Messages posted by : admin
Ryding 9th in Olympic Slalom
Started by User in Winter Olympics & Paralympics - Pyeongchang 2018, 3 Replies |
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Apologies for any confusion there Mr.Beep; I think our news man has been up late, watching it live, too many nights in a row... 8)
I've amended it with the result, which was Gold to Andre Myhrer, Silver to Ramon Zenhaeusern and Bronze to Michael Matt. |
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Ah right, this all makes perfect sense now...
...due to the amount of beer being cooled on balconies... :lol: |
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Something to do with the amount of snow on the roof I'd imagine! I'll ask...
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Stand Out Moments so far - what are yours?
Started by User in Winter Olympics & Paralympics - Pyeongchang 2018, 7 Replies |
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Really enjoying the games so far, but the moments that have disrupted the usual oasis of tranquillity in our lounge are...
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Izzy Atkin wins Great Britain's first ever skiing Winter Olympics medal
Started by User in Winter Olympics & Paralympics - Pyeongchang 2018, 6 Replies |
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Nothing like the smell of controversy in the morning... 8)
Anyway, moving on, the most important takeaways here just have to be...
...and...
That is just brilliant! And, from Claire Balding's comments on the coverage yesterday, she's not alone! The addition of Boarder and Ski Cross, the Slope-style and Big Air in recent years have transformed the Winter Olympics into a must-watch in our household. My 11-year-old is really disappointed to be back at school today as he's been glued to it for the last week. He was gutted that Woodsy missed out on a medal, and is now desperate to get out to the mountains again ("we *are* going somewhere with a snow park at Easter, Dad"). |
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J2Ski Snow Report 15th February 2018
It's deep, and it's snowing again, in Les Arcs this morning... J2Ski Snow Report 15th February 2018 Snow's back all over the place, with more to come... This Week's Snow Headlines - More snow for Colorado; conditions improving at most areas in the ski state. - World's deepest snowbase moves back above 6m/20 feet mark. - Scotland continues to enjoy best season for several years. - Up to 60cm (2 feet) of snow expected in Western Alps by Saturday. It's been an oddly mixed week of sunshine and snow showers in many parts of the ski world, and the coming week is looking similar again. After mostly sunny weather there was snow in much of the Alps, although light in most areas. Some resorts, in Switzerland, the extreme west of France and East of Austria did report up to 60cm of snowfall. Parts of the Pyrenees, particularly the French side, reported bigger snowfalls, up to about a metre at the weekend. Elsewhere in Europe there was heavy snow in Western Norway and more snow in Scotland, where their good continues - albeit punctuated, inevitably, by stormy days. Over in North America; Alberta and BC in Canada have seen some big snowfalls, with up to 90cm of snow and Lake Louise excitedly proclaiming their best conditions in 20 years. Parts of the drought-struck US West have seen good snowfalls too, particularly Colorado which is now almost fully open. The Olympic venues in South Korea continue to be very cold and with problematic winds at times. The winds are expected to ease for the remainder of the Games so the postponed events from the first five days can go ahead. In the Alpine Forecast Northern French Alps, Swiss Alps and parts of Austria and Italy should see some good falls of snow over the next 48 hours, with ligher snows following through the weekend. Accumulations could exceed 50cm in some locations although totals of 15-20cm will be more widespread. Clearer weather should follow as we move into next week, with scattered snow showers to the East. The long range forecasts are starting to indicate colder conditions for the end of the month, and we'll have more on that next week. 
See when and where it's going to snow...
