ski

Projected season opening date: By Thanksgiving, if Mother Nature cooperates, or by Yule on Dec. 21 at the latest.

What makes it special: Only 45 miles from Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains, Mt. Baldy has 26 runs spread over 800 acres and three mountains. It also has a respectable vertical descent of 2,100 feet with wide-open glades, tree runs, bowls, moguls, groomed runs, cornices and quarter pipes. For those who don’t ski or snowboard, Mt. Baldy also offers snow tubing.

What’s new this season: With upgrades, Lift No. 3 now features more comfortable carriers to the top of Thunder Mountain at 8,600 feet. Chair No. 4 on the west side has a new drive and control system, allowing year-round use with both uphill and downhill loading when conditions permit. Continuous improvements to snowmaking are also helping Mt. Baldy open earlier each season. The resort’s former Last Name Brewing has rebranded as Mt. Baldy Brewery.

Lift ticket prices: Mt. Baldy season passes are currently on sale through Christmas Day: adults are $549 (regularly $799), teens and seniors are $449 (regularly $639) and children under 12 are $279 (regularly $399). You can pre-purchase lift tickets online for a discount. Walk-up tickets are $129 on busy days when the mountain is in full operation.

Pro-tip: Mt. Baldy has the most steep runs in Southern California. Advanced and expert skiers and snowboarders might want to head to Chair 1 to try “Nightmare,” a 36-degree slope that maintains its drop for 1,000 vertical feet.

Thirty-four children were among 78 people killed in the deadly blaze, which occurred during the school holidays.

A Turkish court has sentenced 11 people to life in prison over a fire that killed 78 people at a hotel in a ski resort in northwest Turkiye’s Bolu mountains in January.

Among those sentenced on Friday were Halit Ergul – the owner of the Grand Kartal Hotel, which sits in the Kartalkaya ski resort about 295km (183 miles) east of Istanbul – according to state-run broadcaster TRT Haber.

The court also sentenced Ergul’s wife, Emine Ergul, and their daughters, Elif Aras and Ceyda Hacibekiroglu – all of whom were part of the hotel’s management team.

The deadly blaze broke out overnight in the restaurant of the Grand Kartal on January 21, quickly engulfing the 12-storey hotel, where 238 guests were staying.

Thirty-four children were among 78 people killed in the fire, which occurred during the school holidays when many families from Ankara and Istanbul head to the Bolu mountains to ski.

Another 137 people suffered injuries during the incident, as panicked hotel guests were forced to jump from windows in the middle of the night.

Also sentenced on Friday were the hotel’s general manager, Emir Aras, as well as the deputy mayor of Bolu, Sedat Gulener, and the director of another hotel, Ahmet Demir, both of whom were reportedly on the board of directors of the company that owned the Grand Kartal.

There are a total of 32 defendants in the trial, 20 of whom are in pre-trial detention, according to TRT. It’s unclear when the remaining defendants will appear in court.

In total, the convicted were handed 34 aggravated life sentences for the 34 children killed in the disaster. Those in the courtroom greeted the announcement with applause.

The fire sparked nationwide anger in Turkiye, with questions raised over safety measures in place at the hotel after survivors said no fire alarms went off during the incident, and they had to navigate smoke-filled corridors in complete darkness.

Under pressure to act, Turkish authorities quickly arrested nine people in connection with the blaze, while the government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation.

Speaking to reporters outside the still-smoking hotel, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya pledged that those “responsible for causing this pain will not escape justice”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a day of national mourning, as he served as a pallbearer at a funeral ceremony for the victims the following day.

The U.S. Air Force is a step closer to finally getting a replacement for its aging, unique LC-130H “Ski Bird” polar airlift aircraft. Between them, the Air Force and Pentagon have adjusted the budget to move forward on the recapitalization plan, which is seen as increasingly urgent, with the Arctic region, in particular, becoming an area of growing strategic importance.

The new disclosure comes from a Pentagon budget reprogramming document dated September 17, 2025. By law, the U.S. military has to seek approval from Congress to reallocate funding from one part of its budget to another.

The document states that funds of $29 million are to be realigned within the Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, Air Force, 25/26, appropriation.

“This reprogramming action transfers funds within an appropriation for proper execution,” the document states. “The reclassification is required to execute funds properly in accordance with congressional intent. These actions are determined to be necessary in the national interest.”

The sum involved in the reprogramming action may seem small, but it is no less significant because of that. Essentially, this document is about moving money to fund work to develop the modifications (known as non-recurring engineering, or NDE) that will be needed to create the new LC-130J — a ski-equipped version of the much more modern C-130J airframe, in a new configuration that is still to be developed.

