Glen Plake reckons it’s all about getting back to basics…
(Glen is a member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame)

“In the 1970s, people said, If you don’t make snow said you won’t be a ski area open for business. Now resorts make tons of snow and the numbers are still dropping. I call bull on it. If we don’t get one natural snowstorm, nobody goes skiing. So why waste all this time and energy?

In 25 years, we need to realize that skiing isn’t a winter sport—it’s a snow sport. You ski when there is snow. People will ski in spring—March, April. There won’t be snow in “winter.”

It would be nice to get back to some basics. I think skiing has to remain a natural experience—I am not a fan of urbanizing the sport. I think that people in the cities are not going to start walking around the city in ski boots looking for rails. They want to get away from urban areas and go enjoy nature.”

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Snow-forecast.com predicting 10-25 cm for parts of central, western and southern Alps.

As we write this, it’s snowing in Chamonix – whoop! There’s a storm moving in from the west-northwest that will drop a light blanket of fresh snow on parts of the western, southern and central Alps as well as parts of the Pyrenees. Don’t expect much but it’s better than nothing and there’s more on the way.

FRANCE

Most of the fresh snow will fall on Thursday evening and will continue through Friday.

Morris from WePowder.com predicts, “From Friday to Sunday I expect the most snow north of the French and Swiss Chablais, north of the Swiss northern alpine ridge, north of the Austrian Inn, the northern Alps of Salzburg and Steiermark, the Schwarzwald and the Jura…” Image from WePowder.com

SWITZERLAND

Image from WePowder.com. 20-30 cm forecast for some parts of the Pyrenees.

SPAIN

AUSTRIA

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What does this winter have in store, in general, for your general geographic region? If you’re a skier in the West and you believe the Farmer’s Almanac, the outlook is not so hopeful, but maybe a little better than last year. The Almanac says it will be another warm and dry year west of the Continental Divide, with below-normal precipitation. The Northeast and Great Lakes region will see a “real” winter again, with cold and snow, and the Midwest will be unpredictable, with storms and wild temperature swings. But hey, chin up, kiddo: The odds of this — or any other — forecast being correct are about the same as the weirdness that was last winter. Via Farmer’s Almanac.

Read more stories like this at Adventure Journal.

The two Colorado ski resorts were negligent in the deaths of two skiers killed in in-bounds avalanches in spring 2012, according to two lawsuits filed by a Steamboat Springs-based attorney. Lawyer Jim Heckbert says Vail and Winter Park employees ignored avalanche danger and failed to properly warn resort users about in-bounds areas of high avie danger, resulting in the deaths of Taft Conlin, 14, at Vail, and Chris Norris, 28, on the same day in January 2012. The suit comes despite a June ruling by the USFS that said Vail’s snow safety practices were sound. The outcome of the lawsuit could change the way resorts manage terrain to skiers and snowboarders in the future. Via Summit County Citizens Voice.

Read more stories like this at Adventure Journal.

Tiny 225-acre Echo Mountain has one (small) advantage over its Summit County rivals: Location. It’s a mere 35 miles from Denver and you can get there without too much I-70 traffic hell. And now it has a new owner in Nora Pykkonen, who bought the hill to turn it into a ski-racing training school for kids. To her the attraction is that close proximity to the Front Range’s good school system, which will enable parents to enroll kids in after-school racing sessions at Echo. Pykkonen will bring in expert coaches and plans to pump $5 million into developing beyond the area’s 80 acres of terrain, delivering 1,500 vertical feet of skiing. Her team plans to build a Super G course, a mogul lane, and a new restaurant. There are already lights at Echo, so kids will be able to get in longer workouts mid-winter; ski clubs will also be able to use the mountain on a rental basis. Via Denver Post.

Read more stories like this at Adventure Journal.

How long do you have to wait to terminate a contract with an athlete after they suffer a major injury that takes them out of comps? Two years, if you’re Red Bull. Dropping them earlier than that would be unseemly. Twenty-eight-year-old Tanner Hall announced on Twitter that the genius marketers of sugar water have cut him loose: “After 11 years of hard work for Red Bull and everything I have done and been through the decided to drop me.” Hall is working on a comeback for the 2014 Olympics, right now he’s in New Zealand. Perhaps we’ll see him get a gold and then pound a gallon of Monster, though Red Bull isn’t betting on it.

We can use the latest Google Maps Technology to help you get to grips with the place.follow capn’ jack. he’ll guide you

• Chamonix Flickr, GeoTagged
• GPS Kit for iPhone & iPad
• Map of Aiguille du Dru

View Aiguille du Dru in a larger map

The Kandahar world cup ski race has had a tough time of it in the past few years, with scant snow cover creating less than ideal racing conditions. Not this year.

The Chamonix leg of the AUDI FIS Ski World cup will be held this weekend on the Verte piste in Les Houches. It’ a free event to watch and easy to access, although public transport to and from Les Houches is recommended due to limited parking.

Chamonix Mont-Blanc and the Verte piste in Les Houches welcomes the 18th Kandahar Event

This legendary race has become the main sporting event in Chamonix and is one of the reasons for the valley’s celebrated skiing reputation. Today it is among the greatest downhill courses alongside Wengen and Kitzbuhel. Since 2004, the Chamonix Mont-Blanc event on the Verte piste in Les Houches has taken place on an annual basis. In 2009 the Alpine Skiing World Championships and in 2010 the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver did not leave room for the event to take place. In 2011 and this year’s edition of the Kandahar s finally reunite with its public!

The downhill events, which are on the World Cup circuit, will be held on Friday 3d, Saturday February 4 and the Super Combined (downhill and slalom) on Sunday February 5, 2012.

Being equipped with the only men’s Downhill World Cup approved piste in the region, Chamonix and Les Houches have a unique and precious privilege.

A rendez-vous amongst the world’s elite skiers the Kandahar is a major event thanks to the cooperation of all the local participants.

Featuring our mates at www.bluemilesnowsports.com

Snow Report Mont-Blanc dimanche 29 janvier 2012… Le couloir du Chapeau sur le domaine skiable des Grands Montets dans la vallée de Chamonix… Merci à Chamonix.net, Te-Crew, Fanny Gras, Sam Favret, Mickaël Lamy, Flo Tomei, “Chyko” Fabien Bodet, Rémi Peschier, “Coco” Pierre Tonin, Alexandre Marchesseau (GoPro)…
http://www.tvmountain.com

Face Sud des Courtes massif du Mont-Blanc ski de pentes raides… Merci à Te-Crew, Alexandre Marchesseau, Florent Gex et Luc Mongellaz…. Millet partenaire du Te-Crew…
http://www.tvmountain.com

25 décembre 2011… Glacier de Toule, une bonne neige de Noël… Merci à Michel Pellé Aventure en Tête à Chamonix.net à Camille et à Zoé…

http://www.tvmountain.com

If you’re wondering how all this fresh snow looks on the Aiguille Du Midi with a view to skiing it, then take a look at this video from TV Mountain. Shot on the Petit Envers Du Plan on Friday 23rd December 2011. It looks…. frankly….. sick.

Vendredi 23 décembre 2011… Aiguille du Midi, Vallée Blanche, Petit Envers du Plan… Itineraire ouverts la veille par les guides de haute montagne Michel Bordet et Yan Raulet… Ca passe plutôt bien… Merci à Jacques Larrière, Bistrot des Sports…

The best early-season bluebird powder day in the world.

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• Ski Breezy
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• Dynamic Lives
• Winter Properties Chamonix