PARK CITY

Utah has had an incredible season so far for snowfall, with many resorts seeing more powder by the end of January than they did in all of last winter, so things are shaping up nicely for a superb latter half to the season.

But whether you fly out for some spring skiing, or make a booking for 2023/24, it’s good to know that one of the world’s great ski towns, Park City, Utah, is only 35 minutes’ drive from Salt Lake City International Airport.

Apart from being a wonderful place to stay in its own right, offering historic charm, lined with quirky boutiques, enticing cafes, over 150 bars and restaurants and choc-full of awesome accommodation options; Park City is also home to the largest ski area in America, Park City Mountain Resort, with its 7,300 acres of superb skiing and snowboarding, as well as Deer Valley, famous for its pristine pistes and sublime service. Both resorts hosted events at the last US Winter Olympics and visitors can explore that heritage, as well as the original one as a 19th century silver mining town. Fast forward to the future though and Park City is working hard on sustainability to ensure the super snowy seasons like this one continue in the years to come. The latest committment is for both ski areas to be fully powered by solar electricity by 2030, with a solar farm being built 30 miles away in the desert.

CAIRNGORM FUNICULAR RE-OPENS

The funicular railway that provides access to much of Cairngorm ski area above Aviemore in Scotland has re-opened after a closure of four years and four months. The lift was closed after structural problems were identified in the concrete supports for its track. Initial estimates of about £10m to repair the lift grew to approximately £16m. That cost though was suggested to be a little lower than what it would cost to remove the railway altogether, due to the sensitive ecological environment where it’s located. However, the final repair cost appears to be closer to £25m.

The 2km-long railway in Scotland’s only funicular reaches the Ptarmigan building at over 1,065m. Weather conditions permitting, the lift will now run regularly, taking snowsports enthusiasts to the top in around 5 minutes.

$8,000 SNOWBOARD

The French high-end luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton has launched its own snowboard. The Paris-based company have produced just 100 of their Marble Snowboard, which has a retail price of $8,000 USD (around £6,650). The board was designed by Louis Vuitton’s former artistic director Virgil Abloh, who died of cancer last year. Coloured emerald green, the boards have a marble pattern with fluorescent LV initials.

Octogenarian Ski Teacher

Maurice, who at 81 years old is still teaching skiing on the slopes of La Clusaz, is now the oldest teacher in the ESF. “I was born here, I have always lived here. And I will die here,” he says. Make sure you book well in advance in case Maurice is out on a bike ride or chopping wood. What is his secret to staying active?

“Exercising, keeping moving and doing what I love!” esf-laclusaz.com

10% OFF FOR RAIL ARRIVALS

Morzine has expanded the benefits of its recently introduced AlpinExpress Pass, which rewards those who arrive by rail. This winter the AlpinExpress Pass gives skiers and snowboarders up to 10% off ski passes as well as ski hire, accommodation, and eating out with its wide range of partners including boutique hotel The Farmhouse, local brewery Bec Jaune, welcoming café Satellite Coffee, and transfer organisation Skiidy Gonzales.

Ryding Second In Kitzb Hel

Britain’s Dave Ryding has followed up his unprecedented win in the Kitzbühel slalom a year ago by taking second place in the 2023 Hahnenkamm Slalom. Ryding was lying in 16th place and more than 1.5 seconds behind Austrian leader Manuel Feller after the first run, but he put down the fastest second run to move into the leader’s chair with all but one of the skiers following him either skiing out (including Feller) or failing to beat his time. Race winner Daniel Yule from Switzerland is a member of the Kandahar Ski Club along with Ryding, and both of Yule’s parents are Scottish. Ryding has now further strengthened his position as Britain’s most successful skier of the World Cup era with this, his sixth podium and fourth second place result.

The race was also memorable for Britain’s Billy Major who made 23rd after breaking into the top 30 from his 40th start place.

Iphone Sos Calls Problem

Colorado’s Summit County 911 Center has been swamped by automated calls from iPhones which report their owner has been in an accident, when they haven’t. The new iPhone 14 and Watch 8 series automatically call emergency services if they are moving at speed then stop abruptly, indicating a car crash may have occurred. However, it appears skiers stopping suddenly on the slopes cause the system to call emergency services. Summit County reported an average of 60 automated crash notifications a day and a record so far of 71 in one day. Trina Dummer, the interim director of the Summit County 911 Centre, told the Colorado Sun that the calls involve “a tremendous amount of resources, from dispatchers to deputies to ski patrollers,” but none of them has been an actual emergency event.

Apple are now aware of the issue and have a team working on a fix.

Resort Bans Smoking

French ski resort Les Gets has become the first in Europe, they believe, to ban smoking on its ski slopes. In Les Gets it’s now forbidden to smoke on the ski slopes or on the ski lifts. The resort says the move is to fight against pollution linked to cigarette butts thrown on the ground in the resort. More than 3,000 cigarette butts were collected on the ski slopes during the annual “Clean Mountain” day and in France, around 20 to 25,000 tonnes of cigarette butts end up polluting natural environments every year. Les Gets has created five smoking areas by the slopes with ashtrays made from recycled skis. Smoking is not banned in the village; however, it is forbidden for smokers to throw cigarette butts on the ground. Tobacco-free ski areas have existed for several years in North America, Japan and New Zealand, but this is a first for European slopes.

CRANS MONTANA | 2022

Photographer: T.B. Confirmed Skier: T.B. Confirmed

Drop some of the world’s top freeskiers and snowboarders into one of the most epic park set-ups ever built, then get your camera out to witness some of the most innovative displays on skis and boards you'll ever see. The 31st edition of The Nines will take place in the Swiss resort of Schilthorn from 17-22 April 2023

While we all want great snow conditions on our holidays, we also want lots of sunshine so we can enjoy it all.

The very first winter holidays in the mountains, taken in St Moritz back in the 1860s, were successful because early holidaymakers loved the sunshine and the mountain air in the Engadin region, not so much the snow fun that came later.

Of course, it’s something of a balancing act as logically you’d think lots of sun meant not a lot of snowfall. Ideally we want heavy snow at night, then sunshine all day.

Although we often focus on snowfall records and the likelihood of powder, more and more resorts are promoting their sunshine too. There’s still St Moritz, of course, who have a golden sun as their logo, but France’s Serre Chevalier is among others claiming “300 days of snowfall” a year.

Now suitably named holiday company Sunweb has created the Bluebird Index, which looks at sunshine data from ski resorts across the Alps to establish which has the highest number of “Bluebird” days on average.

Although, as we know from snowfall, knowing what has happened in the past is no sure guide to what will happen on any day in any present or future ski season, it does at least show us what’s more likely to happen! The company looked at Snow-forecast.com’s historical analysis of weather conditions at 30 of Europe’s top Alpine destinations over 15 years from 2007 to 2022. They found that of those they looked at, Méribel and La Plagne have more “bluebird days” than any other resorts in the index, with Val-d'Isère/Tignes and Val Thorens making up the top four. Dolomiti Superski region was a high scorer in Italy too.

Snow-forecast.com defines a Bluebird day as a day with “Average snow, mostly sunny, light wind.”

Sunweb also found that wherever you want to go skiing and have the best chance of sunshine, the second week of March, historically and on average, delivers the most snow with 4.2 days.

Martine Langerak, Head of Communications for Sunweb Group, said: “There’s so much that goes into planning a skiing holiday, but the one thing that we can’t control is the weather. We hope the Bluebird Index will assist families and friends who are looking to get their fix of the slopes this winter, by offering a little insight into the weather conditions. And if all else fails, there is always après if the conditions are not in your favour!”