Snowmass tourism effort promotes ties to Aspen

Snowmass Village is adopting an ad campaign that capitalizes on its proximity to the more recognized Aspen, the Aspen Daily News reports.
Snowmass Village Councilman John Wilkinson often draws blank stares at other ski resorts, even in Colorado, when he tells fellow skiers where he resides. But mention Aspen and it’s instant recognition, he said.
Snowmass tourism officials know the feeling. Last week, Susan Hamley, director of the town’s Snowmass Tourism office, unveiled a new advertising campaign that will tout the variety of activities not just in the village but also in Aspen and elsewhere in the valley. One potential ad Hamley displayed to Town Council on May 21 features a photo of the Belly Up, the popular concert venue in Aspen. The advert "plays up what we have here in Snowmass, what we have with our partners in Aspen and what you can get in the valley", Hamley said. "We mention Aspen in the copy as well, saying that the combination of these two neighbors is powerful". But Hamley said in an email that the effort should not be construed as the town "abandoning our own identity".
The town’s advisory board on marketing, events and group sales voted unanimously to establish a closer tie-in with its better-known neighbor, the board’s chairman, Robert Sinko, told Town Council. Sinko is general manager of the Crestwood Condominiums.
Hugh Templeman, general manager of the Viceroy Snowmass hotel, said positioning the resort with Aspen will be a strong step forward. "The board made a big decision in recent meetings to align ourselves much more tightly with Aspen, location-wise", said Templeman, who spoke before Town Council as a representative of the lodging industry on the marketing advisory board. "So you see that [result] in the advertising ... because we felt that was the smartest way to grow our process going forward".
The goal of the new campaign "is to give guests all the options they can enjoy while staying in Snowmass, which can even include a stop at the Hot Springs pool" in Glenwood Springs, Hamley said. "So when they weigh Snowmass against other Colorado resorts in their decision-making process, we have a far bigger offering".
Councilman Jason Haber said using the synergy between the two resorts is sensible. "In a way, Snowmass exists because of that relationship to Aspen", he said. "From a branding and marketing standpoint, it makes sense to tap into that recognition".
"What we were told is that it’s a no-brainer to partner with Aspen, but Snowmass is a unique place",  Wilkinson said. "It’s a family resort, easy to get to, has ski-in, ski-out [accommodation]. Aspen has the reputation, we have the skiing". Wilkinson said he understands tying Snowmass to Aspen (the ski area’s original name, in 1964, was Snowmass-at-Aspen) to alleviate those blank stares he usually gets around the state and elsewhere. "I get that part of it", he said. "I think it could work well with both resorts. There’s a synergistic effect there that, with the resort as a whole with Buttermilk and Highlands, once people realized that they’re all connected by one lift ticket, they’d say, ‘OK, I get it’".

I think tis is a valuable lesson to be learned by many ski resorts worlwide who live in the shadow of big ones.

Analyst upgrades Vail Resorts stock

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Steven Wieczynski (Vail Daily. Thursday, May 31, 2012) expects the stock to outperform the S&P 500 by more than 10 percent over the next 12 months. "With Vail shares declining 12 percent in the last two months (compared to the S&P decline of 5 percent), we believe this has created an attractive entry point as we push toward the 2012-13 ski season", Wieczynski wrote in a note to investors. "While Vail shares have historically traded lower (7 percent average decline during summer months back to 2007) during the summer months, we believe continued encouraging demand signals toward the 2012/2013 ski season, continued strong international visitation, revised summer program offerings, and solid Free Cash Flow (FCF) support could all be catalysts for the shares".
Five reasons Stifel Nicolaus thinks Vail shares are compelling:

• Encouraging season pass sales. Stifel Nicolaus says Vail can "easily push mid-to-upper single digit price increases on their pass program over the next five years given the quality of assets and the value proposition still inherent for their customers".

• Continued strong international visitation should help drive margins. Citing "impressive" international visitation in the 2011-12 ski season, despite snowfall, the firm believes "spending on non-mountain activities will continue to improve given international guests' propensity to spend more than the typical domestic visitor".

• Revamped summer program could partially eliminate seasonality. The firm points to the recently passed legislation — the Ski Areas Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act that allows for more on-mountain summer activities, which Congress passed last year — "could present a low risk opportunity to drive incremental EBITDA".

• Strong FCF generation should allow for acquisitions or shareholder distributions. Stifel Nicolaus cites Vail's "underleveraged and conservatively managed balance sheet" as reasons to expect management to "carefully address any attractive M&A opportunities, whether they exist in the U.S., Europe or Asia".

• Valuation compelling at current levels. Current trading prices present an opportunity "for investors to enter the shares in order to capture upside to numbers heading into the 2012-13 ski season".

Other Vail Resorts analysts have also maintained that Vail Resorts shares (MTN on the New York Stock Exchange) are attractive because of the company's "asset quality, long-term pricing power, solid balance sheet, free cash flow, and strong management team", according to the latest investor note from Credit Suisse in May. Credit Suisse analyst Joel Simkins put the stock's price target at $55 in that note, while JMP Securities analyst Will Marks put the price target at $57 in his latest note to investors earlier this month (the stock closed on May 31 at $43.47).
While Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Shaun Kelley maintained a neutral rating for MTN as it enters a seasonally slow period, he wrote in a May 1 note to investors that Bank of America Merrill Lynch recognizes "the growth potential of its assets in a more normalized operating environment".

Vail Resorts is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. Vail Resorts operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, and Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada, and the GrandTeton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resorthotel company, manages casually elegant properties. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estateplanning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly heldcompany traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Colorado's Echo Mountain ski area for sale

