Messages posted by : J2SkiNews
Banff's Sunshine ski area has announced that it will open for its 25-26 season early, tomorrow, Sunday 2nd November. Barring some other area sneaking in before them, it will be the first to open in Canada for the new season.
Originally Sunshine had expected to open November 8th with its fellow Banff-area resort Lake Louise likely to be the first in Canada to open on the 7th, however the region has had regular snowfalls through the past month which have got heavier over the past week. The image above was taken on Thursday. Sunshine say they'll be opening their Strawberry Express lift and that they'll also have a terrain park with 7 features for opening day.
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Winter's arrived early in Verbier, and the resort isn't wasting a moment. Thanks to over 40 cm of fresh snow at Lac des Vaux, lift company Téléverbier and Verbier Tourism have announced an early start to the season. Lifts will start spinning this Saturday, 1 November, a whole month ahead of schedule. The Lac des Vaux sector will be ready for first tracks, with Attelas–Ruinettes potentially joining if conditions allow. For now, skiing will be weekends only throughout November, with daily access kicking off from 29 November. Early birds will be welcomed with free coffee and croissants, and every weekend in November brings a 20% discount on the 1-day Verbier sector pass. Lift tickets are available from CHF64 for adults for a half day (CHF32 for children. Full prices are shown below. Full day Kid: CHF 37 Teenager: CHF 62 Adult: CHF 74 Half day Kid: CHF 32 Teenager: CHF 54 Adult: CHF 64 Murren also starts its 25-26 season this Saturday. The pair join already open Swiss centres Engelberg, Saas-Fee, St Moritz (Diavolezza Glacier) and Zermatt. |
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The oldest drag lift in French ski resort Les Gets, and one of the oldest original drag lifts still operation in the world, is celebrating its 90th anniversary. The Boule de Gomme lift first went into service in 1936. Over the decades it has inspired generation of young skiers and made life easier for adults. It has even generated a local legend: "Qui souvent la Boule de Gomme montera, champion de ski deviendra," which translates as "Whoever rides the Boule de Gomme often will become a ski champion." On the back of this success, Les Gets was the first resort in France to unveil a prototype chairlift. |
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North America's 25-26 season has gotten underway with Colorado's Keystone the first to open a few hours ago. There's always a race to claim "first in the US" and Keystone made the unusual decision to announce its lifts would start spinning at 3pm on Saturday shortly after Arapahoe Basin announced it would be opening at 8.30am today, Sunday. Keystone, one of the world's highest altitude resorts, has invested heavily in snowmaking with the specific target of October opening. It also aims to open at least two miles of runs from day one (some other resorts start with just a few hundred yards of slope initially), which it managed yesterday. Keystone also made use of its extensive night-skiing slope floodlighting to stay open until 6pm. "We're thrilled to kick off the season here at Keystone with over two miles of skiing and riding," said Keystone Resort Vice President and General Manager Shannon Buhler, adding, "We know how much this moment means to our employees and community, and our team has poured their hearts into creating an incredible early opening celebration. We're just excited to be back on snow!"  |
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The first significant snowfall of the autumn is underway in the Alps with many ski areas seeing 5-20cm accumulations overnight. The snowfall is expected top continue on and off over the next 48 hours with slopes above 3,000m potentially seeing half-metre totals by Sunday. There have already been some pre-season snowfalls above 2,000m in September and earlier this month, but they've mostly been 'dustings' and made no positive impact on the thin cover reported at the dozen or so glacier resorts that have already opened for their 25-26 ski seasons. Val Thorens, which, along with Tignes, reported yesterday that it was 30 days until they start the French ski season, is one of the big beneficiaries of the new snow. Les Arcs, where the season starts on December 13, is pictured above this morning. Besides the snow, ski areas have seen gale force winds at times and also some very low October temperatures, down as far as -15C, resulting in good snowmaking conditions at times. Ischgl, which is one of Europe's biggest snowmakers ahead of its late November opening when it vies to open the most terrain in Austria and sometimes Europe in the run up to Christmas, reported that both nature and its snowmakers were working hard last night and posted the image below.  |
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Italy's vast Dolomiti Superski has announced that its 130 member lift companies have spent a collective €215m on upgrades and improvements ahead of the 2025/26 winter season, the 51st for the region, where the first lifts and slopes are scheduled to open on Saturday, November 29. In total, 13 lifts across 9 of the 12 Dolomiti ski areas have been renewed or replaced with other lifts have undergone extensive overhauls, making them practically brand new. Significant investments have also been made in snowmaking systems. The flagship project for this winter is a 60 million euro spend on the construction of the new 3S "Col Rodella" lift in the Val di Fassa, built by Canazei's lift company and improving the valley's connections into the Sellaronda. The lift is the first lift of its kind in the Dolomites and is designed to eliminate bottlenecks during peak periods that were previously caused by the limited capacity of the old cables car up from Campitello. The new 3S system (with two carrying cables and one hauling cable) is set to open in time for Christmas 2025.
