Heavy snowfall has some Wash. ski areas opening

MOUNT BAKER, Wash. - Heavy snowfall in the Cascade Range has some Washington ski areas preparing to open.

Mount Baker Ski Area says it's received more than 45 inches of new snow in the last few days, and it plans to open on Thursday.

Crystal Mountain, meanwhile, says it's gotten about 2 feet recently and could open for limited operations on Wednesday.

Austria gets dumped on

Austria is enjoying the best of the snowfall this week, and the resorts we report on are in excellent shape as temperatures remain comfortably cold. Many resorts are expecting further snowfall this week with up to 50cm expected in some places. Wunderbar!

Most of the country is benefitting from the storm, which is set to last into this week bringing a further 50cms in places. Obertauern is in superb condition following 30cm of fresh snow falling on Sunday.The cold temperatures mixed with sunny spells this week are providing good visibility, so it's a great week to make the most of the resort's powder! The same snowstorm that dumped heavy snowfalls on Obertauern also boosted the conditions at Zauchensee which is very close by. The base depth in the whole resort is up to a metre, as is the base at Waidring in the Steinplatte area. 30cm of new snow fell there on Sunday increasing the base depth on the upper slopes by 50cm.

Kaprun's base on the upper slopes has increased significantly to 258cm, partly due to the fresh snow that has fallen this weekend but also due to improved depth measurements.

X Games Gold for Briton Jones

Jenny Jones, 28 from Bristol, has become the first Briton to win a medal of any colour at the annual X Games, clinching victory with the last run of the competition. Her overall score of 90.00 gave her victory by almost three points from Spencer O’Brien of Canada in second on 87.66. The invitation-only event, held in Aspen, Colorado attracts the world’s top competitors. An ecstatic Jones said: “My first run was sketchy, my second run I cleaned it up, so it looked better and I felt happy with the run but it wasn’t enough. I just had to go for it on the last run with the last jump”

“I was so pleased to win and suddenly the emotions went crazy and I had to try hard not to cry. It means so much to me to win an X Games medal and to win gold is the icing on the cake”

Britain’s other competitor, Zoe Gillings, was eliminated in the semi-final of the Snowboard Cross but withdrew from the consolation final after injuring her heel. There was encouraging news however for British skier Chemmy Alcott. Returning from injury, Alcott managed15th place in the woman’s World Cup giant slalom in Cortina.