Archive for November, 2010
Record Opening Weekend in Jackson Hole
What an epic opening day Jackson Hole Mountain Resort had on Saturday 27th November, simply incredible!
Justin Bird, from the Terra Resort Resort – Hotel Terra, was out on the mountain “Wow, it was deep and my aching legs are testament to all the fun I had! We have an incredible season ahead of us, please share the news with your friends & family. Let it continue to snow!”
Words can’t do conditions like this justice – watch for yourself:
Want to head out to Jackson Hole and experience this record start to the season? Take advantage of fantastic early season rates at the Hotel Terra – 7 nights at the beginning of December from £959pp.
Where to find the best corduroy
We all love untouched powder and without doubt it’s the best ski and board experiencebut the second best has to be carving big GS turns down a perfectly groomed untouched corduroy slope. The experience is like skiing on silk with a fantastic smooth feeling under your planks. Here’s a quick guide on some of the resorts that pride themselves on their groomers and their grooming;
For many years Beaver Creek has boasted about its immaculately smooth trails and it certainly isn’t an empty boast. Try “Harrier” at the top of Centennial express which is a wide tree lined blue perfect for digging two big tram lines in the slope. Watch out though as the run at the bottom turns into a blackand can often have a few moguls – could turn a bit hairy!
Perfect corduroy aka "groomers" in Beaver Creek
North America Snow Update
North America’s 2010-11 ski season is off to a great start with many areas opening early and reporting healthy snow falls.
Among the resorts already open are Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mountain Colorado; Snowbird in Utah, Killington on the East Coast in Vermont and north of the border Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta. Whistler has announced it will open nearly a week early, later today, thanks to the great pre-season conditions there.
In California, Mammoth is the latest to open (On Thursday 11th November) with more than 2,000 people arriving to enjoy skiing and boarding down from the 11,053 foot summit via Cornice Bowl. Six lifts were operational and 2,000 vertical feet (about 650 metres) of vertical terrain were open on a base of 18 to 36 inches (45 to 90cm).
First Chair 2010 - Mammoth Mountain
Get Fit For The Season
Everyone knows that before a ski holiday, we all dread the burning thighs and aching muscles but there’re a few things that you can do during the off season that will make sure that doesn’t happen!
The ideal way to do this is to NOT HAVE AN OFF SEASON. Why not spend your summer traveling to somewhere in a different hemisphere and have a full 12 months of skiing? You could be shredding powder with the best of them, not worrying about aching muscles. Doesn’t that sound like a dream?
Ok, so that’s not that realistic for most people. If you’re wondering how to get fit before you’re trip, then this little article might be of help. Read the rest of this entry »
Royal Honeymoon Ski Destinations
As the world celebrates the Royal engagement and bets are put on when it’s going to be and what colour hat the Queen will be wearing, we’re more interested in where William and Kate might go on honeymoon!
If it’s a March wedding, as some are predicting, then what’s not to say that they won’t take to the slopes. Both William and Kate are avid skiers, and whilst Klosters is their usual resort of choice, we thought that for their honeymoon they might choose somewhere a bit different.
Here are our royal ski honeymoon suggestions: Read the rest of this entry »
Steamboat Snow Update
Very warm greetings from my cold, white world in Steamboat, Colorado! We’ve had 23cm of new snow in the last 24 hours, and we already have a 61cm settled snow base at mid-mountain at the top of the Gondola. I also see snowy days and/or cold days in the 10-day forecast, and although I would not dare second guess Mother Nature, all signs indicate an amazing Steamboat opening day on November 24.
I spent both weekend afternoons up on Emerald Mountain in downtown Steamboat Springs. On Saturday we hiked the 3-mile Lupine Trail up to the quarry in snow clogs, but after constant snow all day and night Saturday and through Sunday, too, we were very happy to have snowshoes and poles on the same trail yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
Whistler To Open 6 Days Early
The office was buzzing with excitement on Saturday when the news came in that Whistler Mountain will be opening 6 days early thanks to new snow and low freezing levels.
Skiers and snowboarders will get their first turns at Whistler Blackcomb this Friday, with Blackcomb Mountain opening shortly after on Thursday, 25th November, Whistler Blackcomb’s official opening day.
“New snow and low freezing levels, along with the hard work of our mountain operations, grooming, and snowmaking teams mean we can open Whistler Mountain on Friday, November 19,” says Doug MacFarlane, mountain manager at Whistler Blackcomb. “Though early season conditions will apply, having those first few turns of the season is a great feeling and we’re happy to make that happen for our guests six days earlier than planned.”
The Snow Cats are ready to get to work
Breckenridge Opening Day
Breckenridge Ski Resort opened yesterday for it’s 49th season . The sun was shining brightly and the snow was incredible, with a nice soft layer of powder on top of the groomed runs. Pat Barratt from Vail Resorts was in town for the special day:
The Colorado Super Chair on Peak 8 was running, as was Chair 5, carrying loads of happy skiers and snowboarders up to the more than 290 skiable acres that were open, including hike-to terrain on the Horseshoe and Contest Bowls!
Today also marked the debut of the Gold Runner Coaster on Peak 8. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony and several eager riders of all ages waiting for their turn to experience the new thrill ride.
Possibly the luckiest guy this season?
Last month we announced that Neill Hadden was the lucky winner of our Ultimate Ski Holiday to Whistler, BC. After being somewhat overwhelmed, he has kindly put together this blog post. Warning it has the tendency to make your rather jealous…
I took up snowboarding quite late at age 26, young enough to be enthusuastic, brave and possibly a little reckless but old enough to find the first week a brutal and bruising experience! Since then I have been at every opportunity including trips to Switzerland, Canada and NZ. This year I had been travelling in August including a couple of days boarding in Cardrona, New Zealand and so on my return got cracking with organising the Hadden ski trip for Feb 11. Was looking at various North American options but was beginning to feel the pressure of making all the arrangements for a party of 6 so asked one of the others to help with some research. In the course of this he stumbled on the Ski Independence prize draw and sent me (and probably half his address book!) the link to enter. Read the rest of this entry »
Top 5 expert runs in North America
We had a heated argument in the pub the other night about the top 5 epic expert ski runs in North America. The debate was fierce – what makes a ski run ‘epic’ – pitch, scale, snow, exposure, elevation, scary terrain features, fear factor, what?
Pitch can be conquered with bullet-proof technique. Scale means stamina. Runs always change their character in different snow conditions, weather, light and time of day. Exposure makes you feel alive. Elevation – no pain, no gain. Scary terrain features? I laugh in the face of ‘mandatory air’! Fear factor – beats the crap out of the X-factor. What should be included, and what criteria should we use? Does Snowbird have better terrain than Kicking Horse? Is the snow depth and quality in Fernie better than Crested Butte? Who can say, but in my opinion a truly epic ski run needs five qualities – (1) a degree of difficulty that keeps you thinking and working hard the whole way down. (2) a fear factor. (3) a tick-the-box factor. (4) an aura. (5) a scale that’s off the dial.
