020-21 Season. ...and we're back with the resumption of the J2Ski weekly snow report ahead of the main 20-21 season! It's mixed news, of course, but it's not all bad! The good news is that more than 20 ski areas are already open for the ski season in eight countries - most of them in Europe. France and Sweden saw their first areas open for 20-21 just last weekend. This coming weekend the total number open should have grown to about 30. The even better news is that there's been a lot of autumn snowfall in the Alps, in much of Western North America and up in Scandinavia. Of course, the downside - with travel between countries still 'very difficult' if not impossible - is that we currently have that all-too-common, ironic scenario; great snow conditions... if you can get there! Most of the already open ski areas are glacier resorts in the Alps. Around 17 areas are open; half of them in Austria, the remainder in Italy, Switzerland and France. The season began at the latter on Saturday with Les 2 Alps and Tignes opening just as the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Tour was kicking off for 20-21 at Solden, Austria. Another five areas are open in Scandinavia, in Finland, Norway and Sweden, most of them with just a run or two skiable thanks to snow-farming, the snow from last season stockpiled, covered over through summer, then spread back out on the slope. However, there's also a glacier run still open here, having been open all summer. Over in North America, there's been up to 50cm (2inches) of snowfall in Western Canada, where the first centre is expected to open next week. Snow-making is also underway on high slopes in Colorado where ski areas aim to open before the end of October each autumn if they can. Finally, we mustn't forget the southern hemisphere's 2020 ski season is still underway – even though springtime is at its midway point there. Two resorts in New Zealand are still open on Mt Ruapehu and hoping to stay open to mid-November. The virus is currently suppressed in New Zealand and it remains the only country where skiers can hit the slopes without needing to wear masks at the base or social distance, lucky kiwis! In the Alpine Forecast The early snow keeps coming, with two separate bands of potentially heavy snow expected into the Alps over the next week or so and further un-settled weather beyond that. This coming weekend should see quite widespread falls to mid-altitude with colder temperatures bringing snow to lower levels next week. 
More snow expected...
Europe Austria The Austrian mountains are seeing a remarkably snowy October so far with some wonderful sunny weather in between surprisingly snowy days for this early in the autumn. As usual, eight glacier ski areas are open, the most for any one country in the world. Indeed the five in Tirol region alone is more than any other country. Ski areas already open include the Hintertux, Kitzsteinhorn, Pitztal and Stubai glaciers. Last weekend saw the 20-21 Alpine Skiing World Cup Tour begin in Solden with foggy weather impacting the upper slopes of the Rettenbach glacier on the Saturday for the women's race but great blue skies on Sunday for the men's, which continued into the start of this week. But people have not just been skiing on the glaciers, tourers have been taking advantage of the sunshine and exceptional early snow cover to ski slopes at resorts not yet open too. One ski area without a glacier, Hockkar in upper Austria, has also managed to open with thin cover and Kitzbuhel is next to open, with a few runs skiable at Rasterkogel from the weekend thanks to snow farming. France The French ski season got underway last Saturday. Tignes, one of the two areas that opened, used to aim to open at the end of September. Climate change has meant it has in fact been opening mid-October instead in recent years and this time it gave up any plan to open in September. Les 2 Alpes has also opened, but just for a fortnight initially, but will close again on November 1st for much of the month. This year conditions on French glaciers are better than they have been in recent Octobers. There was fresh snow and blue skies on Saturday. Both glaciers currently have 10-15km of runs open – about half the capacity. Italy Ski areas are starting to open in Italy too, although others are closing. Passo del Stelvio, one of the first areas to re-open after Italy's strict lockdown, is coming to the end of its usual season, at the end of this month, but another glacier area which just opened in mid-September, Val Senales, is really just getting started on 20-21 and opening more terrain each week. A third area, Sulden (not to be confused with Solden), which has runs up to 3250m opened with about a foot of natural snowfall at the weekend and is currently opening for weekends. A fourth Italian area, Cervinia, opens this Saturday (24th October) with three chairlifts, Plan Maison, Fornet and Bontadini set to run. Plateau Rosa with the Ventina piste to Cime Bianche as well as access to Zermatt's glacier skiing will also be open. Switzerland Switzerland has the second most areas open after Austria. Zermatt and Saas-Fee have been open since the summer and they've been joined by the Titlis glacier at Engelberg as well as Glacier 3000 near Gstaad and Les Diablerets which opened more than a month early at the start of the month after a metre of September snowfall gave excellent early-autumn conditions, still common on higher slopes across the Alps three weeks later after more snowfall. Next up are due to be