Worldwide Mountain & Snow Sports Discussion 2022/23

[carinthian]

Got this picture going back a few years ago during my time in Katschberg. Old school ski-ing without the helmut ! Happy days without the protocol

C.

 

[carinthian]

Anyone one else stayed at this fantastic ski town ?  One of my favourite places, Banff. I stayed here several times in the late 80s/ early 90s. I remember regularly getting a great Canadian Breakfast with constant refill coffee at Smitty's for about  bargin$5. Not sure its even there now as probably not posh enough as prices now likely to match the more expensive Whistler Resort. Yep -15c heading for breakfast and on a rare occasion met a brown bear wandering down the main street. Happy memories of the town and ski-ing those back bowls in Lake Louise when the legs were younger !

C

[Hotspur62]

7 hours ago, carinthian said:

Anyone one else stayed at this fantastic ski town ?  One of my favourite places, Banff. I stayed here several times in the late 80s/ early 90s. I remember regularly getting a great Canadian Breakfast with constant refill coffee at Smitty's for about  bargin$5. Not sure its even there now as probably not posh enough as prices now likely to match the more expensive Whistler Resort. Yep -15c heading for breakfast and on a rare occasion met a brown bear wandering down the main street. Happy memories of the town and ski-ing those back bowls in Lake Louise when the legs were younger !

C

I went there in 2003 but in late June.Beautiful old town and me and the wife had 2 nights in the holiday inn and one night at Banff Springs Hotel(nicest hotel I have ever been too anywhere).Also went to Lake Louise and Jasper which was my favourite little town.I remember eating in the Old Spaghetti Factory in Banff and the bill for the 2 of us was Cad$22 which at the time was about £11!!Happy days and hope to go back there in a couple years

[DavidS]

This would be a great start to the season

[carinthian]

Not good news. Due to a surge in Covid cases in the Salzburg Region the planned opening of our ski resort for the last weekend in November has been postponed . Sorry for the hoteliers, bar owners and ski teams. No income . Bookings taking a nose dive or cancellations coming in, especially from Germany.

C

[DavidS]

12 minutes ago, carinthian said:

Not good news. Due to a surge in Covid cases in the Salzburg Region the planned opening of our ski resort for the last weekend in November has been postponed . Sorry for the hoteliers, bar owners and ski teams. No income . Bookings taking a nose dive or cancellations coming in, especially from Germany.

C

This is terrible news. I only hope it has an effect, and the lockdown is not too long.

[carinthian]

37 minutes ago, DavidS said:

This is terrible news. I only hope it has an effect, and the lockdown is not too long.

There is a lot of resentment locally . Massive investment in the ski business on hold. The Freedom Party, strong in these parts opposite lock down vehemently but they are not the decision makers. There has be a lot of excitement about welcoming foreign guests back. This is a huge blow to the local economy especially when good snow likely in the coming days !

[Blessed Weather]

That's really bad news about the postponed opening @carinthian. It sends out all the wrong signals and will inevitably cause folk to cancel planned trips over Christmas and into January. I've just cancelled a planned trip to Germany over the Christmas week due to the situation there and switched the trip to the skiing area in the Aravis Mountains in the Haute Savoie region of France. The French seem to be holding firm with the line that if you can prove that you're fully vaccinated, you'll be able to carry on enjoying the resort. I'm boosted and can now prove it through the NHS App. I'll be staying in Le Grand Bornand (1,300m) and will ski there and La Clusaz with a top station of 2,600m.

With some decent snowfall forecast for the Alps over the next 10 days the ongoing Covid situation is all the more frustrating.

Snow depth forecast: 24th Nov  4th Dec

[carinthian]

Lets hope by December 12 th , these draconian laws are watered down. Bit late for the cancelled Christmas Markets and Advent celebrations. Local hotels have staff in the work place but with no income. Lift lift teams hired but tourist office closed. One innovation we have been working on is to incorporate the proof of full corvid vaccination with the lift pass and download onto G3 phones. A bit complicated but if up and working would save a heck of hassle to board the lifts. Meanwhile, waiting nervously for the season to start and for snow to arrive. Its a total mess.

