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You're not... although the hot summer's been keeping people quiet. Nothing booked for us yet but almost certainly a pre-Xmas short-break chasing fresh, once the snow starts falling, a few more quickies and probably a longer Easter trip (pre-Easter as Easter Sunday is 21st April) if conditions are anything like last winter... :wink: |
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Where To Ski or Snowboard In August 2018
Cardrona, New Zealand, looking good yesterday... J2Ski's Where To Ski or Snowboard In August 2018 It's just about peak season in the southern hemisphere, with fresh snow in Australia and New Zealand. August's Snow Headlines - Southern hemisphere 2018 ski season in full swing with all areas now open. - Zermatt glacier in Switzerland reports deepest snow base in world (of an open area). - New Zealand reports biggest snowfalls and deepest bases in southern hemisphere. - Up to 50cm of snow forecast for Australian resorts. - Fewer than a dozen ski areas open in August in the northern Hemisphere. - Second of three Norwegian summer ski glaciers ends season early due to hot weather. Winter 2018 is now in full swing in the southern hemisphere with Temple Basin in New Zealand probably the last area to open south of the equator this year as recently as July 24th. Most of the 100 or so areas south of the equator have fairly good snow cover with New Zealand seeing the most snowfall in July, but there have been some fresh snowfalls in the Andes and Australia too. Snow depths are not really spectacular as yet, with most at or below the metre mark and the deepest around 1.8 metres, but the majority now have all or most of their runs open and lifts operating. In the northern hemisphere there's just around 100km of lift served terrain open in total at nine areas in six countries. It's been hot of course but, as we enter August, the glacier ski areas which were forced to close a year ago due to the heat melting snow cover from the glacial ice are still reporting healthy snow depths, so hopefully they'll see it through this summer. The combination of greater snowfall last winter and not-quite-so-hot temperatures up high so far should help. Unfortunately that's not the case up in Scandinavia where it's unusually hot and two of the three glacier areas in Norway have been forced to shut early. Almost everywhere is now closed in North America after Whistler ended its short summer skiing season last month. Unusually though July did see some snow storms on the continent with Big White in BC, Canada among those reporting a summer snow covering, although the ski runs didn't re-open. In the Alpine Forecast Remaining warm in The Alps, albeit with the possibility of (very) high altitude snow at times. Only a few resorts are open, so check local conditions and opening times directly before travelling! 
Snow in the forecast for next week...
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE Australia Australia is continuing to enjoy one of its best starts to the ski season in years with healthy snow depths as we enter August at most areas and pretty much everything open. There were not any really big snowfalls in July as there were in May and June but there were some moderate top ups and bases kept building. The month has ended with 10-20cm accumulations though which may build to totals of as much as 50cm by the first weekend of August. So much so that most of the country's leading areas now have more than 1m bases (A healthy depth base mark in Australia) with Thredbo and Perisher at more than 1.2m and Perisher reporting more than 100 runs open. New Zealand Ski areas in New Zealand have seen an often-snowy July and are now reporting the deepest snow depths in the southern hemisphere, with most of the country's ski areas now past the 1m mark and Turoa and Temple Basin approaching the 2m mark. It has been snowy for much of the month with Cardrona reporting 50cm of fresh snow over the last week of July. Most of the country's ski areas now have all lifts operating and most runs open. Argentina Argentina's season is also in full swing with the resort of Caviahue boasting the deepest snow in south America at present with a 1.7m base. Snowfall has been varied across the country through July but the South American continent's biggest ski area, Catedral, did see one of the biggest snowfalls of the past month with a 40cm accumulation on 22nd July. However it still has one of the thinnest bases this season so far in South America at 70cm. Again most of the country's ski lifts are currently operating and most runs open. Chile It has been a mixed month for snowfall in Chile with some resorts including Portillo and Valle Nevado reporting big snowfalls at times, but so far snow cover can hardly be described as 'epic'. Most areas, including Portillo, are only on around 50cm bases with Valle Nevado the deepest at a metre. Despite this temperatures have been generally low and most lifts are turning and almost all the country's groomed terrain open. Portillo recently opened their signature Lake run. Southern Africa August marks the last month of the three-month ski season in southern Africa as Afriski in Lesotho and Tiffindell in South Africa give up on their efforts to