the early-opening Parsenn ski area above Davos (opening two weeks earlier than planned due to great conditions) and the Diavolezza Glacier near St Moritz, opening this weekend to take the Swiss tally to six open so far. Scandinavia Ski areas are open already in Finland, Norway and Sweden and there has been widespread natural snowfall over the past week too, with coastal Voss, often one of the snowiest parts of the country, reporting 40cm of snowfall in recent days. In Norway, there's one summer glacier ski area still open, Galdhopiggen, but it is into the final full week of operations for 2020. The slopes of Kvitfjell near Lillehammer have opened though, or one slope at least, thanks to snow farming – last season's snow saved through summer and spread back out. The same technique has been used by Levi and Ruka in Finland to open at the start of this month, and Idre Fjall in Sweden to do so last weekend too. Pyrenees The Pyrenees have seen some great early snowfalls up high, like the Alps, and whilst no ski areas are open yet, or expected to open for at least another month, some intrepid ski tourers have been hiking up to get first turns in. Andorra and ski areas in the French and Spanish Pyrenees, including Baqueira Beret, all report good cover already up high. Scotland Cold weather and lots of precipitation for Scotland in recent days have turned hilltops white at times, although not yet enough to really say bases are beginning to build. Usually, centres don't open here until early December but if there is an unexpected dump some can open early – it's going back 20 years now but The Lecht has opened at Halloween one season at least. Eastern Europe Ski areas in Eastern Europe have seen snow on higher slopes in the past month – including Jasna in Slovakia and Bansko in Bulgaria, but temperatures are still fluctuating too much, meaning the snow melts away before a base builds for now at least and resorts aren't expected to start opening until the end of next month. North America Canada It's been snowy in Western Canada in recent weeks and it is staying cold and snowy, good news for the ski areas in Alberta planning to open for the last weekend of October, next week, or at the start of November. They could be the first in North America to open unless a US centre jumps in there first. Nakiska, the closest area to Calgary, is targeting October 30th with Banff's three area – Norquay Sunshine and Lake Louise as well as Marmot Basin near Jasper up north all likely to open at the start of November. USA There's been snow for most parts of the US and a quiet battle is being waged to see where will open first. So far there's no clear leader. Ski areas like Arapahoe Basin and Loveland, usual contenders, up high in Colorado have been snow-making but after a promising start things have warmed up a bit. It's been cold and snowy on the East Coast and Midwest so it's possible a centre there might be the first. For now, though, we're waiting to see. Southern Hemisphere The 2020 ski season is about over in the southern hemisphere with two of the four centres that were still open last weekend (Cardrona in New Zealand and Corralco in Chile) closing. Two New Zealand areas, both on Mt Ruapehu on the North Island are still open, but not together! By that we mean Whakapapa plans to open through to the end of the month then its neighbour Tūroa, which had its last official day of winter on Sunday, plans to reopen, conditions permitting, for the first half of November – potentially taking the area to only a week before summertime there. Stay safe and keep the faith, we'll be back with more news next week... |
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Warren Smith Ski Academy - Ski Technique Lab Tour - to be broadcast on Facebook Live
We've watched a few of these sessions, and they're well worth an hour or two of your time if you're looking for ways to improve your skiing - by addressing issues you may not be aware of. Recommended! 
The Warren Smith Ski Academy are going on tour with their well-regarded Ski Technique Lab sessions. Events are planned at venues set up across the UK (see below) in the next couple of months. Anyone who can't make the events, can watch the talks free of charge from their homes through Facebook Live. The talks can be accessed through the WSSA Facebook page: www.facebook.com/WarrenSmithSkiAcademy Now in their 5th year, the workshops include a lecture and explain the 3 Way Lineage (Ski Technique / Ski Biomechanics / Ski Equipment Precision) and why it's vital for ski technique development and unlocking classic blocks in skier movement patterns. 
. Ski Technique Lab - UK Tour dates October 2020 (and live broadcast times) Sessions run for approximately 1.5 hours Oct 15th, Altimus Outdoor - London Kensington High Street- 7pm (Sold out) Oct 16th, Finches Emporium - London - 7pm Oct 19th, Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports - Bristol - 7pm Oct 20th, Solutions 4 Feet - Bicester - 7pm Oct 21st, Ski Bartlett - London - 7pm Oct 22nd, Snowfit Revolutionz - Norwich - 7pm Oct 26th, Rivington Alpine - Bolton - 7pm Oct 27th, Glide & Slide - Otley - 7pm Oct 28th, Snowlab - Eastbourne - 7pm Oct 29th, Silksworth Sports Complex and Ski Centre - Sunderland - 7pm For anyone wishing to attend the events in person, the cost is £25 per person for the evening. Bookings can be made online here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/warren-smith-ski-academy-17635690693 Full refunds will be delivered on evenings that may be cancelled. 
