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 such as the Nordic Games since at least 1903.[8] The dramatic spectacle of torchlight ski descents is a program element at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival,[9] and ski resort holiday celebrations.[10]
A torchlit ski race was held in Switzerland in 1920.[11] In the 1925 Winter Carnival at Rumford, Maine, night ski jumping was included.[12]