battle nature with snowmaking – but both are open to the end of the month. It has been a good ski season so far with several decent natural snowfalls in June and July and low temps for snowmaking so both enter August with pretty much everything open. NORTHERN HEMISPHERE The Alps Austria Only two ski areas are currently open in Austria since the Kitzsteinhorn finished its 10 month ski season at the end of July. The Molltal Glacier, which has an even longer 11 month season and has already begun its 2018-19 run, and the year-round Hintertux ski area, are open. Snow depths are pretty good for August at 2.6m on the Molltal (second deepest in the world at present behind Zermatt) and 1.4m at Hintertux. France Val d'Isere closed after six weeks of summer skiing in June and July month leaving Tignes and Les 2 Alpes the two remaining French glacier ski options for August. Even at 3000m, temperatures have been very warm but morning glacier skiing is continuing with Tignes posting a 130cm base, Les 2 Alpes 1.5m. The latter is open right through the month to September 1st but Tignes says summer skiing will end 4 weeks earlier than usual, this first Sunday of the month (Aug 5th), perhaps due to renovations of the Grande Motte cable car. Italy Italy's only open ski area at present is Passo Stelvio which has 12km of runs open. This time last year the centre was forced to close as all the snow had melted off the glacier but despite the warmth, it still has a reported 50-200cm base. Some fresh snow was reported falling high in the Dolomites in the last week of July in between the hot weather spells. Switzerland Saas Fee joined year-round Zermatt last month, doubling the choice of ski areas open in Switzerland. At Saas Fee snow depth is 2 metres with 20km of runs open between 7am and noon, plus the area's summer terrain park. Zermatt reports 12km of runs skiable, served by 14 lifts and a 3m snow depth. Scandinavia Galdhoppigen ski area, one of Norway's three summer ski areas, closed on July 22nd due to the snow cover largely melting away in Scandinavia's exceptionally warm summer. It had been due to stay open to November. It joins a second of the three, the Stryn glacier, which only managed to open for a few weeks in May-June for the same reason. The third area, Fonna, is still open though and reports a 2 metre base. Galdhoppigen says it may re-open in early autumn if things cool down as it has stockpiled a large amount of snow under cover ready to spread out on the slope when temperatures stay lower. North America With Beartooth Basin in Montana and Whistler Blackcomb both ending their summer skiing in the first half of last month, we're down to two summer ski options in the US, with nothing currently open in Canada. The Palmer snowfield above Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood in Oregon should however stay open in to August. They report afternoon temps in the high double figures Celcius but say all runs and parks are open and operating 7 days a week. Elsewhere at Copper Mountain in Colorado the Woodward at Copper on-snow camp is currently underway at Pipeline Park, a lift-served terrain park which the resort is able to keep maintained throughout the summer. |
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Where To Ski or Snowboard In July 2018
The Remarkables, NZ, has clocked up a few powder days already! With a snowy start to the season in Australia, New Zealand and South America, here's our guide to where you can ski this month. July's Snow Headlines - Summer glacier skiing underway in the Alps, Norway, BC, Oregon and Montana. - Big snowfall forecast for the Andes for first few days of July. - Significant summer snowfall in Salzburgerland. - Biggest early season snowfall in 18 years claimed in Australia. - Saas Fee opening for its 9 month ski season in July. - Early July snow forecast for the Andes and southern Africa. Winter 2018 has got off to a pretty good start in most areas of the southern hemisphere with some significant snowfalls for Australia ("the best start to the season for 18 years"), New Zealand and ski areas in the Andes - where another big snowfall is forecast for the first few days of July. Southern Africa too had a good snowfall (by their usually marginal snow cover standards) just before the season started at the start of June and more snow is in the forecast here too over the first few days of July. The summer glacier season is also gathering pace in the European Alps and Norway with a total of 10 areas open. Although there are now only a third as many areas opening in July and August as there were 20 years ago, this summer, unlike last, sees most that are still open having good bases after the big winter snowfalls. There was even fresh snow in the Austrian Alps in the last week of June - the start of summer. In North America there's been June snowfall in British Columbia, Oregon and Newfoundland and three ski areas are open for the start of July. In the Alpine Forecast It's warm in The Alps, and likely to stay around seasonal averages for the next couple of weeks at least. There is a possibility of high altitude snow early next week to keep some of the glaciers fresh. Only a few resorts are open, so check local conditions and opening times directly before travelling! 