Administratively speaking, the reprogramming action has shifted money from a larger C-130 bucket into one focused on specialized variants of the Hercules, including HC-130Js, MC-130Js, and now LC-130Js.

Today, the ski-equipped LC-130H serves exclusively with the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing, home-stationed at Stratton Air National Guard Base. These aircraft are primarily used to resupply Arctic and Antarctic research stations and radar sites in the high Arctic, landing directly on ice and snowpack runways. The Air Force has flown these demanding missions since 1956 and began using earlier versions of the Hercules for the task in 1959.

The fleet of 10 LC-130Hs includes three that were converted from ex-Navy LC-130Rs; the most recent are three new-build aircraft that were completed in 1995–96. Since then, the aircraft have been upgraded with eight-bladed NP-2000 propellers, as well as digital cockpit displays, new flight managemenmc-1t systems, multifunction radar, and other improvements. The aircraft have also been reworked alongside other Air Force C-130Hs under the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP).

However, the LC-130Hs — some of which were built in the 1970s — are clearly showing their age, with only five out of the 10-strong fleet being mission-capable at any given time. Overall, the aircraft suffers from reliability issues and high maintenance costs. The problem is only getting worse, with all of the aircraft having parts that require total replacement, something that is now almost impossible since those components are no longer in production.

Congress has, for some time now, been pushing for a successor based on the C-130J.

Back in 2017, Inside Defense reported that the New York ANG was in talks with Lockheed Martin about a potential LC-130J to outright replace its older aircraft.

But it wasn’t until June of last year that the bipartisan Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allocated $290 million for the replacement of the two LC-130Hs with two new LC-130Js.

Chuck Schumer, who was then the Senate Majority Leader and who has been a prominent supporter of the LC-130H recapitalization, said: “We need the House to follow suit as we continue the fight to deliver this funding in end-of-year appropriations. There is no time to waste in delivering new ski-birds for the 109th, and I will continue to fight tooth and nail to secure this funding in the final bill.”

Schumer described the 109th Airlift Wing fleet as “critical to supporting the National Science Foundation’s polar research mission and maintaining U.S. presence and leadership in the Arctic and Antarctic.”

Schumer continued: “After more than three decades of year-round service in some of the harshest environments, these planes have been falling into disrepair and are in constant need of maintenance, threatening aircrew safety and their ability to execute their mission. That’s why for years I have been pushing the Air Force to recapitalize this essential fleet so new planes can land in the Capital Region.”

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, Adjutant General of the New York National Guard, said, “Obtaining two new LC-130J ‘Ski Bird’ aircraft in the FY 2025 NDAA is vital for our national security, and supports the Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy, as well as the National Science Foundation missions in Antarctica and the Arctic.”

In August of last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee, a key congressional panel, outlined its demand for an LC-130H replacement, recommending funding for the LC-130J. The committee, in its mark of the fiscal year 2025 defense spending bill, called for $200 million to be added to begin work on the project, stating:

“The Committee notes the importance of polar tactical airlift capabilities for Arctic and Antarctic operations. Further, the Committee notes that the study conducted by the Secretary of the Air Force in coordination with the Commander, U.S. Northern Command, and Director, Air National Guard, titled “Fiscal Year 2023 LC-130 Report,” identifies improvements made in recent years to the LC-130H fleet currently conducting this mission. The study also notes that continual modernization investments and performance enhancements will ensure the relevance and viability of this aircraft and its future mission. However, the Committee understands that this report may not fully take into account the operational activity of these aircraft.”

At this stage, it is unclear if funding for the two LC-130Js included in the FY 2025 NDAA has been appropriated, but the recent budget reprogramming document at least indicates that the Pentagon has been looking to use existing funding to get the ball moving on the project.

Proponents of the LC-130 and its mission point out that these aircraft are vital for maintaining and strengthening the United States’ presence, operations, and research in the Arctic and Antarctica.

The Arctic is a region of growing strategic importance, seen as an area in which the United States and its allies will face increasingly security challenges. Not only Russia, but also China is expanding its presence in the region.

Already, there is developing an increasingly strategic race to expand control and military influence across the Arctic region.

Russia is actively building up its military footprint in the wider region, with extensive efforts being made to establish a more permanent footprint above the Arctic Circle.

The Kremlin’s many investments in the region include increasing its air and naval power in the Arctic Circle, and the Russian military has been establishing new bases here, as well as reactivating ones that fell into disuse after the Cold War.

For some years now, Russia has enjoyed access to more than 50 airfields and ports in the Arctic region, from where it is able to project air and naval power that could deny the United States and its allies access to the Arctic. Russian maritime activity in the region is also enabled to a significant degree by a large and growing fleet of icebreakers, which dwarfs those used by the United States and its allies combined.