Echo Mountain announced that it would be going up for sale in August. The ski hill is located just 35 miles West from downtown Denver. Echo Mountain was founded back in 2006, and is located a short 35 miles out of Denver. In addition to serving as an extremely convenient and family-friendly mountain destination, the north-facing terrain provides skiers and snowboarders with unmatched views of the Continental Divide from elevations ranging from 9,000 to 11,000 feet. The property features a vertical drop of 660 feet that can be expanded to 1500+, 16 named trails; three lifts including a 2000 ft. fixed grip triple chair, a magic carpet surface lift for the learning center and a handle tow for the events area; tested helipad and state-of-the art snowmaking operations with 4 wells and a reservoir. Less than 33% of the 226 acres have been developed and the resort is surrounded by U.S. Forest Service managed property, making its operations expandable through trades or leases.
"We've had six years of steady growth," said owner Jerry Petitt, the Maryland hotelier who bought the 226-acre dormant Squaw Pass ski area at a 2002 auction for $700,000 and has since plowed several million dollars into developing the area. "But to reach the next level, Echo needs investment and expansion. And it's time for new ownership to take it to that next level". Echo Mountain has grown from 12,000 visits in its inaugural 2005-06 season to 32,000 last season. Just about every resort in the country limped through the 2011-12 ski season — the worst in two decades nationally for both snowfall and visitation. But Echo had decent snow and saw strong visitation, with revenue climbing 30 percent and daily ticket sales up 50 percent.The ski area holds a great deal of significance for the region and the Colorado ski industry as a whole due to the fact that it is one of the few resorts to boast being located on completely private land. Echo will be sold sold by Racebrook (a private investment firm) and its auction affiliate, Sheldon Good & Company in a sealed bid auction format, with bids due by August 2, 2012.
"To have a ski resort situated on 100% private land is unheard of in the ski industry, so Echo Mountain provides an extremely rare opportunity for a local or international buyer to purchase the property and continue its evolution into a unique winter and year-round sports destination", said John Cuticelli, CEO of Racebrook. “A savvy buyer will be able to enjoy the benefits and opportunities of owning and branding their own mountain resort while leveraging the property’s solid history.” Unlike land leased from the U.S. Forest Service, private ownership allows unrestricted year-round usage as well as advertising onsite and unique brand exposure.
There are only 26 active, permitted ski areas operating in the state of Colorado and Echo Mountain is easily the closest one to the rapidly growing recreation population along the Front Range of Colorado, making it a possible Winter Olympic event site. Its location allows visitors to minimize time on the heavily congested I-70, which takes drivers hours to reach other resorts and will likely experience massive disruptions as traffic increases as it is rebuilt in the coming years.
Bids are due by 4 PM MDT, August 2, 2012 to Sheldon Good & Company. Anyone interested in owning their very own world class mountain destination should head over to http://www.echomtnauction.com/ and make sure they don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Switzerland overnight stays recede for the 2011-2012 Winter Season

According to provisional results from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), during the winter tourist season (November 2011 to April 2012), 15.2 million overnight stays were recorded, corresponding to a fall of 3.7% (-591,000 overnight stays) compared with the same period of the previous year.
Despite excellent snowfall across the Swiss Alps for much of the winter the main problem the country had was a poor exchange rate. The government did step in to support the currency ensuring it did not drop below 1.4 Swiss francs to £1, but just four years ago £1 would buy 2.6 francs. The exchange rate put many people off.
Of the various cantons and regions Graubünden, which has resorts such as Davos and St Moritz, was hit hardest with an 8.6% fall.
The Valais canton, that contains the ski resorts of Verbier, Zermatt, Saas-Fee and Crans-Montana, was down 6.8%.
The Bernese Oberland, that has Wengen and Grindelwald within its borders, registered a fall of 6.2%.
The figures compare to the previous winter but the season of 2010/11 saw falls of up to 6% on 2009/10.
A breakdown in the nationalities shows the number of British people declining by 10%, Germany 16% and Holland 19%.
There was a 7% rise in Russians.
Despite the overall fall in European visitors there was an increase from other parts of the world. There were 37% more people from China and increases from Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East.
The number of Swiss people staying in the country went up by 0.1%. This is somewhat surprising as holidaying in the nearby eurozone parts of the Alps would have offered better value for money, but many Swiss ski resorts had good conditions across large parts of the winter and this would have attracted locals. However there were many examples from ski resorts neighbouring Switzerland that saw a sharp rise in Swiss skiers and snowboarders as they took advantage of the cheap exchange rate with the euro. For instance, the Tirol in Austria reported a 15.9% increase in Swiss visitors.

Canadian Resort Re-Opens For Father’s Day Weekend, Again

For a third year in a row, Mount Washington will operate on Father's Day weekend for skiing and boarding. The resort will spin the Whiskey Jack Chairlift from 10am to 4pm on June 16 and 17th.
"We recently completed another stellar snow season up here so the writing was on the wall back in April- we were contemplating another summer snow session", explains resort spokesperson Brent Curtain.
To make some turns on the summer corn snow, tickets will cost $25 per person and rental skis and boards will be an additional $25. If you pre-purchase your tickets and rentals online at mountwashington.ca you get an additional 10% discount.
The mountain is confirming that Linton's Loop will be open top to bottom that weekend but will determine if more runs can open closer to June 16. "We want to see what the weather brings over the next week before we commit to the number of runs we can open", adds Curtain.
For fans of the terrain park, a selection of rails and features will be setup mid-mountain.
While summer ski days are an anomaly over the resort's 33 years of operation, massive snowfalls in the last few seasons have resulted in an influx of summer snow turns.
"Four of our five deepest snow years have all occurred in the last few years. We're definitely in a deep cycle for snowfall so it's not surprising to see the snow last this long".
As a bonus for heading up to the summer ski weekend, all skiers and boarders will receive a two for one Mile High Chairlift Ride voucher. There will also be prizes handed out throughout the weekend for best outfits and costumes.

Southern Hemisphere 2012 Season Underway

Following the early opening of Perisher in Australia blast week, more Australian ski areas and the first New Zealand ski areas are all opening this weekend (June 9th/10th).
Southern Africa’s only operational ski area, Afriski in Lesotho, has also opened this week.
In New Zealand there’s thankfully been no repeat of 2011’s warm May/June and instead increasingly healthy snowfalls have helped build up bases. Cantabrians are gearing up for their much anticipated first day on the slopes thanks to a snow dump that has blanketed Mt Hutt ski area. Mt Hutt will officially open for the winter season tomorrow (Saturday June 9) with an average snow base of 65cm across the entire mountain – believed to be the deepest in the southern hemisphere at present. Mt Hutt Ski Area Manager James McKenzie said the forecast for opening was fine and sunny with light winds. "It should be an outstanding day to kick off the 2012 season", he said. "We’ll be opening with the Summit Six Chair, Exhibition Quad and of course our beginners Magic Carpet area all operating. (...) We’re currently assessing Towers Triple Chair but are suggesting that only advanced to intermediate skiers head over there, as it is not currently groomed", he said.
Mr McKenzie said visitors to Mt Hutt tomorrow were likely to require chains on 2WD from either the Info Booth at the bottom of the ski area access road, or Canterbury View just after the 5 km mark. "People heading to the mountain tomorrow should check the snow report to make sure they’re well prepared and always carry snow chain equipment as conditions can change very quickly up here", he said.
In Australia Mt Baw Baw was coated with a thick blanket of fresh snow this week, 20cm in fact! "A great start to the first week of winter and positive signs for a snow-filled season ahead at Mt Baw Baw", they say, while at Mt Buller the snowmaking team have been working around the clock to get the mountain white for the weekend and say there are some nice piles of snow building up all over the resort thanks to cold nights and good snowmaking conditions.
Mt Hotham says that on top of natural snowfall snowmaking kicked off there in the early hours of 29 May on the Big D.
Since then they have been making snow on the Big D, Summit Trainer, Sun Run and Swindler's Trail whenever conditions allow. Last Sunday morning saw the resort blanketed in white after overnight snowfalls and they’ve since received 25cm of fresh snow with more snowfalls forecast.

