As we start December and the start of the ‘main ski season’ is less than a fortnight away, the battle for attention between ski areas switches from which are the first to open to which has the most terrain open this early in the winter? In Austria Ischgl prides itself on its long season running from late November to early May but also makes great efforts to ensure it has a big ski area open from day one, shared with Swiss neighbour Samnuan – when many of the big ski areas that are open perhaps only have 10% of their terrain skiable in the first week of December. How much Ischgl can open varies from year to year depending on

One North American ski area has now reported over a metre of snowfall this week. Powder Mountain, in Utah, reports 102cm (41 inches) of fresh snow and it opens for winter 2019-20 tomorrow! Issued: 04 December 2019 By Patrick "Snowhunter" Thorne INTRODUCTION December began with heavy snowfall in both Europe and North America.  For the Alps this was simply 'more of the same' after a very snowy November 2019. For North America, particularly the west where most of the snow had fallen, it was quite a relief after a mostly dry November. The snowfall in the Alps was heaviest again in the west and south with less snow further east.  This picture was mirrored to some extent in the US,

Snow making, road clearing and other diesel-fuelled machinery at Cairngorm Mountain is set to be powered by biofuel in the new year in a move which is expected to cut carbon emissions from the equipment by up to 90%. Operator, Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Limited (CMSL), has issued a tender to biofuel traders on the National Fuels Framework to supply the centre with hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), as a replacement for diesel. A groomer preparing the terrian park at Cairngorm Mountain. HVO is described as “a second-generation biofuel made from renewable, sustainable raw materials.” It’s the latest Scottish ski area to increase its use of renewable energy. Nevis Range introduced its own hydro-electric plant to cover its energy needs several years

Spotlight on Japan The Rugby World Cup is the first of two major global sporting events that are being hosted by Japan over the next 12 months, the other one of course being the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The idea of holding the Olympics during the heat and humidity of late July and early August is certainly questionable but I have no doubt that, intense heat aside, the host country will put on a good show and visitors (and viewers) will get another positive impression of Japan. As a Japan long-timer I may well be somewhat biased, but it’s hard to imagine that people could visit Japan and not be charmed by the country in various ways. Current coverage of the

Increasing signs of development… During the previously discussed ‘ski boom’ in the late 80s Japan there were some mind-bogglingly ambitious ski resort developments happening in the country, though some of the wilder ones were put to a halt by the economy slowing down in the early 1990’s. While snowboarding came to the rescue and kept numbers somewhat steady, generally the next decade or so saw an increasing amount of ski hill and ski lift closures around the country and news of the total numbers of people enjoying winter sports continuing to decline. Incredibly, at the peak of the boom there were over 700 individual ski hills throughout Japan. In 2019 that number now stands at around 500. So after a