And as the retreating ice caps open up new shipping routes as well as providing access to natural resources that were previously inaccessible, or at least much harder to exploit, the strategic importance of the Arctic region is only going to grow.

A relatively new player here is China, which has its eye on new shipping routes and natural resources. This has seen Beijing expanding its presence in the Arctic, and, in response to this, the Pentagon has defined the Arctic as “an increasingly competitive domain,” issuing specific warnings about China’s growing interest in the region.

Still, it’s by no means easy for the U.S. military to extend its reach over the Arctic in peacetime, let alone at war. It’s this reality that has driven interest in gaining control of Greenland, or at least expanding the U.S. military presence there, as you can read about here.

In the meantime, the existing LC-130H and the crews of the 109th are also adapting to this new reality.

Earlier this year, for example, an LC-130H touched down on freshwater ice for the first time in decades, reflecting the Air Force’s shift toward “defensive or offensive operations” in the Arctic. The Ski-Bird landed on Parsons Lake in Inuvik, Canada, in March, as part of a joint U.S.–Canadian exercise.

“We are excited to see what the future holds for the LC-130 Hercules and 109th Airlift Wing as we continue to evolve our capabilities in the Arctic,” Lt. Col. Matthew Sala, the 109th deployed commander, said in a release at the time.

Now, with the LC-130J on the horizon, the 109th Airlift Wing should be that much better equipped to support operations — whether military or civilian — in the challenging Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Contact the author: [email protected]

JUST hearing the name Courchevel conjures up images in my head of ­gold-trimmed ski jackets, sheepskin-draped lodges and food prices that would frighten even Jeff Bezos.

That’s because when I first skied in the area, nearly 20 years ago, a round of drinks in the part known as Courchevel 1850 would set you back the price of a small flat.

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But these days you don’t need to be a Silicon Valley tech bro or ­Russian oligarch to ski the resort’s 150km stunning pistes.

I was staying in the small resort of La Tania, the perfect gateway to the French alpine jewel of Courchevel, where celebs and royalty from Kate and Wills to the Beckhams have skied.

La Tania is — in French ski resorts terms — a tiddler of a place and has only been an official part of the Courchevel region since 2018.

Since then this purpose-built ­modern village, which only came to life for the 1992 Winter Olympics, has become a fixture for families and those looking for a cheaper and quieter place close to the action.

That action being Les Trois Vallées — aka the “world’s largest interconnected ski area” — where from €69 (£60) a day you can access 600km of runs, which is the equivalent of skiing from Paris to Geneva.

A key selling point of Les Trois Valées is that unlike many of the French resorts that have been affected by warmer weather, snow is guaranteed.

A whopping 85 per cent of all runs are at an altitude of over 1,800m — and half of them are green or blue. Some peaks on the region’s SIX ­glaciers are even above 2,500m — great for when the season has been a particularly snowless one.

I was staying at the beautiful Chalet Jonquille, a snowball’s throw from the town and the bottom of the main lift and run by the ever professional tour operator, Ski Beat.

From the outside it looks like a traditional A-frame chalet but inside it was all open plan and modern with a hot tub on the balcony and a cosy cinema room downstairs.

I always judge a chalet on the food — if it’s not up to scratch it can ruin a ski trip. And I was not disappointed.

After a full day on the mountains every cell in my body is crying out for a scalding hot fix of tartiflette or some other heavy French cuisine — and a few large glasses of red. I got that in spades.

BIKINI-CLAD DANCERS

Helpfully Ski Beat prides itself on offering top-notch cuisine and red and white wine on tap in its catered chalets.

The homemade cakes served for afternoon tea were so good you might be tempted to cut short your time on the slopes, just so you don’t miss out on a slice.

La Tania may be small but it is by no means a sleepy backwater.

There are many bars and restaurants in the village where you can do everything from chowing down on local delicacies like fondue to dancing to a band until the wee hours.

The imaginatively named Pub Le Ski Lodge is exactly that — a charming ski lodge with a decent selection of beers.

Half a litre of Pélican blonde (7.5%) will put hairs on your chest and knock out any aches and pains in your legs, as I found to my pleasure.

It also serves snacks like French tacos (try them!), which at ten euros a pop, won’t break the bank. Dining piste side, it can make a cheap and cheerful lunch spot.

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Courchevel also has its own La Folie Douce (a famous party bar) up at Meribel, where you can watch bikini-clad dancers pirouette on table tops as EDM beats pound your ears.