Vermont Ski Visits Down 11%

Less snowfall and challenging weather conditions translated into nearly 11 percent fewer skier visits this season, the Vermont Ski Areas Association reported Wednesday at its annual meeting held at Jay Peak Resort.
The state’s 18 ski resorts recorded 3,903,171 skier and snowboarder visits during the 2011-12 season - down 10.5 percent from the 4,365,906 visits the previous season, which was the best season since 2004-05.
Although Vermont’s numbers were disappointing, the state fared far better than other ski states. Nationally, skier visits were off 16 percent this season.
Despite low natural snowfall during the 2011-12 ski season, state-of-the art snowmaking and grooming enabled Vermont ski areas to have significant amounts of open terrain, often unmatched in percentage by any other ski state. "The 2011-12 season stands as a testament to the resiliency of our ski areas and showcased the unrivaled prowess of our industry’s snowmaking and grooming capabilities", said VSAA president Parker Riehle. "The caliber of our 75% statewide snowmaking coverage means, for example, that we have over 1,000 acres more terrain with snowmaking alone than all of New Hampshire’s total ski area terrain".
He said the state’s 30 cross-country areas had a rougher season since only a few have the capacity to make snow and even then on limited terrain.
Based on a 10-year average, he said skier visits were down 5 percent this season.
Despite adverse weather conditions, with temperatures that climbed into the 70s in March, the VSAA said that tourism-related tax revenue during the winter were stronger than expected.
Riehle said rooms and meals, and sales tax revenue were up a combined 2.5 percent over the previous winter.
Although the downhill ski resorts struggled this season, Riehle said he knows of no resorts in dire financial trouble.
Ski Vermont is a private non-profit trade association founded in 1969 to help create a legislative, economic and social environment in which the state's ski industry can grow and prosper, addressing issues including environmental integrity, economic and social contributions to the state's welfare, and competitive positioning of the state as a destination for winter tourism. Ski Vermont serves its 19 Alpine and 30 Nordic member resorts in three major areas: Governmental Affairs, Marketing and Public Affairs.

Colorado ski visits down 11.4%

Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA), the state ski industry lobbying group that represents 22 resorts, reported at its annual meeting in Boulder today that its 22 member resorts hosted an estimated 6.16 million skier visits during the 2011-12 ski season. This represents a decrease of 11.4 percent, or approximately 790,000 skier visits, compared to last season, which was the fourth best season on record. Compared to the five year average, CSCUSA member resort skier visits are down 11.9 percent. The overall snow related decline interrupted the recovery resorts had been building since 2008/09.
In an indication of the extreme weather impacting Colorado resorts this season, Colorado’s western slope experienced its third driest and seventh warmest winter in records going back to 1895. Precipitation on the Western Slope this winter was 43 percent below average, and down every month of the winter. In Colorado overall, March 2012 was the driest in more than 100 years, and we experienced the second warmest March on record. President and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA Melanie Mills said: "Much of the ski industry in the US was confronted with weather challenges last year, but several of our resorts bucked the national trend and showed signs of resilience during what was clearly an uninspiring winter".
The diversity of ski resorts in Colorado saw some areas post increases and even records in visitation. Colorado Ski Country resorts also saw strength in both domestic and international destination visitors which helped soften the economic impacts to resort operators and resort communities of the overall decline in visitation.
Momentum going into the season was strong after seeing an uptick in visitation last year, and economic conditions generally improved during the season. Abundant amounts of snow came in the fall, allowing some resorts to open earlier than planned, but the uncharacteristic precipitation deficit brought that momentum to a standstill. Snow came in the middle of the season and several resorts broke single day snowfall totals, but perception of an underperforming winter was already set in skiers’ minds. "We’ve had dry years in the past, and we’ll have dry years again", Mills explained. "Not every year can be a record breaking year, and with nary a snowflake in what is normally our snowiest month in Colorado, season visitation numbers are disappointing, but not unexpected".
CSCUSA resorts upheld their dedication to providing guests with a quality product and superior service which sets Colorado apart from other ski destinations, and keeps the state’s appeal as the premiere place for winter travelers. "Our resorts have so much to offer visitors that in some cases the world class skiing is just one of a menu of activities. And for many people, the season was more about being outside and spending time with friends and family taking in the beautiful outdoors and wonderful amenities of our resorts".
With certain assumptions in place, statewide skier visits for Colorado are estimated at 11,010,584 million. This estimation shows Colorado being down 9.8 percent, or approximately 1,195,000 visits, compared to last season. On a national level, skier visits overall are down 15.7 percent with the Rocky Mountain region seeing a decrease of 7.2 percent.
These numbers are preliminary results and subject to final adjustments by CSCUSA members. The decision to release individual numbers is up to each individual resort.
The 2010-11 ski season was the fourth best ever after record snowfall at most Colorado resorts. The 2011-12 season saw record low snowfall totals as a major snow drought gripped most of the state and the nation.
Skier visits for the past 10 years can be downloaded here.

