by Patrick Thorne with First Tracks!! Online Media staff reports
Kiltarlity, Scotland, UK – As the majority of the world’s ski areas open over the next two weeks, the start of the 2010-11 winter season is still looking good with resorts in the Alps, Rockies, Pyrenees, Scandinavia and Scotland, among others, all reporting good to excellent early season conditions. The biggest snowfall of the past week has come from California with the Lake Tahoe region tallying up to eight feet of new snow over the past six days, but many other areas have reported at least a foot of new snow too, resulting in superb conditions.nDozens of resorts have opened across the U.S. ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Among the recent openings are Sugarloaf in Maine and Squaw Valley in California, where three storms over four days this week left 99 inches (more than 2.5 meters) of snow in their wake. Conditions are good in most other ski regions in the western U.S. as well with resorts in Utah already passing the 100 inch (2.5m) season-to-date snowfall figures and resorts from Alaska to Colorado reporting good conditions.
It’s been a tougher go of things in the East, where a lack of natural snowfall and temperatures conducive to snowmaking have hampered resort openings. Areas opening this week are nearly too numerous to mention, but include Steamboat (Colo.), Snoqualmie (Wash.), Cooper Spur (Ore.), Taos (N.M.), Snowbasin and Powder Mountain (Utah), Schweitzer (Idaho), Buck Hill (Minn.), Loon Mountain (N.H.), Jiminy Peak (Mass.), Whiteface (N.Y.), and Jay Peak, Okemo, Sugarbush and Stowe (Vt.).
Near Lake Tahoe in California, 115 inches of new snow over the past week Kirkwood Mountain Resort kicked of its season today, the earliest opening since 2004-05. Chairs 5 and 6 opened today and chairs 11 and 1 are expected to follow as conditions and snow safety allow. Kirkwood residents have awakened the past four mornings to several feet of fresh snow each day.
With 39 inches of snow arriving since opening early last, Wyoming’s Grand Targhee Resort is scheduled to open its Sacajawea Chairlift on Friday to make available 100% of the terrain at the resort in time for the weekend. Grand Targhee Resort has received 112 inches of snow to date this season.
“We will be the first resort in Wyoming to open 100 percent,” said Shannon Brooks Hamby, communications director. “This has been one of our best openings on record and our guests have been happily enjoying mid-season conditions during our opening week.”
That claim is merely a technicality, however, as nearby Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, where they’ve picked up 118 inches of snow thus far this season, will also open “top to bottom, wall to wall” this Saturday for the first time in its history.
“This is the beginning of a season without equal in Jackson Hole history,” says Jackson Hole Mountain Resort president, Jerry Blann. “We anticipate being able to open the entire mountain in November — this has never been seen before.”
Bridger Bowl near Bozeman, Mont., has already announced an early opening of nearly all of its terrain, but this afternoon Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Mont., announced that they’ll open ahead of schedule, too, on Friday, Dec. 3 thanks to record snowfall. With a base currently at 35 inches the Iron Horse Lift will access 10 runs until Thursday, Dec. 9. Lift tickets will be reduced to $25 for adults and $20 for juniors, college students and seniors until then.
“We are experiencing the best conditions in our resort’s history, and it would be a shame not to share that with everyone,” said Moonlight’s general manager, Greg Pack. “We are excited to open a portion of the resort a week early.”
In the Midwest, Lutsen Mountains in Minnesota will join a handful of ski areas in the region to open this Thursday with two lifts and three to five runs on the resort’s Ullr Mountain. Lifts will again be open from 9 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the gondola and additional runs on Moose Mountain projected for the weekend.
In Michigan Boyne Resorts has been taking advantage of colder temperatures to pump a boatload of snow, and will open Boyne Highlands at 11 a.m. this Friday. The resort ran 174 snow guns for 20 of the last 24 hours non-stop to provide a solid base on the Heather Trail. The high-speed Heather Express quad chairlift will run, possibly accessing additional terrain over the weekend. Lift tickets on Friday will be reduced to $20, and on Saturday and Sunday $25.
“This year’s opening really demonstrates the superior technology in the Boyne Low-E fan gun in creating massive amounts of quality snow as well as the dedication and passion of our snowmaking crew,” said Brad Keen, general manager of Boyne Highlands Resort. “We will continue snowmaking at every opportunity and are committed to opening more terrain as soon as possible.”