Snow in the forecast for next week...
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE Australia Australian ski areas are in pretty good shape as we move in to the main season in July. After a season start three weeks ago with little or no natural snow cover remaining from the mid-May snowfalls, heavy snow in mid-June transformed conditions for the snowiest start to the season in 18 years. There was further light snowfall in the last few days of June and bases are up at 50-80cm across the country – pretty good for this early in the season. Most resorts are running 50-75% of lifts and have a similar percentage of their total terrain open. New Zealand Several ski areas in New Zealand started their 2018 seasons early last month due to the good conditions with heavy snow storms in late May and early June. That hasn't really stopped much through the past month and whilst ski areas have sometimes been stormbound and forced to close, there have also been multiple powder days. Most of new Zealand's ski areas are now open for their 2018 ski seasons with the biggest, Turoa on the North Island, one of the latest, opening on the last weekend of June and reporting the deepest base in the southern hemisphere so far this winter at 1.4 metres. Most other Kiwi ski areas have good early-season bases too - at 50-100cm in most cases. Argentina Argentina saw good snowfall at the start of June, before the season began, so the snow was lying deep when resorts like Catedral and Las Lenas opened a few weeks ago – 50-100cm deep in fact. There hasn't been a lot of fresh snow since and the snow is now hard packed but heavy snow is forecast for the first few days of July. Chile The 2018 season has started well in Chile and there's plenty more fresh snow falling as we move in to July. Most of the country's ski areas opened in mid-June and bases are currently in the 50-100cm bracket as we start the month, which is only the second or third week of the season for many. Portillo is reporting the deepest base in the country at a metre. The current snow storm is expected to bring 30-60cm of new snow by the start of the week (July 2nd) to most Chilean ski areas, so it's powder all the way. Southern Africa After the good snowfalls at the end of May, June was a fairly dry month in southern Africa, however both South Africa's Tiffindell and Afriski in Lesotho have been able to keep most or all of their terrain open with snowmaking. The good news is a cold weather front in the region at the start of July is forecast to deposit up to 15cm of the natural stuff across the region by Monday 2nd July. NORTHERN HEMISPHERE The Alps We start July with the same number of ski areas open in the Alps as at the start of June; eight, but with a few different resorts involved! Three French areas have opened and one in Italy, whilst several Austrian areas have closed. The number should stay at eight again for the start of August, but again a slightly different eight with two more due to close and two due to open this month. Austria In Austria the Kaunertal and Stubai glaciers closed in June after their 8-9 month season but the Kitzsteinhorn remains open for three more week to July 22nd and it was here that reported 20cm of fresh snow in the last week of June (the first of summer). The Hintertux glacier also remains open year-round and the Molltal glacier re-opened in June so there's a choice of three areas open at the start of the month in Austria. France In France, where there were no areas open a month ago, Val d'Isere, Tignes and Les 2 Alpes are all now open. The latter two will stay open through July but Val d'Isere, which had been the first to open, will also