J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Two more Austrian ski areas have operated for the 2023 season today, joining Perisher, Mt Buller and Mt Baw Baw which opened some limited terrain last Saturday.

Falls Creek and Mt Hotham also opened last Saturday but without an skiing or boarding possible, but that has now changed after up to 40cm of snowfall this week and a drop in temperatures enabling snowmaking.

Falls Creek opened Halley's Comet Quad Chair, Towers Quad Chair and Mouse Trap Carpet this afternoon giving skiers and boarders access to the resort's Main Street, Highway 83, Nastar and Mouse Trap runs .

"It was a great first day of skiing and snowboarding for the 2023 season and we are thrilled to see people back on the slopes enjoying the terrain!" said Betony Pitcher, Falls Creek's Field Marketing Manager. "We are expecting more fresh snow over Sunday and Monday, with up to 40cm in the forecast."

Hotham's Opening Day today saw the Summit and Summit Trainer the first lifts to turn for the 2023 season there.

"It was all about the kids today and I'm really looking forward to watching them progress and have a lot of fun with their skiing and snowboarding during the season," said Hotham's Field Marketing Manager Emily Smith.

Perisher has opened more terrain following the recent snowfall however two other ski areas, Selwyn resort and Thredbo, have decided not to open their ski slopes yet until they get more snowfall.

Snowbird ski area it Utah, which re-opens for skiing and snowboarding this Saturday, 17th June, says the slopes will be open for this weekend only.

When the rest ended its 22-23 season on the final Monday of may, it had hoped its re-openings from mid-June would continue through to a 4th of July Independence day celebration weekend.

However the resort has discovered that despite receiving more than 800 inches (20.3 metres) of snowfall last winter, current temperatures mean that the snow is melting away too quickly.

"It might be June, but Snowbird Surf Season isn't over just yet. Snowbird is reopening its slopes for one last weekend of skiing and riding, June 17-18. We hoped to make it to July 4, but Mother Nature had other plans," a resort spokesperson confirmed.

Snowbird will operate their Tram to access the remaining snow slopes and the Little Cloud Express for skiing and riding on Saturday, June 17, and Sunday, June 18.
The Tram will operate for skiing and riding passengers from 9 am - 1 pm, with Little Cloud Express running until 2 pm. Only expert terrain will be available—there will be no beginner or intermediate terrain open.

"Due to rapid melting across the mountain, but specifically at lower elevations, open terrain will be limited to areas off Little Cloud Express. There will not be top-to-bottom skiing; guests will be asked to ride down the Tram at the end of their day," the resort spokesperson continued.

Part of the reason for the brief hiatus between winter season closure day last month and this weekend's re-opening was for scheduled tram maintenance and to install the resort's brand-new Tram rooftop balconies. This means that skiers and boarders will be able to travel up to the snow on the outside of the cabins in the open air.

The Beartooth Basin summer ski area in Wyoming to the north also closed due to snowmelt after a less than three week ski season earlier this week.

That leaves Mammoth Mountain and The Palisades in California and Timberline in Oregon expecting to stay open into July in the USA.

At least three more ski areas in New Zealand are expected to open for their 2023 seasons this weekend, joining the country's first-to-open, Mt Hutt as it enters its second week of the winter.

Cardrona, Coronet Peak and The Remarkables are all currently due to open, initially with limited terrain. Most have a mixture of natural and machine made snow with low temperatures over the last week allowing efficient snowmaking.

"The snow base is not quite as substantial as we would have loved, but there is certainly enough for those first of the season laps," a statement from Cardrona, which opens on Saturday, explained.

The current plan there is to have the learner's slope and McDougal's open for skiing and snowboarding along with a small rail set up in the mix. There'll also be a DJ set up at Noodle Bar to get the season started.

"The team have been training all week and working hard to get the place ready to go for opening on Saturday. We can't wait to have the lifts spinning again and to welcome everyone back to the Maunga for winter 2023!" said Laura Hedley, General Manager at Cardrona and Treble Cone ski areas.

Australian ski areas have reported nearly a foot of fresh snowfall in the past 24 hours.

The 2023 ski season started in the country last weekend but only three ski areas managed limited terrain openings after a mild start to June.

It now looks like the country's other ski areas will be opening imminently.

There's been about twice as much snowfall as had been forecast and its still snowing with the 10 day forecast also looking good for more cold weather and snow showers.

Those where the slopes haven't yet opened include Mt Hotham, which has reported 27cm (11") of fresh snowfall so far. Falls Creek reports 26cm. Thredbo, also yet to open runs, has just reported that "the mountain has turned white."

Perisher, the country's largest area, which did open as scheduled on Saturday, added more terrain, opening its V8 eight-seater chair to access more terrain.

Mt Buller and Mt Baw Baw were the other two resorts which opened at the weekend.

Austria's SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser - Brixental region, one of the largest in the country and the world, has clocked up two decades of being hydro-electricity powered.

Established in 1977 when the various ski areas it is made up of inter-connected, the region has grown to include 83 modern lifts, 270 km of piste and 80 mountain huts.

Along with hydroelectric power for all lifts and snowmaking since 2002, the SkiWelt, located in Tirol region, has made increasing investment in local solar energy in recent years, notably from 2008 on the "Sonnenlift" at SkiWelt Brixen, one of the first completely solar-powered lifts in the world. Photovoltaic units are also on the Jochlift and Zinsbergbahn lifts.

