Mother Nature finally smiles on Japan, with bumper ski season

SKIERS and snowboarders are basking in bumper snowfalls in Japan, while the United States is struggling with below average snowfalls.

Tons of fresh snow on Blackcomb

SKIERS and snowboarders are basking in bumper snowfalls in Japan, while the United States is struggling with below average snowfalls.

But ironically bookings for Japan have been down following last year's earthquake and tsunami, while the strong Australian dollar meant strong early bookings for the United States.

Whistler in British Columbia has recorded some of the best snowfalls in Canada, with a 208cm base, and Alberta resorts such as Banff and Lake Louise were also doing well.

But most of the US is suffering below average snowfalls with many of the most popular resorts struggling to reach a half-metre base.

Niseko on Japan's northern island Hokkaido has had more than 10m of snow fall this season.

"It's been amazing,'' Skijapan.com's general manager Marcus Williams said.

"It's the best start to the season for a long time.

"I think it's a bit of a payback from Mother Nature for what happened last March.''

Mr Williams said last year's tsunami and earthquake meant bookings were down significantly, but good offers were being offered to entice late bookers.

"We have lots of deals going at the moment such as stay seven nights for the price of five, stay 10 nights for the price of seven and kids ski free in March,'' he said.

Skimax general manager marketing Jenny Klem said Whistler was the pick of North America.

"Canada is looking very strong at the moment,'' she said.

"The US is lagging a wee bit behind.

"The resorts in America have below average snowfalls for this time of year, but they had a lot early in the season.

"It's very popular to go to the States with the way the dollar is - we have had a big increase in sales to the US.

"Japan seems to be a bit quiet for us this season.''

While Europe is not a big market for Australian skiers and riders, it has also experienced good snowfalls, with hundreds of skiers trapped in Austria due to road closures.

Aspen in Colorado has a 43cm base while Aspen Highlands and Snowmass have a 91cm base and Vail has a 56cm base.

But the resorts were buoyed with around 20cm of snow falling earlier this week and more forecast for later in the month.

David Ovendale from Adventure World Snow, said there was still plenty of time left in the season and Vail had 21 lifts operating out of 31.

"Many resorts even when they have got a tonne of snow will not have all the terrain open,'' he said.

"Even if only 28 per cent of the resort is open at Vail that is still bigger than most resorts in the Southern Hemisphere.

"The USA is normally an incredibly consistent snow environment, but the Europeans had the worst start to the season in years and they suddenly had an unbelievable December in terms of snowfall.

"The weather is fickle... things can change very quickly.

"I'd be very surprised if at some stage this season the US didn't get a whole lot of snow.''

But based on current snow on the ground, Mr Ovendale said British Columbia in Canada and Japan were the places to be for late bookers.

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