Skiing and tobogganing on the third weekend in Advent

Skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing - the third weekend in Advent will once again bring good winter sports conditions. The current offer is stable. Around 40 lifts are expected to be operating at the weekend. Cross-country ski trails are currently not groomed.

Alpine skiing

Despite the changeable weather, the number of winter sports on offer is expected to rise again to more than 40 lifts at the weekend. After the expected frosty night on Friday, the pistes will be firm and easy to ski on again. In predominantly dry weather, winter sports conditions on the snow-covered pistes will be good in some cases and very good in others on Friday and Saturday. Natural snow pistes are no longer skiable.

- The following will be open: Winterberg ski lift carousel, Willingen ski area and Neuastenberg ski village (with pre-season prices).

- There will be floodlights in Neuastenberg on Friday and Saturday evenings.

- On weekdays, the lift offer is reduced due to lower demand.

- Up-to-date winter sports information is available at www.wintersport-arena.de/alpin.

Tobogganing

There are snow-covered toboggan runs with toboggan lifts in all open ski areas. Around five to six toboggan lifts are expected to be in operation at the weekend. There is also one in the Ruhrquelle tobogganing paradise. Up-to-date information on active toboggan lifts can be found at www.wintersport-arena.de/rodeln/rodellifte.

Cross-country skiing

Last weekend's wind and precipitation have melted the natural snow. Trails are currently not groomed. The Westfeld cross-country skiing centre has effectively produced snow during the cold days and nights, which will last through the mild days. However, there is not enough to prepare the cross-country ski trail in the stadium area. As soon as the temperatures drop far enough below freezing, the operators will make snow again. Daily updated trail information is available at www.wintersport-arena.de/nordisch.

Winter hiking

The weekend will bring mostly dry weather with a chance of a few hours of sunshine. This means that a hike is a beautiful winter nature experience even without a blanket of snow. The huts around the open ski areas are also open.

The weather

Wind and rain have taken their toll on the snow cover. However, the robust base of technically produced snow has survived this time well in most places. Over the weekend, daytime temperatures will be above zero degrees, even in the mountains. However, the weather promises to be mostly dry and calm. Under these conditions, the current snow cover will largely remain intact. Only in very open areas will the supply be reduced. Snow production is not possible over the next few days. However, temperatures will drop well below zero degrees on Friday night, which will further stabilise the snow cover and improve conditions.

Prospects

The Christmas holidays are the first peak season for the ski resorts. During this time, it is important to have a basic offer available. This should also be the case this year.

A stable winter weather situation is currently not in sight. The very changeable weather makes it very difficult to look ahead to Christmas. As temperatures are likely to hover around freezing point from time to time during the night and only a little precipitation is expected, the alpine winter sports programme should be largely stable. Renewed cross-country skiing offers are not on the horizon.

The current situation is not unusual. The typical "Christmas thaw" often sets in shortly before Christmas. Mild air flows in from the west and clogs up the snow cover. Christmas thaw weather is therefore one of the so-called weather rule cases and has a probability of 60 to 70 per cent. The lift operators prepare for this by producing enough snow on cold nights to bridge the mild phase.

The Sahnehang family ski area will also open on 23 December. The operators have produced enough snow during the cold period at the beginning of December and made sure that it will survive the wet and windy days.

Innovations

Construction of the new chairlift in the Altastenberg ski carousel is progressing rapidly.If the TÜV gives the green light next week, the lift could go into operation at Christmas.The operators had planned to open during the Christmas holidays. Unfortunately, the construction work made it impossible to produce snow on the Kapellenhang on the cold days at the beginning of December.However, as soon as a stable period of cold weather sets in, snow will be produced there again.The lift and the entire ski area will open as soon as there is enough snow.

Event calendar

15 December European Skeleton Cup in Winterberg

30 December Torchlight hike in the Willingen ski area (Ettelsberg cable car)

31 December New Year's Eve floodlit skiing in Neuastenberg

6 and 7 January EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup with Team Relay presented by BMW in Winterberg

10-14 January Upland winter hiking day in Willingen

12 and 13 January Junior Luge World Cup in Winterberg

20 January Intersport Voswinkel floodlight evening in Neuastenberg

24 January Youth trains for the Olympics, cross-country skiing centre Westfeld

26 January Company floodlit skiing at K1 in the Willingen ski resort

27 - 28 January Continental Cup Ski Jumping in Willingen

2-4 February FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Willingen

10-11 February The Takeover - Snowpark event in the Winterberg ski lift carousel on the Kappe

19 February to 3 March BMW IBSF World Championships Bobsleigh and Skeleton in Winterberg

9 to 10 March Snowboard World Cup at Poppenberg in the Winterberg ski lift carousel