Sixty minutes earlier we had stepped through the rope barrier without any trouble from the ski patrol and had headed up the ridge towards Mount Tengu, a 1.30 hour hike above Hakuba Goryu ski resort in the Japanese Alps. Out of the safety of the ski hill we had snow-shoed along the mountain ridge at about 2,200m above sea level. 30m from the summit ridge, Matt our guide stopped in his snowshoe tracks, “err guys, I’ve just seen a lightning flash”. We were exposed, very exposed: Six snowboarders all in a group carrying our snowboards vertically attached to our backs. Six ripe sweaty lightning conductors. The air suddenly felt electric. The soft billowing clouds now contained danger. The decision was now made much easier, we had to get off the ridge fast and down to safety. We all quickly dropped the 50m down off the ridge into a stand of tall solid Japanese birch trees. “ spread out a bit more” I said “its much better we don’t all stand in one big clump”. Feeling a bit less exposed, we all rapidly started to make the transition from climbing to sliding downhill. We weren’t out of the dangerzone yet as the issue now was that we were at the top of a wide eastern facing gully. 3 days before this gully was alive with avalanches and laden with large pockets of unstable wind blown snow (wind slab). Our objective, a long beautiful tree lined north facing ridge offered us our best safest and least avalanche prone descent. but that was now out of the question, the risk of a lightning strike felt greater than being caught in an avalanche.

Calmly and swiftly we all strapped on our boards, packed away our walking poles and snow shoes and looked down the gully. 800 meters of elevation, this 25 to 40 degree gully was nearly 2km long. Just 12 months ago three young Kiwi skiers jumped into this couloir. It slid and two were killed. They carried no avalanche transceivers and no self rescue equipment.

Craig (the kiwi joint owner of the Morino skiers lodge) led us off, boarding smoothly into the gully before coming to a stop on a small ‘island of safety’ ridge about 100m down and out of the main slide path route. He signalled to me to follow. I dropped in listening and feeling the snow under my powder board. the wind-slab was evident but it seemed well bonded to the layers below. This was difficult mountain boarding, wind scoured hard packed snow with pockets of slab and powder in places, and steep too. Turning quickly sent plumes of powder high over my head obscuring my vision momentarily. Great fun, but I decided to back off a bit as this was not the day to push too far, much safer to see and feel the hill, enjoy it, and get off without incident. For the next hour we leapfrogged our way down the gully, stopping in safe spots before moving quickly through the numerous terrain traps (spots in the gully with no escape from potential avalanche burial). this is the best of Japanese back-country skiing: steep, complex, fun and the full 5km journey finishes conveniently at the one and only bar in the region with Belgian beer.

The Hakuba valley lies 60km to the north west of Nagano city, the home of the 1998 winter Olympics. the residue of the games still lies dotted around the mountains: large white elephant ski jumps, and empty stadiums and fading signs. the local officials seem proud of the legacy, sighting them as great adverts for Japanese skiing and ignoring the cost and the bills still to be paid. They just could not get their heads around the fact that for us powder hunters they signified nothing more than a tedious distraction from the real deal: powder.

In Europe, the pursuit of powder can be ridiculously frustrating as is the unpredictable nature of the weather systems. In japan however The storms blast in from the China Sea, dumping up to a meter at a time. As is the case in the pacific north west this wet snow sticks well and with temperatures that are generally cold but not extreme, great off-piste conditions are the norm.This is the reason to come to Japan. The tree skiing and off-piste back-country skiing is as good as anywhere in the world.

Even for the dedicated, it’s not all-plain skiing. Many resorts have rules that are restrictive and incomprehensible. A lot of the best terrain is out of bounds and the ski patrollers will take your pass if you are caught ducking ropes and barriers. The stories of the Japanese not skiing in the trees are true however it is not an issue of the trees being sacred, they don’t do it because it’s not allowed. The off-piste problem is getting worse and the resorts are going to have to find a way of either coming to terms with the motivations of the Western visitor or ban them completely.

Of course the best way to avoid running the gauntlet in the resorts is to hike into the back country where you are on your own. The mountains are both beautiful and complex and provide fantastic back country skiing in the winter and good spring ski touring from April to the end of May. for the first couple of days at least you should definitely use a local mountain guide. There are plenty of small, local Japanese guiding operations but you needn’t look further than the Hakuba Based Evergreen Guides company, run by UIAGMA certified Canadian Dave Enright. In my opinion, they offer the best guiding service in Japan employing a number of International Mountain guides and aspirants.

So if you’re after something totally unique, are open to new experiences and cultures, and are committed to riding some of the best snow in the world, then get to japan. it’s one big beautiful, challenging, fun and deep adventure.