Vail Resorts Reports Third Quarter Results

Vail Resorts reported results for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 ended April 30, 2012 and the results of its spring pass sales for the 2012/2013 ski season.
Vail Resorts ski areas experienced historically low snowfall (with cumulative snowfall at our six resorts (excluding Kirkwood) down more than 50% over the prior ski season) and one of the mildest winters on record, including over the key spring break and Easter periods, which adversely impacted our skier visitation which was down 9.8% (with our Colorado and Tahoe resorts down 9.0% and 12.4%, respectively) for the three months ended April 30, 2012 compared to the same period in the prior year.  Despite these unprecedented conditions, revenues were generally stabilized by increased season pass sales, higher pricing and increased average guest spend.
Lift ticket revenue increased by 0.7% over the prior year and ancillary revenue from ski school and retail/rental was up 1.1% and 1.3%, respectively, while dining revenue was down 1.1% driving an 11.6% increase in total ancillary revenue per skier visit.
Total Mountain net revenue increased by 0.9% over the prior year with a 9.8% decline in skier visits more than offset by a 12.8% increase in season pass revenue and a 9.4% increase in Effective Ticket Price (“ETP”) excluding season pass holders.
Mountain Reported EBITDA increased 0.6% and Resort Reported EBITDA (which includes the Company’s Mountain and Lodging segments) decreased by 0.5% from the prior year.
Commenting on the Company’s fiscal 2012 third quarter results, Rob Katz, Chief Executive Officer said, "We are pleased with our third quarter results as they evidenced our ability to successfully navigate the most challenging winter in the history of the United States ski industry. Cumulative snowfall levels for the 2011/2012 ski season were down more than 50% across our resorts, compared with the prior year, and snowfall at our Colorado resorts was down more than 70% in March. The lack of snow, combined with unseasonable temperatures, affected visitation levels during the key spring break and Easter vacation periods. Yet, despite these unprecedented conditions, we delivered an approximate 1% increase in Mountain Reported EBITDA in the third quarter compared with the prior year. This performance demonstrates the stability and resiliency of our business model, which benefitted from our growing season pass business, as well as the quality of our resorts and the breadth of the experience we offer, which attracted guests throughout the season".
Continuing on the third quarter performance, Katz added "There were several positive indicators in the third quarter that contributed to our performance and bode well as we look toward the 2012/2013 ski season. Our Mountain net revenue increased 0.9% to $354.6 million as higher spending per skier visit, improved lift ticket pricing and strong season pass revenue more than offset the decline in skier visits. Lift ticket revenue increased 0.7% during the quarter despite a drop of 9.8% in visitation benefitting from a 12.8% increase in season pass revenue and a 9.4% gain in ETP, excluding season pass holders. On a per visit basis, our ski school revenue per visit increased 12.1%, dining revenue per visit was higher by 9.7% and retail/rental revenue per visit was up 12.3%, reflecting the high income demographic of our resort guests enabling us to benefit from enhanced consumer spending, especially in the luxury segment, as well as from our international guests. Over the course of the 2011/2012 ski season, our international visitation increased by approximately 2%, despite a 12.1% decline in total visitation and continued challenges in the European economy, reflecting targeted marketing efforts to drive more visits from this growing international segment. For the full 2011/2012 ski season, visitation at our Tahoe resorts declined 22.4% compared to the prior year, while our Colorado resorts were down 8.9% with Beaver Creek essentially flat reflecting its higher mix of luxury and destination guests. Our season passholders, representing arguably our most weather sensitive guests, skied only approximately one day less, on average, in the current ski season compared to the prior year. Overall season pass revenue represented approximately 40% of our total lift ticket revenue for the winter season. Also during the third quarter we leveraged our strong balance sheet, acquiring a third Tahoe resort, Kirkwood, with early indications that this unique resort should prove to be highly complementary to our existing portfolio and pass programs. Finally, I could not be more pleased to report that total spring season pass sales, which include sales through Tuesday May 29, 2012 compared to sales through Tuesday May 31, 2011 and including Kirkwood pass sales in both years, were up approximately 17% in units and approximately 22% in sales dollars. These sales, which will be recorded as revenue in the second and third quarters of fiscal 2013, provide perhaps the strongest indicator we have seen for the upcoming 2012/2013 ski season".
Vail Resorts is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. Vail Resorts operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, and Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada, and the GrandTeton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resorthotel company, manages casually elegant properties. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estateplanning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly heldcompany traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Utah Ski and Snowboard Industry Announces 2011-12 Skier Day Visits

The Utah ski and snowboard industry announced 3,802,536 million skier day visits during the 2011-12 winter season, down 10 percent from the previous season’s 4,223,064. The 2010-11 season was Utah’s second best season on record only a hair short from the 2007-08 season, which recorded 4,249,190 skier days.
Low snow totals plaguing resorts nationwide and the persistence of a wavering economy are credited for the decrease at Utah ski and snowboard resorts this season. As snow totals have accumulated well above the state’s 500 annual inch average the past four seasons, this year’s below average snowfall was all the more difficult for powder lovers to endure. Despite the downturn, Ski Utah is confident awareness and demand for the Utah wintersport product is headed on a positive trajectory. Utah skier day visits performed quite well in comparison to the national average down 15% from last season according to the National Ski Area Association.
"Utah ski and snowboard resorts did an exceptional job compensating for the lack of early season snow with a record level of snowmaking", noted Ski Utah President Nathan Rafferty. "Unfortunately, by the time Mother Nature joined the effort many consumers had already turned their attention away from skiing and snowboarding".
Ski Utah also observed that while participation in on-snow activities declined this season many complementary businesses, such as restaurants and shops, reported steady to strong business indicating many visitors supplemented their vacations with other activities.
For a complete history of Utah’s skier days visit http://www.skiutah.com/media/story_starters/utah-skier-days-table.
Ski Utah is the marketing firm owned and operated by the 14 statewide ski resorts that make up the Utah Ski and Snowboard Association (Alta Ski Area, Beaver Mountain, Brian Head Resort, Brighton Resort, Canyons Resort, Deer Valley Resort, Eagle Point, Park City Mountain Resort, Powder Mountain Resort, Snowbasin Resort, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Solitude Mountain Resort, Sundance and Wolf Mountain). The organization has been creating brand awareness of and demand for the Utah wintersports product since its inception in 1978.

Where To Ski or Board In June?

Alps. Although the choice of ski areas open in the Alps at the start of June is limited to just four areas – the Dachstein (which currently has a base of more than 4.5m) and Hintertux glaciers in Austria, Zermatt in Switzerland and Passo Stelvio in Italy; that will all change in a few weeks’ time when half a dozen more areas are scheduled to open for summer skiing and snowboarding. These include French resorts Les 2 Alpes, Tignes (both opening on June 16th) and Val d’Isere - which opens first on June 9th. In Italy Val Senales and Cervinia re-open on the 16th and 20th June respectively. Summer skiing in the Alps mostly takes place between 7am and 1pm daily.

Scandinavia. In Scandinavia the three Norwegian summer ski areas of Folgefonn, Galdhoppigen and Stryn are all reporting huge bases of over 8m. Ruka in Finland still has it’s ‘summer’ slope open that helps it stay open for 8 months each (normal) ‘season’ from mid-October to mid-June. This year it plans to keep the slope open to June 10th.

North America. In North America there’s no repeat of last year’s snowy-late-spring and even stalwarts like Mammoth have closed ‘already.’ However Timberline in Oregon, the only year-round snowfield is open in the USA, as is Crystal Mountain in Washington state, “We will remain open for skiing June 2-3 and 9-10, possibly longer if conditions allow,” they say. North of the border all ski areas in Canada are currently closed but Whistler Blackcomb re-opens for glacier skiing on June 23rd and remains open to July 29th. There was over 2.1m (7 feet) of snow lying there on the 1st of June.

Southern Hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere Perisher in Australia will be the first resort to open, this Saturday, 2nd June, a week earlier than planned, thanks to 30cm of fresh snow plus snowmaking. Other Australian resorts are expected to follow as scheduled a week later. These include Mt Buller which will open the country’s only new chairlift this winter, a quad chair.
There have also been promising signs in New Zealand where opening was delayed last year by record warm months of May and June 2011, this year there have been re-assuring pre-season snowfalls and most resorts expect to open between June 9th and June 23rd with Coronet Peak and Mt Hutt among the first expecting to open.
Across the Pacific resorts across South America should also be opening for their 2012 winter in the next few weeks and again the signs are good with pre-season snow accumulations. New lifts include a quad chair for Las Lenas in Argentina and the first gondola in Chile at Valle Nevado.
Finally in Africa, Afri-ski in Lesotho, the only commercial snowfield in the south of the continent and the southern hemisphere has been snowmaking in recent cold temperatures and is on target to open on June 6th, next week.

