Archive for the 'Ski Resorts' Category

August skiing in Europe?

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 20, 2008
in Ski Resorts
. 0 Comments

Our friends at Skiinfo recently sent us this copy on places where you can ski in Europe this time a year despite the high temperatures and melting glaciers. So if you are near one of these ski resorts and you fancy some skiing, so you can get early bragging rights on the season then you know what to do :-)

Warm temperatures on Europe’s glaciers have led some summer ski resorts to close early, but the majority remain open and the leading snow-reporting service Skiinfo.com has snow depth details for all of them. The company tracks snow conditions several times daily, year round, at more than a thousand European ski resorts, including the dozen that are currently offering summer snow sports. Remarkably, ski areas in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland have all reported fresh snow falling at times over the past fortnight.

The Tux glacier in Austria was amongst those recording fresh snowfall in the past week, topping up snow depths on the glacier to 105cm. Although temperatures have been variable, reaching +9C degrees at the bottom of the glacier ski area and +4C at the top, the centre currently has 13km of piste open , served by the three giant Glacier Bus lifts, one chair and five drag lifts. The ski day starts at 8.15 in the morning with the ski area winding down by 1pm daily because of the heat. The action then moves to the Treffpunkt Panoramaterrasse restaurant which also has specials on between 11am and 1pm. The lifts back down run to 4.30pm so there’s no need to hurry!

You can also ski on the Dachstein Glacier, which has two kilometers of piste on a 180cm base available although the terrain park is now closed until
(hopefully) September. The Molltal glacier is currently running three
lifts, serving nine kilometers of slopes.
A fourth choice, Kaprun, has about 70cm of snow on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier and five runs open served by six lifts. Several more glacier ski areas in Austria are due to re-open in September, including the Kaunertal, Pitztal and Stubai areas.

In France Val d’Isere’s glacier did close slightly earlier than expected usual after temperatures at 3000m reached 13 degrees Celcius, however Les 2 Alpes and Tignes both intend to stay open for the remainder of this month.

Les 2 Alpes has over 110 hectares of piste, including a popular terrain park, on a 400m vertical between 3,200 and 3,600 metres available to August 30th. Currently around 15 lifts are serving a dozen easy to intermediate grade pistes.

At Tignes the summer ski area on the Grand Motte glacier is open every day to 31st August, from 7.15am to 1pm daily. There are 20km of piste between 3,000m and 3,656m altitude available with 750m of vertical - as big as the biggest lift served vertical in the southern hemisphere. There are 12 ski lifts and a snow park to enjoy, with a new boarder cross course open this summer, as well as a mini slalom. Current snow depth is 40cm (16 inches).

In Italy Passo Stelvio has the most skiing available in the country at present. Sitting up at 2760 metres, the bottom lift station at Italy’s Passo Stelvio ( Stilfserjoch ) is the highest lift base in Europe, with trails up to 3450 metres, giving a near 700 metre vertical. The current snow depth varies between one and three metres with fresh snow a few weeks ago. The centre, one of Europe’s largest summer skiing areas, has 10 runs, with 20km of piste currently open. All but one of which are graded ‘red’ or of intermediate/more difficult standard, the other is an easy trail. A second Italian glacier ski area, the Val Senales glacier, is also open but with only a kilometer of skiing currently available.

The Matterhorn Ski Paradise in Switzerland, above Zermatt and also accessed from Cervinia in Italy, is Europe’s highest ski area, one of the largest summer snow operators, and one of the few remaining year-round operators.
Following recent snowfalls glacier snow depths are around 190cm with 10km of runs available served by six lifts. The resort is currently installing a pioneering new snowmaking system from Israel that can make snow in plus temperatures which the resort hopes will bridge a piste-gap that has grown at the base of the glacier where it has melted away, so skiers no longer need to walk to the lift station but can ski there as they could 20 years ago.

Norway’s three summer ski destinations remain open. Galdhoppigen has two
kilometers of skiing and a snow depth of 180cm, Folgefonn four kilometers of piste and a snow depth of 120cm and Stryn five kilometres and a 150cm base.

Kicking Horse plans ski resort expansion and 18-hole course

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 19, 2008
in Ski Canada and Ski Resorts
. 0 Comments

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (KHMR) in British Columbia has unveiled a new Draft Master Plan during a series of Open House sessions in the local resort town of Golden.
The new Draft Master Plan proposes the expansion of the existing ski resort (KHMR) into a destination resort including a signature 18-hole golf course, a densification of the resort base and major improvements to the ski area.

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort opened in the 2000/2001 ski season with the dramatic introduction of a gondola to the top of the mountain range, and it has now reached an important stage; the point when it has to look at the long term future. Following a rapid start and tremendous local support, KHMR captured the imagination of the riding public as unique place to ski/ride and enjoy the mountains,”

said a company spokesman.

“The time has come to re-think this project, taking a fresh look at the plans, the markets, the community and what we have learned in the past eight years” said Kicking Horse’s President Steve Paccagnan.