Jordan Manley is a 24 year old political science student who travels the world to ski places most of us never do. Jordan is a photographer and videographer who won Whistler’s Deep Winter Photo Challenge twice, and graced the covers of both Powder and Skiing Mag.

A year ago he was shooting “The Skier’s Journey”, and below is the first episode in which skiers Chad Sayers and Tobin Seagel travel halfway around the world to Kashmir to ski the high altitude Gulmarg gondola, only to find the snow pack is a ticking time bomb. Never the less, they find safe areas to ski and discover the beauty of Kashmir and the Himalaya – its people and its landscape.

Even though this video is from last year, it’s still rocking out. Needless to say I would pay strawberries to join these guys.

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. Today Kashmir denotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (the Kashmir valley, Jammu and Ladakh), the Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan and the Azad Kashmir provinces, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract.

Gulmarg( “Path of Roses”) is a town, a hill station and a notified area committee in Baramula district in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Gulmarg has been a resort for the kings like Yousuf Shah Chak and Jahangir who used to visit frequently. The total distance covered by ski lifts is five kilometres and the resort peaks at an altitude of 3,950 m (12,959 ft). The area receives heavy snowfall during the winter season, so if you looking for powder, you can get a ton of it in Kashmir.

The average monthly snowfall in Gulmarg, Kashmir:

• December 110 cm
• January 210 cm
• February 430 cm
• March 185 cm

The average temperatur in Gulmarg, Kashmir:

• December -3.0 Celsius degrees
• January -5.5 Celsius degrees
• February -2.5 Celsius degrees
• March +1.5 Celsius degrees

This about these stats for a moment. Here in Finland we receive like max 100 cm of snow a year, and it’s just friggin cold in mid winter…

Nanga Parbat, one of the highest mountain peaks in the world, is in the Kashmiri region of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan

In the winter, the diverse and extreme terrain combines with torrential snowfall to create a snow destination that is among the best in the world. As the destination itself is still undeveloped, skiers and riders never have to suffer the long queues that are so prevalent in other international snow destinations – it is not uncommon to get up to 10 runs in a day from the top of the gondola and to be carving fresh lines in untracked snow for the best part of a day.

But it’s not only winter and skiing. The summer is just as busy. With temperatures ranging from 25-30°C, Gulmarg attracts outdoor sports fanatics with its world class trekking, mountain biking, horse riding, water skiing, and fishing.

Sounds like heaven to me.

Any committed skier will tell you tales of icy trips to Vail, of snowless trips to Austria, and of rain soaked pistes in France. Powder hunting can be frustrating and expensive and a total lottery. So how do you lessen the odds? Heli-skiing, the most well-known of the powder junkies’ fix, comes with no guarantee as low cloud and high winds ground the choppers all the time. And it’s also hard to justify the extortionate fees. However there is a solution to both of these factors and it’s Cat skiing.

Having suffered another disappointing European ski season we were ready for snow, any snow. Powder would be a bonus so we were prepared to work for it a bit. Our mission was to find guaranteed powder snow within a few hours drive of Calgary following a direct flight from Scotland. It didn’t look promising. Despite the massive dumping start to the Canadian season we had arrived in the middle of a 2 week drought. Things were looking lean, or so we thought……

We chose three areas that we had always wanted to visit; the legendary ski town of Fernie, the relatively new kid on the block, Kicking Horse, and the less well known Whitefish Mountain, Montana. To shorten our odds a bit and to lighten our wallets a lot, we also hunted out a Cat ski operation within easy drive of each of the established resorts visited. For most, just travelling to Canada if you’re looking for reasonable snow conditions is a good bet, but if you want to find powder you may have use a bit of detective work and a solid 4×4 with snow tyres.

Although unheard of in Europe due to historical, legal and environmental conditions, in North America Cat Skiing is growing steadily as a mid- priced alternative to the Heli option. Imagine a standard Piste Basher or Pisten Bully and weld a 12 seat Cab onto the back and you have a Snow Cat. The cat operations are generally established in old logging areas and use the forest road infrastructure to access ridge lines for drop-offs and valleys. These diesel guzzling fun tanks usually provide a good group of skiers with between 8-10 runs per day of between 1,000 and 1,500 feet per run. Cat skiing operations come in many shapes and sizes, from multiday secluded catered lodge operations such as Chatter Creek, near Kicking Horse/ Golden or closer to the resort operations offering single day blasts, such as Fernie Wilderness Adventures and Valhalla Adventures  in Montana. As of 2011, Valhalla’s cat skiing lease has been taken over by Great Northern Powder Guides.