EUROPEAN ALPS Austria It has turned snowy this week in Austria with some significant snowfalls over last weekend and at the start of this week in many areas, particularly in the West of the country, and after a few clear days, more snow is forecast for the rest of this week, particularly in the north and west where up to 40cm is expected in the Arlberg region. Otherwise snow depths remain good across Austria with almost all the country's ski area's fully open. The glaciers have the deepest bases at up to a remarkable 575cm (19 feet) depth on the Kauntertal glacier, close to the world's deepest, but many non-glacier resorts have 3-4m depths too so it should be a great second half to the season. France It's been quite a mixed week for snowfall in France, and it looks like the week ahead will be much the same. The biggest falls reported were in the French Pyrenees for a second week where one resort had to close at the start of the busy February half term holiday period as the snow blocked roads and closed lifts. There was also snow in the French Alps, the heaviest in border areas like the Grand Massif and Portes du Soleil which reported 20-30cm of fresh snow on Sunday/Monday. The rest of this week should see biggest snowfalls in the Alps with Chamonix currently forecast to receive more than 60cm (two feet) of snow by the end of Friday. In between the snowfall and snowy regions though the skies are clear and base depths remain exceptionally good. Italy Italian resorts seemed to largely miss out on the snowfall at the weekend, with much of it passing to the north, although some centres did catch a few centimetres. They'll catch a little more snow over the coming few days when the next wave is due to pass east, for example 10-15cm for Cervinia but otherwise largely sunny conditions, which is what many Italian skiers prioritise over powder we're reliably informed, so they should be happy. Thanks to all the snow that did fall in the autumn and first half of winter bases are good across Italy too, so again most centres are fully open. Cervinia has the deepest base of the country's major resorts at just over 4 metres. Switzerland Swiss resorts seemed to get the best of the fresh snow over the weekend with resorts there reporting up to 60cm (two feet) of new cover and a number of Swiss areas posting powder alarms for 20cm or more fresh snow in 24 hours. Amongst them Engelberg, which had previously posted an upper base depth of 645cm after the big January snowfalls. That number had slid to 595cm last week after a fairly dry three weeks but has now gone back over six metres (2 feet) following its 36cm snowfall on Sunday/Monday. As with the other big four Alpine nations, conditions at almost all Swiss ski centres are good, base depths excellent and there's more snow expected in many parts of the country over the next few days. Scotland It's been a bit wild and windy at times on Scottish ski slopes over the past few days. Yesterday Glenshee was closed as the snow gates were shut across the main north-south road that passes by it and other centres were stormbound. But other days have been clear and still and the good news is that temperatures have stayed low so that for the first time all five Highland centres have at least half of their lifts and runs open and snow depths are building. Pyrenees It has been a snowy fortnight in the Pyrenees with wave after wave of snow storms bringing 20-30cm of fresh snow every few days to the region. The French side is posting the biggest accumulation numbers with bases now up towards 2.9m (10 feet) and at least one centre (Porte Puymorens) forced to close on Saturday after it got over a metre of snow in a week. But resorts in Andorra and Spain too have gleefully been posting images and videos of visiting skiers and boarders cruising through deep powder. There's still more snowfall in the forecast too. Scandinavia Norway continues to report a snowy winter with still more good snowfalls on the west bringing repeat powder conditions to resorts like Voss and base depths up to 3.8m at Roldal. The coming week looks similar here. Conditions are fairly good in Finland and Sweden too although more southerly centres have had too much warm weather and cover is limited. Eastern Europe 5-20cm of fresh snow has been reported in Bulgaria since the weekend when all of the resorts are saying they're fully open except Pamporovo which has about half of its pistes skiable and a reported base depth of 20-120cm. Elsewhere in the East conditions are largely good with more fresh snow forecast in Slovenia and the Czech Republic amongst other countries in the region over the next few days. North America Canada A snowy week in Western Canada where base depths are in the 2.5 – 3.2m range at many of the well-known resorts in the region following 40-90cm more snow over the past week. Revelstoke was particularly delighted by their foot of fresh powder on Tuesday whilst Lake Louise is claiming conditions are as good as they've been at any time over the past 20 years. The coming week is looking much the same with heavy snowfall days alternating with sunny days as each front moves in then continues on. Not much fresh snow in the East of Canada this week but bases have improved a good deal following sow earlier in the month and most of the major centres in Quebec are fully open. USA Colorado's resorts have reported up to 90cm of fresh snowfall this week which has continued to improve conditions so that most of the state's resorts are fully open, or almost so. It's a similar picture in Utah to the north. It's still not a great season in many areas of the US West though. California's areas are still struggling for decent cover with some small areas in the south of the state yet to open. Others in states including Idaho, Arizona and New Mexico have not opened or hardly opened all season. Actually the same is true in the continent's opposite corner – up in New Brunswick, Eastern Canada, where the small ski areas have also had little snow. No fresh snow in the East of the country this week but most areas still have good bases built up through December and January so have most of their terrain open. |
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Great report as usual Tony - thanks! St.Moritz *still* on my list!
