Messages posted by : admin
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Hi, and welcome! Firstly, kudos for submitting your technique to scrutiny! 8)
You're clearly good enough to enjoy yourself in most conditions, and probably only need a couple of hours 1-on-1 private instruction for someone skilled to find and fix (or start you on the road to fixing) your weaknesses. I'm not qualified to advise, but flex and balance (or lack of) are good places to start for most of us and there are "dry land" drills you can do ahead of snow time. Warren Smith (whose Ski Academy is well-known to UK skiers - lots of technique clips online) does some pre-season technique labs where he zeroes in on flex and bio-mechanics, with some exercises to work out how much (or little) you're "flexing" (or bending, if you like!). If you've not seen it, you might find this useful :- Some of our forum regulars are (or have been) instructors, so hopefully one of them will come out of their summer hibernation shortly too... :lol: |
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Further to this...
Wolf Creek has confirmed weekend opening from this weekend! 8)
Details at WolfCreekSki.com
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Get a Coffee! Watch This! Pre-season stoke from Salomon...
Started by User in Ski Chatter, 3 Replies |
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Hi Mike... we shall eagerly await the GoPro footage of you skiing conditions like the video; do the bindings come with a "Big (Pillow) Snow" Guarantee? 8) |
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Get a Coffee! Watch This! Pre-season stoke from Salomon...
Started by User in Ski Chatter, 3 Replies |
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Ok, so this is to promote Salomon's Shift binding, but it's a great watch... take 5 and enjoy...
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J2Ski Snow Report 11th October 2018
Just a Piste Basher getting things ready at Ruka, Finland... J2Ski Snow Report 11th October 2018 Hello and welcome to our first Weekly Snow Report of the 2018/2019 northern hemisphere winter! We hope your summer's been good, and that your coming winter's going to be even better... October 11th Snow Headlines - Ruka in Finland open; first non-glacier resort in northern hemisphere to do so. - 8 Ski areas open in Austria from this weekend. - Brian Head, Utah, reports 60cm of snowfall at start of week. - Kitzbuhel opens this weekend; first non-glacier resort in the Alps to do so. - Tignes has announced partial opening from 17th October (for good skiers only!). - More snowfall and snowmaking underway in Colorado. - Engelberg delays planned Titlis glacier opening to 20th October. It's been snowing - on and off - for more than a month now in the Alps, North America and even in Eastern Europe, the Pyrenees, Scandinavia, Scotland, and Japan. Early autumn snow has been spotted everywhere. There's even the odd flurry still south of the equator where Spring has now sprung. But the snowfall is, as usual at this time of year, a mixed bag... Whilst a few areas have reported 50-60cm of snow over a few days, most have had very little and in some cases are struggling to open as it has been too warm. Several glaciers have postponed planned openings, have limited terrain, or have closed again after opening because it has been too warm. On the other hand some have managed to open against the odds and resorts with no glaciers - but stockpiled snow - managed to open last weekend and will do next regardless of the weather. First tracks have been reported in North America as resorts in Alberta and Utah received up to 60cm (two feet) of snow around the weekend. Nowhere is open yet but die-hards have been hiking up to ski it. The 2018 season is just about over in the southern hemisphere but five ski areas are open still in New Zealand and two in the Andes. In the Alpine Forecast It's generally clear and a little mild in The Alps right now, albeit with some snow expected for the highest peaks over the next couple of days. Temperatures are forecast to cool over the next week or two, and more un-settled conditions will bring further snow up high moving into next week. 
See where it's expected to snow this week...
