J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

A new ski descent at the Glacier 3000 ski area above les Diablerets and close to Gstaad in Switzerland is reported to have finally opened.

Accessed via a newly cut tunnel about 200 metres long through the mountainside, the slope, christened 'Black Wall', immediately plummets with a gradient of around 40 degrees once skiers and boarders emerge at the tunnel entrance. There is no way back once you ski through the tunnel, other than down the slope."

"So it is reserved for excellent skiers," a Glacier 3000 statement clarifies.

The new slope was announced last autumn and seemed to be complete before the start of the year so the reason for the opening delay is not certain, however Glacier 3000 did report 1.7 metres (nearly six feet) of snowfall from the storms last week, which closed the centre for several days, so snow conditions now are reported to be optimum.

A 40 degree pitch immediately puts the Black Wall among Europe's 10 steepest and it also opens up a vertical drop of 1,000m+.

It is a groomed and fenced in slope which has led to criticism from some local freeskiers that they have lost exclusive access to previously hike-in freeride terrain.

With ski areas in the western USA, particularly California and Utah, posting huge snowfall totals this winter, it's perhaps no surprise that all-time records are starting to be broken.

Deer Valley in Utah has now officially surpassed its previous all-time seasonal snowfall record and is celebrating by extending their ski season by an extra week.

Fresh snow received throughout the day on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, pushed the season's total depth to 485" – more than 40 feet – which surpassed the previously held record of 484" recorded during the 2016-2017 winter season.

"The historic snowfall has officially made this season our snowiest on record with over a month of skiing left. These incredible conditions also created our longest season by being able to extend ski operations beyond both our planned opening and closing days," said Deer Valley Resort President & COO Todd Bennett, who added, "I am grateful to our dedicated staff who have kept the mountain operating and guests smiling. They've maintained their unparalleled service and commitment to teamwork through the challenging weather conditions this year."

Chairlifts on Deer Valley's Bald Eagle and Bald Mountain will now continue spinning beyond the resort's original closing day through Sunday, April 23, 2023, conditions permitting.

Norwegian tourism bodies are highlighting the fact that the country's currency, the Norwegian kroner (NOK) is "historically weak."

"This means that travelling in Norway has become far more affordable for most visitors," a statement from Visit Norway explains.

The news comes as Norwegian ski areas report good base depths, fresh snowfall and temperatures still close to or below freezing.

"Norway has long been perceived as a high cost country, but the truth is that Norway has been quietly becoming cheaper and cheaper for many travellers for years, even despite rising inflation," Visit Norway state.

The currency difference particularly favours Americans, who get 36 percent more value for every dollar they spend than five years ago, and those in the Eurozone have seen the Euro rise by 15% against the Norwegian krone.

Visit Norway also note that even the pound, which has dropped in value against nearly all ski nations worldwide, is worth about 8% more in Norway than it was at around this time in 2022.

Prominent Norwegian financial newspaper Dagens Næringsliv quotes economists as saying that with the current global financial situation, the Norwegian krone might weaken even more in spring 2023.

Vail Resorts, which operates more than 40 ski areas in Australia, Canada, Switzerland and the US, has announced it will launch its new My Epic App this Autumn ahead of the 2023/2024 season.

The app will contain guests Mobile Pass and Mobile Lift Ticket as well as a host of other features. The move is in line with the group's 'Commitment to Zero' sustainability ambition with the objective of reducing waste created by lift passes on plastic cards with RFID chips over time.

The app's features will include interactive trail maps with GPS location tracking; real-time and predictive lift line wait times; personalized stats, including vertical feet, number of lift rides and other data; mountain and resort alerts, including operational information like grooming updates, terrain status, snow reports and base conditions; direct access to ski patrol for emergency situations and weather updates, snow cams and more.

The app will also feature 'Resort Charge' for in-resort purchases, automatically applying eligible Epic Mountain Rewards discounts, by scanning a barcode.

Kitzbühel has announced that it will upgrade two old lifts to high-speed detachable 6 seat chairlifts in time for next winter.

