Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Snow snippets: readers 31 January

30th January 2010, by Wendy King

Niseko - (c) Niseko Village / web blog

Here we have snippets from Japan, Bansko and Valmorel – posted a little later than hoped as your snow editor was er … away skiing!

JAPAN

John has just returned from a month in Japan – where it looks like he had plenty of snow; the powder is still falling out there this week.

“Just back from a month in Hokkaido Japan. Went to Furano, Rusutsu and Niseko. Of 28 days skiing I would say that only 4 of them were NOT powder days. 30 cm/day of fresh, super dry, powder there per day is the norm. Niseko got 6m of snow in January! “

FRANCE

Rose updates us on her sun n snow days in Valmorel, France:

“Just come back from a quick trip round the slopes with light snow falling. We went today as we hear the next two or three days might be quite cold and snowy. This is good for maintaining the pistes of course but there is nothing like feeling the sun on your face too………”

BULGARIA

Don spent a week in Bansko last week and here’s his update from the trip – just before the big snowfalls to start February, so it should be even better now.

“Have just returned from a week in Bansko 16-23 jan, at start of week conditions good, begginers area good cover and not too much ice, blue runs 5 and 10 both good cover but some patches of ice in places, the blue ski road to the village open and in good condition thanks to cold temperatures and constant use of the snow cannons. The reds coming down the face are generally good but also have icy patches making for an interesting descent, the tomba black run was closed all week for competition preparation, it has been sprayed with water to harden it, the temparature is now -10 degrees so when it reopens may be a challenge.

The runs in the Chalin valog sector are in generally good condition, though the right hand black remains closed due to lack of sufficient cover, the other chalin valog black was very icy earlier in the week but had improved when I skied it on friday, the red that it leads onto is now in better condition having started the week hard and icy. By far the best runs are the two blues down from todorka peak, they have excellent cover and less ice and I experienced some excellent carving tuition on them this week.

This week has been particularly cold, especially on the top of the mountain, but snow showers throughout the week have led to improving conditions on all runs. Anyone looking for a last minute holiday on a budget may find conditions near to perfect, happy skiing!”

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