Excited by the early media coverage and tour operator promotions for the coming winter and can’t wait to get on the snow? Well the good news is that snow is already blanketing the Alps and www.skiinfo.com has reported more than 20 European ski resorts are ALREADY OPEN for winter 2008-9. The Skiinfo powder alarm service has been alerting skiers and boarders by email to falls of up to 70cm through October, with more heavy snow over the past few days which is currently continuing to fall.
Continue reading ‘November powder at your ski tips! Where to get the fluffy stuff’
Les 2 Alpes will become the second French resort to open for winter 908-09 after Tignes, which has now been open for a month already.
However in Les 2 Alpes case there are just two big festival weekends coming up, ahead of the main season opening. These are the 19th Mondial du Snowboard, on November 1st and 2nd.
The event features gear testing, amateur and pro competitions, parties and exhibitions on the resort’s glacier and in a festival tent in the resort.
Continue reading ‘Les 2 Alpes lands silver medal for opening’
Skiers hoping to get a break from Andorra’s Grandvalira regional price increase for skiing are in for a big surprise as the six day ticket increased to 210 euros, making it one of the most expensive ski tickets Europe.
By comparison, a high season six day pass for the area which includes the villages of Pas de la Casa and Soldeu has been priced at 213.50 Euros, more than the cost of lift tickets at Verbier or Val d’Isere.
Indeed very few single European resorts now charge more for a lift ticket than Grandvalira. The highest price at Ischgl for skiers who don’t qualify for guest discounts and visit high season is 219.50 Euros. Otherwise it is area passes that cost more, with Dolomiti Superski priced at 220 Euros in high season, the Three Valleys 225 Euros, the Chamonix area’s Mont Blanc Unlimited pass will be 235 Euros, the Paradiski pass linking La Plagne and Les Arcs costing 243 Euros.
Europe’s most expensive single ski area lift tickets are likely to be again found further west than Andorra with Spain’s Baqueria Beret charging 222 Euros for a six day pass.
Montgenevre’s Serre Thibaud Télémix lift (a combination of gondolas and chairs on one lift cable) which crosses the main road to connect the resort’s Tremplin and the Chalvet sectors, will serve three new runs this winter adding 10km to the resort’s ski area and the giant Milky Way pass of which it is a part, one of the world’s largest.
The new runs, part of a 21 Million Euro (26 million USD) spend over the summer, include a rare new black as well as a red and a blue. The blue is an impressive 5km long with a and 700m drop. The new slopes are fully equipped with snowmaking facilities.
In addition a second Télémix lift will replace the existing Chalmettes cable car, one of Montgenèvre’s main departure points.
Le Résevoir, another 5km long blue run, has been newly equipped with snowmaking facilities, and all other runs have had summer grooming for greater safety and comfort.
With the world economic crisis crippling much of the world and sending shockwaves everywhere, largest ski resort operator, the Compagnie Des Alpes issued a specific statement regarding the profitability of its operations.
The world’s largest ski resort operating company, Compagnie des Alpes, manages 17 ski resorts in the European Alps made the decision to publish a statement regarding the health of its operations after the French bank and insurance broker, Fortis published a report on the level of indebtness of French companies.
The corporate statement outlined that:
Compagnie des Alpes wishes to emphasize that its financial situation is sound and especially that it is respecting all of its financial covenants.
The capital intensity and sustainability of the Group’s operations are sufficient to warrant long-term debt financing. It has therefore sought long-term maturity dates, chiefly in 2011. Moreover, the lines of credit that Compagnie des Alpes has at its disposal easily surpass its foreseeable needs for financing.”
Compagnie Des Alpes is scheduled to release the 2007/2008 sales figures on October 30.
Southern French ski resort Risoul has taken the concept of ‘speed dating’ a stage further and taken the obvious step of moving the whole experience on to a chairlift. The Clos du Vallon chairlift in fact, a ‘romantic’ two seater that takes about ten minutes to climb the slopes. It’s a far better choice than the modern high-speed detachable chairs which just give you a quick ride then dump you unceremoniously at the top.
It could be high pressure for anyone who inadvertently stumbles upon the Clols du Vollon chair during Risoul’s second Singles Week which will run from March 28th to April 4th. They’ll find a glass of vin chaud pressed upon them and that then they’ll be loaded on to the chair with a complete stranger for the 10 minute chairlift “speed” date.
At the top of the lift you can decide whether to ski off hand in hand in to the sunset (probably best to let go when you pick up speed), or go back down and try a ride up with someone else.
“Risoul might just be offering much more than you initially came for!,” jokingly said a resort spokesperson.
www.risoul.com
More than 300 lucky people will win ‘private’ use of the 300 km of Espace Killy above Tignes and Val d’Isere the day before it officially opens to the public for winter 2008-9.
The unique idea is aimed at attracting buzz around one of the world’s exclusive ski areas. Promoted as the ‘Very, Very VIP Day’ with VIP this time standing for Very Important Pistes, the 300 lucky skiers and boarders will be the winners of an online game to be launched imminently at www.espacekilly.com
“Winners will have the chance to enjoy racing down the slopes of this exceptional ski area without having to share them with anyone else. They will feel like they are the only person in the world,”
said a company spokesman.
The winners not only win the private use of the Espace Killy ski area on Friday, November 28th, but also luxury accommodation for the night of Thursday November 27th, lunch on the mountain, and a DJed party afterwards.