Seventy-five years ago, the Lake Placid community came together to host an event that would change the small village forever. Despite the hard times of the Great Depression, pioneering organizers went ahead with his vision in bringing the third Olympic Winter Games to Lake Placid. The feat was repeated nearly half a century later in 1980 when Lake Placid became one of the few resorts to host the Games twice.

This winter, on February 11th, the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) will celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the 1932 Winter Games by staging a celebratory dinner and dance which will also raise funds for the local Olympic museum.

The Diamond Dinner Dance will be staged in the 1932 Rink Jack Shea Arena and will be a “black and white1930s themed party” featuring a 17-Piece Orchestra, dinner, an ice show with three international ice dance teams, as well as public dancing and skating.

The evening will begin with a reception starting with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and historical film footage from the 1932 Olympic Winter Games set to a musical theme. At 7 pm an identical replication of the dinner menu from the banquet Governor Franklin Roosevelt attended in 1932 will be served, including filet mignon and lobster patties.

Thickets for the full event are $100 per person although there are discounts for full tables of ten booked before the end of the year and lower priced tickets for sections of the evening also available.

New US tour operator Travel With Autism launches this month providing a new concept for the autism community: vacations specifically designed for families with individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Travel With Autism’s mission is threefold. Firstly to provide an appropriate and safe vacation where families with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder can simply have fun together, secondly to provide an environment where multiple families with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder can interact in a holiday atmosphere and third to provide an opportunity for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder to stretch themselves by learning new skills.

The unique challenges of having an individual with Autism Spectrum Disorder preclude many families from evening attempting a vacation. Travel With Autism mitigates these challenges by carefully selecting locations, training staff and providing for the unique needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

TWA’s inaugural trip will take place in Steamboat Springs, Colorado January 11th – 15th, 2007. The vacation will include two days of ski or snowboard lessons, a mini-hockey camp under the direction of Coach Jeff Sauer, family Olympics with medals awarded by Olympic champion Billy Kidd, a Western Barbecue and even a date night for parents.

“I am so excited by this idea. I can’t believe no one ever thought of it before. It’s the one thing many parents had given up hoping for, a family vacation, just like everyone else.” J. Larson, a mother of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Ski Utah is has launch a new web site highlighting the efforts by the state’s resorts to minimise their contribution to climate change. The new KeepUtahCool.com site addresses the problem of global warming, informs how it can impact the ski industry and offers suggestions for what individuals can do to make a difference. The site informs on what each resort is doing from re-vegetation to purchasing wind power, all in an effort to combat global warming.

KeepUtahCool is far more realistic and fact packed than many existing attempts to address climate change by ski resorts and related organisations. It is more outward looking than many US initiatives to date.

“We want to ensure that future generations of skiers and snowboarders can continue to enjoy The Greatest Snow on Earth,” explained Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah. “Much of our state’s economy relies on tourism dollars that the ski industry delivers, so we felt compelled to launch a site that would remind people of global warming’s impact and also let them know that it is a fixable problem if we act now, as individuals and organizations.”

The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) in the US has created a global warming awareness campaign called Keep Winter Cool. Ski Utah, inspired by the NSAA’s efforts, used some of the organization’s content for KeepUtahCool.com

Norway’s leading ski centre of Hemsedal has announced a wide range of improvements for the coming season.

On the slopes the Roni piste (number 14) is being enlarged with an improved profile in Roni. There will also be more snow making, expanded all the way to the top of Roni and to the top of Tinden pistes. The Children’s area is being enlarged to the west as the Holdeskarvet Road is being moved. There’s now a new lift and a new slope, which has a perfect child-friendly 11 % gradient.

New large cabins with up to 35 beds have been built slope side with ski in and ski out access. In Hemsedal Centre the Fanitullen Appartment Hotel has been enlarged with a new reception and a piano bar. The Skogstad Hotell has rebuilt the reception and dining areas.

For reaching Hemsedal there are new choices. A new express bus route; Oslo – Hemsedal – Bergen will run on Fridays and Sundays. A second new service Oslo – Hemsedal –Oslo will connects with the ferries in Oslo.

Orcières in the French Alpes du Sud is upgrading this season with a new 700 space car parking at the base of the Roucherousse Telemix lift station – a covered elevator links car park to lift. The telemix offers both eight seater gondola cabins and quad chair seats on the same cable.

The ticket sales desk, ski school, nursery area and children’s play area are also at the same location. Orcières has 100km of trails and this season is offering online ticket sales in advance, with your hands free lift ticket delivered to your home before you travel. The resort also offers an unconditional refund of the day cost of a lift ticket if you decide not to use it for the day and return to the ticket office before 10am.

Unfortunately the 15-floor rectangular concrete buildings at this purpose built centre have won little critical acclaim in the past, but in common with similar French areas, the resort has been opening attractive new residences in recent years and overhauling and beautifying the concrete monoliths.

Scotland’s five mountain ski areas at CairnGorm, Nevis Range, Glencoe, Glenshee and The Lecht are offering an All Area Season Pass again this winter.

“We’d like everyone to make the most of the snow when it does come and thanks to the popularity of our All Area Season Pass last season, the five Scottish ski areas have again joined forces to offer a limited number of these tickets,” said Lisa Fuchs, Marketing Coordinator for the Ski Scotland Marketing Group.

The Pass, which costs £389, allows holders to board or ski any of the outdoor Scottish snow areas throughout the winter season and get straight to the lifts whenever conditions are good – circumventing a common problem at Scottish ski areas, that when conditions are good, ticket office queues are long, especially at weekends. The fact that the pass can be used at either East or West Highland resorts is another big plus point, with conditions often markedly better at one side or the other, but with it impossible to predict in advance which.

For further information email lisa@snowsportscotland.org

Following the success of the Freestyle & Freeride Ski Camp held in April, Tourparty is now offering ski and snowboard holiday options (from self-catering to full-board) for anyone wanting to escape to Les 2 Alpes In France at Christmas, New Year and Easter. Continue reading ‘Tourparty Launch Freestyle & Freeride Ski and Snowboard Holidays’