More early openings for Canada

The huge storms pummelling Canada's west coast means more early openings for local ski hills.

Apex opened today, while Sunshine opened up Goat's Mountain, the earliest ever opening for that section of the resort.

Silver Star opens tomorrow, followed by Big White on Saturday.

Vancouver Island isn't missing out on the snow either. Mount Washington has announced plans to open a week early on 30 November.

Brent Curtain, spokesperson for Mount Washington, said: “The amount of snow up here is unbelievable! This is only our third November opening in the last 15 years and it looks like it may be one of the best openings we’ve seen in the resort’s history."

Record snowfall for Whistler

Blackcomb is opening tomorrow (23rd) and it couldn't come sooner for boarders in Whistler, where over 300cm of snow has fallen since the beginning of the month - the most ever recorded in November.

Thankfully, as mentioned below, Whistler opened last weekend and has received a whopping 70cm in the past 48 hours alone. The base is already a respectable 153cm.

The plan is to have around 5,000 acres open this weekend, so check out Zoom's website and see if you can find yourself a deal.

Burton designs snowboard run

Being the most successful snowboard manufacturer clearly isn't enough for Jake Burton, who has now designed his first snowboard run at Northstar-at-Tahoe.

Burton has helped snowboarders build The Stash, a run featuring trees, jibs and road jumps constructed from wooden logs and other local materials. The new run is due to open on 15 December.

The Stash will also include pillow lines, natural rail slides built from massive logs, and the CK Cabin (named after legendary rider Craig Kelly), which riders can jib or gap.

Check out the promo video at www.thestash.com. (Note: It takes a while to load.)

Northstar-at-Tahoe is scheduled to open on 22 November.

Whistler opens early

Whistler Mountain opened early yesterday, thanks to a handily timed winter storm.

The mountain's been blessed with a healthy 129cm of snow in the past seven days and is boasting a 129cm base too. Judging by today's murky-looking webcams, snow is falling as I write.

It's a bit like 'pass the parcel' though: you only get to unwrap a bit at a time. Both Whistler gondolas are running, but skiers and riders are limited to Emerald and Red chairs once in the Alpine. Those cheeksters at Whistler Blackcomb are holding off opening the Peak, Harmony and the eagerly-anticipated new Symphony chair. Wouldn't want to waste too much snow on staff and locals...

Blackcomb opens on Thursday 23rd November. Check out the latest snow report at www.whistlerblackcomb.com.

Snowy start for Sunshine

Sunshine Village has opened early thanks to a healthy dump of powder last week.

The resort, which kicked off its season on Friday, is boasting an 80cm base and has received a not-too-shabby 26cm in the past two days. Even better, it's still snowing and the forecast is for more of the white stuff.

Seven out of 12 lifts are open, plus 44 out of 107 runs. If you're into early season bargains, this could be a good bet - tickets are currently going for C$49.95.

If you want to check out conditions before booking your flight, Sunshine's installed some new high-res webcams this year. Check 'em out here.

Celtek launches new website

Perhaps not one for the Rangers fans (or so says my husband, Angus) - glove manufacturer Celtek has just launched a new website.

Leather seems to be back in style as far as the Leines boys (Celtek's youthful-looking CEOs) are concerned, though to me the fashion is scarily reminiscent of ski instructors' Descente gloves with a noughties twist which they just about get away with.

Still, this is what youngsters are into apparently.

Hoodies, tees and touques are a sideline, including the Celtek tooth beanie. (See my earlier obsession with houndstooth designs under the Japanese Burton store opening entry.)

New Zoom route takes off

Scottish snowboarders will be able to cut their travel time to Banff, Fernie and Jasper thanks to a new Glasgow-Calgary route launching this winter.

Zoom Airlines is running the new service between November and April. The carrier already operates winter flights from Glasgow to Toronto and Vancouver, with Ottawa being added from January 2007.

Prices for the Calgary route start at £129 one way plus tax.

Zoom also flies to Canada from Gatwick, Manchester and Belfast.