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Weather

Season Has Started In Chile and There Is More Snow On Its Way

On Wednesday, Chileans woke up with fantastic news. El Colorado Ski Resort announced that was going to bring forward their opening date... to Friday, May 19th. That is yesterday. The reasons? Heavy snowfalls had brought an important amount of snow, creating an acceptable snowpack for skiing and snowboarding. El Colorado is located just 60 kilometers away from the capital city of Santiago, in an area known as the Three Valleys (it's called like this for being just next to La Parva and Valle Nevado). Usually, resorts in Chile do not open for the season until mid June. In fact, initial opening was scheduled for that month in El Colorado. However, as Snow-Forecast.com had anticipated,…

MatiasR 20th May 2017

Lifestyle

Clean-up days Underway at Mountain Resorts

Volunteers are busy walking the slopes of ski areas around the world cleaning up the ski slopes in the quiet season between the end of winter and start of the main summer season. A number of charity and environmental groups, as well as businesses operating at ski resorts and just volunteers from resorts and mountain communities have been hitting the slopes armed with buckets and bin bags to clean up trash left behind after the snow melts. The Respect The Mountains environmental charity, now part of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), has been one of the big organisers of mountain clean-ups and in 2016 took to the slopes of mountains from sun-baked Tenerife, and famous resorts of the…

snowhunter 20th May 2017

Weather

Heavy Mid-May Snow in North & South America Leads to Unseasonal Resort Openings

It has been snowing heavily, and continues to snow, this week in both North and South America at the same time. Usually, of course, it doesn’t snow in North America during the South American ski season, and vice versa, but this is that grey area between the northern and southern winters when it can snow in either or both hemispheres at the same time – it just doesn’t happen very often. https://www.facebook.com/MammothMountain/videos/10153936267747395/ (Snowfall at Mammoth Mountain California this week) For ski areas the snow – up to 35cm has been reported in Western North America and up to 60cm in the Andes of South America so far – is something of a quandary. Do North American areas re-open top give…

snowhunter 18th May 2017

Weather

Winter 2017 continues…

A large storm continues to bring fresh snowfall to the European Alps this week, mostly in Austrian resorts which is luckily where most of the resorts that are open are. The Obergurgl region has seen up to 15cm of new snow, but elsewhere glacier resorts such as Hintertux have had over 30cm in the past 24 hours. A look at our Ski Austria pages shows those resorts reporting the best piste conditions and new powder, so check this out regularly if you're lucky enough to be able to head to the mountains! Not forgetting French resorts, Tignes reports 20cm of snow in the first 24 hours of May…

snowfore 3rd May 2017

Technique / Safety

Tree wells

Whoever heard of tree wells? Everyone knows about avalanches, but isolated ski fatalities from tree wells don’t attract the same hysterical coverage. Some figures claim tree wells are responsible for a whopping 20% of ski deaths, and in recent experiments carried out in N. America where volunteers were placed in tree wells, 90% were unable to free themselves. Yet they can be avoided. First, check out this very illustrative video below then read on... A tree well is where snow fails to compact around the bottom of the tree trunk, prevented by the lower branches. Extremely common after heavy snowfall, coniferous trees with big lower branches weighed down by snow leave a bowl shaped mini-crater around the trunk. Loose powder,…

sueb 27th March 2017

Travel

The state of the Ski Industry

Luxury Ski Chalet operator Consensio recently released a report combining data from a wide range of ski operators that gives and interesting insight into the state of the industry - especially from the point of view of French and Swiss ski resorts. Some of the key findings include: Val d’Isere remains the resort of choice in France with over 30% of the market votes Verbier remains the most popular resort of choice in Switzerland, with Zermatt following a close second. According to the report, chalets were more popular than hotels with an overwhelming majority of 81%, however this particular statistic does seem to contradict other reports that say hotels are more popular. ============================================ What are the most popular ski resorts…

snowfore 24th March 2017

GearUncategorised

Oakley Goggle Lens Guide

Oakley have always been the iconic brand for snow glasses and goggles, but the sheer number of lenses on offer mean if you intend on doing your homework, choosing a new pair is like embarking on a postgrad thesis. More complicated than adjusting your TV, there’s contrast and light transmission, then coatings and colour filtrations - and what about which wavelengths you want to keep and which ones aren't welcome? We've summarised and simplified it for you. How they work Usually goggles have just one lens. That means your one pair of goggles is only suitable for one type of light – be it morning, afternoon, twilight, spectacularly bright, or a white out. Ideally, you need more than one lens…

sueb 15th March 2017 1

Gear

The best powder Skis & Snowboards for 2017

Freeride, off-piste, sidecountry, backcountry – whatever you want to call it – make the most of the amazing snow conditions with our pick of the best powder skis and snowboards available as we head into Spring 2017. 2017 has been an amazing season in terms of snow records - especially in the USA. It doesn’t matter if you’re a skier or boarder, if you’re headed to one of the resorts in North America – or you’re from that side of the pond and about to take a trip – you want to make sure you’ve got the right gear to make the most of the unprecedented levels of pow. So here are our picks of the top powder-friendly weapons of choice…

snowfore 13th March 2017

Lifestyle

Yoga for Skiers & Snowboarders

The yoga videos below are a series originally made by Sian Leigh of Health Shed for Whitelines snowboard magazine. They aim of the series is to help winter sports enthusiasts in the lead up to their trips to avoid the injuries that beset many people to one extent or another. The first video is great for complete beginners or those out of practice and progress as you do. The main secret with yoga is to listen to your body, and to be kind to yourself. It’s a practice, not a punishment! Part 1: 45-minute beginner yoga for skiers & snowboarders This is the first in the series to prepare you for your time on the snow. We will be opening…

snowfore 12th March 2017

Technique / Safety

How to stay safe off-piste and avoid avalanches

[The following post has been adapted from an article Henry's Avalanche Talk] It is safe to say that there are two types of skier or snowboarder. There are those who are happy to stick with the popular slopes and those that crave more excitement. For some of us the lure to adventure ‘off-piste’ will be inevitable. The call to find fresh, untouched powder to carve through in the back country is all to appealing. You are keen to challenge yourself whilst taking in beautiful scenery and avoiding the hustle and bustle of the kept pistes. If the latter is you, it is important to understand the risks of doing so and to prepare accordingly. One false move or lapse in…

snowfore 12th March 2017