Rothwald is more of a James ski area than a ChrisC one but it basically fits the description above, on the road leading up to Simplon Pass.
2024-25 Season Recap
- Thread starter tseeb
- Start date
When did Patrick ski all of those places in Austria? Most are glacier resorts that might be open June/July, though several of them (Pitztal I know about) close in May. Valtournenche and Kitzbuhel probably aren't open past mid-April. FYI I include Valtournenche with Cervinia.
Patrick
Well-known member
I forgot to mention Mont Kanasuta in new areas. This was done on a return trip from funeral in NW Québec. Edited the above post.
Many of the Austrian glaciers resorts open in September and October. We left as the results of the US election as the early results were coming in. Surprised to see the results as we landed in Amsterdam the next morning.
We went to one month European trip to visit. More time flexibility now that kids have moved out.
1) Caroline's family; 2) visiting more Central Europe; 3) skiing; 4) one Fish concert in Haarlem NL; 5) Mikaela Shiffrin 99th World Cup win in Gurgl.
Train travel part 1: Amsterdam, Haarlem, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Munich.
Car rental from Munich: Innsbruck, Zell Am See and Neuschwanstein plus skiing 7 days of skiing in Austria.
Back on the train to Zurich, Zermatt and Caroline's family. Left Caroline's family to get 2 days at Zermatt, Cervinia and Valtournenche.
Months:
Oct : 1
Nov : 7
Dec : 11
Jan : 17
Feb : 20
Mar : 14
Apr: 8
May : 1
Jun : 5
Jul : 1
Total : 85
Day: 75
Night : 12*
October 16 to July 1 so far.
Areas:
Edelweiss QC : 49
Ste-Marie QC : 7
Tremblant QC : 5 (ikon)
Fortune QC : 3
St-Sauveur QC : 2
Cascades QC : 1
Calabogie ON : 1
Kanasuta QC : 1 (earned)
Whiteface Toll Road NY : 1 (earned)
Day: 75
Night : 12*
Zermatt SUI 2! (ikon) including Cervinia and Valtournenche ITA : 1
Stubaier AUT : 1
Pitztal AUT : 1
Kaunental AUT : 1
Solden AUT : 1
Gurgl AUT : 1
Kitzsteinhorn AUT : 1
Kitzbuhel AUT : 1 (ikon)
Galdhøpiggen NOR : 1
Snø (indoor) NOR : 1
*Riksgränsen SWE : 4 (including 2 day and night turns). This would have been 6 separate lift passes (day & night), I didn't double count any days.
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So the Austria / Italy days were the one in October and the 7 in early November? No, I now see via reread that Patrick landed in Europe the day of the U.S. election. I'm guessing Kitzbuhel and Kitzsteinhorn were skied on the same day (I would count half day at each to avoid confusion) as Patrick lists 7 November ski days but 8 new areas. It's still November, so my Valtournenche questions remain.
I’m not surprised the Zermatt / Cervinia connection was open at the top but I expect end of day downloading that early in the season. I’m extremely surprised by Valtournenche, which is lower than Cervinia. Maybe just its top lift connection to Cervinia? I’m guessing you started and ended in Cervinia? Can you get a separate cheaper lift ticket for only Valtournenche like you can with Les Menuires for example?
I know about Solden’s October World Cup race and saw its race stadium. I did not see that kind of setup at Gurgl.
I’m not surprised the Zermatt / Cervinia connection was open at the top but I expect end of day downloading that early in the season. I’m extremely surprised by Valtournenche, which is lower than Cervinia. Maybe just its top lift connection to Cervinia? I’m guessing you started and ended in Cervinia? Can you get a separate cheaper lift ticket for only Valtournenche like you can with Les Menuires for example?
I know about Solden’s October World Cup race and saw its race stadium. I did not see that kind of setup at Gurgl.
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Patrick
Well-known member
October was Whiteface.
Austria skiing : Nov 19-25.
Zermatt/Cervinia : Dec 9-10.