Any wilderness development deserves critical viewing. It seems almost an anathema that the experiences we all seek whilst backcountry skiing such as solace, solitude and some sort of conversation with nature, always seems to involve burning hydrocarbons, building buildings, cutting down trees, and essentially destroying the things we are seeking to enjoy. So jumping into a machine with a high-powered engine instead of hiking into the wilderness and ski touring does seem slightly perverse and one wonders how it is even possible. A bit of research reveals that there are several large contributing factors that have allowed these Cat skiing operations to grow so massively. State forests in the USA and Crown forests in Canada are essentially managed commercial “wilderness” areas, forested in the summer and redundant during the winter. The governmental view seems to be that these areas are fair game for commercial activity in the winter also. Another contributing factor is job creation Travel to any small mountain community and you will soon realise that winter jobs are hard to come by – all house and road building stops, the logging industries close down, and even the forests parks are snowed in and empty. The backcountry is a serious business opportunity.

It’s an interesting tension. I am not sure what the answer is but just being aware can only be a good start. This way we can at least try to make the decisions that impact least and hopefully follow the adage “take only pictures and leave only ski tracks”: with any luck they will be buried under the next snowfall overnight anyway.

We were not completely convinced at the start of our journey if Cat Skiing was worth the additional expense on top of the already astronomical cost of any skiing holiday. And did we need to do it when the inbounds resort conditions in Canadian ski resorts are already pretty amazing? On both counts we were converted. The experiences were enormous fun and even in the lean snow period the conditions were absolutely exceptional. We got great fresh tracks every single Cat day. In these lean economic times, if you’re going to invest, do it wisely and book your seat on a Cat trip – powder is everybody’s favourite reward!

Town: Golden, British Columbia
Resort name: Kicking Horse
Hours from Calgary: 3-4 Hours

Cat Skiing Operation: Chatter Creek
Package: 3 or 4 nights in Helicopter accessed backcountry Lodge.

Cat Skiing – Chatter Creek is a short Helicopter ride from Golden. It offers some of the most challenging, fun and well appointed backcountry skiing in Canada with over 90 square miles of terrain to pick from. Their 85% repeat business statistic it testament to the operation – Chatter Creek offers Alpine, glacier and tree skiing of the highest quality. For this reason it also attracts some of the best skiers and guides to work for the operation. Chatter Creek is not a beginners ski destination. The regulars here can huck and surf with the best of them, so if you find yourself spending most of your time off-piste buried in the powder, looking for lost skis or you prefer a Vin Chaud and a deck chair, stay in Kitzbuhel. The uplift here can offer up to 15,000 feet of powder every day of your stay; bumps, jumps, steep trees, cliff bands and couloirs are all here. The family run lodge is rustic, remote and homely. This place should be on every good skiers bucket list.

Packages include fat ski’s (if you want them), avalanche transceivers, and lodge accommodation of 3-4 nights with great food.

Town: Fernie
Resort name: Fernie Resort
Hours from Calgary: 3.5 Hours

Cat Skiing Operation: Fernie Wilderness Adventures
Package: Day trips or basic overnight accommodation for large group bookings

Cat Skiing – Fernie Wilderness Adventures offer either lodge or day cat skiing. We recommend staying either on mountain or in the town and booking days out in the backcountry when the powder is at its best or the mountain is tracked out. The day starts with a meeting of the guides in Fernie town and then a 15 minute drive to the lodge base. You can expect a slightly more mixed ability group than at Chatter Creek but the terrain is great and gets steeper if the Cat guide feels the group is up to it. The best way to guarantee the skiing you want, either steep or mellow, is to book a complete load or fill the cat with as many of your hounds as you can muster. FWA is pretty good value as well; about the same price as a mountain guide in Europe for the day. After a 30-minute Cat ride you start your ski day with transceiver instructions at about 10am then after an initial viewing run where you are scoped out by the guides (2 per cat), the terrain is ramped up or remains as is in order to suit the balance of the group. We had two powder virgins in our Cat and even though the runs were slightly slower there was enough variation in the ski zones to put smiles on everyone’s faces.
FWA is best suited to intermediate to good skiers with some off-piste powder experience. If you are wanting to progress to powder skiing, we recommend doing a Steep and Deep course or powder lesson in bounds in Fernie before committing yourself to a day in a Cat.

Town: Whitefish, Montana
Resort name: Whitefish Mountain Resort
Hours from Calgary: 5 Hours

Cat Skiing Operation: Valhalla Adventures
Package: Day trip

Cat Skiing –  During our day with Valhalla, we skied powder, watched young Whitefish bucks leap off 35 foot cliffs, hiked the ridges where the cats have no access (as yet), skied great trees, got towed up trails by Skidoo (locally called a ‘Sled’) saw Moose, Bald Eagle, skied until dark and drank beer in the yurt post sun down. One of the purest experiences for any powder warrior or deep snow virgin. Whilst Valhalla are no longer operational, the terrain and experience still live on and can be ridden with new kids on the block Great Northern Powder Guides.