North in Canada it’s been a snowy start to winter in British Columbia. In the Coast Mountains Whistler opened six days early last weekend following a week filled with 70cm (27 inches) of fresh snow, followed by Mt. Seymour near Vancouver. Sun Peaks opened as well, and now two more B.C. Interior areas — Silver Star and Fernie — will open early as well. Silver Star is set to open this Thursday with the Comet Express Six-Pack and The Silver Queen lifts starting at 8:30 a.m. With over 100cm of snow in the past week, Fernie Alpine Resort will open a week earlier than planned this weekend for skiing and snowboarding this weekend, when an estimated 44 runs will be open and five lifts: the Elk Quad chair, Great Bear Express, Boomerang Triple, Mighty Moose and Haul Back T-bar.
On Vancouver Island, too, the ski season will begin ahead of schedule as Mt. Washington Alpine Resort today announced that they’ll open early for the third time in the past five years on Dec. 3 with the mountain’s entire 1,200 acres on the front side available.
“People are chomping at the bit to get up the mountain right now,” says resort spokesperson Brent Curtain. “With all of the La Niña hype over the last couple of months, skiers and boarders are running on hyper-drive to hit the snow!”
Most major resorts in Alberta are open, too, and also reporting lots of fresh snow. Cold air has finally allowed ski resorts in eastern Canada to open as well, with Mont Ste Anne in Quebec on the list of resorts opening this weekend. Quebec’s Mont-Saint-Sauveur first opened in the province briefly last weekend.
In Europe, Austrian ski areas have reported some healthy snowfalls in the past 48 hours, with two of the glacier ski areas already open, Sölden and the Stubai, reporting 14 inches (35cm) each. Sölden got a further 10cm on Tuesday right down to village level and has a snow cover of 171cm (nearly six feet) on the glacier now with more than 75km of slopes open there. Many other areas have reported 20-30cm snowfalls.
Ischgl this weekend begins its five month season with this year’s “Top of the Mountain Opening Concert” featuring the U.S. indie band Gossip. Around 20,000 people are expected and they’ll get free entry to the show so long as they have a lift pass. Other areas opening include Lech and St. Anton in the Arlberg.
A cold snap in France for the past week has brought a lot of snowfall through the past few days, up to 45cm in both the Pyrenees and Alps, and equally important it’s enabled the country’s huge snowmaking arsenal to work at full tilt. Temperatures are ideal, remaining below freezing all day to ensure the grip of this sub-layer of snow that will preserve good snow conditions throughout the season.
Currently only Tignes (open since September) and Val Thorens (which opened last weekend weekend) share the first skiers of the season with snow cover of 60 and 75cm respectively and nine trails open at each. It has snowed continuously at these two resorts over the past few days, picking up 15 cm during the past 72 hours and 20cm more expected over the next few days.
This weekend the season really gets moving in France, however, with a dozen more resorts planning to open in the Alps and Pyrenees including Val d’Isere, Les 2 Alpes, Cauterets, Barèges/La Mongie, Gourette, Luz Ardiden and Piau Engaly).
In Italy Alta Badia has had the most snow in the past week adding 1.2m (four feet) to its snow depth. Bormio and Cortina have had 75cm of new snow each in the past week. The Presena glacier claims the greatest snow depth in the world at present with four meters (13.3 feet). Seven of the 12 ski regions of Dolomiti Superski will open this Saturday A total of 42 lifts will be running, with the most at Kronplatz with 17. The remaining five Dolomiti Superski regions will follow next weekend.
Conditions are good at most open Swiss ski areas. St. Moritz received fresh snowfall on Sunday and the snow depth there is reported to be 150cm (five feet) at the top station and 30cm (a foot) in the village. Saas Fee has even more with 195cm (6.5 feet) of snow lying on its upper slopes and it has been snowing again in recent days.
Many resorts In the Pyrenees have had healthy snowfall in the past week. Snow has been falling since Friday in Formigal in Spain, where 180 people are working to start the season this Saturday. There are 15 trail groomers working two shifts, preparing the slopes which have 30cm of fresh snow at 1,500m. and nearly a meter at 2,000m.
“We are hoping to open all four valleys. On Thursday evening we’ll know the exact number of kilometers and slopes that we will open,” said Commercial Director of Formigal, Jose Luis del Valle.
Elsewhere in Europe the rate of snowfall has slowed in the past week with the maximum new accumulation only 8cm, but it is snowing in Geilo, Norway today. Voss, Norway has the deepest snow base currently in Scandinavia with 60cm (two feet). In Scotland Cairngorm remains the only area open, for weekends only, but with more snow in the forecast the other four Scottish Highlands areas may open soon.