St. Moritz To Host 2017 Alpine World Ski Championships

St Moritz was announced the successful bidder of the three European resorts competing to host the 2017 Alpine World Ski Championships.
St Moritz has hosted the Championships on four previous occasions since first staging them in 1934 and had been a contender for the next two Championships, which will be staged in Schladming, Austria, next winter and in Beaver Creek / Vail in Colorado in 2015. St Moritz last staged the Championships in 2003.
The decision was made by the FIS Council on Thursday at the 48th International Ski Congress in Kangwonland, Korea. St Moritz received 12 votes to achieve an absolute majority in the first ballot against Are in Sweden, the only other remaining candidate following the dramatic last minute withdrawal from the process by Italy’s Cortina d'Ampezzo.
"The step taken was not an easy one, but in difficult moments it is crucial being strong, determined and showing courage. Following the unwritten rule of rotating the FIS events between its member federations, we realised that it is not Cortina’s turn this time around", commented Italian Ski Federation President, Flavio Roda.
"Withdrawing the bid also means having plenty of time to present our UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019 in its best shape. Especially, we would like to highlight our work regarding new ski lifts connecting the valleys of the Dolomites and, thus, creating real legacies".
In addition to St Moritz’s success, Kulm (Austria) and Sierra Nevada (Spain) were unanimously elected as hosts of the 2016 FIS Ski Flying World Championships and joint FIS Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships 2017, respectively.

The Nordic World Ski Championships will be hosted by Lahti (Finland), which took this honour in the third ballot with 12 votes ahead of Planica (SLO).

.ski Website Name Extension Announced

A company called Starting Dot has announced it has applied to be the official registry of .ski (Dot Ski) as part of a program initiated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) launched in 2012 to create a new generation of website address (URL) extensions.

"The Starting Dot mission is to bring new online opportunities to ski sports communities, participants, business owners and brands through a dedicated top level domain name extension that ends with the .ski extension. (e.g. www.alpine.ski)", said a media statement from the company, which continues, "Through the successful management of .ski, Starting Dot will create new opportunities in the ever-expanding global ski sports industry and provide trusted and safe internet spaces for people passionate about ski sports".

The value of a dedicated .ski Top Level Domain space for the ski sports community is underpinned by support from a growing number of official endorsements. These include, SNTF - Ski Areas of France (an association composed by over 230 French mountain operators), the General Counsel of Savoy, the resort of Tignes and Olympic Gold Medalist Antoine Deneriaz.
Ski sports community will be able to begin securing .ski domain name extension in early 2013 and can stay up to date with the latest news from .ski at www.dot-ski.com.
Founded in October 2011 in Paris, Starting Dot is developing a portfolio of 5 new Top Level Domain names (TLDs) dedicated to major online industries: .SKI, .IMMO, .DESIGN, .ARCHI and .BIO. Starting Dot aims to help online businesses more distinctively express their purpose in their online brands and reach deeper into their consumer and business audiences. StartingDot's strategy is to focus on TLDs dedicated to SME categories for which a direct correlation between their trade and their domain name is of the utmost importance.

Valle Nevado and Mammoth Mountain Announce Partnership

Valle Nevado (Chile) and Mammoth Mountain (USA, California) announced a new sister resort partnership effective May 2012. Valle Nevado, located 90 minutes from Santiago, and Mammoth Mountain, located in Central California, are two of the largest and most popular resorts in their respective countries, and an alliance between the two will provide customers and season pass holders with unique cross-promotional benefits and greater awareness of each resort, opening an opportunity for skiers and snowboarders to live the legend of the endless winter.
To celebrate Valle Nevado and Mammoth Mountain’s new partnership, season pass holders at each resort will receive 7-Day free lift tickets at the sister resort. Valle Nevado and Mammoth Mountain expect to see many future benefits for customers that will include lodging discounts and other added-value services. Free days can be issued per day, one at a time, and don’t need to be consecutive. There are no blackout dates to use the free days in Valle Nevado. Free days can be redeemed anytime during the 2012 Chilean ski season.
"Valle Nevado sees the partnership with Mammoth Mountain as a perfect fit", says Valle Nevado Sales & Marketing Director Ricardo Almeida. "Both resorts adhere to a visionary philosophy that siezes opportunities to modernize on-mountain and base facilities, provide outstanding customer service, and offer a tremendous amount of world-class terrain. But most importantly, it gives skiers on both hemispheres a chance to enjoy the unparalled experience of summer skiing".
Valle Nevado is also working with closely with Mammoth Mountain’s Unbound Terrain Park to put together unique cross activities such as training camps, team photo shoots, and the Unbound South America Session that will be announced in the near future.

The Biggest Ski Resorts On Facebook

According to a report by website SkiReports.com at the end of December 2011, California's Mammoth Mountain was about to be the first ski resort in the world to hit the 100,000 Facebook Fans mark with 99,458 fans.
With the 100,000 fans mark now passed, research by Skiinfo.com, a division of Mountain News Corporation, has found that Mammoth has been overtaken by its neighbour to the north, Heavenly and joined by Vail and Canada’s Whistler as the four resorts with a six figure Facebook fan base.
Eight of the top 10 resorts for fans are all in North America with all but one of those in the USA and five of the top 15 are Vail Resorts properties, including top placed Heavenly as well as Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge and Northstar – possibly in part reflecting the popularity of the company’s Epic Mix partially social-networking based ticketing and community effort.
Chile's Valle Nevado is the top placed southern hemisphere and Megeve in France the highest non-North American resort for Facebook fans at number five.
The top 10 resorts for Facebook fan numbers have all now passed the 50,000 fans mark.

