Ski blog

Ski Resorts gear up for the Christmas and New Year ski holidays

With Christmas just around the corner and skiers and snowboarders planning their first ski holiday of the 2012-13 season we thought it was an apt time to do a photo review of some of the most popular ski resorts this year.

Ski X World Cup comes to Val Thorens

On Wednesday the first ever round of the FIS Ski X World Cup arrived in Val Thorens. Following a week of pretty heavy snow storms the sun finally appeared and provided excellent conditions for all the competitors. Due to the heavy snowfall in previous day the finals and qualifiers were actually held on the same day rather than over a 2 day period.

Bulgarian ski resorts open for the 2012-13 ski season

The top 3 ski resorts in Bulgaria all held their official season opening today. Bansko, Borovets and Pamporovo all held opening ceremonies to welcome the new winter season. In Bansko the opening was attended by the Austrian Olympic gold medalist, Hermann Maier and also by Marc Girardelli the 5 times World Cup alpine champion. Bulgaria top skier Petar Popangelov was also in attendance.

An amazing week in St Anton and some extraordinary snowfall levels

Mark Douglas writes about his ski trip to St Anton am Arlberg in January 2012 and how climate change is effecting the ski industry. Please note this article was written during the 2011-12 season.

Snow, snow, snow everywhere! The main slopes of the resort in front of me are hiding under a white blanket of snow, so is the case with the far side of the valley directly behind me.

More snow fall leads to increasing avalanche risk

There seems to be no end to the early season snow across the European ski resorts. In the last few days the snow has moved east with heavy falls in the Austrian ski resorts and the eastern Alps. Further east again in the Balkans, both Bulgaria and Slovenia have seen fresh snowfall to top up the existing base.

Heavy snowfall across the Alps

A huge snowstorm has crossed the Alps in the last 48 hours depositing up to half of meter of fresh powder in many of the alpine ski resorts. With high winds there is a serious avalanche risk and 2 people were extemely lucky to be recovered having been buried in an avalanche in Tignes. Many of the European ski resorts are struggling to cope with unusually heavy snow this early in the season. Both Val d’Isere and Verbier announced that they would not open today due to severe avalanche risk and several other alpine resorts were forced to close certain sectors of their resorts.

Bulgaria and Slovenia come tops for cheap ski holidays

The 2012-13 ski holiday report from the Post Office has just been released and offers some interesting reading for anyone planning a ski holiday in 2013. This is the sixth year of the Post Office Ski Resort Report and the good news for skiers and snowboarders is that prices appear to be lower than last year. The report covers 27 ski resorts in Europe and North America and compares overall costs for ski holidays in each of the resorts. The report calculates the cost of ski hire, ski school, ski passes and food and drinks in each resort.

French ski holidays – try out Samoens, it has a lot to offer

Can Samoens be considered the perfect ski holiday resort? My attachment to the famous French ski resorts like the Trois Vallees and Val d'Isere has started dwindling. Expensive ski accommodation, ever increasing lunch prices on the pistes, the eccentric behavior of the natives, and the ski runs thronged by British skiers, are all a little annoying. Until now I have been envious of those skiers who enjoy a favourite resort because I could never find one that suited me perfectly.

The season opens in Val Thorens

Last Saturday saw the opening of the 2012-13 season for Val Thorens ski resort. The season start has been far more promising than last year when the resort had to postpone the official opening due to lack of snow. Although temperatures have warmed up this week there has been plenty of low temperatures during November which has allowed the snow cannons to run and top up the snow from earlier in the month.

Skiing in Switzerland doesn’t have to break the bank

If you skied in Switzerland a few years ago you will probably have enjoyed an excellent skiing experience at a pretty reasonable price. This was because the value of sterling (GBP) was extremely high in comparison with the Swiss Franc (CHF). With the exchange rate of 2.44 CHF against 1, skiing in Switzerland was really very affordable. You could have enjoyed quality ski hire, lunch on the piste with excellent cuisine, private ski lessons, world class ski accommodation, liquid après celebrations, and a lot more without breaking the bank.