I’d love to do the British thing and tell you that it didn’t live up to expectations. It’d be typically UK style to build it up then knock it down with nonsense like ‘it doesn’t have the ‘charm’ of the Alps’, that ‘the American enthusiasm is insincere’, that ‘the mountains just don’t compare to Chamonix’, or that ‘that the size of portions are far too big…….blah blah blah. As I said, nonsense.

Skiing in North America and in particular Jackson Hole is truly one of the greatest opportunities that you can ever hope to experience in your mountain life. It’s not about comparisons, whose snow is deeper, whose peaks are higher, whose lifts are faster, whose beer is more expensive etc etc…….It’s about embracing something completely different and that is exactly what Jackson Hole is. It’s a fusion of old and new, it’s progressive as well as rooted in history, it’s the birthplace of extreme ski legends and the current terrain and playground of legends in the making like Sage Cattabriga Alosa and Tanner Hall. It’s real. One minute you can be riding the legendary JH tram standing next to one of the fathers of big mountain skiing, the JH Air Force, and the next you can find yourself inadvertently featuring in the latest edit by the world famous action sports filmmakers Teton Gravity Research. And all you were doing was just having a beer in the Mangy Moose – the après-bar of choice and TGR’s base for beer induced creative brain storming.

We had 2 superb weeks over in Wyoming and from a skiing perspective the overriding memory that I will take with me of the resort itself was just exactly how harsh the terrain actually is. I’m not talking about what lies beyond the ropes which is obviously extreme, but rather the inbound stuff which is also incredibly serious terrain. With hidden cliffs and chutes everywhere, if you know where you’re going it really is extreme recreation, if you don’t……well…..you’d better find out.

There were numerous occasions when shouts of ‘I’m going down here’ were almost immediately followed by ‘don’t go this way’. Unless you’re on a similar skill level to world famous pro riders such as Jeremy Jones or Seth Morrison, let’s just say it’s not really a place to ‘play’. In fact, any amateurish behaviour on the hill and JH will chew you up and spit you out like an angry buffalo. And rightly so, this is the Wild West after all……

These days ski trips about taking a punt – will the snow conditions be good, in fact, will there actually be any snow at all? Will the weather hold out, will the chalet/hotel live up to its trip advisor rating….and so it goes on. For sure if you decide to go to Jackson Hole the stake is even higher. Without doubt it’s one hell of a long journey from the UK and it’s clearly going to cost you a lot more to fly to the West Coast of the States than it is to jump on the orange bun fight express. Having said that though, I honestly think that it’s worth it……and then some.

I’m done with the unpredictable conditions of the Alps, am over the disinterested approach to customer service, and quite frankly hearts, crossed skis, and plates of bubbling cheese are well……a tad cheesy at times. After this trip, I for one would be more than prepared to make Jackson Hole my regular ski destination of choice. In fact I’d go as far as to admit that I’d be totally cool to put hand on heart and swear permanent ski allegiance to the powder gods of North America. Gawd bless Jackson Hole and all her ski in her. I’m off to get a pair of cowboy boots……

We asked him how he managed it and what it is like?

We had been successfully running cultural and trekking trips in Afghanistan for years but the idea that skiing could be possible first came to mind in 2009 in a small shepherds hut in the Wakhan district in Afghanistan’s far North East. I met an enthusiastic aid worker named Ken who was hiking with his girlfriend. He told me of a small group of ex-pats who regularly skied the Salang Pass that links Kabul with the Northern Provinces. His pictures looked amazing and we agreed in principle to try and run a trip.

The more I tried to work on the details of the trip the more it seemed like an idea that would never come to fruition. There are no lifts, no equipment and crucially no guides. It was fine for ex-pats to ski in the hills but ski touring in uncharted peaks needs professional expertise and just when we were ready to pack it in help came through a project to increase tourism in the Bamian region in Central Afghanistan. Famed for the once having the worlds largest standing Buddhas carved into the rock above the town, Bamian is home to the peaceful Hazara people and is one of Afghanistans most beautiful regions. Bamian and the stunning nearby lakes of Band e Amir regularly see plenty of tourists in the summer but the winter is a very quiet time. A local NGO thought that Bamian could be a future ski destination and is in the process of training local guides using the services of Nando, an IFMGA qualified guide from Italy.

Clearly I was not the only one who thought skiing could be a reality in Afghanistan so we joined forces with this initiative in Bamian and the ex-pat skiers in the Salang to create Afghanistan’s first ski tour.