Since spring 2022, after the rebuilt valley and mountain stations, the Ellmau lift operations have also been powered with solar energy. With 350 kilowatts peak, in the future, the systems will be able to save up to 50 percent in external electricity and energy costs for the buildings.

Renewable energy is also used to heat SkiWelt's office buildings. In addition to pellets and biomass, we are increasingly using waste heat from lift systems, snow guns and transformers, often with the assistance of heat pumps connected to lifts including the Hexenwasserbahn at Söll, SkiWeltBahn at Brixen im Thale and the Alpenrosenbahn in Westendorf. Since 2008, the Choralpe mountain restaurant has been kept warm with waste heat from the SkiWeltbahn and Choralmbahn.

In other developments, the region's 65 snow groomers have been equipped with a GPS system for the last five years ago which allow snow depths to be measured and then, if necessary, fresh snow can be distributed precisely to where it is actually needed. This means that every year since 2017 the SkiWelt has saved around 25% of its water requirements, electricity and costs.

With travel to and from ski resorts the biggest contributor to climate change when it comes to a ski holiday, the SkiWelt's villages have a long history of making good decisions, even before CO2 emissions being a problem were known about.

More than 75 years ago, the site of the Hopfgarten cable car was deliberately situated right next to the train station. So SkiWelt Hopfgarten now has a train station, also called "Skilift", and it is only around 100m away from the Hopfgarten lift valley station.

More than 20 years ago, SkiWelt arranged for ski train services from Munich and Denmark to Brixental and right from the start was a pilot partner for the ÖBB Nightjet and the ÖBB Winter-Kombiticket. The Kombiticket includes return sleeper train tickets, seat reservation and 3, 4, 5 or 6 day ski pass. Thanks to the easy overnight journey and the associated early arrival at the accommodation by around 9am, guests gain an extra day on vacation, as well as helping the planet.

Since last winter guests can also now travel overnight from Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Amsterdam to SkiWelt locations and then, fully rested, head straight out on to the SkiWelt pistes first thing in the morning. Connections are provided to all SkiWelt resorts from Kufstein or Wörgl train stations. locations. There are also night connection services from Sweden, Denmark and London.

Vail Resorts, the world's largest ski resort operator with a global portfolio of 41 resorts, mostly in the US, is reported to be planning to pilot a new gear rental subscription program next season.

My Epic Gear will initially operate at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone resorts for a limited number of pass holders during the 2023/2024 ski season.

Projected to cost $50 for the full season, the My Epic Gear service will be an add-on to the company's highly-successful Epic Pass season pass scheme and allow participants to rent skis, snowboards and boots and have the gear delivered to them when and where needed, with slope-side pick-up and drop off included in the rate.

"We are investing in gear to be a part of the program, but life of that gear and our ability to use the gear in My Epic Gear and then also use it through our rental stores makes that also very attractive capital investment for us," said Vail Resorts CEO, Kirsten Lynch, who added, "And then the intention of My Epic Gear overall is, how do you create loyalty and higher retention within our owned and operated resort network, consistent with our subscription strategy approach?"

My Epic Gear will be backed by Vail's 200+ retail rental locations, distribution centres and its rental delivery business, Gear Valley Service.

Utah's Snowbird ski area is planning to re-open next weekend, June 17-18, for summer skiing and boarding, "conditions permitting".

The centre, which is usually the last to close in the famous ski state, is usually the last to close in Utah, in May or sometimes June.

This season is unusual though, first because of the vast winter snowfalls in Utah which saw Snowbird become one of the few resorts to post more than 800 inches (20.3 metres) of snowfall (an unusually big amount for any ski area anywhere any season), a lot of it still lying on the upper mountain.

It's also unusual as the centre has taken a three-week temporary break in its summer ski operation while they perform scheduled Tram maintenance.

Part of that down time is so that the resort can install the new 'balconies' on top of their new for 22-23 cabins, allowing those who want to ride up the mountain in the open air, on the cabin roof.

It's a new option for North America, although the former glacier ski area of Dachstein in Austria as well as Tignes in France, which also opens for summer skiing next weekend, use variants of the design on their cable cars.

Snowbird say that moving forward they'll assess operations on a weekend-to-weekend basis thereafter, including, hopefully, the 4 days of the Fourth of July weekend.

There are currently four ski areas still open in North America. Mammoth Mountain and The Palisades in California, and the summer ski centres of the Palmer snowfield at Timberline in Oregon and Beartooth Basin on the Wyoming/Montana border.

The 2023 ski season has gotten underway in Australia, Chile and New Zealand.

It's believed Mt Hutt in New Zealand, pictured above this morning, was the first to open due to the country's geographical location, even though it opened 24 hours later than originally hoped.

Perisher, Mt Buller (below) and Mt Baw Baw in Australia also opened and Chile's La Parva is also reported to be open.

It means ski lifts are currently turning on six continents, with ski runs also operational in Europe, North America and at one centre in Japan.

After mild weather at the start of June in Australia and New Zealand terrain open so far is limited. However colder weather has arrived and there's more snowfall expected as dozens more resorts open over the coming week.