Updated: Wednesday, Apr. 28, 2010 12:45 p.m. MDT
Originally Published: Wednesday, Apr. 28, 2010 9:00 a.m.
by Patrick Thorne with First Tracks!! Online Media staff reports
Kiltarlity, Scotland, UK – Hundreds more ski areas around the world closed their lifts for the final time for winter 2009-10 last weekend. More than 100 resorts, however, remain open in over a dozen European, North American and Asian countries and many have plans for big celebrations this weekend to mark the start of May.n
North America
Several dozen ski areas remain open across North America and some have announced that 2009-10 will be their longest winter season ever.
In Colorado, Echo Mountain will close for the season after this weekend, as will nearby Loveland, one of the world’s highest resorts. Echo reported 17cm (seven inches) of new snow last weekend. Their closing leaves only Arapahoe Basin open in Colorado, where staffers hope to keep the state’s ski and snowboard season going into June this year.
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Utah’s Alta Ski Area closed for the season this past Sunday with 109 inches (277cm) of snow still on the ground. |
In Utah, Snowbird has passed its 1250cm (500 inches) of snowfall target for the third consecutive year. A storm brought another 15cm (six inches) to the slopes late last week, but a massively moisture-laden system is moving into the Wasatch today and is expected to leave one to two additional feet of snow (30-60cm) in its wake. Following next-door-neighbor Alta Ski Area’s bonus weekend this past Friday through Sunday, Snowbird is now the only ski area in Utah still open for skiing and snowboarding and plans to remain open to Memorial Day, May 31st.
In northern California, Squaw Valley, Mammoth Mountain and Donner Ski Ranch remain open, the latter weekends only. Squaw, where they’re reporting seven to 10 inches (18-25cm) of new snow this morning, is shooting for a May 9th closing, while Mammoth has already announced its intention to keep lift-served skiing going to July 4th this year. In the southern part of the state, Mountain High and Snow Valley each now plan to remain open through to May 2nd, making this the longest season in their history. Mountain High will have been open a total of 186 days, beating out the winter of 2004-05 by five days. Up to four lifts are currently in operation accessing 28 trails with terrain for all levels and abilities. Snow Valley, now operating Fridays through Sundays, says that “there’s a very good chance” that the resort will be open beyond May 2nd, depending on business volume and snow conditions in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Elsewhere in the western U.S., Brundage Mountain, Idaho will give it one last day of skiing and riding this Saturday. Brundage is reporting six inches (15cm) of new snow this morning, with another six to 12 inches (15-30cm) in the forecast by Saturday.
“We love to extend our season so people can enjoy the great spring snow we get here,” says Brundage spokesperson, April Russell. “This is only the second time we’ve been able to extend weekends all the way into the month of May, and to get a blast of fresh powder right before closing day is really exciting.”
Timberline and Mt. Bachelor will keep things going in Oregon, with the latter planning to close May 17th. Timberline is reporting seven inches (18cm) of new snow today, along with four inches (10 cm) at Mt. Bachelor. Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort in Nevada will keep things going through this weekend for their longest ski season ever.
In western Canada, Lake Louise and Sunshine in Alberta and Whistler in British Columbia are still open. Lake Louise will close after this weekend, while Sunshine Village will go to May 24th and Whistler Blackcomb through to June 14th.
There are only three ski resorts still operating in eastern North America, but a major storm is currently in progress and is expected to leave up to two feet (61cm) of new snow at Jay Peak in far northern Vermont, where staffers who originally planned to reopen the resort for one final weekend this Saturday and Sunday, will now open the lifts beginning tomorrow, Thursday, for die-hard powder hounds. The storm has already left 16-22 inches (41-56cm) by early afternoon and was still in progress. In Maine, Sugarloaf continues daily operations through this Sunday, May 2nd. At Sugarloaf, snow began to fall overnight and had accumulated to eight to 10 inches (20-25cm) at the top of the Sugarloaf SuperQuad by 1 p.m. local time. Accumulations at the base of the mountain were measured at two to three inches (five to eight centimeters). Additional snow is expected at Sugarloaf overnight tonight.
Finally, in Quebec, Mont-Saint-Sauveur will reopen this Saturday and Sunday for one final weekend of skiing and riding.
Western Europe
Eight ski areas are still open in France. Bonneval sur Arc, La Grave la Meije and Val d’Isère will close after this weekend, but Argentière, Chamonix Mont-Blanc, Orelle, Tignes and Europe’s highest ski resort, Val Thorens, will stay open another week to May 9th.
“Skiers could fully enjoy the pleasures of skiing early in the season because the snow fell in mid-November, in both a good quantity and of a good quality, so we opened the ski resort a week ahead of schedule, on November 14th. Today, we still have winter-like conditions and you can still enjoy the snow,” says Marinoël Turc, manager of the Tourist office of Val Thorens.
