Ski Rebel Magazine has learned that the summer ski lifts on the Italian-side of the Zermatt-Cervinia ski area will add to the year-round ski area on the Swiss side from Saturday, 27th June.
The resulting summer ski area, one of the largest in Europe, extends to 23km (14 miles) of slopes served by 14 lifts, amongst them four cable cars, a gondola and quad and six-seater chairs.
There are 13 runs, most of them graded intermediate (red) but with three blues, however a major attraction is the Gravity Snowboard Park on plateau Rosa (3,480m), home to multiple summer camps.
The new IDE snowmaking system at the base of the ski runs ensure snow cover even if there are positive temperatures right down to Trockner Steg at 2939m, opening up the full 960m vertical, meaning that Cervinia/Zermatt’s lift-served summer ski vertical is the biggest in the world, bigger than any in the southern hemisphere, even in July/August.
The ski area also includes Europe’s highest lifts at 3899m, usually only open in summer.
The ski season on the Cervinia side lasts until September 6th, but continues year round on the larger Zermatt side.
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Dolomiti Superski, one of the largest italian ski resorts is preparing to begin an intensified safety campaign in a bid to thwart skier behaviour, particularly targeted to people skiing excessively fast and out of control. The area has seen a considerable rise in skier related incidents and is hoping to curb the problem by prevention and awareness.
Continue reading ‘Dolomiti Superski targets campaign at reckless skiers’
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It seems that despite global economic woes are not deterring three of the world’s classic ski resorts for bidding to host the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships run by the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo, Switzerland’s vie St. Moritz and Vail/Beaver Creek in the USA are all hoping to stage the Championships.
I am delighted to see that despite the current economical climate we have received applications as candidates for the 2015 FIS World Championships. For us this underlines the continuing strength of our flagship events and their appeal to global audiences,”
commented FIS President Gian Franco Kasper.
The FIS Council will elect the organizers of the 2014/2015 FIS World Championships during the 2010 Congress week in Antalya (TUR) on June 3rd next year.
Prior to that, each Candidate Applicant, together with its National Ski Association, will prepare its detailed concept based on a specific FIS Questionnaire, containing details including the areas of sports organization, accommodation, transportation, logistics, security, legal aspects, environment, media, communications, marketing, ceremonies as well as the festival by 1st September 2009.
For the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, the registration fee for each candidature is CHF 400,000 (350,000 USD) and 200 training day. For a second consecutive candidature, candidates are entitled to a 25 % reduction in the registration fee and, for the third and further consecutive candidacies, a 50 % reduction is granted.
www.fis-ski.com
Our readers also read these related stories from Ski Rebel Magazine by clicking here.
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Some large late-season snow falls in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the USA has brought powder skiing conditions to many of the several hundred ski resorts where the 08-09 ski season is still continuing.
In Canada, Marmot Basin near Jasper where the ski season ends this weekend reported powder snow conditions yesterday following a fresh fall. Several feet of snow also fell at the weekend in Colorado where all the big resorts have closed but Arapahoe Basin and Loveland are still operating with Echo Mountain and Aspen Highlands open at weekends.
Europe’s most southerly resort, Sierra Nevada in Spain, received another foot (30cm) of snow at the weekend and that resorts in Italy’s Monte Rosa area have received up to 1.5m (five feet) of new snow over seven days.
In Switzerland, Andermatt, Saas Fee and Zermatt have all added 30cm (a foot) of snow or more to their totals in the past week. The same three resorts have the most snow in the country with 400 – 470cm (13 – 16 feet) on upper slopes.
In Andorra, where the lifts will run until May 3rd at GrandValira, there was another 6cm (three inches) of snow on Tuesday.
Click here to read more news on ski resorts from Ski Rebel.
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Conditions in the Alps and Pyrenees are as good as they have been for 25 years, according to the Ski Club of Great Britain.
Skiers and boarders wanting to get to the Alps for a break over the Easter holidays will find pistes in excellent condition with good snow cover off-piste and deep snow bases.
And the Club’s Ski Freshtracks (www.skifreshtracks.co.uk) have on and off-piste packages (including ski touring) available right through until the end of the first May Bank Holiday.