It is not every ski resort that sees the tourists outnumbered by journalists but that was Bamian in 2011. We stayed in simple rooms heated by traditional wood fired Bukhari stoves. Two Afghan men who I had met previously as guides now work with Nando to run a small ski rental business gathered from donations and are training ski touring guides to the nearby Koh e Baba (old man mountains) range. As well as some top ski touring with Nando our guests visited the remains of the nearby Buddhas, played football with some kids in Dragon Valley and ate kebabs and rice in traditional Chaikhanas (tea houses) in Bamian’s lively bazaar.

We then headed to the Salang Pass near Kabul for a trip up Entente Peak. So named as it was first jointly climbed and skied by a mixed group of French and British in 2003. We drove through Russian built tunnels with icicles hanging from the ceiling and snow drifting in through the holes in the concrete.

However, the highlight for me was on the second day in Bamian. At the foot of the Koh e Baba range we met Asif and Habib. Two brothers aged 11 and 12 they had seen the skiers and with the help of their father had made a set of skies out of wood, metal, and old rubber boots. They only had one pair and took it in turns to make runs. Children in Europe and America would probably turn their backs on the idea of ski touring without lifts but these two brothers had to wait their turn even to get that chance. They get ski lessons through the program twice a week and Untamed Borders hopes that in 5 years time Asif and Habib will be guiding our guests on the slopes of Koh e Baba.

We know that ski tourism is not the answer to the problems facing Afghanistan but in a small corner of the Hindu Kush it can help. The men who run the small ski rental place do need more equipment but what they really need is more skiers. With luck they will get them.

Untamed Borders has a range of trips planned with Nando to Afghanistan in 2012. Wey’ll be back in Bamian skiing the Koh e Baba as well as plans to arrange heliskiing in the Wakhan and first ascents of 6000 metre peaks.

Please visit www.untamedborders.com or contact us on info@untamedborders.com for further details on how to visit Afghanistan as a ski tourist or how to donate equipment to the skiers like Asif and Habib.

Åre also has deep-rooted ski culture. Annual World Cup tour race here is a tradition. One of the world’s best freeskiers, Henrik Windstedt, is born in the nearby small village, Ullådal. Åre is the home mountain for the likes of Sebastian Garhammer, Reine Barkered and Henrik Harlaut to name a few. The mountain and its skiing had also brought us major brands like Peak Performance clothing. In a way, we Finns could admit Åre has everything skiing-wise that Finland doesn’t have…(hate to say that but it is pretty much the truth)

Pics in the article: Petri Kurkiand Antte Lauhamaa (Black Diamond sponsored telemark skier) – thank you guys!

Åre Ski Resort – general resort information

Åre village has a history of tourism and skiing since the 17th century. The first funicular up to the Åreskutan was built in 1910 and first FIS Worldcup race was held in 1969. The Åre village centre has an atmosphere you can compare e.g. to the classic Alp towns like St.Moritz. The village has some 60 restaurants, cafes and nightclubs, and there is no shortage of entertaining nightlife. There are also a wide selection of specalized shops ranging from skiing and outdoors to fancy design stores.

Åre is located in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. There are about 650 kilometers drive from Stockholm to Åre. Taking railway instead of driving is another comfy option. Nearby Östersund town has an airport and straight flights come from at least Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Manchester (read more here). Åre is far away from pretty much everywhere by central European standards but if you are e.g. visiting Sweden for a longer period, the drive isn’t that bad (Note: but if you have kids – prepare to reserve enough time…)

The resort itself is diveded into four different areas: Åre Björnen, Åre, Tegefjäll and Duved. There are about 120 different pistes and over 40 lifts, serving pretty much everything a skier or snowboarder can hope, excluding only very steep alpine style couloir descents. Åre village is the place to stay if you want to be close to all the services,restaurants, cafes, shops and people around. Another option is to rent a cabin/cottage somewhere nearby. Some of the cottages are located very close to the lifts/slopes – in the morning just click into the bindings and you are skiing. Having your own car (or rented car) is  a good option but not obligatory if you stay near the lifts.

Skiing in Åre

For a dedicated skier Åre ski resort offer a bit of everything. Only the most hard core steep skiers and seasoned powder hounds may disappoint. There are no huge continuous steeps. And the snow is usually hard and wind-blown. The term “Scandinavian concrete” is often used to describe the typical snowpack in Åre. On the other hand, many Åre based freeskiers state that the variable and cruddy snow is one of the key to their success. Anyway the fact is that low pressures coming from North Atlantic make the wind blow hard from western direction and due to the closeness of the ocean the weather varies a lot, meaning large temperature changes through the season.

If you like to carve well maintained slopes Åre is definately for you. In the high season thousands of skiers hit the same slopes though –  be prepared for some moguls and occasional bare / icy / rocky patches. Generally the further you go from the main lifts (just above Åre village) the less crowdy it gets.

