J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

A number of Italian ski areas say they'll be opening earlier than planned thanks to the recent heavy snowfalls.

Madonna di Campiglio report that they've had 40cm of snowfall and as a result plan to open their Grosté slopes on Saturday 18 November, all being well, rather than the planned 25th.

A resort statement also notes that consistent cold temperatures mean thy can run their snowmaking systems as well.

Madonna joins the Presena Glacier near Passo Tonale which had already announced it would also open on the 18th.

Currently the only ski area open in Italy is Sulden am Ortler which reported full winter conditions when it started its season at the weekend. The Passo Stelvio summer ski area which had opened in May ended its 2023 season last weekend.

Skiers can also now access the glacier ski area primarily above Zermatt from the Cervinia side yea-round.

It has been confirmed that there will be a second London Snow show next winter, although the organisers of both it and the Birmingham Show announced that the NEC event wouldn't run again in 2024.

The second staging on the new London Snow Show will take place at ExCel on the 19-20 October 2024.

The relaunched NEC show ran for three years, relaunching and seemingly proving popular during the first years of the pandemic.

2023 saw the relaunch of a London show, the first since 2023, with organisers Racoon Events running Birmingham then London shows on successive weekends branding the period 'National Snow Week'. The LISTEX trade events ran for three days between the two shows.

Eventually announced as a three day show, it eventually ran for two day at Excel. Previously the London show, most recently sponsored by The Telegraph, had been staged at a venue in Battersea Park, but the last incarnation had been in 2019.

The organisers of the more recent NEC shows and the new ExCel events, Racoon Media Group, describes itself as, "a dynamic, high-growth media business focused on enabling healthy and active lives." It also runs shows themed on cycling, equine and other activities as well as running the Snowbound Expo ski show in Boston, USA.

An American man who has managed to ski at least once every month for 41 years decided to ski indoors in September and October to keep his achievement going.

74 year old Gordon Garlock who lives in Portland, Oregon, travelled from the US West to east coasts in order to ski at the only indoor snow centre in North America, Big SNOW in New Jersey.

Mt Garlock usually manages to ski on his local ski hill of Mt. Hood, where he has worked at Timberline ski area for many years. The centre was formerly open for skiing every month of the year with a season running from October to early September but in recent years has closed in august and not opened until November. This year it did not have enough snow left to enable a September ski run to be completed.

It was the first time that Mr Garlock had skied indoors of in the Eastern US, staying in new Jersey to ski Big SNOW at the end of September and start of October in order to tick off both months, although there has now been snowfall on western US ski slopes.

[Picture updated as it snowed some more... Mr.Admin]

Recent heavy snowfalls and cold weather for snowmaking has led to more than 30 ski areas in eight northern hemisphere nations already opening for their 23-0-24 season and a dozen or so more, including many big names, plan to copen for theirs over the coming Thursday – Saturday, later this week.

In Austria all seven remaining glacier ski areas have opened, the latest, Molltal in Carinthia has, this morning (Sunday 5th November). The first non-glacier ski areas are expected to start opening in a fortnight's time with Obergurgl and Obertauern among them, however despite having one of the lowest ski areas of a major resort in the Alps, peaking at about 2,000m, Kitzbühel says it will open for the season this coming weekend. It used snow farming techniques to open in October in the years up to the pandemic.

In Switzerland, Davis is expected to open its Parsenn area at the weekend and Arosa should open too, while Verbier has posted images of slopes being groomed and says it will announce its opening day early in the week. The Glacier 3000 area near Gstaad said it had planned to open this weekend but has delayed to this coming Thursday 9th November due to heavy snowfall.

Across the Atlantic, Breckenridge, Mammoth and Vail are all expected to open on Friday with Marmor Basin at Jasper in Canada aiming for the day before.

About 30 ski areas have already opened for the 23-24 season, more than half of them in the last seven days. Theu include Keystone and Killington in the US; Lake Louise in Canada; Murren, St Moritz (Diavolezza Glacier), Saas Fee and Zermatt in Switzerland; Cervinia in Italy; Levi and Ruka in Finland and Kaprun and Solden in Austria. There's nowhere currently open in France.

It's been snowing ever more heavily at altitude and the snowline has moved down to the valley floor for the first time in many parts of the Alps.

The biggest accumulation yet reported is 60cm (2 feet) in 36 hours on the Stubai glacier near Innsbruck, but many others have reported 30-50cm above 2,500m on ski slopes in France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

More glacier areas including the Kitzsteinhorn near Kaprun, the first area in Salzburgerland to open for the 23-24 season and the Molltal in Carinthia, the first there, have announced they're opening this weekend. Verbier has also posted images of groomers smoothing their slopes ahead of what appears to be an imminent opening but ironically Glacier 3000 near Gstaad, which had planned to open on Saturday 4th, has announced it will delay to Wednesday 9th while it clears away excess snowfall and prepares slopes having previously delayed an October opening due to too little snow.

Despite all the snowfall, the warm period up to the latter half of October means that bases on glaciers are still bellow historic averages for early November, but making up lost ground.

There are now more than a dozen glacier areas open in Austria, Italy and Switzerland but still none in France, most have been closed in recent days though due to the current conditions which are expected to continue through the weekend. Chatel is pictured above on Friday 3rd November.

Significant snowfall has also been reported in other areas including the Pyrenees and the Tatra mountains in the Czech and Slovak Republics.

Both Selva

Don't think there's anywhere really open this season yet? Just a short run made with an all-weather snowmaking machine below Mt Fuji? ( facebook.com/YetiSnowtown ) Another month until most places open with some snow on high peaks but not much so far I thought, but maybe I am missing something and enough for some high touring?

The first ski area to open on the US East Coast is also the largest in the region. Killington Vermont says it will open today, Friday 3rd November to pass holders and from tomorrow, Friday 4th November, for everyone else.

The resort posted images of a snowless maintop just five days ago but then said snowmaking began on Halloween when there was also some natural snowfall as temperatures dropped. It also says this weekend is their earliest opening in four years.

The Vermont resort's K-1 Express Gondola will provide access to the open terrain in the North Ridge Area for skiing and snowboarding, but some walking is required to reach the small area initially open.

"Skiing and snowboarding will be on advanced terrain only, with a Woodward Mountain Park in the North Ridge area on Reason," a Killington spokesperson said.

The resort also notes they're currently busy making snow on their signature Superstar run from top to bottom. This usually stays open through to late spring.

Killington joins four other US ski areas in Colorado and the Midwest already open for the 23-24 season.