Latest Ski News
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It's the 4th of December, and the build up has started for the Christmas Peak in the ski resorts.
All Alpine countries are opening more & more resorts on a daily basis. The Scadanavian countries too. It's only in Eastern Europe that the snow is not plentiful enough to justify this. So, Rumania & Bulgaria are the only ones declaring No lifts open.
Andorra has opened 19 out of 63 lifts in Soldeu, where fresh snow of 30 cm is reported on the lower slopes and extra 10 cm on the top.
Austria has an impressive 17 resorts open - Axamer Lizum, Hintertux, Ischgl, Kaprun, Kaunertal, Kuhtai, Lech, Neustift, Obergurgl, Obertauern, Piztal, Solden, St.Anton, Wagrain, Zauchensee, Zell am See & Zurs. Most resorts have at leat 50% of their lifts open and are reporting excellent ski conditions on fresh snow.
Switzerland has Adelboden, Andermatt, Davos, Engelberg, Flims, Gstaad, Klosters, Les Dialerets, Saas Fee, Samnaun, St.Moritz, Verbier, Zermatt & Zinal (14 in all) open.
France has Bareges & Cauteret open in the Pyrenees, with Tignes, Les Orres, Les Saisies, Les 2 Alpes, Val d'Isere & Val Thorens open in the Alps (8 in total).
Italy declares the most resorts open with 19 lift systems operational. They are Bormio, Cavalese, Cervinia, Cesana T., Champoluc, Chiesa, Claviere, Cortina, Gressoney, La Thuile, Livigno, Madesimo, Madonna Di, Passo Tonale, Pila, Sauze, Selva Gardena, Sestriere & Val Senales.
The rest of the European Countries are only declaring a handful of resorts open between them.
Germany has Feldberg & Garmisch open.
Norway has Lillehammer, Geilo, Hemsedal, Oppdal & Trysil functional.
Spain declares Sierra Nevada, Baquiera B & Formigal open.
Sweden has Are & Salen open.
Slovenia is struggling with only Kranjska Gora having 3 out of its 20 lifts running.
Whereas Finland is open for business in Levi, Ruka & Yllas.
Closer to home, Scotland has good snow and both Glenshee & The Lecht have opened early.
If you want more up to date or extensive reports log on to
www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/reports/general/default.asp
Recently, I went skiing, with one of our newer members, Steve Atkinson, to Rauris in Austria. A new resort to me and many English people as the majority of people there were either German or Austrian. (see Steve's reports in Resorts & Accommodation).
We had a fantastic time, greatly enhanced by the British Army holding their 'Telemark' Championsips there. We often left ShakesBeers bar at two in the morning with the party still in full swing.
Apparently one of the Army boys found himself on a charge as his Commanding Officer wasn't too pleased that he had finished drinking at 7 am when his first race was at 9. Needless to say the squaddie crashed out at the first gate, and had a further 2 weeks holiday (in the glasshouse) to look forward to when he returned to base!
Not advisale to follow this bad example - but sometimes the apres-ski overshadows the skiing, (possibly one of the attractions, to some, of this great sport) and this was one of those times !!!
Read Steve's account of his experiences in "Diary of A First Time Skier" in the Novices Section in the L/H column.
An incredible thing has happened since opening this site in January 2007:- we have had tens of thousands more hits than anticipated, the majority of them coming from the USA.
As a result, this site, which was initially intended for a British readership, will now incorporate advice regarding skiing in Europe for our American friends.
Don't miss Ski Europe's link at the foot of Best Deals/Packages which recently advertised, amongst others a trip to Cortina (Italy's best and grandest resort) departing JFK from just $840.
Apologies to readers using the forum who suddenly find topics and sections missing.
This is because we have been invaded by spam, and have to keep deleting topics and renaming in order to keep ahead of the porn sites. As a result some postings are unfortunately deleted too. In cases like this we add their comments to the main site.
Consequently 'The rest of the World' topic is now renamed 'Anywhere Else' and Skiing in Andorra just had a full stop added (the previous postings to this can be found under 'Resorts' on the main site.
Apologies to Beryl Gilmore who posted the following message under 'Cheap Gear' - "I have a large pair of ladies black ski trousers - brand Rucanor - which never fitted right and as a result have never been worn. Free to good home for the cost of postage from Ireland. Email me at - berylgilmore@iol.ie "
This topic is now entitled Swap, Buy & Sell.
We hope that we have now fixed this problem but will be monitoring the situation regularly from now on.