EUROPEAN ALPS Austria Austria is dominating the northern hemisphere in terms of open ski areas as is usually the case until mid-November each autumn. Six of the country's glaciers, including five in Tirol region alone, are open and a seventh, the Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun, plans to open on Saturday. This weekend will also see Kitzbuhel open a few high slopes using snow saved from last winter in a big media event which attracts thousands of skiers. Although its old snow they claim its good snow as it has 'dried out' through the summer. Despite up to four snowfalls on high slopes in the Austrian Alps since late August it's not been all good news though. The Molltal glacier was closed for three weeks until last weekend as it had inadequate snow and most of the other glacier that would normally have opened in early September delayed doing so until the end of the month or early October. The Kitzsteinhorn delayed again last week having planned to open last weekend. But nonetheless eight Austrian ski areas should be open this weekend compared to probably five in the rest of the northern hemisphere combined! France Only Tignes is supposed to be open for autumn skiing in France, but alas it isn't just yet. The planned opening in September was postponed whilst awaiting fresh snowfall on the glacial ice. Tignes has since announced a partial opening from 17th October, but "for good skiers only". Les 2 Alpes is due to open for a week of ski testing and events in a fortnight's time but it's not yet clear what shape the glacier is in there (last year the event was cancelled). Italy Currently the choice in Italy is between Passo Stelvio, which is in the final weeks of its summer opening, and Val Senales which opened a month ago but until recently was limiting access to race teams who booked the slopes for training. The recent snowfall has allowed it to open a little more so now recreational skiers and boarders can visit too. Cervinia is due to re-open the weekend after next. Switzerland Swiss skiing has been limited to the glaciers of Saas Fee and Zermatt for the past three months or so since mid-July. That's about to change in the next few weeks although the scheduled opening of the Titlis glacier above Engelberg planned for this weekend has been put back to the 20th October, the same as the planned opening of the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz in Engadin. Scotland There's nowhere open for the season in Scotland yet although on the basis of previous years an end-of-October opening is possible if the snow arrives – The Lecht have managed it in the past. Fresh snow has however been reported over the past few weeks at most Scottish areas on higher slopes. Glencoe has purchase a Techno Alpin all-weather snowmaking machine after last winter's trial so should be able to open pretty much whenever it likes. Eastern Europe Nowhere is reported open in Eastern Europe as yet although all-weather snowmaking did allow some small areas in the Czech and Slovak republics to open in October last year. Temperatures have allowed for snowfall on the high Tatra mountains in recent weeks however. Pyrenees Ski areas in the Pyrenees are due to open in late November and early December ahead of public holidays on the Spanish side of the mountains at the start of the month. There has been snowfall reported in the area and pictured on social media over the past few weeks. Scandinavia Ruka became the first ski area in the northern hemisphere without a glacier to open for its 200 day season last Friday. It uses snow stockpiled from last season and spread back out on the slopes to form a ski run, with snowmaking on top when cold enough, there's been a bit of natural snowfall too. Geilo in Norway had done the same the past three years but a new operator of the ski lifts decided that this way of opening early wasn't the best way to spend their money, in their case, so they're not doing it this autumn. Other Scandinavian areas should start opening from mid -October. North America Canada Nowhere is open yet in Canada but there have been some big snowfalls, particularly in Alberta where Nakiska posted deep snow images at the weekend and reported up to 40cm accumulated. There were big accumulations at Banff too. These areas will be amongst the first in the country to start running their lifts again early next month so it bodes well. USA The annual battle to be the first to open for the season is underway in the USA. Fresh snowfalls on high slopes have actually been reported since late August and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, definitely one of the contenders to be the first, began snowmaking in late September, its earliest start date in a decade. Temperatures then warmed up a little but it has been cold and snowing lightly again in Colorado since the start of this week and Copper and Loveland (starting 10 days later than planned) have joined the snowmaking effort, raising hopes of an early opening, although no one has specified a date yet in the state. That's not the case in California where Mt Rose by Lake Tahoe has said it will open in a fortnight on 26th October, the only area in North America to state an October opening day for sure, they hope. Other contenders include the usually open Timberline snow field on Mt Hood in Oregon which can open year-round but is currently closed "awaiting snow." There's also the outside