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J2Ski Snow Report 8th February 2018
Grand Tourmalet, French Pyrenees, this week J2Ski Snow Report 8th February 2018 Less snow in the Alps, for a change, but more elsewhere. This Week's Snow Headlines - Over 90cm of snow for Lake Louise this week, more forecast. - Heavy snow in Colorado as conditions continue to pick up in the West. - Porte Puymorens in the French Pyrenees reports 105cm of snow in 72 hours. - Good conditions for the start of Olympic competition in South Korea on Saturday. - Abetone in the Italian Apennine mountains of Tuscany reports a metre of snow in 24 hours. A slightly unusual week for Europe in that there seems to have been good snowfalls in almost every area except the major resorts in the Alps - although some resorts here did report up to 30cm of snow just before the weekend. Instead the snowfall focus has been on the Pyrenees, where some resorts have had over a metre of snow since Saturday, and on the Eastern Alps and Balkans, where snowfalls of up to 80cm were reported along the Austrian/Slovenian border, as well as in the Apennines of Tuscany in Italy where again one resort reported a metre of fresh snow. Some ski areas in Scandinavia have reported big snowfalls too. In the Alps though it has been mostly dry, rather cold and quite often sunny which, after the massive snowfalls and the resulting logistical issues and extreme avalanche danger, is something of a relief. In North America it has been the snowiest week for a while. It's continued to fall heavily in Western Canada and the US Northwest but heavy snow has also made it in to Colorado, where it is badly needed, as well as making a return to the East Coast with a big fresh fall in New York State and Vermont in particular. For the Olympics in South Korea, although it's still a little early for a wholly reliable forecast, conditions look fairly good with consistent cover, mostly sub-zero temperatures and clear skies. Read the full J2Ski Snow Report, covering Austria, France, the US and worldwide online. In the Alpine Forecast Generally cold and clear this week in the Alps, with a few scattered snow showers - increasing toward the middle of next week. The Pyrenees should see a bit more snow on top of their recent falls, easing through the weekend. 
See when and where it's going to snow...
