With flawless conditions across Europe following the largest January snowfall in decades, skiing enthusiasts who headed up the mountain this week will not have been disappointed with the powder playground awaiting them, equipped with sunny skies and dipping temperatures. 

However, the weeks leading up to these picture-perfect conditions were undeniably extreme; by Christmas in the Trois Vallées, they’d had more snow than they had the whole of last season!  It seems almost implausible that Val d’Isère had to cancel a World Cup race in December because of lack of snow,   when only two weeks later they had to postpone another because of too much snow in Courchevel.

But can you have too much of a good thing?  It’s not often that we pray for the snow to stop, but with the escalating avalanche warnings, as well as snowfall paralyzing French, Austrian and Swiss ski resorts only a few weeks back, it’s safe to say that a huge sigh of relief could be heard sweeping across the skiing demographic as the snow eased off.

The influx of snow has had a catch-22 effect on skiing conditions; as piste skiing across Europe soars to an all-time high, the backcountry is proving to be a bit more precarious with the risk of fresh snow slides on the up (the violent snowstorms pushed the avalanche risk up to 4/5 in some areas).  However, with another dump of snow set to fall this weekend, a stable base and good snow depths will hopefully remedy this. 

So yes, it appears that the ski Gods are trying to make up for what was a pretty ropey season in Europe last year.  However, they might want to ease up on the extreme weather conditions so that we can make the most of what is set to be one of the best Alpine ski seasons ever!

For the ultimate ski-friendly camera, look no further than Sony’s TX5 Digital Compact camera. It fits snugly into your ski jacket, shoots HD movies and is hard-wearing beyond belief being waterproof, shrugging off freezing conditions and surviving drops from 1.5 metres. Let’s not test out the claims on your first day though…

For the best in ski socks, look no further than Perilla who produce the most luxurious range of alpaca socks made in England. Lightweight and warm and made from 75% alpaca wool, you can pick the colours to best suit the skier in your life. They even have a cushioned sole for maximum comfort and are super hard-wearing. £54 for three pairs

First rule to looking stylish chez lodge? Kit yourself out with Ashish’s new range for Topshop. A tongue-in-cheek take on chalet style although we’re not sure who we’d buy the leapord print ski pants for. With prices starting from £55, everyone can make a style statement on the slopes.

By now, everyone seems to have a Go Pro helmet camera of their own turning every skier into a budding Spielberg on the slopes. Now you need a Go Pole mount to get the best angles to show off your turns/jumps/flips with its 36-inch extension. And it’s stocking filler friendly for £30!

We wanted to bring you the best helmet for consideration in 2012 so thought to bring you a modern-day helmet for the snow which could also come in handy when going down the shops. Presenting the Pro-Tec ‘Riot’; a super-light, vented helmet with removable earpads and liner to ensure the right temperature at all times.

Channelling your inner Zhivago? Sweaty Betty have the right idea with their 60’s inspired waterproof, belted ski cape. Insulated with a superior thermal layer and fashioned with a faux fur detachable collar, this will certainly set off your après-ski glamour. From £290

Described as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of ski gloves, Alexski Ski Gloves are hand stitched in Milan from the highest grade English waterproof leather, interlined with Goretex and lined with New Zealand Possum fur for maximum warmth. They’re not cheap starting from £255 but think how toasty warm your hands will be if stuck on a chairlift (or waiting for the helicopter to pick you up for another round of heli skiing).

So you are all kitted out and ready to go? Hang on….you forget to take care of the pooch didn’t you? Never fear, we have found a luxury pink quilted ski parka for the dog in your life with a soft and snug fleece lining to keep Princess warm. Making her feel right at home in the on-slope Chanel boutique in Courchevel.

Looking for something for the guy or girl who has everything…how about a pair of Salomon’s new BBR skis which are apparently ‘shaping the future’. Inspired by other ‘gliding’ sports such as surfing and wake-boarding this

ski is has an oversized, surfboard like tip and rocker shape enabling the ski to float in powder as well as carve it up on the piste. We just like the shape… Available for £490 from Ellis Brigham

And where to go for those ski-friendly stocking fillers? The easy answer is Jack Wills. For lip balms, boot bags, ski goggles and knitted goods to keep all those simplistic teenagers happy, look no further…

What about the ultimate Christmas present? If you’re one of those generous sorts, why not treat all the family to a once-in-a-lifetime heli skiing trip in 2012 skiing CMH Bugaboos next Christmas? Prices start from C$6,490 with kids aged between 12-17 going 1/2 price! Contact Pure Powder on 0207 736 8191

CMH Heli Skiing – the world’s largest and original heli ski operator – welcome their first guests of the season in only eight days’ time and current indications are that they will be in for a real treat!  Drawn to the British Columbia wilderness to experience the region’s infamous ‘champagne powder snow’, the mecca of heli skiing is living up to its name with copious amount of early season snow.