Ballast Nedam, the owners of KHMR, are enthusiastic about the opportunity to make the resort even more successful into the future. We see this as a uniquely appropriate time. Tourism is gaining positive momentum in the Kootenay’s, and KHMR is well positioned to participate in the process of drawing the attention of international clientele to the interior following the world wide exposure of the 2010 winter Olympics.”

After a year of planning with the development team at KHMR and resort industry consultants, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort’s management are pleased to submit an amended Draft Master Plan to update and expand the 1999 Master Plan for Kicking Horse Mountain resort by formally submitting the plan to the government of British Columbia (under the Commercial Alpine Ski Policy).
The full 200 page, 99MB plans can be viewed at: http://www.tsa.gov.bc.ca/resort_development/resort_plans/proposed_resort_plans.htm

International racers head to Kiwi for glaciar training

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 15, 2008
in Athletes and Competition, Ski New Zealand and Ski Resorts
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With the snow conditions across most New Zealand ski resorts being as good as they have for the past fifteen years, international racers have began training for the upcoming FIS racing season.
Mt Hutt has received its first intake of ski racers including overall 2007 World Champion Aksel Lund Svindal who’s due to arrive this week, back from a horrific crash at the Birds of Pray Downhill in Vail Colorado last year.
Svindal and his Norwegian team mates are undertaking two weeks of intense training at Australasia’s only Downhill training facility.
Mt Hutt Ski Area Manager Dave Wilson said Mt Hutt’s reputation for attracting the world’s fastest alpine skiers had captured the attention of Red Bull who now sponsor the facility.

As a sponsor of the world famous Kitzbuel Downhill in Austria and supporter of athletes such as Eric Guay, Lindsey Vonn and Daren Rhalves, Red Bull has a strong presence on the Alpine World Cup Circuit. With Red Bull’s support we can take the next step towards becoming a truly world class race training facility, and one where we can showcase these amazing athletes to our guests.”

Mr Wilson said spectators to Mt Hutt this season would be treated to first class alpine skiing by some of the very best athletes in the world.

Watching these professionals in action is a unique experience and one which would be difficult to enjoy anywhere else in the world. We encourage everyone to come up and at some stage and check it out.”

The Arena will also host the Austrian Men’s and Women’s Alpine Ski Teams and the Swiss Women’s Alpine Ski Team during August and early September. Included in the training line up are previous world champions Marlies Schild and Nicole Hosp from the Austrian Women’s Alpine Ski Team.
Skiercross Olympic Gold Medal contender Errol Kerr is a regular visitor to Mt Hutt and returns again this year but not with his old Far West Alpine Ski Team from the United States. He’s now a representative of Jamaica and is the only Alpine skier representing the Caribbean country at the 2010 Olympic Games.

The Austrian Men’s Alpine Ski Team, which always has a strong presence on World Cup podiums, will bring a group of top athletes to train for the Super G and Downhill Alpine events.
First timers at Mt Hutt last season, the Swiss Women’s Alpine Ski Team, are retuning again this year but with a larger team including young skier Lara Gut who’s set to make an even bigger mark on the Alpine World Cup Circuit this year.

The Red Bull International Race Training Arena consists of a 1,460m track that starts at the top of Mt Hutt and finishes in the base area. Athletes reach speeds of 130 km/h while hitting jumps that send them 40m through the air. The Arena is located in the main basin of Mt Hutt offering spectators great views from top to bottom.

Related Story
Jamaica: the sequel - return to 2010 Winter Olympics

Snow continues to pummel Aussie’s

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 14, 2008
in Ski Australia and Ski Resorts
. 0 Comments

Australia is receiving more and more fresh snow. The severe, chilly weather at one of the country’s leading resorts, Falls Creek is the outcome of the coldest front of the winter. A classic late winter pattern- a series of cold fronts crossing south eastern Australia. The mercury dipped to -5C (the lowest overnight temperature this month) and it was still well under zero at midday with a wind chill temperature of -12.1C.


About 20cm (eight inches) of fresh powder blanketed the resort at the weekend, taking the snow depth to well over 1.5metres (over five feet) in the resort’s Village Bowl.

This is probably the first time we’ve put out a severe weather warning for this sort of thing,”

said Weather bureau senior forecaster Scott Williams. Very cold air behind the second cold front dropped the snow level to around 600m almost 25km below Falls Creek.
Francis Jackson Falls Creek’s Snowsport School Director said,

This is the longest period of consistently dry, soft snow I’ve seen. We’ve had a month of perfect snow quality normally found overseas. The skiing and boarding is unreal. If there was ever a time to come and experience how much fun it is - its now!”

Falls Creek has now exceeded its 20 year average snowfall and the forecast is for more snow for the remainder of this week.

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    Ski jacket that charges Iphones and Blackberry’s to be launched this fall

    Published
    by
    Mike Styles
    on August 12, 2008
    in Ski Resorts and Snowlife
    . 0 Comments

    Carrying too much electronics in your pockets? Do your batteries freeze up on you in the winter and you keep them charged? Well a new innovation that is bound to make your life easier is hitting the streets just in time for the next ski season.