warrensmith-skiacademy.com |
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J2Ski Snow Report 1st October 2020
Early snow dusting the trees in La Clusaz, France this week The Snow Headlines - 1st October - Glacier ski areas in the Alps opening for 2020 season as normal. - Heavy snowfall reported in the Alps and Pyrenees. - First turns claimed on random fresh snow in US Rockies in early September! - Swiss ski area opens more than a month early, after big September snowfall. - Most ski areas in Europe hope to open without limited numbers on lifts. - North American ski areas plan to limit numbers on lifts and on the mountain. - Just a dozen ski areas still open in the southern hemisphere for 2020; most in NZ. - Ski centres open or opening soon in Norway and Finland thanks to snow farming. - Austria and New Zealand operating the most open ski areas in the world. - First pre-season snowmaking achieved in the US. - New Zealand ski areas plan to operate to mid-November (late spring) to "give Kiwis more ski time." The final weekend of September brought heavy snowfall to slopes north and south of the equator but the southern hemisphere's 2020 season is definitely on the way out now with only a dozen or so areas still open into October, whilst in the northern hemisphere the past few weekends have seen two or three more glacier ski areas open in the Alps. So early October will see similar numbers of ski areas open north of the equator and south. That point in time has come a few weeks earlier than usual, partly because about half the ski areas in the southern hemisphere never opened for 2020, and some of those that did are closing a little earlier than usual. That's often a financial decision as the limits on operations imposed on ski areas that did open in Australia, New Zealand and South America made it difficult for them to break even at peak season, and almost impossible now things are quieter. An added issue was a warm winter in Australia and New Zealand, both reporting one of the warmest on record. It's not quite yet all over however, with two ski areas in New Zealand announcing plans to stay open to mid-November (late spring in the southern hemisphere), snow permitting, "to give kiwis more ski time in what's been a tough year." In the Alps, however, the start of the season seems surprisingly normal - but with masks and social distancing. Glacier ski areas are opening as usual so far – just a few small delays caused by thin snow cover in the earlier part of September rather than due to the pandemic. Some have announced that they hope to operate without limits on the numbers using lifts or on the mountain. 
A fair bit of snow inbound for the high mountains...
EUROPEAN ALPS, DOLOMITES and PYRENEES The 24th to 26th September saw significant snowfalls in many of Europe's mountainous regions, with snow down as low as 500 metres above sea level. Glacier areas in the Alps reported as much as 70cm of snowfall accumulating, and in the Pyrenees there was up to 25cm. We enter October with nine glacier areas open in the Alps, with the fresh snowfall having dramatically improved conditions after a warm summer; some areas reporting the snow lying only 20cm deep before it arrived. Austria Four glacier areas are open in Austria; Hintertux, Kaunertal, Pitztal and Solden. Four more glaciers – the Dachstein, Kizsteinhorn, Molltal and Stubai are all due to open for the first weekend of October (the Dachstein is already open to cross country skiers but will also open its downhill runs). Kitzbühel is due to open a few runs too, the first non-glacier area in the alps to open, using snow-farming to do so. It boasts of a 200 day season through to May each winter, pandemic permitting. The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup tour, this winter exclusively in Europe, is due to commence in Solden in October too, without spectators. France The 20-21 ski season is due to start in the French Alps at Tignes on October 10th. Les 2 Alpes plans to open for a fortnight over the latter half of October a week later. Italy Passo Stelvio and Val Senales have opened their glacier ski areas. Presena Glacier (by Passo Tonale) expects to open soon and Cervinia will also re-open at the end of the month but initially only (or mostly) with access to skiing on the Swiss side of the border. Switzerland Glaciers already open for 20-21 are Glacier 3000 (Les Diablerets), Saas-Fee and Zermatt. Glacier 3000 – near Gstaad and Les Diablerets – is a surprise. It was not due to open until November but after a foot of snow at the start of September and then 70cm in the recent storm it announced it was opening early, on the last Monday of September. The Titlis glacier above Engelberg is expecting to open this coming weekend, and lined up to open in the latter half of October is the Diavolezza Glacier near St Moritz, as well as Laax. Northern Europe Ski areas are beginning to open in the northern hemisphere where they have glaciers, altitude and where they have latitude ... that is a northerly latitude! There have been frosts and up to 25cm (10 inches) of fresh snowfall reported in parts of Finland, Norway and Sweden to end September and more ski areas are opening now to join the region's highest area, Galdhoppigen in Norway, which has been offering glacier skiing all summer and should stay open to the end of this month. The other two glacier areas in the region, Fonna and Stryn are now closed. Snow-farming is being used by resorts to open early. Norway's Kvitfjell, near the Olympic town of Lillehammer, opened a few runs using this technique of saving snow under cover from the previous winter through the season then spreading it back out on the slopes as temperatures cool. It's initially only open to race teams and season pass holders, however. Next up is due to be the two large Finnish ski areas on Levi and Ruka, opening on Friday, October 2nd, for their eight-month 2020-21 ski season (virus permitting) North America Ski areas have started announcing opening plans which are largely as normal in terms of dates (only Copper Mountain has announced it won't open until late November, two or three