Al Morgan, Information Manager at the Ski Club of Great Britain said, “There is still plenty of time to fit in a ski holiday before the end of the season. Many tour operators have fantastic deals available and run holidays right through to May.”
“ This is definitely the year to make the most of the excellent snow conditions. Skiing in April and even May offers long days for skiing, sunny terraces for leisurely lunches and less people than the busy periods. Get out there if you can!”
The price for a four night Ski Freshtracks package to Tignes starting 30th April including flights, transfers, three star Hotel or bed and breakfast and Ski Club leaders is £595.
The Gran Paradiso ski tour, departing 25 April including seven nights in huts/hotels and mountain guides (excluding flights) is £795.
Resorts open until 26th April include: Flaine, Les Arcs, Avoriaz, Meribel, La Thuile, Bormio, Davos, Wengen, St Anton and Lech.
Resorts open until 3rd May include Val d’Isere, Val Thorens, Are, Pas de la Casa, St Christoph, Soldeu, Ischgl, Obertauern, Obergurgl, Solden, Andermatt, St Moritz, Cervinia and Hemsedal.
Other resorts are open longer in to May and even June or July in some cases including Engelberg, Squaw Valley and Mammoth. Zermatt continues to run its lifts all year round.
www.skifreshtracks.co.uk / www.skiclub.co.uk
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North America – west of the Rockies, has finally received huge snowfalls in the past few days after a largely warm and dry January, dramatically improving conditions. Scotland has its best conditions so far this winter with virtually all runs open and Sweden has also received a big powder boost.
Natural snowfall over the past week in Viet Nam and in the United Arab Emirates has been declared a “once in a generation” occurrence in both of the normally hot countries. In Viet Nam a thin layer of snow was deposited on Mau Son Mountain and in the United Arab Emirates, the northern emirate of Ras al Khaimah reported that a three mile wide area in its Jebel Jais mountain range received four inches (10cm) of snow on Friday, “a situation so rare that the local dialect doesn’t even have a word for it.” according to media reports.
Excitement is mounting ahead of the start of the World Alpine Skiing Championships in Val d’Isere next week. 
But after good falls of snow in the French Alps last week, the snow gods have shifted their attention back to this season’s favourite region, the Pyrenees, in recent days with 13 powder alarms in the French Pyrenees yesterday (Tuesday, January 27th) alone. Cauterets received a huge 145cm (nearly five feet) of fresh snow in the past week.
Elsewhere in the Pyrenees another 50cm (20 inches) of snow fell across Andorra’s mountains on Monday continuing the superb season there,
We have a lot of snow this winter , it’s fantastic and I hope skiers will continue to come until the first of May,”
said Ski Andorra’s Marta Rotes.
In Eastern Europe Bulgaria received 20cm (eight inches) of fresh snow at the weekend, further improving conditions there.
In Western North America the roller coaster season continues to swing between the dry warm weather that dominated before Christmas and mid-January and has now returned to the heavy snowfall of late December. In California Mammoth mountain reported five feet (1.5m) of snow accumulating over four days and in Colorado Steamboat reports that it is “drowning in powder.”
Back in Europe and North America where snow falls in unusually heavy quantities, the avalanche risk is often high and there are normally warnings in place against venturing in to the mountains until conditions improve. Avalanche deaths in the past week have include three walkers in the mountains of Scotland and ten climbers in Turkey.
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Montgenevre is shining with thousands of new designer lights this winter, and in February the resort plans to illuminate the whole ski area from above with its first Fireworks Festival.
The new initiatives are part of an ongoing renaissance at the resort which this year also opened the new Serre Thibaud and Les Chalmettes Télémix lifts. The latest enhancements follow the successful marriage of avant-garde works and traditional construction which have given Montgenèvre a new look.
A major enhancement is the new long wooden walkway,lit by big contemporary lampposts and strewn with benches, stretches right along the snow front, from the Espace Partenaires to the far extremity towards Italy. It forms a perfect link between the snowfront and the village from which you can see the entire resort.
The pedestrian areas and the car parks have been reorganized with new wide pavements lining the village streets and numerous car parks, situated over the kilometre long tunnel that was buil to divert cross-border through traffic heading to and from Italy.
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