    A new ski jacket incorporating discreet solar panels in the collar is due to be launched by Zegna this winter. Designed by Ermenegildo Zegna, the jacket should be able to charge “just about anything” in five hours, with mobile phone and iPod users a key market. Due to be released in November, prices are likely to range from $750 to $1000 (US) (£375 to £500).

    Saas Summer Fee Ride 08 delayed due to bad weather

    Published
    by
    Mike Styles
    on August 11, 2008
    in Athletes and Competition, Ski France and Ski Resorts
    . 0 Comments

    This year’s Saas-Fee Ride 08 turned out to be quite an event. With the mountain closed the day before due to bad weather, there was no chance for the Ride team or competing riders to test out the newly constructed kicker by the Saas-Fee lift company’s snowpark shapers.

    It was therefore a tense moment when the riders started to ride the big air kicker. It was described by the riders as “whippy” having a lip that whipped the riders steep into the air and then into a hard and fast landing, making everyone hold their breath in anticipation.

    After a request from the rider’s, Ride staff and athletes came together to a decision to re-shape the kicker. It was a nice moment showing the strong bond, relaxed attitude and ambience between all the riders during the task.

    In the short amount of time given, they finished off and the riders headed to the top of the park, judges to their tent and the camera crews to their filming positions. The next obstacle was the high winds that started to gust up the valley.

    The banners and flags of event sponsors showed the strength of an incoming storm. It was therefore an exciting and tense start.

    However, against all odds, the riders and event staff proved a level of professionalism and camaraderie that made the obstacles seem like nothing.

    The sky was deep blue, the stunning glacier was pure white, and the ambience between the riders, staff and audience was sociable and exuberant. To add to it, there were 57 riders in all that turned out to Europe’s only summer Freeski competition.

    Style was the order of the day, and all the riders were grabbing their skis and tweaking out for maximum points. Volkl team rider JP Furrer (SUI) had some new grabs to show the crowd; double tail grabs, spread double nose grabs (in inverts) and insane superman front flips. Henrik Harlaut (SWE) was up to his usual mischief, spinning switch 10’s like he could do them in his sleep, and not holding back on the tweaked grabs either. Paddy Graham was putting in a noticeable performance as well, and his flat spin five had all the other competitors cheering. In the women’s, Virginie Faivre (SUI) was also looking strong, throwing stylee 3’s and 5’s to put her at the top of the women’s field, but local Swiss rider Evaline Bhend and Katrien Aerts (BEL) were also looking strong, throwing down 3’s with ease, and going for some technical grabs, like the double japan.

    With the last minute re-shape of the kicker and the high winds, there was no room for error. Unless the landings were text book perfect, the riders were not going to get into the top 10. There were a lot of crashes due to the difficulty factors thrown in with the kicker, but the riders who came out on top proved why they were at the top of their game. The top 10 however were still a tough choice for the judges with such a high quality of riding and tricks.

    The final started with a bang as Volkl team rider JP Furrer (SUI) went straight for a switch 900 double tail grab, tweaking his skis so hard that he took on the appearance of a contortionist. Unfortunately he couldn’t quite hold the landing, but it was nonetheless obvious that this was turning into another classic Ride event.

    Sweden’s Henrik Harlaut then charged at the kicker and launched one of the most styled switch 1260’s we’ve ever witnessed. Then came Benedict Mayr (GER) with a textbook switch 10 with a tweaked out tail grab. Paddy Graham (UK) stuck to his guns and went with the flat 5, with a bow and arrow grab. Although the 5 is not as technical a trick as the others the technicality of the grab made up for it, and his style was impeccable. Simon Ericson pulled a switch 7 that sent him half way down the landing, and the judges were already scratching their heads with only half the field gone.

    In the end no-one managed to eclipse Henrik’s switch 12, and for the third year running he took the title. He was closely followed by Benedict Mayr (GER) and Paddy Graham (UK) in third. In the women’s event former Ride event winner Virginie Faivre (SUI) who was riding strong couldn’t replicate her qualifying form due to a knee injury in the comp, leaving it wide open to the other two girls. Eventually it was Katrien Aerts (BEL) who took the first place with a styled 360 double japan, followed closely by Evaline Bhend (SUI).

    www.saasfeeride.com

    Alpbach builds new water reservoir to improve snowmaking creates

    Published
    by
    Mike Styles
    on August 10, 2008
    in Ski Resorts
    . 0 Comments

    The new Jochanger reservoir situated between Alpbach and Reith has been completed at a cost of four million Euros. The reservoir covers an area about 2,5 hectares and holds about 130,000 metres of water is using natural water pressure as opposed to high energy compressors.
    The water will supply the entire snow making equipment on Reith and about half of the equipment needs in Alpbach.
    In addition to the existing snow making pipelines 10 km of new pipelines measuring 20 to 30 cm in diameter were laid and a new pumping station for the water supply to the snow making machines in the higher lying pistes of the Wiedersbergerhorn ski area was built.