1. Heavenly (USA); facebook.com/heavenlymountain (122,291 Likes)
2. Mammoth Mountain (USA); facebook.com/MammothMTN (117,247)
3. Vail (USA); facebook.com/vailmtn (112,855)
4. Whistler (Canada); facebook.com/whistlerblackcomb (105,601)
5. Megeve (France); facebook.com/megeve (80,712)
6. Breckenridge (USA); facebook.com/Breckenridge (79,896)
7. Valle Nevado (Chile); facebook.com/pages/Valle-Nevado-Ski-Resort (78,385)
8. Jackson Hole (USA); facebook.com/ jacksonhole (75,632)
9. Keystone (USA); facebook.com/Keystone (65,019)
10. Grandvalira (Andorra); facebook.com/Grandvalira (57,997)
11. Northstar at Tahoe (USA); facebook.com/Northstar (54,692)
12. Saalbach Hinterglemn (Austria); facebook.com/ saalbachhinterglemm (52,195)
13. Vallnord (Andorra); facenbook.com/vallnord (49,480)
14. Mountain High (USA); facebook.com/mthigh (46,392)
15. Squaw Valley (USA); facebook.com/squawvalley (44,562)
16. Beaver Creek (USA); facebook.com/beavercreek (43,375)
17. Are (Sweden); facebook.com/skistarare (37,519)
18. Bukovel (Ukraine); facebook.com/bukovel (37,509)
19. Sun Valley (USA); facebook.com/ sunvalley (36,815)
20. Ischgl (Austria); facebook.com/ paznaun.ischgl (36,813)
21. Killington (USA); facebook.com/killingtonresort (36,715)
22. Mountain Creek (USA); facebook.com/MountainCreekNJ (36,006)
23. Aspen (USA); facebook.com/Aspen/Snowmass (34,494)
24. Sugarloaf (USA); facebook.com/sugarloaf (33,844)
25. Solden (Austria); facebook.com/soelden.oetztal (30,191)
26. Sunday River (USA); facebook.com/sundayriver (29,732)
27. Perisher (Australia); facebook.com/perishereresort (27,709)
28. Hemsedal (Norway); facebook.com/hemsedal (26,992)
29. Tignes (France); facebook.com/Alpe-dHuez-Officiel (26,870)
30. Kitzbuhel (Austria); facebook.com/kitzbuehel (25,718)
31. Laax (Switzerland); facebook.com/LAAX (23,262)

(NB All well known resorts have been checked but this table may be missing some resorts that have not been checked)

By contrast most of the better known resorts in Europe are a long way behind North America with the exception of Andorra’sd two large ski areas and Saalbach Hinterglemm in Austria, all around the 50,000 fans mark and in the world top 11. After these the most popular Facebook pages in Europe are for the top resort in Scandinavia and in Ukraine- only 10 fans apart at the time of compilation.
Of the best know resorts in Western Europe Zermatt has over 14,000 followers and La Plagne has more than 13,000 Facebook followers. St Anton has more than 12,000 followers, Courchevel 10,700 and Mayrhofen has just passed 7,000 followers, just behind St Moritz with 7,400 then Verbier has 4,646 followers.
It can also be hard to track down resorts on Facebook without a direct link to the correct page from their website. Facebook.com/Chamonix for example take you to registered nurse Chamonix Roberts, a Lady Ga Ga fan based in Salt Lake City while www.facebook.com/valdisere takes you to Arpin Bruno’s Facebook page – a large gentleman in a day glo green Borat-style unitard.
Although more than 1,000 ski resorts now have Facebook pages many have made little use of social networking, including some famous name resorts.
Twitter and YouTube are less popular and at the other end of the scale from Heavenly, Alpine Valley in Wisconsin has six followers on Twitter and has made one tweet so far in January this year.

Spain, Brazil, Germany To Host X Games Events

ESPN, the leading action sports content provider, and creator of the X Games, will bring the X Games to Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil; Munich, Germany and Barcelona, Spain beginning in 2013. Those cities will join Aspen, Colo.; Los Angeles and Tignes, France to host the X Games in an effort to expand globally. With relevance to contemporary youth around the world, this expansion is a transformation from an action sports competition brand into an action sports lifestyle brand that will highlight new locations and enhanced cultural and digital elements around the world.
ESPN conducted a formal bid process starting last May which resulted in significant interest from locations around the world that bid to host one of three new events (which join Los Angeles, Aspen and Tignes). Beginning today, local organizing committees for Foz do Iguaçu (pronounced Fawz Day Ig wah soo), Munich and Barcelona will collaborate with ESPN for the next three years to bring the premier action sports event to their cities, launching an annual, six-event X Games calendar four of which will be summer events and two winter.
"ESPN has been committed to the X Games franchise for nearly two decades and is incredibly excited for the future and this new endeavor", said John Skipper, president, ESPN and Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks. "We are bringing significant focus to this expansion because we believe in the universal appeal of these sports and competitors and want to share the X Games experience with fans around the world".
Motorsports icon Travis Pastrana, who has 17 X Games medals to his name, supports ESPN's decision to expand the X Games globally. "ESPN is giving athletes the opportunity to really chase their dreams, and the X Games are the most important and biggest events ever created for our sports", motorsports icon Travis Pastrana said in a statement. "The concept of bringing them to different places around the world is awesome, and I'm excited to see what it will do for action sports".

The New Venues:

Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
Action sports is an integral part to the lifestyle in Foz do Iguaçu, especially those linked to nature and water, and action sports participation is growing every year. As one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the city of Foz do Iguaçu, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1986 and center for environmental thought and dialogue, uniquely offers the integration of the event with nature and the concept of environmental sustainability as a true pillar. Located on the borders of Argentina and Paraguay, X Games events will be held at the Iguaçu Falls, the Itaipu Dam and the Foz Do Iguacu Convention Center.

Munich, Germany
The cosmopolitan city of Munich offers a perfect backdrop as numerous sports festivals and top-quality, major international competitions in both professional and recreational sports have been staged within and around the Bavarian capital. The sporting infrastructure already exists and will be used sustainably: The Munich Olympic Park will provide a unique area in the middle of the city with all sports venues for the X Games contained within the park.

Barcelona, Spain

The resounding success of organizing the 1992 Olympic Games contributed decisively to projecting Barcelona's sports image abroad. The organization of the Olympics improved and endowed the city with a whole series of first-class infrastructures that have since been used to host major sporting events. All X Games activities will be consolidated in Montjuïc Park's Olympic Ring area, a unique space that combines different top-level sporting facilities with spectacular views over the city.

X Games Global Expansion
The X Games events will spotlight the world's best action sports athletes in BMX, Skateboard, Moto X, and Rally Car Racing at the X Games; and Skiing, Snowboard and Snowmobile at the winter version of the X Games against the backdrop of the host city and country. Each X Games event will take on its own distinguishing character that will set it apart from the others, including the introduction of new sports and cultural elements that are drawn from the host cities themselves. In the past the X Games has successfully organized smaller action sports events, qualifiers and demonstrations in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Philippines and UAE.

5 Amazing Eco Ski Wonderlands

As published in ZME Science (May, 2012)
Skiing is about connecting with Mother Nature, unfortunately however ski resorts can have a negative effect on the environment because of the energy consumption of the chairlifts, grooming and snow-making machines. In recent years more ski resorts have begun to understand the importance of being eco friendly and protecting the environment where they can.
The Ski Club of Great Britain has a green resort guide outlining how environmentally friendly each ski resort is, from this we have chosen our top five eco friendly ski resorts which will help you to feel less guilty about the environmental impact your holiday will have. All the resorts we have picked have been ISO14001 approved which is a worldwide standard of environmental management.

Saas Fee (picture attached), Switzerland

Consistently ranked as one of the top eco friendly ski resorts in the world, Saas Fee is a typical picturesque resort with plenty of alpine charm. Like most Swiss resorts Saas Fee is car-free and it recently was awarded second place, Zermatt came first, by Transport and Environment Association for its excellent environmentally friendly transport system. There are bio chalets which have been renovated to environmental standards using sustainable materials. All of the chalets have a commitment to reducing energy use, recycling and waste management.

