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AdventuresSki ResortsTravelWeather

Up To A Metre (40″) of Pre-Season Snowfall in Australia

A huge pre-season snowfall in Australia has blanketed ski areas there with up to a metre (40 inches) of snow in the past 48 hours. It’s six weeks until the country’s ski areas are due to open for their 2020 season over the Queen’s Birthday weekend, a holiday weekend in the country and the traditional opening date for ski centres, snow cover or not. But Aussie ski areas are harking back to 2009 when another big autumn snowfall led for one of the earliest ever ski days in the country’s history 11 years ago, with Mt Buller posting this image (and the one above), Charlotte Pass has reported the biggest snowfall with a metre (40 inches) of snowfall since Thursday.…

Snowhunter 2nd May 2020
Ski ResortsTechnique / SafetyTravel

Riding A Ski Lift in a Pandemic

A number of ski areas in Norway and so far one in the US have re-opened following a period of pandemic lockdown and many others are now looking at how they’ll re-open. So far they re-opened areas are small, using with T Bar or Poma rope tow lifts or a double chairlift and it’s a case of one person per t Bar/chair and with limited numbers on the slopes this isn’t causing many problems.  Mt Baldy in California this week But what of the world’s leading ski resorts next winter which operated gondolas, cable cars, funicular lift and 4, 6 or 8 seater chairlifts to whisk bigger numbers up the slopes.  They’ll need to get enough people on the slopes,…

Snowhunter 28th April 2020
LifestyleRoundupsSki Resorts

Norwegian Ski Centres Sell Out of Lift Tickets as More Re-Open

At least half-a-dozen smaller Norwegian ski areas have re-opened in the past five days and the move is proving popular with the country’s skiers and snowboarders. In order to re-open under the country’s slightly-eased lockdown rules there are various social-distancing measures in place, most indoor facilities are closed, skiers need to wear masks and gloves at all times and ski areas are selling limited numbers of day passes in advance. This has led to all ski tickets selling out in advance in some cases. For example Roldal announced on Friday it had sold out of passes for Saturday. This could be a vision of things to come when ski areas re-open more widely next autumn. The ski areas so far…

Snowhunter 25th April 2020
RoundupsSki Resorts

The 2020 International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism Published

The 12th edition of the only fully credible report into the worldwide mountain sports business has been published. The annual International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism compiled for more than a decade now by industry expert Laurent Vanat, appears at a time when the global ski industry has never been so badly hit as it is by the current pandemic. However the report’s focus is on the results of winter 2018-19, which Mr Vanat says results show was, “…the best ski season of the millennium so far!” “It is a pleasure to see that despite adverse conditions the ski industry is facing, with climate change, increasing competition and the demographics, it still has the potential to see growth for…

Snowhunter 22nd April 2020 1
LifestyleRoundupsSki ResortsWeather

Austria To Allow Ski Touring To Resume from 1st May

Austria’s Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler has announced a wide number of non-team sports will be able to resume in Austria from 1st May as the country gradually moves out of pandemic lockdown. Tennis, golf, horse riding and athletics will be able to resume operations. Asked at a press conference whether ski touring would also be allowed, Vice Chancellor Kogler said yes, but urged anyone doing so to stick to “something easy” to avoid accidents. Austria has been in lockdown for a month and several of its ski resorts have been identified as ‘hot spots’ for coronavirus infection, accused of spreading cases around Europe and further afield, but the country itself has reported relatively few infections and deaths compared to many…

Snowhunter 16th April 2020
EnvironmentLifestyleSki ResortsTravel

New Longest Gondola in The World Ready to Open

Serbia is reported to be set to open what is claimed to be the new longest gondola lift in the world once the country’s coronavirus pandemic lockdown is eased. Dubbed the “The Zlatibor Gold Gondola” the new lift in nine kilometres (5.5 miles) in length and will carry skiers and boarders from the centre of Zlatibor, a small mountain town in western Serbia, to the local ski area at Tornik. The lift will be a mile longer than the current holder of the world’s longest gondola lift title, the 7.4km (4.5 mile) long Tianmen Shan cable car in Zhangjiajie National Park in China, according to the local Municipality of Čajetina who are behind the development. The lift was officially due…

Snowhunter 15th April 2020 1
RoundupsSki ResortsUncategorisedWeather

Double Punch!

Greetings to you all from Japan. I hope this finds you safe. I so much want to try and make this not be all about coronavirus and gloomy news. No doubt we are all close to overload on that subject! But, alas, it’s almost impossible to ignore the subject given the impact that it is having on all our lives - including the operations of ski resorts and access to our beloved snow. I’ll start off with the good news: some ski resorts in Japan remain open. Over recent weeks I have been noticing that ski resorts around the world have been closing due to restrictions being imposed by various lockdowns. It does feel kind of odd - and certainly…

David T 10th April 2020
LifestyleRoundupsSki Resorts

The Skiers Helping in the Fight Against Coronavirus

There are numerous reports of ski resorts, ski businesses and individual skiers trying to help in the fight against coronavirus all over the world. A common theme is creating protective clothing for everyone working in health on the front line against the virus. The medical teams at ski resorts have been donating their stocks of now hard-to-obtain goods in many countries, including gloves, sanitisers and masks to hospitals and in the US an organised campaign to get ski googles to medics has got thousands of sets of protective eyewear to hospitals, particularly in New York state in just a few days. Individuals are doing their bit too. In the French resort Alpe d 'Huez ski instructor Françoise Berthet, is making…

Snowhunter 6th April 2020
AdventuresSki Resorts

Open Top ‘Gondola Cabriolet’ To Debut in Ski Resorts

A new model of gondola which will has windows removed from the cabin is to go into service in ski resorts. Swiss company Bartholet has designed the Cabriolet Gondola so that its windows are open all the time with a fixed opening. It will not be a case of the windows coming down when the weather is good. “The glass cannot be closed when the weather is bad but if a ski area also has regular glass-enclosed  gondolas on the line, the gondolas can be easily exchanged depending on the weather and the garage system,” said Bartholet’s Denise Linder. Bartholet say the first cabins have even already been sold to several ski resorts, although we don’t yet know which resorts.…

Snowhunter 1st April 2020 1
RoundupsSki Resorts

Crowdfunding Keeps US Centre’s Slopes Groomed and Open, But Lifts not Running

A small US ski resort has successfully crowdfunded $6,000 in the past week or so to keep its slopes groomed even though the lifts aren’t running. Snow King Mountain is one of a large number of ski resorts in states not yet in complete lock down where people can hike up the hill and ski down. “It’s a little different picture for us because we’re shut down, and there’s no income for us, but I think it’s a positive thing people are getting out and enjoying the hill, and that’s why we’re doing this campaign,” Snow King General Manager Ryan Stanley told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. More than 150 people contributed to the fundraising since the centre closed…

Snowhunter 27th March 2020