be the first to close on July 13th. Les 2 Alpes hosted the US ski team for training just before it opened for the season on June 23rd. Italy Cervinia has re-opened on the last weekend of June after closing in late May, it joins Passo Stelvio as one of the two choices there. Switzerland Saas Fee is scheduled to re-open for its long 2018-19 season (through to April next year) on July 15th. Scandinavia It's not really a vintage year in Norway where the Stryn glacier has had one of its shortest ever summer ski seasons, closing after just a few weeks in early June (rather than mid-July as planned). Riksgransen in Sweden also failed to open for midsummer skiing, both due to the warm temperatures and resulting snow melt. However the Folgefonn and Galdhoppigen ski areas in Norway are open through July and have 1.3-4m bases reported so should be good to last through the summer. North America There are three ski areas open in Canada and the US as we start July but only one will (hopefully) still be open as the month ends. The Beartooth Basin summer ski area in Montana which opened last month will complete a five week summer season on July 8th and Whistler Blackcomb which opened a week later will also close a week later after five weeks in operation there on July 15th. The Timberline snowfield on Mt Hood in Oregon should however stay open in to August. |
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Where To Ski or Snowboard In June 2018
Early opening at New Zealand's Manganui! (picture from Stratford Mountain Club) With 3 weeks to go until the Summer Solstice, here's our guide to where you can ski this month. June's Snow Headlines - Southern Hemisphere ski season started May 31st as Kiwi resorts opened early. - Val d'Isere re-opens winter slopes for summer skiing on (for first time ever). - Riksgransen cancels Midsummer ski and closes before June due to lack of snow. - Deep snow packs on glaciers as ski areas start opening for summer skiing. - All three Norwegian glaciers open by first weekend in June. - Three New Zealand resorts open first weekend in June (two earlier than planned) - Three French summer glacier areas to open by last weekend in June. - Skiing under the midnight sun in Sweden. The end of May marks a low point in the global ski calendar when less than 20 ski areas are still open in the northern hemisphere from their ski season, but the southern hemisphere's ski season hasn't really started, nor has the main two months of summer skiing in the Alps. That all changes from the first week of June as those summer ski areas do start to re-open as do the first southern hemisphere ski areas for their 2018 season. There's also a tiny sub-set of six or seven northern hemisphere areas which only open in the late spring and summer, being 'snowed in' until about now – they're opening too. The good news is that May was a snowy month for many mountainous areas in both hemispheres. There was heavy snowfall in mid-May in the Alps – providing powder alarms for the few glacier areas still open and building on still deep glacier bases from the very snowy past winter. In the southern hemisphere the last week of May has seen heavy snow in the Andes and New Zealand with some snow in southern Africa too, there's also been fresh snow in southern Africa and, earlier in May, Australia. In the Forecast Temperatures a little higher than average in the European Alps for the next week, but with significant precipitation also forecast which will bring snow to the highest peaks. Only a handful of resorts are open, so check local conditions and opening times directly before travelling! 
Snow coming into the forecast for next week in NZ...