Kaprun, Austria
This family friendly resort prides itself on its attention to preserving the environment and has ongoing efforts to minimise the environmental impact of the resort. Kaprun uses renewable energy sources, such as solar, to power its lifts and carries out environmental works annually, including tree and grass planting by using eco friendly techniques. The resort also promotes car free days and has electro bicycles, scooters and Segways which guests can hire in addition to the re-charge stations for electro vehicles.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming (USA)Jackson Hole strives to keep its resort as eco-friendly as possible and was recently given an ‘A’ on its environmental report card. Officials of the resort have signed a cap-and-trade approach for reducing carbon emissions and its recycles around a third of its waste, additionally it recycles all of its cooking oil and uses it as fuel for one of its vehicles, something it is hoping to expand. The resort has pushed for energy efficiency and environmental stewardship and has recently purchased four-stroke skidoos which are said to be less polluting than the two-stroke machines. The resort also boasts eco-friendly accommodation, the most well-known being Hotel Terra with luxury ski chalets and catered ski chalets which combines environmentally sustainable building with a luxury ski experience.

Avoriaz, FranceCommitted to being an environmentally friendly resort since it was first built, Avoriaz is a car-free resort with the majority of its accommodation boasting ski in ski out access. However if you want transport around the resort there is the option of horse and sleigh. The roofs of the buildings are designed to retain snow which is turns acts as a heat insulator. In addition all of the trees that had to be removed for the resort to be built have subsequently been replaced. Avoriaz is also home to Europe’s first eco friendly snow park ‘The Stash’. This completely natural park uses wood, trees, dirt and rock to create its jibs and features rather than environmentally harmful metals and plastics. It was also one of the first resorts to begin using the quieter and less polluting electric skidoos.

Aspen, Colorado (USA)
Aspen has built a solar array which produces enough electricity to power 20 homes as well as also developing a small hydroelectric plant on Snowmass Mountain. Over the next eight years Aspen has committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 25 percent across 2000 levels. Aspen has also put new green building regulations in place which will apply to new buildings and has donated over a million dollars to local environment causes through its environmental foundation.

Mariah Carey's concert in Ischgl

Mariah Carey hit the heights with a spectacular Top of the Mountain Concert to mark the end of the ski season at the leading Austrian resort of Ischgl. The American star sang in front of 14,000 fans, many of them skiers and snowboarders enjoying the last of the winter's snow.
Mariah Carey follows in the footsteps of a galaxy of superstars who have entertained skiers and boarders in the Austrian resort's traditional Top of the Mountain gig. Fourteen years ago, Ischgl decided to put its entire advertising and marketing budget into staging two massive concerts a year to open and close the winter season. Elton John was the first star to feature in the Tirolean resort's now famous season closing concerts, back in 1995. Since then the resort has hosted Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Sting, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, Atomic Kitten, Peter Gabriel, The Corrs, Alanis Morissette, Lionel Richie, Pink, the Scissor Sisters, the Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna, Elton John again, Gabriella Cilmi, Leona Lewis, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, Gossip, The Killers and Roxette. This season's opening concert was performed by Roxette at the end of November 2011.

Where To Ski or Board In May?

Canada
At Whistler, Blackcomb Mountain’s operations have been extended to May 28, 2012. "We are enjoying another fantastic winter season here in Whistler so spring will have to wait just a little bit longer", says Doug MacFarlane, Whistler Blackcomb mountain operations manager. "We’ve got some of the best spring conditions we’ve ever had. Extending the ski season on Blackcomb and giving the people what they want was an easy decision".
Marmot Basin and Lake Louise in Alberta are also open the first week of May while Sunshine near Banff, which has reported record snowfall this year, is open another fortnight to nearly the end of May.

Finland
Ruka has the longest ski season in Finland and probably the longest season of any non-glacier ski area in the world. It expects to be open to June again this winter, almost all lifts and runs are open as we end April with temperatures hovering around zero. It usually keeps one or two main runs open through May and June. The resort's 2010-2011 season ran from 18.10.2010-12.6.2011 with a total of 239 skiing days.

France
There’s no longer year-round skiing in France, but Tignes, host of the European X Games last month which once opened 365 days, still has by far the country’s longest season and is scheduled to open to May 8th, along with Europe’s highest resort, Val Thorens. After that there are no ski areas scheduled to be open in France until summer skiing begins in late June. You could ski indoors on the world’s longest indoor run at Amneville up in the north of the country though – it’s 600m long.

Italy
With most of Italy’s remaining ski areas closing in the first few days of May and summer ski destinations like Val Senales and Cervinia not opening until at least June, the country’s remaining May skiing is offered by the Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale where normally several challenging runs (intermediate level or better) are available.

Switzerland
Engelberg has had the deepest snowbase in Europe all winter and at the time of writing it was still lying 6m (20 feet) deep up on the resort’s Titlis glacier, where the season continues to 28 May this year.
Other Swiss options include Zermatt – open year round, and Glacier 3000 above Les Diablerets which plans to stay open to the end of May. The Diavolezza glacier in the Engadin Valley near St Moritz is a further choice.

JapanNiseko had another good snow year, perhaps topping the world snowfall chart this winter with nearly 22m (66 feet) of snow reported. The snow is still lying thick and deep but it closes May 7th. After that one of the best bets may be to head to Gassan ("Moon Mountain" in Japanese), a small ski areas with a glacier in Tohoku Region's Yamagata Prefecture which has one of the world's oddest ski seasons - being open from May to July each year.

Norway
The summer ski season kicks off in May in Norway with Folgefonn normally the first to open early in the month followed by Stryn (24 May) and Galdhøpiggen. Each centre offers skiing, boarding and summer camps on the country’s highest and biggest glaciers.

Sweden
Riksgränsen in the Arctic Circle in Northern Sweden has long been known as one of the world’s best destinations for late spring skiing, with the snow still fresh and less affected by the freeze-thaw spring skiing conditions at this time of year at resorts at more southerly latitudes. It also offers the novelty of 24 hour daylight from later in the month with skiing and boarding in the small hours under the midnight sun. 2012 snow conditions are reported to be excellent.

Scotland
Elsewhere in Europe, Scottish ski areas are keen to prove they can deliver snow sports after being forced to close through March due to record warm weather. Three were open for the final weekends of April and with the weather still cool, may open in to May.

USA
Mammoth Mountain in California has long been one of the best bets for spring skiing through to June or July in the USA and despite an unusual snowfall-short winter, frequent heavy snow storms through March and April have given the resort a good base and it has so far announced it will be open at least to the USS Memorial Day holiday at the very end of May.
Elsewhere with a 100-inch (2.5m) base, Snowbird in Utah is still open for skiing and boarding, and says it will, "continue running lifts as long as the snowpack and other conditions permit". Crystal Mountain in Washington also plans to stay open beyond May and Timberline in Oregon is a third choice.

