TOP FIVE FRIDAYS: OCTOBER 25TH, 2019
#1: Ski Season 2020: Reviewing Projected Opening Dates:
At Arapahoe Basin, which has been open since October 11th, skiers and snowboarders can already get back to work on perfecting their rail skills. Image: Arapahoe Basin on Facebook
With ski season creeping closer by the day, we’ve decided to kick things off this week with a look into the projected ski resort opening schedule for the 2019-2020 season! For those of you in Colorado, this may seem like a bit of old news as both Arapahoe Basin and Keystone have been open since October 11th and 12th respectively. Still, for the rest of us who are patiently awaiting the day nearby lifts start spinning, it’s worth looking into the schedule of projected opening dates.
For Coloradans who aren’t lucky enough to ski at either Keystone or Arapahoe Basin, but are Loveland locals, we’ve got excellent news for you as today marks the first day of operation for the resort! For skiers in the Tahoe region, you’ll be excited to hear that Mt. Rose officially opened for the season today, although only on weekends for the time being. Looking a bit further down the projected opening list, it looks like next weekend could be a big one as well, as Sunday River, Mount Snow, Killington, and Wildcat are all projected to kick off the East Coast ski season. Also of note is Wild Mountain Ski and Snowboard area in Minnesota, who has next Saturday listed as the projected opening date. From there, there’s a predictable slew of other mountains projected to open throughout the month of November. To see a complete list of scheduled openings, check out this list from OntheSnow.com!
#2: The 2019-2020 FIS World Cup Ski Racing Season Kicks Off in Austria This Weekend!
In other “ski season is pretty much officially underway” news, this weekend marks the official kick off of the 2019-2020 FIS World Cup Ski Racing season! As the video above clearly states, it’s been 7 months since the last race, and there’s been plenty of change in the offseason. The biggest news in that regard, is the absence of Marcel Hirscher from this year’s circuit, as the reigning champion decided over the summer to retire while at the top of his game. That of course, leaves the door wide open on the men’s circuit as a new champion is inevitable. For those who value consistency, rest assured the outlook for the women’s circuit is more of the same, as Mikaela Shiffrin looks to dominate the division for the third consecutive year, while athletes like Petra Vlhova and Wendy Holdener attempt to dethrone her.
The beginning of those storylines will start this weekend, with both a Men’s and Women’s Giant Slalom race being hosted in Soelden, Austria. After this initial race, both circuits will take a month long hiatus before resuming in Levi, Finland for a Men’s and Women’s Slalom race on the weekend of November 23rd - 24th. From there, the schedule kicks into full gear as the men head to Lake Louise, Canada from November 27th - December 1st, and the women go to Killington, Vermont from November 30th - December 1st. While this weekend’s race is a bit of a preview for the season ahead, we remain excited to see the tour officially underway, and look forward to bringing you the first recap of the 2019-2020 season next Friday! For more reading, check out this article from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team.
#3: Austrian Ski Slope Opens, Environmentalists Voice Concerns:
Speaking of skiing in the alps this weekend, we caught a story from The Associated Press this week highlighting Austria’s Kitzbühel ski area, which has recently opened for the season despite average temperatures remaining in the 50’s. “How is that possible,” might you ask? Well, in this case, it’s thanks to snow farming, a technique that we’ve covered a few times here on Chairlift Chat which essentially just means the resort collected a bunch of snow from last winter, threw an insulated tarp over it all summer, and then pushed it back out for skiing this fall. As far as environmental impact goes, this method is extremely efficient as it requires limited energy (essentially just the use of groomers to rearrange the snow) to manipulate the availability of snow.
What caught our eye about this particular article isn’t the fact that snow farming was used, which, to be sure is pretty interesting, but that there’s actually some push back from European environmentalists who are displeased by the sight of snow on an otherwise autumnal mountain. As Josef Scheinast, a member of the Green Party in Germany, said, “these are not the temperatures to ski in.” What’s eyebrow raising about the complaint is how reactionary it seems. To be fair, had Kitzbühel been able to open only due to snowmaking efforts requiring an unreasonable amount of energy, the complaint would be justified. But, as far as snow “making” efforts go, snow farming is by far one of the most environmentally friendly methods used. In essence, it’s simply the creation of a mini-glacier. Ultimately, that’s the troublesome aspect of environmental pushback in this particular case. There’s no question that a number of practices within the ski industry are detrimental to the environment, a concept that’s being taken head on by initiatives such as Vail’s EpicPromise. To attack a practice that is environmentally friendly though is detrimental to progress. After all, if a practice as minimally impactful as snow farming is deemed destructive, then what reasonable options are there? For more on this story, check out the recap from Yahoo.com.
#4: Iconic Ski Descents in North America Slowly Disappearing:
Despite having no backcountry experience, Erin Mielzynski's ski racing background was more than enough for her to thrive on a recent expedition with Warren Miller Entertainment. Image: Erin Mielzynski on Facebook
Finally, we end this week with a story that’s tragically interesting. If you’ve been following Top 5 Fridays for at least a year now, then you’ve likely seen us post Cody Townsend’s “The Fifty” ski edits. For the series, Townsend decided to ski and film his descent down the 50 ski lines highlighted in the book Fifty Classic Ski Descents in North America. If you’ve managed to catch any of the episodes, then you’ve already seen the exciting, ski mountaineering side of the story. If you’ve looked closely, you may have also caught a more somber story playing out in the background.
That background story is the highlight of an article released by Outside Magazine this week, which spoke with Cody Townsend about his experience skiing the descents, with a focus on their rapid disappearance. As we’ve been forced to mention with increasing frequency, skiers are in a position of being the “canaries in the coal mine” when it comes to climate change. This concept is proven beyond doubt in the Outside Magazine article, as Townsend recounts numerous descents that he believes he’s either skied for the last time, or that will soon succumb to climate change. While there are numerous examples in the article, one that stands out is his experience on Joffre Peak in British Columbia. Shortly after logging his descent down the peak, which was already rapidly melting, Townsend recounts that, “half the mountain fell off. We watched two of the three lines off that peak disappear forever.” To be sure, we’re not going to be able to do this story full justice in such a brief recap. Instead, we highly recommend giving the article a read. Be careful though: you may find yourself tempted to spend your day watching The Fifty.