Plans were changed when my MIL was hospitalized while we were in Austria. We headed back to France earlier than planned and my modified extended our stay by one extra week now flying back from Lyon instead of the Amsterdam. Caroline dropped me off at the train station in village on the way to the hospital on Dec 8. The village is on the Lyon-Geneva line. Picked me up coming back from a day with her mom on Dec 10. We came back on Dec 13. We will be returning sooner than later, probably prior to my coaching season.
Yes, for separate ticket for Valtournenche. Connection between Zermatt and Cervinia was closed on Dec 9 (wind, snow, etc). Did the connection the next day, but less than ideal, I had to be on the train at 3pm.
Kitzsteinhorn and Kitzbuhel weren't on the same day. Kitzbuhel was on 2 runs, snow farming from previous season. Bullet proof. Caroline didn't ski and I was curious. It didn't cost me anything = Ikon, like Zermatt.
Gurgl World Cup slalom were on Nov 23-24. Women raced on the Saturday Nov 23. We were in Kitzsteinhorn on Nov 24. Could have skied to Obergurgl, but ran out of time as I wanted to watch the race.
I know, I know...no TRs, but a bunch of this stuff was posted on the Ski Mad World FB and Madpatski IG pages.
FB and IG suck as historical references. Better to use your own madpatski website if not posting here IMHO. You don’t even have a list of ski dates for 2024-25 on your own site!
You also have better control of content on your own site. Then you can put links on FB. Patrick was the one who pointed out when EpicSki died that archives should be under personal control not on a third party site. FB has no interest in organizing your content properly.
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Patrick
Well-known member
My 2024-25 season official ended last Monday 8 September. Edited the info above,
9 days in New Zealand.
New areas:
Kanasuta QC : 1 (earned)
Riksgränsen SWE : 4
Valtournenche ITA : 1
Coronet NZL : 2 (Ikon)
Stubaier AUT : 1
Pitztal AUT : 1
Kaunental AUT : 1
Solden AUT : 1
Gurgl AUT : 1
Kitzsteinhorn AUT : 1
Kitzbuhel AUT : 1 (Ikon)
Galdhøpiggen NOR : 1
Snø (indoor) NOR : 1
Porters NZL : 1
ChrisC
Well-known member
How was the skiing in New Zealand? It appears that several storms moved through while you were there. I saw one photo at Treble Cone with lift queues up the hillside after receiving their first proper dump of the season in late August(?)
How did you avoid the local Queenstown hill of Coronet until now? I guess you actively avoided it.
This was only Patrick's second time in NZ. On both trips we had contemporary e-mail correspondence as he knew I had been there a lot. He asked for and very occasionally took my advice.
In 2016 New Zealand was having a very bad season, worst on record in Canterbury per locals. He was probably advised by other locals to skip Coronet Peak in 2016. With modest natural snowfall and snowmaking dependence it has a nickname "Concrete Peak." I never experienced this in my small sample size: pouring rain in 1982, whiteout morning but powder afternoon in 1997, excellent packed powder and coverage over entire area in 2006.
List of Patrick's 2025 summer ski trips:
2025 was not a great season in NZ either, but somewhat better than I experienced in 1982 and 1997. I did not get detailed TRs in those e-mails.
Patrick's first day at Mt. Hutt was similar to what I had in 1982 and 2010. Coverage was adequate but the expert terrain Towers and South Chutes were closed for icy conditions. But they were open when he returned to Mt. Hutt Sep. 7-8 after the new snow, so the trip surely finished on a high note. When that terrain is open, Mt. Hutt rivals Treble Cone for advanced/expert skiers.
I guess Coronet must have been OK since Patrick returned for a second day. He did not comment to me about either of them. I was skeptical of Remarks, but he did the 10 minute hike to one of the Alta Chutes which he said was excellent. I presume the road shuttle terrain Homeward Bound was not open.
I encouraged him to check out Cardrona which has doubled in size since he was there and perhaps tripled since Adam and I skied it in 1997. Patrick only went there one day and bad visibility limited where he could ski.
Patrick enjoyed Treble Cone on both trips. Webcams showed the frontside rocky with only manmade groomers skiable. But I'm sure Saddle Basin was good enough as it was when Adam and I skied it in low tide in 1997. Patrick probably had a bit better coverage back there than we did.
