EDITOR

WINTER IS HERE!

Another ski season is just getting started, and we are all hoping that this one will finally be the one when everything is open as normal – or pretty close to it at least. At the time of writing, things are looking promising with the last major ski nation that was closed to us last winter – Japan – now opening its borders. We’ve all learned that things can change fast, but please not this winter! Also on my wish list for Santa is lots and lots of light, fluffy, powdery snow everywhere. I’ve tried to be good, so hopefully he’ll tell the snow gods to oblige. Things have got off to a good start in North America at least, with lots of ski areas opening early after all the snowfall there, and so far it just keeps dumping, turning into one of the greatest starts to the season of the past decade. Now we just need the same in Europe. The signs have been good since midDecember – low temperatures, snow falling. We could just do with a little more at the time of writing. Tour operators and travel agencies are telling us that even with the depressing “cost-of-living crisis”, prices at Christmas and New Year are below average this year, so if you’ve not booked yet and you don’t want to miss your annual snow fix, there’s no time like the present for looking into it. Have a great season!

Patrick Thorne | Editor

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FALAK SAR PEAK SKIED

A Chamonix-based international team has completed the first-ever ski descent of the highest mountain in Swat Valley, Pakistan. The team – Brit Aaron Rolph, Slovenian Bine Žalohar and Tom Grant who has dual American-British citizenship – skied from the summit of Falak Sar, the Valley’s highest peak at just short of 6,000m. “Putting our skis on just under 6,000m and skiing off the summit was pretty special. The initial turns were over a steep no-fall zone,” said Žalohar. Despite being dubbed the Switzerland of Pakistan and being home to the country’s most developed ski area, Malam Jabba, the Swat Valley receives very few international tourists. Much of it was occupied and destroyed by Taliban forces who carried out many atrocities between 2007 and 2009; however, the area is widely considered safe now.

KATHRYN COSTELLO LAURENT SALINO LEVI SKI RESORT / PANU JYRÄ

DAN EGAN’S NEXT BOOK

Extreme skiing legend and star of Warren Miller movies, Dan Egan, has released a second volume of All-Terrain Skiing. The book condenses Egan’s 40 years of ski experience into an approachable guide to help skiers of all abilities take their skills to the next level. There are 31 exercises helping skiers to master their body mechanics and balance, from powder to ice and all the conditions and terrain in between. £22, amazon.co.uk

ALPE D’HUEZ NEW LIFTS

Famous French resort Alpe d’Huez has two new lifts to improve slope access this winter. The Huez Express gondola replaces the Televillage lift from the village of Huez, a small, charming mountain village with narrow streets and typically Alpine architecture, and in neighbouring Auris, the Les Sures chairlift has been replaced by a new, high-performance, fast Télémix combining chairs on gondola cabins on the same cable.

LEVI UNVEILS GLACIER LIFT

Finnish resort Levi has unveiled its new Glacier Express chairlift on the resort’s front slopes. Levi has one of the world’s longest ski seasons, around seven months from early October to early May as it uses snow farming to store snow through summer then uses it to make ski runs in early autumn. Now the resort is aiming to create a ‘glacier’ by piling on snow to last year round below the new lift.

NOT SKIING IMPACTS HEALTH

A survey of over 2,000 snowsports enthusiasts carried out on behalf of snowsports retailer Snow+Rock has revealed that more than a third (38%) have missed the benefits of snowsports to their mental health. Also, 81% of respondents said they have missed the mountains more than a summer holiday and 94% said the pandemic has made them appreciate a winter-sports holiday more. Mountain views and “the feeling of being alive on the slopes” topped the moments they most wished for.

DEPREZPHOTO_CRANSMONTANA LAURA BUREAU

2027 HOSTS ANNOUNCED

The FIS has announced that CransMontana will host the 2027 Alpine World Ski Championships. It will be the second time that the Swiss resort has hosted the Championships, and 2027 will mark the 40-year anniversary from their first staging there. The World Championships take place every two years. The next staging will be Courchevel Méribel, France, next winter followed by Saalbach, Austria, in 2025.

WOODEN SKI PASS

In line with its eco-tourism philosophy and in order to continue its actions in favour of responsible tourism, the French resort of Les Gets is joining others like Switzerland’s Laax in offering wooden ski passes this winter. This innovative solution to reduce plastic created by ski passes still has RFID chips for hands-free access but is organically sourced from beech trees growing around the village.