chance of an October opening for ski areas with powerful snowmaking systems and the will to open early on the east coast like Killington in Vermont, but so far conditions aren't cold enough. The biggest natural snowfalls so far have been reported in the northwest of the country with Brian Head in Southern Utah claiming an unofficial 60cm accumulation over the weekend. It was one of the areas that saw skiers hiking up to ski the powder in the last few days even though the lifts aren't operating yet. Southern Hemisphere The majority of the ski areas in the Andes, Australia and New Zealand that had not already ended their winter 2018 previously, did so at the end of the day last Sunday. However a few ski areas in New Zealand are remaining open for at least one more weekend as temperatures warm south of the equator and the days grow longer. Five resorts are currently reported open in New Zealand – Cardrona, The Remarkables and Mt Hutt on the South Island and Turoa and Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu on the North Island. All report temps of 3 degrees or higher but bases are still at least a metre with the Ruapehu resorts, often the last to stay open in the southern hemisphere, still with 3m plus bases – they've been the deepest south of the equator for much of 2018. In South America the largest ski area in the Andes, Cerro Catedral in Argentina, is still open and even reported a few centimetres of fresh snow on Tuesday. However there's limited end-of-season operations with only 10 runs open and 4 lifts (of 34) running. Nowhere is currently open in Chile but Nevados de Chillan in the south say they'll open for a final weekend of the season this weekend. The snow is lying 1.5 metres deep there. |
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Snow's never guaranteed until it's on the ground, of course, but if there's no snow in Tignes at Xmas then we'll all be in trouble... 8)
Worst case is that the runs down to Les Brevieres aren't open and you have to get the gondola or bus down, but Xmas week you've probably got as much chance of them shutting the runs due to too much snow... This is what Tignes (Lac and Lavachet) looked like by the first week of January last winter... Tignes - The Digging out begins! Pretty much everyone will be hoping for a little less snow at Xmas/New Year this time around. Last season was exceptional but no snow at Xmas would be even more so (for Tignes). |
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J2Ski’s Where To Ski or Snowboard In October 2018
Started by User in Snow Forecasts and Snow Reports |
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Where To Ski or Snowboard In October 2018
The Remarkables, NZ, have built up their snow park following a recent storm... J2Ski's Where To Ski or Snowboard In October 2018 Our last monthly round-up (before our weekly reports resume) tells of snow on the peaks in Europe and some of New Zealand's ski areas extending their seasons. October 1st Snow Headlines - First non-glacier ski area in Europe set to open for 18-19 season on October 5th. - Snowmaking underway in Colorado - 2018 ski season in the Andes ends early at many areas. - Kitzbuhel due to begin planned 200 day ski season on October 13th. - Tignes delays planned opening for 18-19 season whilst glacier awaits more snow. - Perisher, Coronet Peak and The Remarkables extend seasons. - Californian resort names October opening date. - Solden to host world cup opener later this month. - Les 2 Alpes to open for one week from the last weekend of October. The snow has started falling (at altitude) across the northern hemisphere with the first falls reported in the Alps, Western North America, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Japan and even Scotland. That said, despite early snowfalls high in the Alps, many of the glaciers are needing more snow after a long hot summer and Tignes decided to postpone its planned end-of-September opening. Another glacier area, the Kauntertal, did manage to open, but still only 4 of Austria's 8 glacier areas are open for the start of October when normally it would be 6 or 7. Things should return to normal over the next few weekends though and the first non-glacier areas at Ruka and Kitzbuhel will also open using snow 'farmed' and saved from last season. The season is winding down in the Southern Hemisphere with most ski areas in South America, some in Australia and New Zealand and both in Southern Africa all closed now. However it is still snowing in Australia, New Zealand and the Andes so there's been fresh snow for most of those still open. Most of them will be closed by the end of the first Sunday in October, and almost all by the end of the following weekend. A few (likely including the centres on Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand) will stay open later though and potentially in to November, as they start this month with 3m+ bases. In the Alpine Forecast The continued mild weather in The Alps will take a break this week, with temperatures dipping well below seasonal averages for a few days and bringing snow down to quite low levels across a wide area. It's unlikely to last long but will bring some wintry vistas to our favourite webcams until the end of the week at least. Only a handful of resorts are open, so check local conditions and opening times directly before travelling! 
See When and Where it's going to Snow...
