This coming January marks an important anniversary in the history of ski racing. Mürren in the spectacular Jungfrau Region of Switzerland is preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first slalom race held on 21 January 1922. This was the first Alpine ski race ever to be a battle to be the fastest down a gated race course with no marks for style and no prescribed turns. Mürren’s ties with the British go back to the Victorian era and tour operator Henry Lunn launched it as a winter resort before the First World War and it was Henry’s son Arnold who campaigned for recognition of the then new sport of Alpine ski racing which culminated with the first Alpine

Issued: 20 October 2021 By Patrick "Snowhunter" Thorne European Roundup North American Roundup Asia Roundup Southern Hemisphere WORLD OVERVIEW Winter continues to move closer in the Northern Hemisphere. There were some big snowfalls across western North America over the past week and in the Alps snow levels reached the valley floor at ski regions in Austria and Switzerland. Other mountain ranges on both continents posted fresh snowfall up high. In North America, Silverton Mountain in Colorado was one of those reporting a big dump of powder in the middle of last week and ski patrol staff turned on the chairlift and made some turns. Over in Utah, Alta reported 14” (35cm) of snowfall in 24 hours and Solitude, 33” (83cm). Skiers

Tignes has opened for its 21-22 Ski season, the first in France to do so. The glacier has 50cm (20”) of snow lying on it. Although the French alps have not had the heavy snowfall of some Austrian and Swiss glaciers in recent weeks, there has been some snow this month and Tignes reports 8cm (3”) freshly fallen in the past few weeks and current temperatures on the glacier at -4C. There’s about 6km of slopes open so far with Tignes reporting the funiculaire and cable car are running from 8:30am to 3:15pm and the Vanoise and Panoramic chair lifts as well as the Champagny and Termignon lifts running too. The French national ski team were training on the slopes

The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (SLCC) in Whistler is the first centre of its kind in Canada, located on the shared, traditional territories of the Squamish Nation and Lil’wat Nation. Two nations have come together to celebrate and share their cultures with the world while creating meaningful employment opportunities for members of both the Squamish Nation, Coast Salish and Lil’wat Nation, Interior Salish Nations. “Boarder X features local and international Indigenous artists that use snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing as mechanisms to demonstrate knowledge and perform relationships with the land,” a spokesperson explained. Works of art reflect cultural, political, environmental and social perspectives in relation to the landscapes and territories humans occupy. In partnership with Indigenous Life Sport Academy, the Squamish

A Californian ski area that initially thought it had survived relatively unscathed when a huge forest fire passed through the property has now reported than most of its lifts were damaged in the blaze, among numerous other issues. Sierras at Tahoe ski area was one of three, along with Heavenly and Kirkwood, threatened by the huge Caldor fire which has now been burning for nearly two months and has extended to well over 200,000 acres. The battle is ongoing but the fire has so far been contains away from Heavenly and Kirkwood but burned through Sierra At Tahoe. The resort had taken mitigating measures ahead of the fire arriving, including spraying buildings and lifts with water from snowmaking cannons to