For families with children I can highly recommend Åre Björnen on the east side of the area. Cabins and hotels are located basically on the slopes – it is a real “ski in, ski out”. There are tens of slopes and routes designed solely for kids, ranging from “magic carpet ride” for grommets to “mini terrain park” aimed at more skillful kids around 10 years of age. You also have shelters, fire places, child care rooms, restaurants with resting places (for eating your own picnic inside if the weather is bad), children play grounds etc. everywhere. It is not a huge overstatement to say that that the whole Björnen section is designed with families and kids in mind, really good work! Cross country skiing possibilities seemed very nice too and a trend seem to be skiing xc and pulling a kid’s sledge behind you…not bad for a work out and I guess kids enjoyed that too.

The resort has many different parks. The Bräckeparken in the main Åre area is the most famous. If you go to the black line be prepared for some serious airtime…or just to watch a line of very skilled kids hurling from the booters to all possible (spin) directions. Beat watching ski flicks on your sofa for sure! The red line is not bad either (and suits better for a middle aged office rat like me).

When the conditions are on, the off-piste skiing in Åre is not bad at all. There are very nice tree runs all over. For longer routes check out e.g. lines: backside of “Åreskutan” or “Östra Ravinen“, and be outfitted with normal avy gear and knowledge, or hire a guide, which is always recommended. If you happen to be on Facebook, check our Åre’s page and their update of March 24th. The pictures on this article show pretty ok conditions too, these shots are from exceptionally good 2005-2006 season when it snowed steadily through the whole winter.

Åre cold facts

• Pistes 100 (54% beginners, Intermediate 36%, advanced 10%)
• Lifts 47 (7 chair lifts, 34 surface lifts, 3 gondolas / cable cars)
• Summit 1274 meters
• Resort altitude 380 meters
• Vertical drop 890 meters
• Terrain parks: several, ranging from Bräckeparken’s black line (pro level) to Åre Björnen’s minipark for kids
• Halpipe: yes
• Cross country skiing: yes (56 km of trails)
• Snowmaking: yes
• Website: http://www.skistar.com/en/are/

Some background on “Lumiparkki Kivikko” (Snowpark Helsinki) project

Initially, I worked in the original project group for getting an urban jib park in Helsinki city area (“Helsinki Snowpark”). The original project started in spring 2009. The idea was based on a wide public-private co-operation. But after a very busy summer/fall of planning, scheduling, selling, negotiating etc. the project failed. This is a very long story but to put it briefly the place was just wrong (= too much neighboring houses and people living nearby = strong argument against the whole idea from the local house owners).

I left the company behind the whole idea in spring 2010 (and started to work for a launch of our own consulting company, Fiercer Media – Btw. this link is all Finnish for now). Still, the idea of the city jib park was well accepted in Helsinki municipal regime, lots of people signed petition for it,  and the project re-started all over again in spring/summer 2010. Now only the location was changed to a more suitable one.

Meanwhile Marko and I founded our own local business. Luckily we managed to get part of the Helsinki Snowpark (“Lumiparkki Kivikko“) production: we launched the whole concept in social media (Facebook, Youtube) and took care of all the communication in social media in fall 2010 (all this is in Finnish only, for now).  The launch went great and actually the user/customer feedback helped to shape the final product quite a lot – the potential customers were heard well before the park itself was built.

“Lumiparkki Kivikko” (Snowpark Helsinki) is an entry and mid level mini park for the youth and young minded!

Being involved with this whole thing from the start I can tell you that it wasn’t an easy case to get all parts done and to deal with all the bureaucracy with city administration. But now I can admit I feel really good for all the jibber kids in town. Similarly, as we have skate parks in the city during summer, now we have a reasonable priced jib park supported by the city, within the reach of public transportation, not too far from the city centre. In my opinion the best part of the whole thing is that now even the ones that probably could not afford “normal” resort skiing/snowboarding can get to know snow sliding and continue it with reasonable price. If you think how Finnish snowboarders have done in recent years, this can’t be a bad thing – I hope there is going to be probably a even wider base of potential new stars in Helsinki in the near future?

The park it self is a “mini version”. Lots of easy jibs and novice/middle level kickers. The idea is that everything is safety enough for the beginner but also fun enough for an expert. This seems to work well, thanks to guys at Soul Productions that shape and maintain all the obstacles.

Personally, I am very grateful for the city sport department and its staff and management for being open to this kind of new thinking. People didn’t believe a few years ago that this could be possible in Helsinki! There are also about 30 different people and instances I should mention here but I have done that already in person (and in Finnish media), so I won’t list all here…You know who you are, and can take it granted we are thankful here at HBS. And especially thankful in behalf of all the snow sliding young kids in Helsinki!

