Night skiing explained

Night skiing is the sport of skiing or snowboarding after sundown, offered at many ski areas. There are usually floodlights – including LED lamps –^[1] along the piste which allow for better visibility. The night skiing session typically begins around sunset, and ends between 8:00 PM and 10:30 PM.^[2]

Night skiing offers reduced price access versus daylight hours. Trails at night are normally not as busy as during the day,^[3] but there are usually fewer runs available.^[4] The trails also tend to be icier than during the day, due to melting and refreezing.

Starting in 1997 Planai in Austria has held a World Cup slalom competition at night.^[5]

A few ski resorts offer opportunities for night skiing wearing personal headlamps,^[6] or by the light of the full moon.^[7]

History

Processions of skiers holding torches, lanterns or flares while skiing down a slope at night has been a scheduled event of winter festivals since at least 1903. The dramatic spectacle of torchlight ski descents is a program element at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival,^[8] Nordic Games,^[9] and ski resort holiday celebrations.^[10]

In the 1925 Winter Carnival at Rumford, Maine, night ski jumping was included.^[11]

Chicopee Ski Club in Ontario Canada had lighted night skiing in 1935, powered by car batteries.^[12]

Lighted slope skiing at Bousquet Ski Area in Pittsfield, Massachusetts began in 1936 thanks to a local partnership with General Electric.^{[13] [14]} Other early lighted slopes include Fryeburg, Maine (1936),^[15] North Creek, New York (1937),^[16] Rossland, British Columbia (1937),^[17] Jackson, New Hampshire (1937),^[18] Hyak, Washington (1938),^[19] Juneau, Alaska (1938),^[20] Lake Placid, New York (1938)^[21] and Brattleboro, Vermont (1938).^[22]

Notes and References

1. https://www.saminfo.com/archives/2010-2017/2018/march-2018/seeing-the-light Seeing the Light
2. Nelson, Janet (1984) Outdoors: Night Skiing an Invigorating Experience NY Times
3. Fast, Annie (2022) Night Skiing traveloregon.com
4. Lovitt, Rob (1986) Skiing After Dark Skiing Vol 39 #4:229-234
5. https://www.thenightrace.at/en/ Nightrace Schladming
6. https://bigskyresort.com/headlamp-night-skiing Headlamp night skiing
7. https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/skiing-in-the-light-of-the-full-moon/ Skiing in the light of the full moon
8. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88076741/1903-03-13/ed-1/seq-7/ End of sports
9. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1904-11-14/ed-1/seq-4/ In the World of Sports
10. https://www.mabeyski.com/news/torchlight-skiing-where-to-find-the-best-flare-runs-around-the-world/ Torchlight Skiing
11. https://books.google.com/books?id=9mggAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1 Spectacular Ski-Jumping
12. https://www.discoverchicopee.com/our-story Chicopee Ski Club timeline
13. Web site: Clarence J. "Clare" Bousquet: The founding of Bousquet Ski Area, Pittsfield, MA . Laurie. Puliafico . teachski.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20121110200929/http://www.teachski.com/Areas/bousquet/cbousquet.htm . dead . 2012-11-10 . 2018-03-10.
14. http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/massachusetts/bousquet "Bousquet"
15. https://www.nelsap.org/me/jockeycap.html Jockey Cap
16. Schniebs, Otto (1938) Stars of the Ski D.C. Evening Star p10
17. "Ski Spills" Rossland Miner January 7, 1938
18. https://www.nelsap.org/nh/sprucemt.html Spruce Mt. Ski Tow
19. Lundin, John W. (2021) Ski Jumping in Washington: a Nordic Tradition Arcadia Publishing p 109
20. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045499/1938-01-14/ed-1/seq-2/ Evening Skiing
21. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1938-12-18/ed-1/seq-36/ Snow Sports
22. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014085/1938-01-11/ed-1/seq-7/ Moonlight Snow Train