Vancouver 2010 mascots revealed

The mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will be Quatchi, Miga and Sumi.

Find out more about these cute little critters on the official Vancouver 2010 website.

Image credit: Vancouver 2010

Manchester Chill Factore snowdome opens

Manchester's new indoor snowdome, Chill Factore, opens today. It boasts the UK's longest and the world's widest real snow indoor slope.

The main slope is 180m long and 100m wide. There are also two beginner areas, plus a luge run and kiddies' snowplay area.

Alternatively you can try your hand at tubing or test your skills on the climbing wall. And there's a handful of restaurants and outdoor shops should you feel the need to burn some more cash.

Check out the Chill Factore website for full details.

Whistler Mountain to open early

Thanks to a powdertastic start to November (see entry below), Whistler Blackcomb has decided to open Whistler Mountain a few days early.

Whistler is now set to open on 17 November, while Blackcomb's season will kick off on 22 November.

All the usual early-season lifts will be open: Whistler Village Gondola, Creekside Gondola, Red Chair, Emerald Chair and Franz's (weekend only). A small park with five rails will be open at the top of Emerald.

The snow report should be returning at some point today.

Photo credit: Paul Morrison/Whistler Blackcomb

80cm dump in Whistler

It looks like it's going to be a great start to Whistler's season. The resort received 80cm of fresh pow over the weekend, with another 108cm forecast during the week.

Whistler Blackcomb opens for skiing and riding on 22 November.

Photo credit: Dave Lakey/Tourism Whistler

Canadian resort openings

If, like me, you're a sucker for Canadian pow, here's the latest on opening dates and current snow bases (where available) for some of the major Canadian resorts:

Alberta
Lake Louise - open, 34cm mid-mountain, 46cm top
Marmot Basin (Jasper) - 16 November, 30cm
Norquay - open (earliest ever opening on 1 November), 30cm (top of mountain)
Sunshine - 15 November, 44cm base

British Columbia
Big White - 22 November, 3cm (let's hope there's a big dump soon)
Fernie - 8 December, 15cm
Revelstoke - 22 December, base unavailable
Silver Star - 22 November, 20cm
Sun Peaks - 17 November, 49cm
Whistler Blackcomb - 22 November, base unavailable

I've not been able to get hold of dates for Kicking Horse or Red yet.

Quebec
Tremblant - 21 November, base unavailable
Mont-Sainte-Anne - 17 November, base unavailable

Kitzbuhel opens six weeks early

Kitzbuhel opened on 2 November, six weeks earlier than planned. It was the earliest opening in the resort's history.

The Austrian resort is already boasting a 130cm base, with 25cm in the valley.

Compared to last year's dismal early season snow, it seems even the low-level Austrian ski areas are seeing a stonking start to winter 2007/8.

Photo credit and further information: www.bergbahn-kitzbuehel.at

Copper Mountain opening day

The season kicks off at Colorado's Copper Mountain today, with top-to-bottom skiing and riding. The resort plans to open five lifts.

To celebrate the beginning of winter, Copper is running a three-day festival, Lift Off at Copper, from 2-4 November. Events will include showings of the latest ski and snowboard films, live music, equipment demos and apres parties.

Check out the latest snow report before you go.

Image credit and further information: Copper Mountain.

Keystone opens 2 November

Keystone is opening a week early, thanks to good dumps of early-season snow. The resort opens for skiing and riding tomorrow, 2 November.

The mountain has received 66cm of snow so far this season and currently has a 30cm mid-mountain base.

Check out all the details on Keystone's website.