Keep on shredding! / HBS

PS. The author testing the kickers here …”senior freestyle skier” for sure, the next thing I need is a neck brace and a walker, based on how stiff I look at the picture, heh

When I was looking over this blog recently, it occurred to me that while we’d mentioned and recommended various ski holidays in resorts around Europe, from France to Switzerland, that we’d overlooked Andorra. Internationally recognised as one of the best value ski holiday destinations available, Andorra is just about hidden on the border between France and Spain, this tiny principality is also a tourist and tax haven. is rarely mentioned in the international travel media, and instead caters to some more specialist tourism markets, namely skiing.

How to Get There

Dwarfed by its more well-known neighbours, Andorra is probably one of the most difficult holiday destinations to get to in Europe. As there is no airport in Andorra, many visitors fly into the either Toulouse airport or Barcelona airport, and then embark on a three hour car journey, or opt to take a helicopter ride to Andorra, which can hold up to four people, and will take around 35 minutes. Another option is to take a train to either L’Hospitalet station in France, which stops 1.85 miles from the Andorran border or Spain’s Puigcerdà station, which stops 50 miles away and then take a care direct from the station to Andorra.

So Why Go?

Skiing holidays in Andorra offer an eclectic range of resorts and activities for people of all ages and abilities. Andorra’s most famous ski resort is Arinsal, a mountain village which is located at a height of 1550 metres, with the top of slopes at 2560 metres. Located on Vallnord, a ski and snowboarding resort in the Pyrenees mountains, Arinsal is linked to the nearby Pal resort by a cable car that can hold up to 50 people. Boasting a 63km ski area, 31 lifts, a varying number of slopes, including five green, sixteen blue, sixteen red and five black slopes, Arinsal can accommodate a great number of skiers, and is particularly suitable for families and groups, including intermediate and beginner skiers.

But What About Apres Ski?

Andorra, and Arinsal in particular, are just as well known for their off slope activities as they are for their on slope sports. Arinsal has an excellent amount of lively and family friendly bars, restaurants and shops to keep you busy after a hard day’s work off-piste. Several of the village’s best shops, which sell ski and snowboarding accessories and clothing, as well as several others, can be found at the top of the gondola, which is located at the base of the slopes.

Arinsal’s nightlife is also worth noting, as its bars are noted for being loud, busy and very lively. Earlier this year, the town was the venue of The Big Snow Festival, a week long musical extravaganza, organised by the people behind The Big Reunion. The festival, which is the first of its kind in Arinsal, was a huge success, and the line-up for 2011’s festival, which will take place from March the 13th-20th, includes Tim Westwood, Judge Jules and Example. With more acts still to be announced, and a St Patrick’s Day party being advertised as the event’s big theme, Arinsal could just be the place to ski next year.

Scotland’s five very popular ski resorts have all reported a rise in the number of available days for skiing and snowboarding on their slopes. It has also been confirmed that ‘Visit Scotland’ has a had a huge surge in inquiries about holidays in Scotland which have been linked to skiing.

Not only has it been having very large amount of constant winter snow, but it has been having record numbers visiting the several ski resorts, with most customers being skiers (of course) All 5 ski resorts in Scotland have apparently reported a staggering 372.782 skier days in total. Ski Scotland has estimated that these record numbers have generated a staggering £25m for the Scottish economy.

There are five ski resorts in Scotland, which are the Nevis Range, Glenshee Ski Centre, CairnGorm Mountain, Glencoe Mountain and The Lecht. Managing director for the Nevis Range, Marian Austin said: “Last year was good, the previous five or six weren’t so good. This is our best year since 2001.”

It’s reported that more than half of this year’s visitors to Nevis Range have been from outside the Scotland area. Since late last year, Glenshee has had 82,000 skiing days, compared to 43,000 between December and March in last year’s short season. A spokesman for CairnGorm Mountain said the resort had seen an increase in the number of skiers from England and that the centre had skiable snow since the middle of December.

He said: “We’ve had a significant increase in skiers from the south of England, choosing to forego their Alpine skiing holiday because they heard we had very good skiing to offer.”

Glencoe Mountain’s season has been open since December 28 and the resort has had 18,000 skiing days – an increase of 6,000 on the whole of last season. Angela Dingwall, manager of the smallest Scottish resort, Glencoe, said it had received a large number of international skiers, particularly from Ireland. This year there have been a lot of English visitors and even some Australians. She said the centre had only lost five days due to high wind.

All of the resorts have been open for at least 110 days throughout the winter season, but occasionally stopping operation when we had those awful conditions that led to the country grinding to a hault (and also the ski areas.) This was because of the access to the resorts.

Lets hope that this is a sign for whats to come and next season will be as just as good, if not better. Fingers crossed it is.

Watch this space for news on Ski Scotland’s opening season.