EUROPEAN ALPS Austria Much of Austria has had a dry week with mostly sunny weather which, after all the January snow, boils down to fairly excellent conditions. There was some fresh snow at the end of last week though; the biggest accumulations, slightly unusually, in the far South East of the country in Carinthia where Bad Kleinkirchheim reported 60cm of fresh snow and Nassfeld 80cm. Base depths remain good across rest of the country's ski slopes, the deepest on the glaciers a very impressive 5.6m on Kaunertal and Dachstein – two of the biggest numbers in the world at present and not far off 20 feet. It looks like more sunshine day with cloudy periods in the week ahead with the first signs of heavier snow possible next week. France It's been one of those unusual weeks when there's been much more fresh snow in the French Pyrenees than the French Alps, the former receiving up to a metre of snowfall in 72 hours (see Pyrenees section) whilst ski areas in the French Alps got a few centimetres of fresh snow at the weekend at most. That's suited most skiers and boarders - and indeed the resort operators - though as with so much snow lying and the avalanche danger level dropping almost all runs are open across the region and conditions are very good indeed, so lots of happy skiers at present, even Saturday transfer day has been relatively painless for most. The only downside spotted really has been fog/low cloud at times in some areas including the 3 Valleys. Italy Italy has seen some interesting snow totals over the past week, getting some snow on the West in the Alps, some in the East in the Dolomites and some (the most in the fact) in the centre in the Apennines, where a metre of fresh snowfall was reported at the weekend. Mostly though conditions were dry, cold and often sunny with great conditions on the slopes thanks to all the January snowfalls and most of the country's lifts operating and runs open. Cervinia still has the country's deepest snow base, just shy of 4m up top. Switzerland Swiss ski areas have had a largely snowless week too, like the rest of the Western Alps, really just enjoying a period of calm and reducing avalanche danger levels (it's generally down to 2 out of 3 out of 5, from the previous maximum level a fortnight ago). There was some snowfall reported just before the weekend at areas including Verbier but mostly it has been dry and cold, the only real problems being occasional flat light or fog. Engelberg continues to post the world's deepest snow base – currently at 645cm (21.5 feet). Eastern Europe Bulgaria saw some quite good snowfalls of 10-20cm at the weekend. Bansko now has a 30-180cm base and has most of its runs open, as do the country's other major ski areas, even Vitosha which as just a 20-50cm base. Elsewhere in Eastern Europe most resorts are reporting similarly good conditions with most runs open and lifts operating and bases as deep as 2.8m at Kanin in Slovenia. Scotland Scotland's 2017-18 ski season continues to be one of the best for several years, with skier numbers already past last season's total. There's not a lot of deep snow but there are consistent low temperatures and few of the stormy days that often plague the ski centres. All five Highland areas remain open and there's been a bit of fresh snow with a few more runs open compared to a week ago. Glencoe has the best conditions with a two foot base and all runs open. Nevis Range has just over half its runs open whilst over in the East the snowpack is much thinner and only limited numbers of runs are open at the three other areas. Pyrenees It's been a great week in the Pyrenees for powder lovers with many resorts in the region reporting at least 50cm of fresh snow since the weekend and some as much as a metre. Resorts on the French side of the country posted the biggest accumulations, but ski areas in Andorra got up to 60cm of snow too and took to posting 'Pyrenean powder porn' on social media. There were good falls too, if not quite so much, further East on the Spanish side of the mountains. Base depths In the region are now nearing three metres (10 feet) at the snowiest resorts. Scandinavia There were some good snowfalls in Scandinavia up to last weekend but it has been dry at most resorts since then. That's all set to change in the week ahead however with substantial snow forecast over the coming days with many areas in the west of the region seeing 10-20cm of fresh snow daily right through to the weekend if forecasts prove correct. Base depths are fairly healthy across the region and as deep as 2.5m at some areas in Western Norway. North America Canada Canada too has seen a lot of snow on both East and West coasts. Ski areas in the East were particularly pleased to see the heavy snowfall there at the start of this week, with Mont Sutton in Southern Quebec reporting 40m of fresh snow in 24 hours. It has not been the snowiest of seasons there until now so the snow was very welcome. Over in the West of the country the heavy snow that had been pounding the West coast resorts of BC over the past few weeks ventured in land to give powder conditions across BC and Alberta, Lake Louise reported 90m of fresh snow in the past week with another big dump expected over the next few days. USA It has been snowy on both sides of the US in the past few days. The excitement was particularly palpable in Colorado where most resorts woke up to a foot or more of fresh snow on Tuesday, not something that has happened often this season. Until now only Steamboat had managed to open all its runs after one of the worst starts to the season in the famous ski state (as well as in California and Utah) for decades, but this fresh snow has perked things up a good deal. Similar snowfalls had been reported the day before in the East, particularly in Vermont and New York State – here it has been an above average season though with consistent snow cover since the autumn. But the Northwest of the country around Washington state, Oregon and Montana has stayed the snowiest with another metre of snow reported by some resorts in the area. |
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