Welsh Alpine Championships to take place at Champery and Les Crosets

Switzerland Tourism, Emmi UK limited and the resorts of Champery and Les Crosets, Switzerland are headed onto the slopes of Pontypool, South Wales this Saturday to watch some Welsh ski racing and to promote snowsports in Switzerland.

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More than 15,000 people supported a petition to ban heliskiing in Switzerland.

Even though the ski season has ended, intrepid skiers and thrill seekers can still access the high alpine and access pristine mountainside sides by helicopter. An estimated 15,000 trips are completed each year in Switzerland, taking snow thrill seekers to glaciers that are not otherwise accessible by cable or alpine car.

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Laax Village in the Swiss Alps.

Laax ski area in Switzerland will be the future location for Europe’s first indoor freestyle training centre.

The leading Swiss freestyle resort has announced plans for the facility, which it says will be the world’s second such facility, following Woodward at Copper in Colorado. Woodward uses Snowflex artificial surface slopes among its facilities for year-round training in freestyle technique.

But that’s all the details we’re going to get for now. The resort says more information won’t be released until later this year.

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Adelboden in Switzerland.

Swiss resort Adelboden is the latest to report an increase in business this past ski season.

The resort’s Mountain Transport System reported high numbers of passengers throughout the period, resulting in figures 5 percent above the five-year average, making this their third best winter ever.

One reason for the good season was that visitors were blessed with a large number of sunny days. Another notable highlight of the season were the AUDI FIS Ski World Cup Races held in January.
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Nighttime in Zermatt during mid-winter.

The Summer Weekender in Zermatt is coming back for its fourth consecutive year this summer.

From the 15th to the 18th of July, the Swiss ski area will host the annual event created to give people that work in the Snowsports industry a snow fix in between seasons. The weekend is an opportunity to network, party and race on the glacier.

The weekender includes two races on the glacier, the Ski Club of Great Britain Giant Slalom and the Metrosnow.co.uk Team Dual Slalom. There will also be the chance to take part in the Matterhorn Mystery Challenge, details of which will remain secret until arrival, but will no doubt involve some super sleuth skills.

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Lesley McKenna waving the flag high above Laax's superpipe at The Snozone British Halfpipe Championships.

Laax ski resort says it received over a million visitors from 38 different countries this winter, making this season one of the Swiss resort’s most successful to date.

The resort’s reputation amongst freestylers and snowboards from the UK continues to grow. Its celebrated rocksresort apartment complex also got the best “New Ski Resort” accolade from Wallpaper magazine in early 2010.

Then Jamie Nicolls from Bradford set the bar high for young snow sport enthusiasts at this year’s British Snowboarding Championship (BRITS). A haul of gold medals brought his total up to 101 – not bad for a 16-year old from Bradford.

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Hotel Les Sources in Leukerbad.

Leukerbad’s Hotel Les Sources des Alpes has been upgraded to superior five-star status.

The HotellerieSuisse association has awarded Hotel Les Sources des Alpes superior five-star status – the top official star category in Switzerland. The luxury hotel is steeped in history and its gourmet restaurant “La Malvoisie” holds 15 out of 20 Gault-Millau points.

The “Relais & Châteaux” property, which dates back to 1834, has just 30 beautiful rooms and suites. Hotel facilities include two thermal baths (indoor and outdoor), sauna, Turkish bath, solarium, fitness room and a beauty and well-being centre offering a large choice of treatments and packages.

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