C

[carinthian]

I like to share these pictures with you taken this morning. Ok ,not much snow lower down but cold enough higher up the mountain to have snow cannons in full blast.The resort was due to open this weekend coming but present Covid restrictions postponing the start. You cannot even drown your sorrows in the pub as they are forced to close !

C

[carinthian]

You just knew it was going to start snowing the day before the ski-season was due to start. Anyway, looks like the piste team are going to have  plenty of the stuff to work with over the coming days !

C

[Hotspur62]

2 hours ago, carinthian said:

You just knew it was going to start snowing the day before the ski-season was due to start. Anyway, looks like the piste team are going to have  plenty of the stuff to work with over the coming days !

C

Yes it looks very wintry over your neck of the woods and hope the lockdown will be eased on 10 days when it has been reported it will be reviewed (is that correct) and not 20 days.Hard times for hotels pubs/bars and ski industry as a whole.for you over there that things open up asap

[carinthian]

9 hours ago, carinthian said:

You just knew it was going to start snowing the day before the ski-season was due to start. Anyway, looks like the piste team are going to have  plenty of the stuff to work with over the coming days !

C

Hello, this picture taken this afternoon just above the village. Still snowing hard and temp currently -3c.

 C

[Hotspur62]

51 minutes ago, carinthian said:

Hello, this picture taken this afternoon just above the village. Still snowing hard and temp currently -3c.

 C

Looks pretty impressive that CarinthianWhat depth of snow do you have in your village and upper slopes?

[carinthian]

3 hours ago, Hotspur62 said:

Looks pretty impressive that CarinthianWhat depth of snow do you have in your village and upper slopes?

10cm in the village , maybe 20cm or more on the upper slopes. Stopped now but quite a bit more expected over weekend with lower temps.

C

Edited November 26, 2021 by carinthian

[carinthian]

The morning dawns with a blizzard. Temp -4.2 c currently.

C

[carinthian]

Some wonderful snow images taken this Advent Sunday. Sadly the lifts remain closed.

 C

[carinthian]

Good news. The local ski resorts open for business on  Friday 3rd December. Looks like wonderful conditions to be had. Ski passes only issued to fully vaccinated folk and to stay with-in the marked pistes. Think I could cope with that.

C

[carinthian]

Welcome to the start on the new ski-ing season. Nice to see quite a few day trippers out on the runs this morning. Plenty of snow but light a bit flat for my liking. Sad that hospitality remains closed. Not the same without the ski fodder and liquor offerings.

C

[carinthian]

3 hours ago, carinthian said:

Welcome to the start on the new ski-ing season. Nice to see quite a few day trippers out on the runs this morning. Plenty of snow but light a bit flat for my liking. Sad that hospitality remains closed. Not the same without the ski fodder and liquor offerings.

C

 

[carinthian]

A few mountain huts open for takeaways for the hungry and thirsty !

[carinthian]

A few more taken today on the first day of the season in Zauchensee.

C

[Ravelin]

OK @carinthian, you can stop now, we're all insanely jealous (no don't, not really). 

In these Covid times it's looking like our family will go a second year without our much anticipated ski trip to Austria, or elsewhere. There just too much uncertainty and hassle, especially with a 14yr old being only singly vaccinated. Slim hope of an Easter trip remains. 

[carinthian]

52 minutes ago, Ravelin said:

OK @carinthian, you can stop now, we're all insanely jealous (no don't, not really). 

In these Covid times it's looking like our family will go a second year without our much anticipated ski trip to Austria, or elsewhere. There just too much uncertainty and hassle, especially with a 14yr old being only singly vaccinated. Slim hope of an Easter trip remains. 

Yes, very lucky but its a horrid situation. Local hoteliers receiving many cancellations especially from Germany. Still I know quite a few of stoic Brits are still planning to head to our region going by the local tourist booking site. Heck we miss you guys. Please try and come later in the season as Austria is the complete ski-ing holiday experience as you will know. If not , I sure you will at some time being heading up to The Well of Leckt for you fix !  Good luck.

From a very snowy Austrian Alps this morning.

C

[carinthian]

Pristine and virgin snow in nearby resort of Katschberg further down the Lungau towards the Carinthia border. Resort remains closed over there. Quite a number out today in Zauchensee enjoying the snowy conditions out on the piste. Off piste out of bounds due avalanches in the area.

C