Rob Rohn (CMH Heli Skiing’s Director of Mountain Operations) is particularly optimistic about this coming season:  “What’s most encouraging about the recent snowfall is that we now seem to be in a classic storm cycle; with new storms flowing through the Columbia and Selkirk mountain ranges on a regular basis, dropping between 20cm and 60cm on their way through.  This is just what we need for an early, stable snowpack, as each new deposit of snow is bonding well with the previous layer and creating the magic heli skiing playground of western Canada”

This means that the current early snowpack is well above average with a meter and a half to two meters of snow at the tree line already.

Dave Cochrane (CMH Heli Skiing Guide and Area Manager for the Bugaboos) has also been out exploring in CMH’s Cariboos heli skiing area (Tuesday 22^nd November)…

“The downhill run was truly outstanding with an average of 25 cm of super powder with a great support, and no breaking through in weak snow anywhere. If I had to open heli skiing today here, based on my limited observations, the skiing story on Neckroll would certainly make it a good opening!  At the heli landing the ski penetration is 25 cm and the boot penetration is about 35 cm.  The boot penetration tells a good story for early season snowpack, in that there is not much penetration and the boots don’t go any further in since the snowpack is so supportive.”

CMH’s Heli Skiing season officially starts on the 3^rd December, with early season heli skiing trips offering fantastic value for money (5-day trip to the Gothics from CAD$4,330 + taxes for all inclusive heli skiing) – for booking and availability contact CMH’s exclusive UK representatives Pure Powder

Edinburgh

After a long (but picturesque) train journey from London, we arrived in Edinburgh to crisp Autumn sunshine. With ski hills on your doorstep and seemingly endless glorious weather, we’re thinking of relocating ourselves! The evening was held in the stunning Bonham Hotel – a boutique Scottish townhouse helping us welcome 50+ guests to the event. Appetites were whet and trips discussed and we very much hope to revisit Edinburgh next year to visit all those keen skiers!

Bristol

Flying into Bristol, our CMH guide Stefan (formerly an Architect student pre skiing!) appreciated the scenic view past the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Our Bristol evening was being held in Hotel du Vin which was the perfect location to welcome 60 keen skiers to find out more about CMH. Lawrence Price Fitness and The Jonathan Webb Clinic kindly gave all our guests two free personal training sessions and had been hard at work to deliver a ski fitness package for our South West contingent.

City of London

On a cold and drizzly night, we were delighted to welcome so many keen skiers to the City for our first (of two) London events. With over 70 guests registered, we had the whole Pure Powder team on hand to meet past and present CMH guests with tales to tell and had many new guests come along to see what we’re all about. We were delighted to also welcome Putney Chiropractic to the evening who have been a strong support to Pure Powder and helped develop our upcoming fitness programme.

Central London

Our Central London evening has always been a successful event and this year proved no different. We were delighted to have over 110 people register for the event and met a variety of our guests on the evening including one who has skied over 3 million feet with CMH! We hosted the event once again at Firmdale’s Charlotte Street hotel – one of our favourite locations with a wonderful 80-seater cinema room (just what we need to show off the Warren Miller images). Here’s to doing it all over again next year!

Birmingham

Our final evening was hosted at Hotel du Vin in Birmingham which was a great opportunity to finally meet our skiers from the Midlands! With the kind support of Midland Ski Club, we had a successful evening meeting past and potential guests and look forward to spreading the CMH word around the UK via our strong links in different parts of the country.

Many thanks to all our guests for spending the evening with us and sharing our passion of skiing and CMH. A huge thank you also to Ellis Brigham for their support and prize giveaways – many of you walked away with boot bags, caps, skiwear and one lucky guest from each event went into the grand prize draw for an Arc-teryx jacket. We can now announce the lucky winner is Joanna Moss who will take delivery of her £400 jacket next week!

Missed our events but want to find out more? Please contact us for availability in 2011/12 Season or to book a trip in 2013! We still have a final evening planned in November to talk about Awesome Alaska so please sign up here if this is of interest.

