Although the opening of the Grande Motte glacier is scheduled for October 17 , the Tignes ski resort has decided to advance the opening of a slope a few days, although exclusively for French national team training.
They will do it thanks to the snow they stored shortly before winter gave its last bell. In this way it will be the third year that they use Snow-farming to open earlier, although this time it is done so that the teams can train at home, in a preseason full of problems to find holes for these stages. The cancellation of trips to South America and New Zealand, as well as the cancellation of the opening of some glaciers, has caused a great concentration of World Cup teams, from Europe and even private clubs that also want to train.
The opening of this ski slope, 180 meters long and 5 to 8 meters thick , will be a relief for some members of the French team. Located in a shady area and 25 meters wide , it will allow the training of some junior runners, as well as others from the European Cup. In mid-October, the bulk of the World Cup team from the French national team will arrive.
The race to open the commercial season between non-glacier ski resorts is usually won in Finland, the cradle of snow-farming, the technique that allows to store snow during the summer to begin to extend it to the one that the temperatures drop in autumn. Ruka and Levi often excel at this issue and in one of these two winter resorts the ski campaign for the general public usually begins in early October.. In the Alps it is Kitzbüehel who takes the trophy, although already in the middle of the same month. While in Italy Livigno is able to extend a 13 kilometer cross-country skiing route that is used mainly by national teams and clubs.
