J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

A new study that has used satellite images to study changes to snow cover in the Alps has reported a "rapid greening" since the 1980s.

Findings of the study, the results of which have been published in the journal Science, have confirmed all previous studies that have shown retreating snowlines, shorter winters, shrinking glaciers, less reliable snow cover and flora and fauna moving to higher elevations for more of the year than they previously could.

The changes are so clear they're visible on the satellite images from space. They're in line with similar changes to high mountains around the planet.

The study found that more than three-quarters of the Alps, above the tree line, have experienced a "greening" over the last 40 years. Although more vegetation can be good for soaking up CO2, less reflective white snow means more heat is absorbed speeding up warming further. Unfortunately the negatives outweigh the positives.

"The scale of the change has turned out to be absolutely massive in the Alps," lead study author Sabine Rumpf, an assistant professor at the University of Basel, said in a statement.

The company that started running ski holidays to a number of French ski resorts by rail last winter has just sent us a press release announcing the service is go again for the coming winter 22-23 and that holidays are on sale from today.

Here's a quick reminder of the key facts then the press release they've sent is below.

• Eurostar had cancelled the direct rail service to the French Alps from St Pancras in the pandemic then said they wouldn't re-start it. This replacement offers the same service nut you can't just buy a train ticket, you have to buy a package with transfer, accommodation and lift pass to one of seven leading French resorts.

• …That's because the company that runs it, Travelski Express, is owned by the Compagnie des Alpes group which also runs the resorts involved.

• They are tweaking travel times a bit on last winter and are hinting more destination choices may/will be added.

• They carried over 5000 people in the first winter despite having to postpone the launch for over a month through the busier weeks of Xmas/New year due to French pandemic border closures.

• …Upsides are…

1. Packages actually seem high value for what you're getting.
2. CO2 emissions are less than a quarter of travelling by air.
3. Rail travel can be less stressful than air travel, although that depends to some extent on whether you get lucky in the current game of "will my plane/train trip go smoothly or not?" we all have to play.

Anyway here is the press release…

Travelski Express returns for 22/23 season, with an enhanced offering based on customer feedback.

The tour operator Travelski Express (https://www.uk.travelski.com/travelski-express ; 0800 260 5082) will again be exclusively offering the direct Eurostar train service from London to the Alps. Available solely as part of a Travelski Express package, the service will be running each week for the 2022/23 ski season. The first train is due to depart on 17th December 2022 with the final return on the 15th April 2023. Packages go on sale today, 8th June.

Following feedback from many of the 5000 plus UK skiers carried last season, and drawing on Eurostar's operational experience, the train will now run outbound from London on Saturday morning, arriving in the heart of the Alps (Moutiers and Bourg St Maurice) on Saturday afternoon. A refining of the included transfers means that skiers will now be taken from the station to their accommodation (or as close as is possible under local access laws) in plenty of time to get checked in and their kit sorted for the following day. The return train will leave on Saturday evening, giving guests an almost full day of skiing on Saturday. This will arrive into London St Pancras early on Sunday morning (exact time to be finalised).

Travelski Express packages, which include return direct train, accommodation, transfers and local area lift pass, will be on sale from today, 8th June. For the season launch resorts featured are unchanged at Val d'Isere, Tignes, Meribel, Les Arcs, Brides Les Bains, Les Menuires and La Plagne. Further announcements on the portfolio of resorts on offer will follow.

CEO of Travelski, Guillaume de Marcillac, comments "we were really happy with the reaction of British skiers to our new direct train packages. Despite a challenging start to the season, we carried over 5100 skiers. We have listened to their feedback and have decided to switch the train timings to a daytime service at the start of the holiday, rather than at the end. In addition, transfers will now deliver guests as close as we are allowed to their chosen accommodation. They will, however, still have the longer ski period that is one of the many advantages of taking the direct train. We are also working on further enhancements, but these will be announced once confirmed."

Francois Le Doze, Chief Commercial Officer at Eurostar, said: "We are pleased to extend our partnership with Travelski this year, which will enable passengers to travel direct between the UK and the Alps by high-speed rail. Following the challenges of the pandemic, our collaboration last season was shortened significantly, and so this will be the first time Eurostar will be offered as part of a package across the whole ski season. We are confident that British skiers will welcome the return of the service and the choice of a more sustainable travel option for their ski holiday."

The environmentally advantageous nature of the direct train is unchanged. Each passenger journey on the direct Travelski Express emits less than a quarter of the carbon of a passenger opting to fly to Geneva and transfer to the resort from there *

Ends

Notes for editors

Package price example: w/c 17th December (return 24th December) 5* Residence Chalets Altitude & Ours in Arc 2000. £720 pp including return direct train travel, transfers to/from accommodation and local area lift pass. Based on six sharing a three room apartment.

Travelski Express is a tour operator, bonded with ABTA (number Y6751). All Travelski Express packages include return direct train travel from London, transfers, accommodation and local area lift pass.

* In research commissioned for the ski website Snowcarbon.co.uk, carbon offset experts at The Anthesis Group (www.anthesisgroup.com) calculated 18.47 Kg of CO2 per passenger for the direct rail from London and transfer option, yet packages that include a flight from London Gatwick to Geneva and then a transfer to resort generated four and a quarter times more CO2 emissions at 78.44 kg per passenger.

The train element of the Travelski Express packages is operated by our partner Eurostar.

The heavy snowfall that has hit Australia over the past week is starting to hit the country's snowfall record books with ski areas posting that it's the most snowfall reported in one storm for 22 years and the second snowiest start to the season ever in Australian skiing history.

Some centres have now reported over a metre (40cm) of snowfall in the past seven days, with Hotham claiming over 50cm fell in 24 hours to start this week and a storm total of over 1.2 metres (four feet) of snowfall.



