North American Ski Season Draws to a Close

With weather patterns disrupted around the world, many snow skiing destinations are faced with making the decision on whether to remain open, or close early as the northern hemisphere snow sport season draws to a close. With the month of April not yet a week old, only seven ski resorts in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont were open for business – Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Saddleback, Loon, Wildcat, Killington and Jay Peak. Sugarbush will reportedly be reassessing their snow coverage during this week with a view to opening for skiing on the weekend.

While snowfall has been scant, these resorts still have much to offer. Sunday River resort has its popular Parrothead Festival coming on 6-8 April. Promoted as one of the biggest spring parties in snow country, the Parrothead Festival has become an annual tradition at Sunday River. The weekend program includes outdoor concerts, parties, the annual pond-skimming contest, and plenty of margaritas. While other resorts may be slowing down, Sunday River is looking forward to plenty of action this weekend.

The four ski areas run by the Aspen Skiing Co will stick to their scheduled closing dates despite the dry conditions and relatively high temperatures being experienced in the area. While Buttermilk will be closing on Sunday, Aspen Mountain and Snowmass are set to close on 15 April, with Aspen Highlands staying open through 22 April. Steamboat Ski Area has already closed 77 of its trails, leaving around 33 percent of its skiable terrain still open. Vail Mountain’s skiable terrain has been reduced from 5,289 acres to around 1,476 acres. While skiable terrain has been reduced, the sunny days have attracted more skiers to the slopes as they enjoy the mild weather. The lower skiing regions may have some bare patches, but higher up the snow cover is still good.

According to state trade association Colorado Ski Country USA, Telluride and Crested Butte are among the resorts planning to close Sunday. Arapahoe Basin and Wolf Creek have not yet confirmed their closing dates, while Loveland is scheduled to close on 6 May. Buttermilk’s closing weekend celebrations will include a rail jam, as well as a concert featuring DJ Naka, followed by DJ Z Trip.

Hirscher and Vonn Overall World Cup Champions

With her closest rival – Tina Maze of Slovenia – almost 600 points behind her, Lindsey Vonn has claimed the prestigious World Cup overall title, proving that she has the determination, skill and endurance that set champions apart from the crowd. Having claimed a total of four World Cup trophies – overall, downhill, super-G and super combined – Vonn’s crystal globe collection stands at 16, with four of them being overalls. Vonn also set the women’s record for most points accumulated in a single season, her 1,980 points just falling short of her 2,000-point goal to match the overall record set by Austrian champion Hermann Maier. In a post-race interview Vonn expressed her disappointment in missing her points goal, noting that she would be trying hard to beat the record next year.

The 2011/2012 season has brought a string of successes for Lindsey Vonn, as she notched up 12 race victories and 97 podium finishes. Her wins currently stand at a total of 53 out of 305 World Cup starts. This is the second time that Vonn has claimed four titles, the first time being in 2010. Among Vonn’s goals for the future are to beat the 62 World Cup wins and six overall trophies held by Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria.

The women’s World Cup trophies in the past season were claimed by experienced skiers, such as the slalom World Cup claimed by Austria’s Marlies Schild with her six wins out of ten races. In the men’s World Cup events, 23-year-old Marcel Hirscher claimed the overall World Cup trophy, with five slalom and four giant slalom victories this season. Beat Fuez pulling out of the last race was a contributing factor in Hirscher’s overall win, but the new reigning champion has proven that he is championship material.

Among the skiers retiring from World Cup events are Didier Chuche of Switzerland and seven-time world champion Anja Paerson of Sweden. Newcomers include Alexis Pinturault of France, who claimed six podium places in four disciplines, and Marcel Mathis of Austria who made it to the podium twice in 12 World Cup races.

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