Current Affairs Ski hill operators not worried about lack of snow yet
One thing missing so far from this Christmas season is proper Christmas weather: snowy conditions and temperatures well below zero degrees Celsius. So far this month, the mercury has stubbornly stayed well above freezing, for instance, daily it has been around 11 degrees Celsius). That has some skiers suffering - with very few runs at any ski hills operating. Still, it's too early to get too worried yet: as Jan Velinger reports, operators are confident things will soon take a turn for the better.
Jested
The last winter season was one of the longest in recent memory, this one
can't seem to get started: so far this year this ski season isn't much of
a season at all, with temperatures in mountainous areas stubbornly
refusing to fall. Skiers who hoped to be among the first on the slopes
will just have to wait. But, ski hill operators - while not thrilled about
the late start either - have at least taken advantage of the situation to
complete final touches, for example, weight testing new chairlifts.
Earlier I spoke with Radka Zahorova, a representative of Snowhill - a
company operating a number of high profile ski hills in the Czech Republic
including north Bohemia's Jested Mountain.
Photo: CzechTourism
"It's surprising that we still don't have snow yet but we are waiting
for cooler weather in about one week. Usually we have snow by the beginning
of December. This season is a little bit different. But, we are dependent
on the weather and we have to take that into account. But, we hope get
snow before Christmas and expect the season will then last until the end
of March."
Though there's no question the season could have begun a lot sooner - last year's started mid-November - the late start is not that unusual and travel agencies too have not really registered any significant impact on package sales. Tomas Brejcha, spokesman for the Cedok travel agency, says that experienced skiers understand that the beginning of the season is always a bit of a risk.
"Most skiers of course count on conditions being better in the New Year. Lately we didn't see a drop but actually a rise in the number of clients. But they're not skiers. As a rule many who travel at the end of the year don't go for skiing but for hiking and outdoor walks."
Photo: CzechTourism
If there is a negative impact from all the mild weather it could come most
notably for local hotels - that may suffer fairly late cancellations by
Czechs who thought they'd be skiing by now. Unless the weather conditions
improve that could be unavoidable. Once it does gets underway, this season
will then have a lot to live up to. Last year, 2005/2006, saw a record
numbers of skiers and snowboarders taking advantage of much more snow. Now
it's all a matter of things picking up. Snowhill's Radka Zahorova once
more:
"We are expecting colder weather next weekend and then we can start our snow guns. We are hoping we get a lot of snow and that the winter will be fun!"