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE The Alps We are down to 7 ski areas open in the Alps as we start June, five of them in Austria. Two of the Austrian areas (Kaunertal and Stubai glaciers) are due to close after the first weekend of the month, but four European summer ski areas should re-open by the end of the month, meaning we should have a net-gain, up to nine choices, by the start of July! So, where's still open from, winter 17-18? After Engelberg closed on the last weekend of May, only Zermatt is open in Switzerland until Saas-Fee re-opens next month. In Italy, Cervinia closed last weekend too, but the road up to Passo Stelvio was cleared so it has just re-opened, and indeed Cervinia will re-open for summer skiing at the end of June too! In Austria the year-round Dachstein and Hintetrtux glaciers are open and the Kitzsteinhorn is also supposed to stay open through to July. France, where everywhere is currently closed, has a new development this year with Val d'Isere re-opening some of its winter runs - accessed by the funitel - for the first time ever, due to receiving half as much snow again as its average annual total, last winter. The lifts will run in the mornings only from Sunday June 3rd for a fortnight when its regular glacier ski season starts. The country's other two glacier destinations, Les 2 Alpes and Tignes, will re-open at the end of the month. Scandinavia It's summer ski time in Scandinavia where all four of the region's areas are open as we enter June, but perhaps only two will be by the end of the month. Norway's three glacier areas – Galdhoppigen, Folgerfonn and Stryn are all open, Stryn opening a week early. However whilst the other two areas report 3m+ bases, Stryn say they expect their ski season (which had been due to run to mid-July) will instead be "short and brutal" due to very warm temperatures which even hit 15C at night in May. Riksgransen, famous for offering skiing under the midnight sun through to midsummer (21st June) hasn't made it this season. There was only off piste terrain open at the top of the slopes with less than 50cm of snow cover at the end of May and in the end they decided to call it a day on their 2018 season on the last Sunday of last month. North America There are four ski areas open in the US and none in Canada as we enter June. Squaw Valley ended its season on the last Monday of May leaving Mammoth the only area still open in California. It has recently said it is extending its season to June 17th. In Oregon Mt Bachelor has also closed, leaving Timberline the only resort open there. In Colorado, Arapahoe Bain will be open at least the first weekend of June and on the East Coast. The only summer-only ski area in the US, Beartooth Basin (formerly Red Lodge Summer Camp) located on the border of Montana and Wyoming, had aimed to open for the Memorial Day long holiday weekend in the US at the end of may but has delayed a week to open June 2nd as there's so much snow to dig out from the lifts, they say. North of the border, Whistler Blackcomb is due to re-open for summer glacier skiing from 9 June. Asia Japan's Gassan ski area is open through June. It's another that only opens in the late spring and early summer once access roads have been cleared and lifts dug out. SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE Australia The Australian ski season will begin at almost all of the country's ski areas on 9th June, although Perisher will open a day earlier on the 8th. Ski areas traditionally open for the ski season that weekend, whether there's any snow or not, as it's a long weekend to celebrate the Queen's birthday. This year things are looking fairly good. There were some big snowfalls in mid-May which brought up to 50cm of fresh snow, although much of that subsequently melted away. Two of the country's ski areas do have all weather snow-making (Mt Baw Baw and Mount Buller) so they should be able to open at least some terrain, whatever the weather, either on the 9th/10th or possibly sooner. New Zealand The build up to the start of New Zealand's ski season has been mostly good so far with a cold and snowy end to May building bases up to the half metre mark (90cm reported in one case) at the areas set to open first in the country. The main opening is from Friday 8th June (Mt Hutt) and Saturday 9th (Cardrona and The Remarkables) with Coronet Peak and Turoa set to join the party a week later on the 16th. However there has been so much snow that Cardrona and Coronet Peak have decided to open for 'preview weekends' on 2-3 June (Coronet Peak on Saturday 2nd only). But they were then pipped by the small Manganui Ski Area run by the Stratford Mountain Club on the North Island which opened on May 31st – believed to be the first in the southern hemisphere to begin 2018 operations. In addition, the Happy Valley snow play area at Mt Ruapehu will also be open on the 2nd as it has all weather snowmaking to cover a small snow fun area of slopes whatever the weather. So these three areas look set to be first in southern hemisphere to open for winter 2018. South America Most ski areas in South America don't schedule their ski season starts until mid-June, so a week after Australia and several in New Zealand, but it's equally common for resorts in Argentina or Chile to open early for the season if there's a good pre-season snow dump. And that's exactly what has happened at many areas (the snowfall part at least) in the last few days of May with Argentina's Las Lenas being one posting very snowy images. Virtually all of Argentina and Chile's ski areas currently have Saturday, June 16th as their projected opening day. Southern Africa Both Afriski at Lesotho and Tiffindell in South Africa expect to open in the first week of June. Both are often reliant on snowmaking to do so but here too there has been snow in May, most recently a good snowfall on May 29-30, raising hopes for a snowy winter. |
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WIN Skis or a Snowboard by taking part in the SCGB Snowsports Survey!