weeks later than usual, and little Badger Pass ski area in Yosemite National Park has said it will not operate at all, but that appears to be due to financial issues with the operator, rather than for pandemic reasons). However, they are announcing strict social-distancing on lifts (in contrast to Europe), limited numbers in resort and many other measures much stricter than the Alps. This could (as was seen when similar restrictions were put in place at Australian areas), mean days on the slopes sell out in advance, especially at peak periods, and a number of resorts including Canada's Sun Peaks have sold out of season passes which, they say, guarantee slope access. In terms of the weather, besides that heat, there have been promising signs. One was a sudden 60 degrees Fahrenheit temperature drop in 48 hours in early September which resulted in reported snowfalls of up to 45cm (18 inches) in the Colorado Rockies and first-turns of the season (kind of) being reported on "very wet snow" before it thawed in ski areas like Silverton and Wolf Creek. Snow-making was also fired up in Maine over on the East Coast when Sunday River resort reported a frosty night later in the month. How's it looking for October? Well currently nowhere is open and only one resort we've found has named an October opening date – Nakiska up in Calgary, the closest ski area to Calgary, which is targeting the final weekend of the month. There was snow to end September in the region upon higher runs so hopefully that's a good sign. High resorts (and usual early-openers) in Colorado like Arapahoe Basin and Loveland will be hoping for temperatures cold enough for them to start snow-making and open later this month. Better still a good early natural snowfall or two could help a lot. Asia There's nowhere open in Asia so far. Most Japanese areas tend to open in late November although a few small areas do use all-weather snow-making to open from later-October some years, mostly for the novelty value. Southern Hemisphere The Southern Hemisphere's 2020 season has definitely been one 'like no other' having operated (or not, in quite a few cases) through the height of the pandemic. As we start October just a dozen or so ski areas remain open, most in New Zealand although there's a few of the big names operating in other countries – Catedral near Bariloche in Argentina has the most lifts on the continent, Perisher in Australia the most in the southern hemisphere. Both had seemed likely to stay open for a week or so into October but Catedral suddenly announced it would close on the last Sunday of September whilst Perisher is ending their season on Sunday, October 4th. Here's a quick look back as there may be a lot to learn for the northern hemisphere from the past four months at ski areas south of the equator. Warm temperatures and poor snowfalls were a big factor of 2020 in Australia and New Zealand (it was a snowy winter – initially at least and ironically when all centres were closed – in the Andes). Africa saw the first ski area to open in the southern hemisphere in early June, Afriski in Lesotho, which had a full season (with face masks and social distancing) to the end of August, but did not get normal business levels as most skiers come from South Africa which remained in lockdown, hitting Afriski hard, presumably. Tiffindell, South Africa's resort, never opened making the country the first to lose a whole season due to the virus. In the Andes, there were the best snowfalls for 15 years in June-August leaving bases up to five metres deep but the pandemic meant ski areas couldn't begin to open until early August, and with very strict limits, the harshest in the ski world to date in fact. That led around three-quarters of areas to decide to stay closed, including famous areas like Portillo and Valle Nevado in Chile, as operations weren't viable. Half a dozen resorts did open and a few are still open to the start of October. Australia had a stop/start/stop/start season due to pandemic lockdowns. It also had few natural snowfalls - the combination of a limited number of resorts open for a limited period and limited people allowed on limited slopes meant many Aussies never got on the snow this winter. Perisher did have the most terrain open of anywhere in the world for much of August and September though, peaking at 80km – about 4/5 of its maximum. Australia did see some good snowfalls in September, including the last week of last month although Perisher was the only area still open to enjoy it. Finally, New Zealand hit the headlines as the first country to remove most virus restrictions a few days before the season began in June, meaning skiers could, for the first few months of winter at least, visit without masks or social distancing. There was a renewed light-lockdown in August-September, but it was lifted again for the last week of last month and hopefully the remainder of the season at those areas still open. The Remarkables is one saying they're aiming for 11th October at least whilst Turoa and Whakapapa on the north island have said they intend to stay open to mid-November if the weather allows – that's late spring in New Zealand. The main problems there were caused by a warm winter, some say the warmest for decades, and some areas deciding to limit opening due to limited numbers using facilities, they feared, with the border closed to the big Australian market. So there were days of good snowfall when centres that would normally be open weren't and days when ski areas couldn't cope with pent-up demand following closures and had to turn skiers away. Here's hoping winter 2021 will be much more like normal in the southern hemisphere. Season passes are already on sale... |
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Waiting and seeing... most likely to drive and self-cater but will see how things develop. Many operators (transfers, ski hire, schools, etc.) are offering free cancellation terms (some yet to be announced) which will help with a bit of pre-planning.
:cry: Sorry to hear that Nelly, but fingers crossed for you! |
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