Tommy Moe, the 1994 Olympic downhill champion, is skiing fluently on steep terrain on a descent called Bermuda Triangle in the Alaskan wilderness. Yet he’s on one ski, and clutching a broken pole. And it’s all my fault. I’m the one who broke a pole, and lost a ski. As a “guest” guide with Chugach Powder Guides, he’s looking after me to a fault… READ MORE

Canada

Last season was supreme.  La Niña was in force to deliver the best snow season for 20 years according to the old-time CMH heli skiing guides (and they should know – photos here)

La Niña is back – according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Centre… “La Niña, which contributed to extreme weather around the globe during the first half of 2011, has re-emerged in the tropical Pacific Ocean and is forecast to gradually strengthen and continue into winter.” Typically a La Niña winter leads to “wetter than normal conditions in the Pacific Northwest”

The Canadian Farmers’ Almanac are forecasting “unusually cold and stormy weather. For some parts of the country that means a frigid climate; while for others, its lots of rain and snow.”  And for the interior – where the heli ski magic happens  “another active storm track over the Pacific Ocean will guide systems into southern and central British Columbia and western Alberta, giving them a wetter-than-normal winter.”

This viewpoint is shared with the Long Range Weather meteorologists who think that “The fall season will eventually turn wetter and cooler as La Niña starts strengthening. “ The upcoming winter season is likely to bring above normal amounts of snow to the inland areas. “  Music to our heli skiing ears!

Brett Anderson at Accu Weather has a slightly different idea.  He is predicting a cold winter temperature wise – with the influx of Artic air masses – but because of the prominent cold temperatures, he is predicting a drier than normal winter in Western Canada, apart from a small area of Alberta which he thinks will get above average snowfalls.

Europe

We’ve had reports from our friends who run the Hotel Edelweiss in La Grave that things are looking up for skiing in Europe this coming winter…The Gentian plants have been high this summer, which, according to the locals, means that it is going to be a snowy winter!

For a more scientific approach, La Chaine Meteo are predicting a “cold and long” winter in the French Alps, with longer cold and snowy episodes than last season.

And for the UK…

Exacta Weather suggests well below average temperatures this Winter. Long-range forecaster James Madden expects “the first signs of some moderate to heavy snowfalls as early as October or November in certain parts of the UK…with the heaviest snowfalls occurring within the time frame of November to January”.

“The UK will also begin to see the dire lag effects of the gulf stream shift couple this, especially if nothing improves soon. La Niña should also continue to establish its destruction further as expected, as the heavy snowfalls classes with the cold air. The UK and Ireland would be hit by ­prolonged periods of extreme cold and snow from the Arctic regions as cold easterlies or north-easterlies develop. This would result in the fourth bad winter in succession for the UK, and should prove to be the worst of them all.”

Although winter arrived early during 2010-11, don’t be fooled when winter doesn’t arrive by December 1st. It’s definitely on its way…

In the mood for skiing? Contact Pure Powder to find the best off piste and heli skiing adventures this Winter!

Canada — particularly British Columbia, but Alberta too — is the undisputed heli-skiing capital of the world. BC alone conducts about 90 per cent of all heli-skiing in the world.

If you put it prosaically, using a helicopter to transport skiers to vast steep slopes (it could be thousands of square miles) blanketed in pristine powder, far from any ski resort, is simply providing READ MORE

As the exclusive UK agents for CMH – Canadian Mountain Holidays – Pure Powder know how lucky they are to be able to sell CMH heli skiing. As the world’s original (and largest) heli skiing operator in the world, CMH’s 45 years of experience speaks volumes. No-one knows more about heli skiing than CMH.   And who better to give you the low-down on heli skiing than a CMH guide who’s out there every day of the season…this year we are being joined by the delightful Stefan Eder who, as well as guiding for CMH, spends the other half of his year running his mountain restaurant in Austria.

CMH was started in the 1960’s by an Austrian mountaineer, Hans Gmoser, who looked at the vast terrain of British Columbia and was fairly insistent he should ski it. So he got his friend (who happened to only fly airplanes at the time), asked him very kindly to get his helicopter license and return with a chopper to take him where he needed to go. Then he decided to buy up an area 1/3 of the size of Switzerlandand have exclusive terrain to ski the best snow in the world – he really did get first dibs. And that’s how heli skiing was invented (but certainly worth a little history lesson of an evening).

 Following that, we will show you the new CMH movie made by Warren Miller. Famed for over 750 sports and action films, Warren Miller Entertainment have their own UK tour in November that shows the whole film. However, get a sneak (complimentary) peak at the footage filmed in CMH Monashees this March in conjunction with K2 skis. This 10 minute film features some of the highlights of the Warren Miller movie – massive snow mushrooms being cruised over like they’re bumps in the road, tree skiing like demons and even a yeti chasing them at some point. It’s definitely the best skiing movie of the year and a great soundtrack to boot.