It's all perfect timing for the start of Australia's 2022 ski season due this coming weekend, which includes a public holiday to celebrate the Queen's Birthday. In fact most of the country's areas have already opened early to make the most of all the snow.

Elsewhere in the southern hemisphere the season is underway at Lesotho in Southern Africa too and due to start imminently in the Andes, where ski areas have also been posting good pre-season snowfall, with three feet (90cm) for Chile's Portillo.

However it's been rather warm in New Zealand and Mt Hutt, due to the start the season there this coming weekend has warned that opening date is a "moving target" as they await the arrival of colder weather from the Antarctic forecast for later this week.

A growing number of Australia's ski areas will open a week earlier than planned, this coming weekend, for the 2022 ski season.

The move follows a huge pre-season snowstorm that has so far dumped up to 60cm (two feet) of snow on the countries slopes and is still ongoing. Clear weather expected at the weekend means that this could be one of the best season openings in the country in years.

Nathan Butterworth Mt Hotham Skiing Company General Manager said, "It's been a magical week here in Hotham! We've watched the resort transition from green to white and I'm thrilled to be able to bring the season opening forward and welcome guests back to what is very special part of Victoria."

Perisher was the first to announce their early opening yesterday, with Mt Buller, Falls Creek and Hotham announcing today that they'll be opening early too. More ski areas may follow suit.

The mood in Australia is upbeat after two winters largely lost to pandemic lockdowns, as with much of the southern hemisphere this will be the first winter since 2019 when, hopefully, pandemic restrictions will be minimal in ski resorts and its possible for international guests to visit again – although various travel restrictions and requirements remain in place.

Richard Phillips – Falls Creek Ski Lifts General Manager said "The first snowfalls of winter are always a special, but this has been amazing. We are incredibly excited to be opening early this season and seeing the Falls Creek village and community deliver he special experiences we are famous for".

The southern hemisphere's 2022 ski season is due to start on Friday with first the Happy Valley beginners and snow fun area due to open at Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu in New Zealand and then Afriski in Lesotho Southern Africa planning to open, thank to snowmaking efforts.

Ryanair are to resume flights to Klagenfurt airport in Carinthia, southern Austria, for next ski season.

The airport is a gateway airport to ski areas in the southern half of Austria like Nassfeld, Schladming and Bad Kleinkirchheim, which are more distant from the commonly used Austrian 'ski' airports of Innsbruck and Salzburg in the north. It is also close to the Slovenian border and resorts like Bled and Kranjska Gora there.

The service will run twice-weekly from 1st November 2022 from London Stansted and once a week from Manchester from 17th December.

"As Austria's fastest-growing airline, Ryanair is delighted to resume operations from Klagenfurt Airport this winter with four exclusive routes from Brussels, Dublin, London and Manchester which will help position Klagenfurt and the Carinthian region as one of the top ski destinations in Europe," said Ryanair's Andreas Gruber.

Great to hear, thanks for posting, Saas Fee was one of my first trips in early 1980s and been back a few times since, always loved it. I'm off to Val Thorens tomorrow for final weekend of season there, main fear is whether BA manages to get us there and back. We start in Inverness, change at T5. They've cancelled flights on 5 of 6 planned trips over past 18 months so a tad nervous as to whether it will happen, but we are checked in!

Ischgl, the Austrian ski centre that has been taken to court accused of not doing enough to stop being a super-spreader of coronavirus in the early months of the pandemic, reports its business was down 25% on the pre-pandemic average, but officials say that's better than they hoped.

"Truth be told, at the beginning of the winter season 21/22 we feared a much larger decline compared to the winter 18/19. This winter has clearly illustrated that many guests have found their way back to Ischgl and that the pandemic - with all its restrictions - has not diminished the desire for winter holidays in the snow and special experiences on the slopes," Alexander von der Thannen, chairman of the Paznaun - Ischgl Tourism Association, who noted that after the cancelled 20/21 ski season this winter also began with a three-week delayed start to the season due to the pandemic.

Ischgl's final weekend include a return of the season-end Top of the Mountain Closing Concert for which the resort is famous. Kings of Leon performed to 11,000 people on the stage at 2,320 metres performing hits including "Use Somebody", "Closer", "Back Down South" and "Sex on Fire".

Günther Zangerl, chairman of the Silvrettaseilbahn AG, commented, "Despite the difficult conditions this winter, we are proud that we were once again able to offer our guests a high-quality, but also safe skiing experience."

An Australian ski resort which was almost completely destroyed by a bush fire in January 2020 has announced it will re-open in July.

Selwyn Snow Resort in the state of New South Wales had its base building completely gutted in the forest fires and its lifts destroyed or severely damaged.

"We are so excited to announce that our opening day is Saturday July 2nd!" the resort posted on its social media channels on 27th April.

Although Selwyn missed the 2020 and 2021 Australian ski seasons whilst a new base building was constructed and lifts repaired or replaced, in the event most Australian ski areas were closed for all or most of both seasons too due to the global pandemic hitting a few months after the bush fires.

"It takes a village to bring a snow resort back to life over a short period, and whilst we are making great progress, we thank you in advance for your understanding, patience, and kindness. We will provide more info on lift tickets, lessons and rental equipment on May 16th," Selwyn's statement continues.

Forest fires appear to be another existential threat to ski areas worldwide from climate change, on top of melting glaciers and diminishing snowpacks, with increasing numbers of more sever fires reported and also taking place in winter, not just summer and autumn. Last autumn Sierra-at-Tahoe ski area in California was damaged by fire and has been closed for most of this season as repairs take place. The same huge fire reached the borders of Heavenly ski area and led to South Lake Tahoe being evacuated for several days. Another fire is currently reported to be threatening Ski Apache in New Mexico.