(Thanks to www.Solden.com, where the season starts in September, for picture)
The countdown to winter 2013-14 and the Sochi Olympics in Russia is on, with the first of the season’s world class competitions having taken place in New Zealand last month and glacier resorts in the Alps already open for skiers and boarders.
Team GB freeeskier James ‘Woodsy’ Woods from Sheffield, the reigning Slopestyle Skiing World Cup champion from last season, got things off a great start with gold in the first competition of Winter Games NZ, he was followed 48 hours later by fellow Brit Jenny Jones taking silver in the Ladies Snowboarding Slopestyle event.
It’s now just four months until the Games get underway in the mountains above the Black Sea city of Sochi when, all being well, the frantic construction of four world class ski areas is due to be largely completed in time for the competition. The longest ever Olympic Torch Relay which will see the torch go to the north pole, to the bottom of the world’s deepest fresh water lake (it’s 1,637m deep and in Siberia) and even go on a space walk
James’ and Jenny’s competitive success in New Zealand also comes after a summer when resorts including Alpe d’Huez, Cortina and Verbier re-opened their slopes to skiers and boarders due to so much late-season snow and, to complete the positive picture, the UK’s biggest tour operator Crystal published their Annual Industry Report showing that more people were booking ski holidays than the previous winter for the first time in five years, albeit a modest growth of 1%.
“The decline in the ski market has now bottomed out and we are starting to see signs of recovery and growth. However, we cannot rest on our laurels and need to continue to deliver exceptional value, innovation and great service if we are to see the market return to pre-recession levels, ” said Crystal’s MD, Simon Cross.
Other tour operators are upbeat about the coming season too, with many reporting that sales are up, in part due to the slowly improving economy, but perhaps equally if not more, thanks to the recent run of excellent snowfall seasons,
“Following a successful 2012/13 winter season we have already seen an increase in early bookings, particularly in peak dates,” said Paul Markham, general manager at Supertravel Ski, “ We are seven per cent up on last year and ten per cent up on the 2011/12 season. Christmas is proving especially busy with 100 per cent sold in Zermatt already. There is a lot of confidence in the early season, due to two years of fantastic snow.”
Le Ski’s boss Nick Morgan was also feeling positive, “The snow was unbelievable all season and there are still areas of Courchevel, where I am currently, which have remnants of snow which it certainly wouldn’t normally. Incredible.”
The company reported 99% customer satisfaction rates (“We’re working on the 1% who gave us fair”).
Crystal’s report showed the main area of concern is the number of children going away on school ski trips, which continues to decline and is now at a 20 year low. It is not known if more children are skiing with their families to off set the decline, which is otherwise bad news for the future. In any case a campaign has just been launched in England, GoSkiGoBoard, to try to get people to try skiing or boarding for the first time at one of the region’s dry slopes or indoor snow centres, first with a taster session then with six hours of lessons.
All that’s needed now to make 2013-14 live up to expectations is the same as every other good season – a lot of snow.
More info:
Crystal: Crystalski.com
GoSkiGoBoard: goskigoboard.org.uk
James Woods: facebook.com/JamesWoodsyWoods
Jenny Jones: jennyjonessnowboarder.com
Le Ski: leski.com
Ski Supertravel: www.supertravel.co.uk/ski
Sochi: sochi2014.com/en