October 15, 2010 – It may be one of the quietest weeks of the year on the world’s ski slopes as far as tourism is concerned, however, the opening of the outdoor FIS World Cup season is just one week away as the Audi FIS Ski World Cup will begin October 23-24th in Sölden (AUT). Currently there are fewer than 20 areas open worldwide including 13 areas on European glaciers and just Timberline in North America.

But, more resorts are scheduled to open this weekend, including the first outside the Alps. The seven Austrian glaciers and three Swiss resorts will see the Diavolezza glacier in St Moritz join them this weekend. Italy’s Passo Stelvio is reporting the deepest snow at an open ski area anywhere in the world with Val Senales also open along with Tignes in France.

Europe’s first non-glacier ski area is scheduled to open at Ruka in Finland this Friday, October 15th. A 2km long cross-country run has opened already on Sunday, one of several in the country. The first ski jumping hill with natural snow was opened on October 10 at the Taivalvaara Ski Resort in Finland.

The snow for the ski jump was stored in March 2010 and kept over the summer under a coat of sawdust. This is the first time in the world that a ski jump has been covered with stored snow. Taivalvaara Ski Resort is situated at the elevation of 200m at 180 km from the city of Oulu. The opening jump was taken by the best Finnish female ski jumper Julia Kyykkänen. “The ski jump is in great shape,” says Julia, 16 whose aim is to win a medal in the Sochi Olympics.

Includes contributions by skiinfo.com