Southern Hemisphere
The ski season in the southern hemisphere is unlikely to start until early June unless there is unseasonable early snow (picture attached: Valle Nevado, Chile, April 29th). Typically Afri-ski in Lesotho (www.afri-ski.com) is one of the first to open, scheduled for June 7 this year, along with resorts in New Zealand.

Still More Heavy Late Season Snowfalls In The Alps

It has been another snowy April week in the Alps and dolomites and while the number of ski areas still open for ‘winter’ 2011-12 continues to diminish, most of those that remain open have plenty of fresh snow to enjoy. It has been another snowy week in France in particular with repeat powder alarms for 20cm/8 inches or more of new snow reported by many of the still-open centres over the past seven days – with some areas reporting over a metre of snow in the past week.
The snowfall has slowed across the Atlantic where less than 20 ski areas remain open in Canada and the US with May beginning next week one of the quietest months of the year for open ski areas before some European resorts begin re-opening for summer skiing and boarding and then hopefully towards the end of the month the first southern hemisphere ski areas begin opening for their 2012 seasons.
The last week of April brought fresh snow to the Austrian Alps. On Tuesday April 24th, 20cm snowfall was reported from Solden (with another 20cm+ on Wednesday) while 10cm was reported at Obergurgl-Hochgurgl and on the Stubai Glacier. Also Ischgl reported heavy snowfall ahead of its big season-ending concert this weekend. The Austrian weather forecast says it will get much warmer at the end of the week, so there is not more snowfall expected. During the last seven days Kaprun – Kitzsteinhorn and Moelltal Glacier received 20cm powder and Solden got 70cm snowfall in the last week. Around ten resorts are still open in Austria with the best snow depth at the Dachstein Glacier with 600cm. The Stubai Glacier has 420cm and Pitztal also 420cm. There are still open slopes as well at Kaunertal Glacier, in Ischgl, Obertauern and Kaprun.
The end of the French ski season is only two weeks away as the last two resorts open in the country plan to end their 2011-12 seasons on May 8th, making France the only one of the big four Alpine ski nations to have no resorts open for the rest of May and in to June until Les 2 Alpes, Tignes and Val d’Isere re-open for summer skiing. France has had the most snow in the past seven days of anywhere in the world with La Clusaz reporting 1.2m (four feet) falling in the past week. Most of the country’s still-open ski areas have been issuing powder alarms for 20cm or more of new snow almost daily. La Plagne and La Clusaz have already issued fresh powder alarms today (Wednesday 25 April). Despite the new snow, most of the remaining French ski areas that are still open – including Courchevel, Meribel, Alpe d’Huez, les 2 Alps, La Plagne, Risoul/Vars, La Clusaz and Val d’Isere - will close after this weekend (or by May 1st at the latest) leaving only Chamonix (still with the deepest snow base in France - back up to 4m), Tignes and Val Thorens open for a further weekend in May.
Italian ski areas have had their share of fresh snow this week too. Most are now closed and of the few still open only Cervinia plans to stay open for two more weekends – through to May 6. However conditions are reported to be good at Livigno and on the slopes of Faloria ski area in Cortina, both of which will be open until 1 May.
Swiss mountain weather over the past week has changed from sun to rain to snow as is typical for April weather. After quite sunny weeks in the beginning and rainy days in the middle, fresh snow has arrived in the last few days of April. On Tuesday Verbier, which is coming up to its final weekend of the season, reported 15cm, Gstaad 10cm and Samnaun 5cm. In the last seven days Gstaad Glacier 3000 received 50cm of fresh powder, while Samnaun measured 32cm and Champéry 20cm. There are still about 20 resorts open in Switzerland including Engelberg where the snow depth has gone back up to 605cm, Zermatt with 170cm, St. Moritz with 100cm and Adelboden with 100cm.
Most ski areas in the Pyrenees are now closed but Masella in Spain remains operational with a 30-120cm base. Ski areas in Andorra closed two weeks ago.
Voss still has Norway’s deepest snow at 3.3m (11 feet) and the next weekends is a big one at some of the country’ larger resorts like Area in Sweden and Hemsedal in Norway with big festivals scheduled. The late spring skiing is also underway at Riksgransen in the Swedish Arctic Circle to the north where midnight-sun skiing is due to begin in about a month’s time.
The weather in Scotland has been cold with a lot of precipitation all through April, falling as snow on higher ground. Some forecasts are predicting May will be the coldest for a century with snow to lower levels. Cairngorm has been open for the past week with limited terrain available for all ability levels at the top of the slopes and reduced priced tickets. On the West Coast Glencoe was open last weekend and may re-open this weekend – they say they have enough snow but not enough skiers and boarders. Available terrain was mostly suited to intermediate and advanced skiers. Its chairlift is running daily so ski tourers can get easy access to terrain above the snowline. Nevis Range was not open for skiers and boarders on its own runs last weekend but it did run the quad chair above the gondola so that those prepared to ski off piste on unpatrolled terrain could access the backside of the slopes. It has not yet decided if it will offer a similar arrangement this weekend. The Lecht and Glenshee have inadequate snow cover and remain closed.
Most ski area in Canada are now closed but those still open have deep snowbases thanks to record or near record snowfall. Whistler Blackcomb is open to the end of May and will be open for summer skiing in late June and July. In Alberta Lake Louise and Marmot Basin are open in to the first week of May while Sunshine Village near Banff, which has beaten it’s all time snowfall record this season, is open for another four weeks to late May.
Most ski areas in the USA are now closed but a few dozen on the west side of the country are still operating and some plan to continue right through May. There’s been little new snow in the past week on the west side of the country although ironically there has been more snow in the East where nearly all centres are closed. Those that expect to have at least four weeks of the season (in some cases at weekends only) to go include Suga Bbowl, Donner Ski Ranch and Mammoth Mountain in California, Alyeska in Alaska, Crystal Mountain in Washington State, Mt Bachelor in Oregon, Snowbird in Utah and Timberline in Oregon – which should open through to September. "While most resorts are shutting down, our spring season is just getting started!", said a resort statement from Mammoth, which has up to 2.4m lying on upper slopes. Also still open are Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows in California (with Kirkwood also open this weekend) and Arapahoe Basin and Loveland in Colorado – although the latter now say this weekend will be their last of the season. Mt Baker in Washington State still has the world’s deepest snowbase at 727cm (just over 24 feet) but plans to close for the season after the coming weekend. On the East Coast Seven Springs ski area in Pennsylvania made history yesterday (Tuesday 24 April) by re-opening after around 20cm of new snow fell, making national headlines for the latest ever ski area opening in the region. Jay Peak in Vermont says it expects to re-open this weekend and has up to 30cm, of snow lying.