The lifts will use manufacturer Leitner's EcoDrive technology, feature heated seating, have some solar power generation thanks to photovoltaic panels on lift buildings and be able to be controlled remotely by staff via cameras and remote controls.

The famous Austrian resort's lift company, Bergbahn Kitzbühel, is spending around 23 million euros on the project.

The lifts being upgraded are the Gauxjoch (F6), currently a T-bar drag lift and the Trattenbach (F7), currently a fixed-grip triple dating, both dating back nearly four decades to 1986.

The new Gauxjoch lift will be able to carry about 40% more people than the T Bar and cut ascent time from over 6 minutes to three-and-a-half minutes.

The new Trattenbach lift will be able to carry about 25% more people and cut the ascent time from over 6 minutes by more than half to just 2 minutes 40 seconds. It will require about half the number of support towers as the old lift.

Snow is falling again today across much of the Alps.

The fresh snowfall follows some very warm temperatures on Monday, with many areas seeing afternoon temperatures of lower slopes getting in to the teens.

The warm weather in turn followed the heaviest snowfalls all season over the weekend in the western and northern Alps.

However that weekend snowfall had limited geographical extent, todays is much more widespread, with more ski areas in Austria and eastern Italy and Switzerland that didn't see weekend snowfall, seeing some this time.

The deepest reported snow depth in the Alps and Europe's, 379cm on the highest slopes above Tignes, has increased by another 9cm after its 1 metre jump in the past five days (having hardly changed in the previous two months).

Les Gets pictured top this afternoon, La Plagne below.

Base depths on high slopes in the Western Alps have seen their biggest jumps of the season, many adding about a third to their snowpack volumes in 48 hours over the weekend.

Up to 1.5m (five feet) of snowfall was reported above 3,000m altitude. It's good timing for the centres that have had a major springtime snow boost for the final weeks and months of the season.

But it's also a mixed picture, there were much smaller falls below 2,000m altitude where what snow there has been was mostly heavy and wet with lowest slopes getting rain for periods. The avalanche danger in the areas getting the most snow has also risen to 4 (high) or 3 (considerable) in the scale to 5.

The area impacted was also limited to the western and northern Alps with southern and eastern area receiving little or nothing, although less intense snowy weather is expected to continue across the Alps on and off through the coming week.

Cervinia has claimed the biggest accumulation at 1.5 metres although base depths are only marked as up by 40cm over the weekend. Saas Fee, on the other hand, reports its upper slope base up by 1.2m (4 feet) over the weekend to 3m – hopefully good news for summer glacier training later in the year if the snowpack survives the summer sun.

Zermatt, which has had no snow in resort for months reports 50cm lying now, The resort was cut off for much of Saturday after an overnight avalanche blocked the trainline.

The deepest reported snow is at Tignes where the base depth has risen to 3.7 metres, up a metre on last Thursday, having been on 2.7 metres for several months beforehand.

***STORY UPDATED BELOW ***

Ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin has equalled the tally for the most Alpine Skiing World Cup race wins, taking her 86th victory where she took her first, aged 17, eleven yerears ago, at Åre in Sweden. Shiffrin, who turns 28 on Monday, won the GS race by 0.64 seconds.

Sweden is also the home nation of the holder of the record she has equalled, Ingemar Stenmark who has held the record for more than three decades. Stenmark dominated slalom racing in the 1970s and early 1980s, winning his last race, after a two year gap, in 1989, when he was five years older than Mikaela Shiffrin is now.

"It is the greatest honor of my career to be mentioned in the same sentence as Ingemar Stenmark. Incomprehensible and truly unforgettable," said Shiffrin.

Shiffrin has the chance to take here 87th win today in the slalom at the second day of racing at Åre, or at the upcoming World Cup Finals in Soldeu.

*** UPDATE 15.00 ON 11.03.23 ***

Shiffrin took her 87th win in the slalom at the second day of racing at Åre to move one ahead of Stenmark and become the new most successful World cup winner of all time.

Sponsors Atomic who have supplied Shiffrin's skis throughout her career posted the image below.