The FIS Freeski & Snowboard World Cup will kick off for the third time in a row with the Big Air Chur in Switzerland. The inner city event attracts freestyle professionals from all over the world with 160 riders due to compete in front of thousands of festival fans on 20/21 October 2023. Along with the competition taking place with a 50 metres high tower leading to a kicker below there’s a full music programme with nine live acts and 15 afterparty DJs. Snow sport stars headed to the 2023 Big Air Chur include freeskiers Tess Ledeux and Birk Ruud, and in snowboarding, Reira Iwabuchi and Takeru Otsuka. The line-up includes the entire 2022 podium on the start list including

Zermatt’s lift company, Zermatt Bergbahnen, has posted its “best-ever business year”  announcing operating income of CHF 88.1 million. The company said the results reflected signs of an easing in the European travel market and overseas markets, noting increasing demand from Asia and North America which resulted in Summer 2022 income reaching a new record high. “Summer skiing was the only area to record a decline, as the previous winter's lack of snow had failed to provide the glacier with its insulating snow cover and operations had to be shut down for around 50 days for safety reasons,” a lift company statement explained. For the 2022/23 Zermatt reports large numbers of international visitors with the North American market showing a particularly

A group of skiers who are attempting to claim the world record for the furthest skied using seated equipment. They’ll be making their attempt at the Chill Factore indoor snow centre in Manchester on Monday 25th September – as part of a bid to raise vital funds for the charity that enables them to ski, Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK). The team includes Alex Macpherson, 17, from Chorley who was born with severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy and also has learning difficulties; Amber Meikle-Janney, 24, from Huddersfield who was born with hereditary spastic paraplegia (a rare neurological condition which mainly affects the lower limbs and core strength) and Will Macpherson, 34, from Harrogate who suffered a spinal cord injury following a bicycle

There's been snowfall in the Alps and Scandinavia as half-a-dozen more ski areas plan to open over the coming fortnight in Austria and Finland. Finland's largest ski area, Levi (pictured above), one of two aiming to start their 7-month long seasons on 6th October, reported snow falling down to village level on Wednesday morning. Levi and Ruka (library pic below) will use large amounts of snow, saved from last winter and stockpiled through the summer, to create runs several kilometres long in order to open. There has also been fresh snowfall above about 3,000m in the Alps, bringing to an end the latest period of very warm temperatures to high altitudes. Three resorts are currently open, Saas Fee and Zermatt

Issued: 20th September 2023 By Patrick "Snowhunter" Thorne European Roundup North American Roundup Asia Roundup World Overview Catedral We are reaching the tipping point in the year when northern hemisphere ski areas begin making snow. And while this is the case for some already opening for the new 23-24 season, in the southern hemisphere we'll see the first areas close for their 2023 seasons. This is the start of astronomical autumn/fall in the north, and spring in the south, three weeks after the seasons changed by the meteorological measure. So, for the next few months everyone is agreed it is autumn/fall or spring.In terms of snowfall and openings it has been a fairly quiet week. The main news from the