Throw in some drinks, canapés and chats with the Pure Powder team (who have all been there and skied it – different CMH areas, different programmes, different abilities) so we hope we can answer any question for any type of skier! We will also be giving away prizes on the night and the chance to win an Arc’teryx jacket (in association with Ellis Brigham). Our Bristol and London events will also feature on-hand injury and fitness advice via Lawrence Price Fitness and Putney Chiropractic.

You’ll be all set to go once the evening is over – we hope to see you there!

To sign up or for more information, please visit www.purepowder.com/cmhevents.cfm

St Anton – The Mooserwirt

Effortlessly outshining its rival après haunt, the Krazy Kanguruh, the huge sundeck at the Mooserwirt lures the punters in by the hundreds.  Believe what you hear about après ski in Austria– these guys can do it as good if not better than anyone.  It may be 4pm when you arrive, but step inside and it’s like you’ve walked into a nightclub at 2am with music pumping and beer flowing.  Dancing on the tables is the order of the day and even though it closes at 8pm (when you can go home, have dinner and then sleep), it is said to sell more beer than any other bar in Austria. Just follow the sounds of booming Euro music to find it…

Val D’Isere – La Folie Douce

Rightly coined the most infamous après-ski bar in the Espace, La Folie Douce boasts a vast terrace, overflowing with skiers and boarders dancing and drinking in the afternoon sun.  The live music and drumming descending from the roof tops ensures a truly atmospheric and enjoyable end to the day.

Verbier – Farinet

It is not hard to see why the Farinet is second to none in the après-stakes.  With its prominent position overlooking the main square and of course the infamous roof which slides open, it’s no wonder its competitors don’t get a look in.  And that’s even without mentioning the live band performances every single day of the season… Be warned, there’s no such thing as ‘just one quick drink’ when you step into the Farinet…

Meribel – Rond Point

Known for its fantastic sun deck and live music, Rond Point is always popular with the seasonaire crowd and definitely the only on-piste après-ski bar in Meribel worth mentioning.  Just beware of the legendary toffee vodka which is only sold by the bottle and ensures even the more advanced skiers a wobbly last run home.

Chamonix – Chambre Neuf

One of Chamonix’s liveliest partying and après ski spots.  Despite its inherently French name, the bar has an undeniable Scandinavian feel to it.  Local cover band the Bilboas always gets the crowd going.  Get there early for a table, grab a pitcher (or two) and absorb the unique fusion of punters and locals.

Zermatt - the Hennustall  (Chicken hut)

This piste-side bar is a must when you are skiing down into Zermatt (from the Glacier side).  It’s temptingly close to the side of the piste and is the liveliest après venue in Zermatt. Be sure to go on a sunny afternoon, when the live band entertain the throngs of skiers on the terrace and the Schneider Weisse and Jaeger bombs start flowing!  Just don’t forget, you still have to put your skis back on when you’re done.

Have we missed out your favourite après venue? Comment on the blog below and let us know where to head to this Winter!

C’mon, skiers and riders, we know you’ve got some rad pics from last Season or even last weekend, from the resort, the backcountry or even on the grass/sand/water. We want to see them! And so do a lot of of other people.

Introducing #SkiFotos on Twitter. Following in the footsteps of those who created #FriFotos, CMH Heli Skiing (@CMH_heli) has partnered with our friends at Banff Lake Louise Tourism (@Real_Banff and @Banff_Squirrel) to launch #SkiFotos: A forum for you, the skiing community, to post and share your best/funniest/worst photos of your skiing and riding addiction.

Today’s #SkiFotos is by Craig McGee, Assistant Area Manager at the CMH Adamants Lodge

Every Monday, post your ski photos on Twitter using the hashtag #SkiFotos. Skiers and riders from Aspen to Verbier will be able to check out your pictures, like them and retweet them.

Didn’t take the photo yourself? That’s cool. Just be sure to credit the photographer who took it or the website where you found the photo.

Not a pro shooter yourself? Hey, don’t sweat it. Whether you took the photo with your iphone or a Nikon SLR, it still qualifies for #SkiFotos. It’s about sharing your passion for the powder.

See you on the slopes and if we don’t meet there, let’s at least connect on Mondays at #SkiFotos!

Be sure to follow @purepowder on Twitter to see their #SkiFotos throughout the 2011/12 Season. With up-to-date snow news and inspiring images from the Ski Season with CMH, what’s there not to love?!