It’s a fairly show-off crowd but utterly fascinating to watch as they guzzle Veuve Clicquot out of the ­bottle in their Balenciaga salopettes.

The Bouc Blanc, also at Meribel, is a cheaper option where plats du jours are a more reasonable 21 euros

Views here are superb and when the sun is out there are few greater ways to spend a day — beer in hand, watching the world ski by.

And if you’ve still got the legs, you can ski all the way back to La Tania.

UNCERTAINTY looms over Saudi Arabia’s plans to build a high-tech mountain ski resort in the middle of the desert.

The project has met such substantial woes that the country is even reportedly in talks to relocate the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

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These games had been expected to take place in Trojena – in the futuristic city of NEOM in the north of Saudi Arabia.

But the project has faced substantial difficulties as the desert Kingdom scrambles to complete the resort in time, the FT has reported.

Trojena is planned to feature 30km of ski-runs – which will include the Asian Games’ 400m slope.

Snow for the ski slopes would be artificial, and would be pumped from the Gulf of Aqaba 200km away.

“Trojena will become one of the most dazzling destinations in NEOM and across the world,” says a NEOM spokesperson.

But for all the promise of a glittering, high tech future, NEOM’s many projects have been bogged down with delays and setbacks, with Trojena being no exception.

Amid construction woes, South Korea and China are reportedly being considered as alternate venues for the games.

But a source familiar with the project told the Telegraph: “The difficulties have been magnified by the schedule imposed on the project.”

Another said: “The Saudis are really committed to building something there.

“Maybe not on the scale that they have imagined in the first place.”

NEOM was announced as part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s Project 2030 in 2017.

It came as part of a major push to wean the oil-rich nation’s economy off its reliance on fossil fuels.

As well as the ski slopes, it is expected to include The Line, Oxagon, Trojena, Sindalah and the Gulf of Aqaba Projects.

Yet human rights abuses and brutal conditions for workers looming over NEOM.

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As many as 21,000 are reported to have died during construction, but Saudi authorities have disputed this figure.

Human Rights Watch researcher Joey Shea previously told the Sun: “Unfortunately migrant workers in Saudi Arabia continue to face widespread abuses, some of which may amount to situations of forced labour, including at high profile gigaprojects.

“On NEOM, Human Rights Watch has found that ambitious targets set by Saudi authorities have tight and unrealistic deadlines which can lead employers to demand that workers continue to work under dangerous conditions.

“Migrant workers in Saudi Arabia experience illegal and exorbitant Recruitment Fees, limits to job mobility, obstacles exiting the country,  as well as serious health and safety risks.”

One NEOM worker previously told The Sun that the project’s management has “overspent quite a bit” since its announcement.

He said: “They were focusing on way too many things at the same time.

“They just wanted everything at the highest level possible. The biggest entertainment complex in the world. The biggest media studio in the region.

“No matter how much money you throw at the thing, it takes more than just money to make it work.”

Queenstown is the most tranquil destination in the world, thanks to its low levels of noise and light pollution, cleanliness rating and quality of green spaces

If you’re seeking a holiday where tranquillity, breath aking scenery and utter relaxation are the order of the day, then one destination should be at the top of your list.

Tucked away on the other side of the globe, nestled between the crystal-clear waters of Lake Wakatipu and the majestic Southern Alps, is the New Zealand city of Queenstown. Recently crowned the most serene spot on earth by TravelBag, this enchanting city is a pristine paradise waiting to be discovered.

It offers an unspoilt environment that encourages you to truly unwind, disconnect, and immerse yourself in nature.

The travel experts analysed 26 locations to identify the most peaceful, using key indicators such as noise and light pollution, cleanliness, and the quality of green spaces, with Queenstown emerging victorious.

Queenstown scored an impressive cleanliness rating of 91.7, outshining all other destinations, and a high green space quality score of 94.4.

With relatively low traffic congestion and minimal light pollution, Queenstown is an ideal location for stargazing, reports the Express.

It’s also a fantastic destination to visit throughout the year.

During the winter months, visitors can enjoy superb ski fields and cosy eateries, while the summer sees the city transform into a sun-drenched haven boasting numerous hiking and biking trails, as well as stunning swimming spots.

For thrill-seekers, there’s bungee jumping, ziplines and paragliding.

And for those who prefer a more tranquil experience, there are hot pools with breathtaking views over the alps, as well as spas and wellness centres.

If you fancy visiting this stunning location and experiencing all it has to offer, bear in mind that it is somewhat off the beaten track.

A flight from the UK to Queenstown takes approximately 25 hours, but departures are available daily.

If you’re after a winter getaway, the optimal time to travel is between June and August, whereas for a summer holiday, December through to February is the best period to visit.