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The good thing in Snow Water is the fact that if the weather is not good enough to go out in helicopter skiing, you jump in a Snowcat and still enjoy your day.

This is why many of the best riders in the world come to Snow Water to make ski films. Check this one with Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and the Rossignol pro team.

“Skiing the high snowy mountains of Afghanistan would be a dream come true for many backcountry skiers, but as we all know, it is not possible as long as the fighting keeps going on in the country.” – Marko, Homeboy ski.

At the time Marko was writing this in the Autumn of 2009, Afghanistan had already seen a number of skiers on its slopes and was preparing the ground work to accept its first batch of foreign back country skiers. As with many things about Afghanistan, the public perception of the country is often very different to actual life on the ground.

Ever since the International forces ousted the Taliban regime in 2001, intrepid foreign workers have been heading to the slopes near Kabul for some escapism during the winter months and today a small group now regularly use the slopes of the Salang Pass for few runs each week. In the winter of 2009 the Bamian valley in Central Afghanistan has had its first injection of a US$1.5 million investment to boost its fledgling tourism industry. Local guides have been trained to show how the region, most famous for its giant standing Buddhas which were destroyed by the Taliban 9 years ago, can be a year round tourist attraction. Two American ski consultants spent last winter there and can confirm that the slopes of Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush range is one of the worlds finest backcountry ski areas. Already the prospect of ski tourism has attracted some media interest and it seems that against all odds Afghanistan can be a ski destination.

The development plan in Bamian is to first attract foreign workers from Kabul and wealthier Afghanis before trying to attract foreign tourists in 3-5 years time but Untamed Borders, a travel company from the UK, is already advertising places for Afghanistan’s first ski tour in March 2011.

Untamed Borders is a small niche travel company that organises guides and trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan. They want to use their experience, knowledge and long lasting relationships in Afghanistan to allow back country skiers a unique experience that will be as much a cultural exploration as a skiing trip. Their itinerary intends to allow the guests to follow the routes pioneered by the ex-pat workers in the Salang Pass and then to use the services of the newly trained local guides in the Bamian region. They will also encourage the skiers to bring extra second hand ski equipment to help stock the fledgling local ski rental business of Bamian.

Picture taken by Chad Dear, March 2010

It seems incredible that peaceful pockets can exist in Afghanistan. However, one of the things that has driven the violence in Afghanistan is the fact the country is made up of many different ethnic and religious groups who are often distrustful of each other. Bamian is the home of the Hazara. The Hazara are descendants of an army left as a garrison by Genghis Khan and have mongaloid, oriental faces. They are also Shia muslims in a country dominated by Sunnis. Over the years they have persecuted and neglected by various governments and it is only since the US and ISAF forces have been in the country that schools, hospitals and roads have been built here. This is why the security situation there is far removed from the Pashtun led insurgency you see on the news in the southern provinces.

Untamed Borders use guides that have worked in Afghanistan since 1997 and have a deep understanding of the risks involved in travel to the country and where it is possible to travel safely and why. They have many friends in all the places on the trip who give them up to the minute information on what is really going on.

The question still remains whether Afghanistan, a country with poor infrastructure, no ski lifts and possibly crucially, where alcohol is illegal, can really attract skiers from Europe and America that are used to their creature comforts. However, it is clear that it will not be for a lack of opportunity should the brave wish to make the trip.

With not much new snow previously and couple of sunny days we’ve been doing some exploring around Whitewater. The area has kept its promises. Here’s a quick few photos from the nearby backcountry from couple days ago. With the bluebird weather we decided to get up to the Ymir Peak/Mountain (I’ve heard it been called both) in the Whitewater backcountry since we hadn’t been there before. It’s the prominent peak next to the ski area, always dominating the scenery on a day with good visibility, and a bit of a must-do for anyone in the area for longer.

The ascent follows the right flank of the peak through snow-covered trees (not seen in the photo above). It is steep enough that I wouldn’t want to do it in any kind of unstable snow conditions.

Going up

(click for a big panorama)
And then we were on the top, panorama from the peak to east

With the last big snowfall having been some time ago already the normal routes that ascend to the Ymir bowl back to the resort were all more or less tracked out, but the run down from the saddle next to the peak to the east facing bowl had been left completely untouched and the snow looked great. The lower angle pow has been the name of the game for us during the last couple of weeks, can’t complain since big turns in perfect hero snow make us happy.

Laura on the upper half of the run

Christmas trees!

Skinning back up to get a saddle for another run down to the ski area and our car, our tracks barely visible behind with Ymir Mountain

Juho is spending the season in USA and BC, Canada, and posts updates from there regularly. Here are the previous posts from the season:

A Season around USA and Canada – Here we go..
Touring at Kootenay Pass
Rogers Pass & Whitewater backcountry

Check back for more trip reports!