Chamonix Mont-Blanc still has the greatest snow depth in France on its upper slopes with 355cm (12 feet) lying. The other areas have between 1.6 and two meters (5.3 and 6.6 feet).
Following May 9th there will be no ski areas open in France for about five weeks, after which Tignes, Les 2 Alpes and Val d’Isere will offer summer skiing and snowboarding beginning in mid-June.
In Italy, five ski resorts are still open. While Livigno and Abetone will close after this weekend on May 2nd, Cervinia and Gressoney will stay open until May 9th. The Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale plans to stay open until June 26th, and has some of the deepest snow in the country with a 4.2m (14-foot) base.
Skiing in Austria is now largely concentrated on the glaciers. There’s 210cm (seven feet) of snow reported on the upper slopes at the Pitztal glacier, which is open to mid-May, while the Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun has 136cm (4.5 feet) left.
A spokesperson from the tourism association of Tiroler Oberland comments, “There’s still good snow conditions on the Kaunertal glacier while spring has come to the valley.”
The Mölltal Glacier will stay open to May 16th, where at the moment there are six lifts in operation and 45km of slopes skiable. The glacier reports a snow depth of 370cm (12.3 feet), the deepest in Austria.
St. Anton and Lech Zürs am Arlberg each closed last weekend. Ischgl, Austria’s capital of event tourism in the Alps, will celebrate its season finale together with the Swiss resort of Samnaun on Saturday when Alicia Keys will perform at the famous “Top of the Mountain Concert” with 20,000 fans expected to attend.
In Germany the Nebelhorn ski area is open until Sunday with 5km (three miles) of slopes still skiable on up to 170cm (six feet) of snow. An official of the local mountain railways reports that, “On the higher slopes that are open skiing conditions are still very good.”
On the Zugspitze glacier with 275cm (eight feet) of snow lying on the glacier, the ski resort near Garmisch will celebrate the end of its winter season on Saturday and Sunday with live music.
In Switzerland Zermatt and Saas Fee each reported five centimeters (two inches) of fresh snow yesterday. Saas Fee has 261cm (8.6 feet) of snow on the glacier with 10 lifts still in operation. As is the case at both Gstaad and Andermatt, the ski resort at Saas Fee will remain open until this Sunday, May 2nd. The glacier near Zermatt offers skiing all year round and Engelberg – with 290cm (9.7 feet) of snow on the mountain – won’t end its winter season before May 24th.
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There was still plenty of snow upon which to ski this past weekend at Sierra Nevada in Spain, Europe’s most southerly ski resort. |
The season is over in most of the rest of Western Europe, but the continent’s most southerly resort, Sierra Nevada in Spain, remains open this weekend with 20-400cm (0.7-13.3 feet) off snow and 32km of slopes open. In the Pyrenees, Masella is also open for a last weekend blast with 30-80 cm (one to three feet) of snow and 22 km of runs to enjoy.
Northern Europe
In Northern Europe there are still ski slopes open in Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
Norway still has 12 ski resorts open, but seven of them will be closing this weekend. Snow is expected in many parts of Norway this weekend, so there are good prospects for a memorable season-ending weekend on the slopes.
Aksel Lund Svindal and the rest of the Norwegian World Cup ski team are currently skiing in Hemsedal after participating in the last World Cup race of the season. Hemsedal is throwing their somewhat legendary “end of season” party this Saturday and over 6,000 ski enthusiasts are expected, as that many took part in last year’s celebration. It has the most slopes open in Norway with 42 runs.
Voss received a foot of new snow in the past week and has the country’s greatest snow depth with a two-meter (6.7-foot) base.
Sweden has 12 ski resorts open through this Sunday and Björkliden will be open another week until May 9th, and Riksgränsen right through to June 27th with its famous midnight-sun skiing coming up in May.
The snow coverage is generally still good with spring skiing at most resorts, except for Riksgränsen and Björkliden which each added another 5cm (two inches) of fresh snow yesterday.
The end of the ski season is celebrated with a Hot Dog Challenge in Scandinavia’s most popular resort, Åre, where there will be live music at the top station in Ramundberget and a lot of other events and competitions on the slopes. In Åre, the summer season kicks in as Åre Bike Park opens some trails this weekend.
At Cairngorm in Scotland you can still ski top to bottom, although lower runs are getting narrow and thin in places. The ski area is currently operating the Ptarmigan, Ciste, Cas, M1, and West Wall lifts along with the train. The slopes will be open daily to May 3rdm and then every weekend in May, conditions permitting.
Asia
In the Far East, Niseko on the Japanese island of Hokkaido remains open until May 5th and reports an amazing season with January and February providing the waist-deep powder the resort is renowned for, but surprisingly December and March provided some of the best skiing conditions of the season. Statistics show the famous Japanese resort had the snowiest March since 2005 and the coldest March since 1999, with a total accumulation of over 16 meters of snowfall for the season. Three meters (10 feet) of snow still drapes the ground at the top of the resort and a meter at the base of the lifts, making for some great spring skiing conditions.