Europe Austria Austria's eight glaciers are usually all open by the end of September but, despite some decent snowfalls in late August and early September, plus some smaller falls more recently, this year they're not quite ready. September started with the year-round Hintertux and 10-month-season Molltal glaciers open and they were joined by Pitztal and Kaunertal later in the month. However the Molltal glacier was forced to close "Whilst waiting fresh snow" in mid-September and Dachstein, Solden and the Stubai have delayed opening whilst the Kitzsteinhorn says it will open the first weekend in October. Most Austrian resorts have 'opening' gear test/Octoberfest type festivals planned the second weekend of the month (13/14th) so it's expected the remaining three will be open then, especially as Solden is due to host world Cup races at the end of October, the first of 18-19. Kitzbuhel also plans to open a small area that same weekend, using snow stored from last season, in an increasingly popular PR move back for it's third year. France Tignes was expected to open the 2018-19 ski season for France on the last weekend of September but announced that it did not have any snow cover on the glacier, and has delayed opening until there is some fresh snow. Next up is due to be Les 2 Alpes for its traditional autumn week from the 26th October but that was cancelled last year for lack of snow and they also need more fresh white stuff in the next four weeks. Italy Italy's autumn collection of open ski areas will begin to grow – from 2 to 3 - when Cervinia re-opens this month, initially for the weekend of 20-21st October and then daily from the following weekend. The two currently open resorts are Val Senales (Schnalstal) which opened last month and Passo Stelvio which has been open since May and usually closes its season towards the end of October or in early November so we are most likely in to the last month there. Both reported fresh snow in September Switzerland The same two Swiss areas that were open through August and September look likely to be the only two resorts open through October too. Year-round Zermatt, now with its recently re-opened Klein Matterhorn gondola and a reported 3m (10 foot) base as well as neighbour Saas Fee (180cm base) are the two glacier areas currently open. Both have had occasional fresh snowfalls up high in the past month. The country's other glacier areas don't look like opening until November at present. The exception may be the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz in the Engadin Valley which has set a tentative opening date of 20th October. Scandinavia There's almost always a ski area running its lifts somewhere in Scandinavia, the main season is long here and the rest of the year there are glacier areas open. In past autumns the summer ski area openings have crossed with early opening of resorts starting their seasons in late September thanks to snow farming. However as we start October that does not appear to be the case, so far as we can tell. The summer ski areas closed early, the last, Fonna, a month early in August, after a long warm summer, and Geilo, which used to open with snow farming in late September, has decided not to this winter, for economic reasons. So it looks like there's a short gap at present with northerly Ruka in Lapland due to open first, on the first Friday of the month (5th), again thanks to snow farming, spreading the snow on the slopes from last season and topping up with snowmaking when cold enough. It has been snowing too in the region however with several coverings reported through the latter half of September. North America The start of winter appears to be imminent in North America. Arapahoe Basin in Colorado started their earliest snowmaking in a decade in mid-September and Loveland have also got their cannons fired up. Meanwhile, in California, Mount Rose at Lake Tahoe has named October 26th as their opening day – conditions permitting. Most ski areas in the west of the continent have also been posting increasingly snowy looking images on their social media channels as the early autumn snowfalls begin at altitude. So one of the three areas mentioned above may open the 18-19 season in the next few weeks and possibly all three will be open by the end of the month. Other likely October openers include the snowfield on Mt Hood in Oregon at Timberline and possibly (based on its record for previous autumns) Killington in Vermont for first in the East. Southern Hemisphere Australia Aussie ski areas have had a great winter but are winding down at the start of October with several having closed on September 30th and pretty much all announcing they'll call it a day on the season by next Sunday, October 7th. New Zealand Kiwi ski centres look likely to be the ones to see out the 2018 southern hemisphere's ski season. Coronet Peak on the South Island has announced a one week extension to its season to October 7th after it says has been one of its best seasons. Neighbour The Remarkables has gone for a two week extension to the 14th. Base depths at Mt Ruapehu on the North Island have been the deepest south of the equator all season and remain at over 3m/10 feet as we enter October, meaning there's a chance they could open in to 'Snowvember' if the centre's operators decide that's worth doing. In any case they're likely to be the last open - until the 21st or 28th October. The rest of the country's ski areas will begin closing on the 7th and 14th of the month. South America Almost all South American ski areas were reported closed for the 2018 season as of 30th September. The big resorts including Portillo in Chile and Las Lenas in Argentina all closed earlier than planned in September following a dry and warm winter in the Andes - although ironically there were some big snowfalls in late September after they'd closed. That said, Valle Nevado announced, after first saying it would close on the 23rd September, that the ski slopes (if not the resort) would stay open a further fortnight to October 7th after fresh snowfall there. We'll be resuming our weekly reports in a couple of weeks time... Meanwhile, enjoy the webcams this week... |
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Here's a further update from Mont Blanc Natural Resort, in full :-
And some detail on the (planned) openings for other Chamonix valley ski areas :-
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