Webcams from Porters showed the premier sector Big Mama that I lapped 6x in pristine corn in 2010 closed and rocky. Patrick went there anyway.
Weather Sept. 4-5 was so bad that skiing anywhere was not worth it. This forced his logistics when to drive the 5 hours from Queenstown back to Canterbury because he flew in/out of Christchurch. He considered driving up to top of North Island (Abel Tasman NP and Mt. Lyford ski area) but that would have been a major road marathon with limited time.
In 2016 New Zealand was having a very bad season, worst on record in Canterbury per locals. He was probably advised by other locals to skip Coronet Peak in 2016. With modest natural snowfall and snowmaking dependence it has a nickname "Concrete Peak." I never experienced this in my small sample size: pouring rain in 1982, whiteout morning but powder afternoon in 1997, excellent packed powder and coverage over entire area in 2006.
List of Patrick's 2025 summer ski trips:
2025 was not a great season in NZ either, but somewhat better than I experienced in 1982 and 1997. I did not get detailed TRs in those e-mails.
Patrick's first day at Mt. Hutt was similar to what I had in 1982 and 2010. Coverage was adequate but the expert terrain Towers and South Chutes were closed for icy conditions. But they were open when he returned to Mt. Hutt Sep. 7-8 after the new snow, so the trip surely finished on a high note. When that terrain is open, Mt. Hutt rivals Treble Cone for advanced/expert skiers.
I guess Coronet must have been OK since Patrick returned for a second day. He did not comment to me about either of them. I was skeptical of Remarks, but he did the 10 minute hike to one of the Alta Chutes which he said was excellent. I presume the road shuttle terrain Homeward Bound was not open.
I encouraged him to check out Cardrona which has doubled in size since he was there and perhaps tripled since Adam and I skied it in 1997. Patrick only went there one day and bad visibility limited where he could ski.
Patrick enjoyed Treble Cone on both trips. Webcams showed the frontside rocky with only manmade groomers skiable. But I'm sure Saddle Basin was good enough as it was when Adam and I skied it in low tide in 1997. Patrick probably had a bit better coverage back there than we did.
Webcams from Porters showed the premier sector Big Mama that I lapped 6x in pristine corn in 2010 closed and rocky. Patrick went there anyway.
Weather Sept. 4-5 was so bad that skiing anywhere was not worth it. This forced his logistics when to drive the 5 hours from Queenstown back to Canterbury because he flew in/out of Christchurch. He considered driving up to top of North Island (Abel Tasman NP and Mt. Lyford ski area) but that would have been a major road marathon with limited time.
Patrick
Well-known member
Not really, it was just the weather at that time. I skied 7 days at 7 areas on 2 island in a span of 17 days. I think I spent 3-4 nights in Nothing was planned, but weather forced me to go other activities. I drove up to Coronet to check it out on a closed day on y way to Wanaka
My timing was pretty good, although a low tide season, snow and storm timing was pretty good.
Not advised, but weather window didn't pan out (as mentioned under Chris quote). I had a lot of down days in 2016. This time I opted for a second visit at CP (ikon free) to see the NZ Slalom National Alpine Championships with crazy weather before moving on to Wanaka.
Agree if you look at the variety of terrain. It would seem however with the terrain expansion and Soho lift, Cardrona is now up there as the best area in NZ, unfortunately wind and white out conditions limited a proper evaluation of place.
Open and skied it in 2016, but definitely not an option this time.
Front side was definitely hard and firm in the morning.
The choice was between a really busy Saturday with chains and priority carpool parking at Hutt with 15cm and a 50cm on top of Porters which was a game changer.
Everyone was closed except Cardrona which apparently were down to only running the carpets. I heard some where pissed as they still paid the $179 NZ tickets.
Did a slight detour via the East Coast as visibility was no better than when I drove down to Qtown.
Next time for Abel Tasman NP and Stewart Island.
.
Opposite ends of South Island. That's a lot of driving.
Patrick
Well-known member
Yep. It was a one or the other, although I was relatively close to both in 2016.