Italy has announced that everyone engaged in snowsports of all kinds will be required by law to wear a helmet from 1st November on, irrespective of their age. |
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The first ski area(s) to open for the 25-26 ski season in North America may well be revealed in the next few days, as resorts battle to prepare their slopes. It's been consistently cold on the high altitude slopes of the Colorado Rockies with temperatures well below freezing allowing snowmaking systems to fire up and in some cases work around the clock through the weekend. Copper Mountain has the earliest official target opening date on November 6th, just over a fortnight away, but other areas will aim to open sooner and Arapahoe Basin (pictured below) appears increasingly optimistic of opening soon, possibly later this week, with the snowmaking forecast still positive. Meanwhile there have been snowfalls of up to 18" (45cm) reported on mountains up the continent's Pacific coast and further inland up in Canada's BC with Revelstoke (pictured top), posting a 30cm accumulation yesterday. Since Oregon's Timberline ski area ended its 24-25 season in mid-August the only lift-served skiing in North America has been indoors at the Big Snow centre in New Jersey.  |
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London Snow Show Back At Olympia This Weekend After Two Decades
Started by User in Ski News, 1 Reply |
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The London Snow Show returned to a revamped Olympia Exhibition Centre this weekend, 19 years after what was then the London Ski & Snowboard Show was last staged there in 2006. Taking place on Saturday and Sunday October 18 and 19 the re-launched show under new ownership by the Mountain Trade Network, promises the usual mix of speakers, ski destinations and tour operator stands and plenty of après ski vibes to get everyone in the mood for the winter season.
Olympia has a long association with the event and has staged ski and snow events for almost a century, including annual ski shows through much of the latter half of the twentieth century. It has been undergoing a £1.3 billion rebuild and renovation in recent years. The redevelopment includes a live music hall, a new theatre, lifestyle hotels, restaurants, offices, and pedestrianised public spaces. Tickets for the show are still available and cost £10 per day (adults) and £5 per day (children 5-17 years of age) with family tickets (up to two adults and four children) available for £25. You can also buy an adult weekend ticket for both days priced at £15. Speakers include J2Ski's very own Iain Martin, alongside Chemmy Alcott, Dave Ryding, Aimee Fuller, Tim Warwood and Warren Smith. Breakthrough British ski racers including the Carrick-Smith brothers and Molly Butler will also make appearances in between their autumn on-snow training schedules. Exhibitors include Andorra, Norway Home of Skiing, Cortina, LAAX, Canada's Cape Smokey and Austria's Arlberg, plus many others with tour operators Crystal, Inghams and Ski Weekends there with ski holiday experts to help make the best choices for this winter. Ellis Brigham, Ski Exchange and Solutions 4 Feet will be there to help fit the latest ski and snowboard kit, whilst the Ski Club of Great Britain provides advice on all aspects of winter sports right across the weekend. There's also a Nordic and Biathlon experience, Warren Smith Ski Technique Lab, community massage project and an Après Ski Bar with live music from Après Ski Bands. The full agenda of events can be found here: https://www.londonsnowshow.com/london/agenda Tickets can be purchased online in advance here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/snow-show-london-tickets-1538620979769 |
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