It seems like a blink of an eye since the ski season started, but already, for most resorts, we’re into the last 6 weeks of winter 2012–13.
The official figures are not yet in (and indeed, the season is far from over), but so far it seems to have been a good season, with consistent snowfall in most of the world’s major ski regions, helping operators sell more holidays from the UK.
“Wow, this season went fast,” said Marion Telsnig of Crystal Ski (crystalski.co.uk). “Before Christmas the enormous amounts of snow helped with the sales, Christmas and New Year weeks also sold well, January produced some high load factors and it also looks good for the rest of the season. The big three countries all performed well with France standing out and Austria and Italy are also up. All in all, it seems that we’re on the way back up.”
The positive stats have been borne out in resorts too. Austria’s Tirol, for example, reports an increase in arrivals of 10.9 %, and an increase in overnight stays of 5.6 % in the first month of the season.
“The early season snowfall was a huge blessing to the industry overall and gave the ski season a flying start,” confirmed Craig Burton, Managing Director of specialist travel agency Ski Solutions (skisolutions.com), who is among those reporting record-breaking January sales with bookings up 23%. “There was the traditional booking frenzy between Christmas and New Year, however the biggest spike in sales came around 18 January – the weekend that snow brought UK airports to a standstill – instead of putting people off making travel plans, the ‘alpine’ conditions merely reminded UK skiers that it was time to get some proper powder.”
It is possible, of course, to continue skiing when the main resorts close in April if you like. Resorts like Tignes in France and Engelberg in Switzerland stay open into May, and Hintertux in Austria and Zermatt in Switzerland never usually close all year. In the Arctic Circle, Riksgransen in northern Sweden is just warming up and will be offering skiing under the midnight sun by the start of June.
But the winter part of winter 2012–13 is definitely nearing its end, and the spring ski season is nearly upon us, with a variety of music festivals and fun snow events still to happen.
Music festivals have become ever bigger news in recent seasons, and this spring everyone from Kasabian and Example (snowbombing.com) to Brian Ferry (zermatt.ch) and Deep Purple (ischgl.com) will be taking to slopeside stages across the Alps.
You can also sign up for one of the many rites-of-spring events staged in resorts across the northern hemisphere to celebrate the snowmelt. Many of the biggest involve trying to slide across an expanse of freezing water usually dressed as Elvis or Superman, sometimes in/on a USO – an unidentified sliding object. Some of the biggest (in terms of popularity and watery expanse) include Défi Foly in La Clusaz, France, and the US Cushing classic at Squaw Valley in California.
Other “fun” events include stripping down to your swimwear and raising money for breast cancer charities in a bikini slalom at Lake Louise in Canada, or trying to score a try playing snow rugby in Paradiski, France. Oddly, all of these events are keen to find more participants!
But if good skiing remains your priority as we move into May, the advice is as usual to aim high, although this season, at least as we go to press, conditions are looking good at lower elevations too. Many families can also benefit from one of the earliest Easter holidays for several seasons (it will slip back to late-April in 2014).
“There is now probably enough snow to last until the middle of April without further snowfall,” confirmed Xavier Schouller of Peak Retreats (peakretreats.co.uk), which specialises in holidays to traditional French resorts in big ski areas. “French school holidays end on 16 March so for the best deals it is probably best to avoid early March as prices are higher and it will be very busy. The week of 23 March is going extremely well as prices are very low and there are many schools already on holiday in the UK. Equally the week of 30 March is doing extremely well and availability is on the low side.”
“The good deals will come out for departure on 6 April, I’m sure,” adds Marion Telsnig. “The main resorts to look out for will be Tignes, Val Thorens, Paradiski, Alpe d’Huez, Les Deux Alpes, as well as the Swiss resorts, St Anton, Ischgl, Obergurgl in Austria.”
Spring Snow Fun
March
17: St Patrick’s Day, Mt Snow, Vermont, USA (mountsnow.com)
20: Snow Rugby, Peisey Vallandry, Paradiski, France (peisey-vallandry.com)
April
27–28: Défi Foly Lake Crossing, La Clusaz, France (club-laclusaz.com)
May
4: Bikinis For Breast Cancer, Lake Louise, Canada (skibig3.com)
TBC: Cushing Classic Pond Skimming, Squaw Valley, USA (squaw.com)