Started by User in Ski Deals and Competitions, 4 Replies |
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We've been told that the survey/competition will close at midnight tonight - 23rd May, so you've got just half a day left!
Go here for the survey (before midnight) :- http://surveys.spikeinsight.co.uk/s3/J2Ski18 |
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WIN Skis or a Snowboard by taking part in the SCGB Snowsports Survey!
Started by User in Ski Deals and Competitions, 4 Replies |
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You've already won our admiration Dave... but no prizes for that today! Good luck with the skis though. |
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Are the websites you use secure? (and why does it matter?)
With the GDPR deadline looming, and online security and privacy in the news, it's time to take our regular look at the security (or otherwise!) of the top skiing websites. 
Summary Ranked from most secure, to least (i.e. NOT secure), the most popular Ski Websites (with their security grading) are :- - A+ J2Ski at https://www.j2ski.com/ 8) (yes, we care about your data!) - A Crystal Ski at https://www.crystalski.co.uk/ - A Iglu at https://www.igluski.com/ - A OnTheSnow at https://www.onthesnow.com/ - A Snow-Forecast at https://www.snow-forecast.com/ - A Snowheads at https://snowheads.com/ (from November 2018 ) - B Ski Solutions at https://www.skisolutions.com/ - C SkiClub GB at https://www.skiclub.co.uk/ Why Does It Matter? If a website is not secure, then your personal information - including your password and any details you enter or store on that website - is at risk. And if the connection is not secure (does not use https, or is mis-configured) your data is at risk not just from someone hacking that website, but every time you browse it. An insecure website gets sent your data (and your password) in plain text all the way from your browser (your PC or phone). Your data can be stolen, relatively easily, by anyone able to get between you and that website... How likely is that - really? If you use a public Wifi service (or a poorly secured private one!) to login to an insecure website, then anyone else using that Wifi may be able (with the right software) to see your password. And if your name, email address, passport details, whatevever are on that website then they can help themselves to those too. Not wishing to make you paranoid, but see Mr. Scumbag sitting in the corner of the coffee shop with his laptop? Yeah, him; he's just grabbed your password, logged in to get your email, name and address and right now he's filling out a loan application in your name... and if you used the same password on your Amazon account... he's having a party! And if one of the administrators of your favourite insecure website is in the coffee shop, Mr. Scumbag just got his password too; and now he's logged in and is scooping up everyone's data. GDPR The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) comes into force on the 25th May and "requires personal data to be processed in a manner that ensures its security". Insecure websites will clearly fail this requirement and not be GDPR-compliant. How Can I Tell if my connection to a Website is Secure? Check the icon or text on your browser's address bar, next to the website address. A green padlock and/or the word "Secure" and you're good to go; an exclamation mark and/or the phrase "Not Secure" and you're not! This Year's Results Once again, we've used the comprehensive tool at SSL Labs to check these websites. You can run these tests yourself, or check any other website you use, by going to https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/  Top Of The Class
Best of the bunch, with secure connections and a secure up-to-date technology platform, scoring A or A+ are :-
 Could do Better
Secure, but not as secure as they could be (outdated, badly configured or compromised platform), scoring B or C are :-
If there are any other Ski Websites you'd like to see added to this list (i.e. the ones we test each year) then let us know with a reply here... Keep it secret, keep it safe... Note :- Updated November 2018 to show that our friends at Snowheads are now secure! |
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WIN Skis or a Snowboard by taking part in the SCGB Snowsports Survey!
Started by User in Ski Deals and Competitions, 4 Replies |
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Just bumping this! Just 3 more days to go; complete the Ski Club's survey to be in with a chance of winning Salomon Skis (or a Snowboard)...
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