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Visitors to Courchevel in the French Three Valleys this season hopefully won’t need the services of the local constabulary, but if they do then a visit to the resort’s new police headquarters will hopefully be a little more pleasant than it might otherwise be.

More immediately obvious on arrival at Courchevel 1850 is the entire new ‘Hameau de la Vieille Forge’ which is taking shape at the resort’s entrance. Courchevel has also opened its tenth luxury four star hotel (The highest ranking in France), the Cheval Blanc.

Continue reading ‘Courchevel Building In Resort and On The Mountain’

The 38th U.S. President, Gerald Ford, passed away Wednesday in Rancho Mirage, California, aged 93. In the wake of his death, Vail Resorts has announced that they will rename a ski trail in the longtime Beaver Creek resident’s honor.

Continue reading ‘Vail to Rename Ski Runs to Honour President Ford’

Snow conditions in Canada and the US continue to be largely divided between the “haves” in the West and the “have nots” in the East. Ski areas along the continent’s Pacific coast continue to receive healthy snow falls which set pre-Christmas snow depth records at resorts like Whistler in British Columbia whilst in the East Blue Mountain resort in Ontario, the largest of the province’s near 100 ski and snowboard resort, has had to close on some days due to the warm temperatures and is currently struggling to get two runs open using machine made snow.

Continue reading ‘North American Snow Cover – A Continent Divided’

Two children from Israel have been killed in tragic ski accidents at resorts in Italy and Poland over the past few days.

The first accident occurred at the Italian resort of Cervinia when a 12 year old Israeli boy collided with a ski lift and suffered severe head injuries, later dying in hospital. He was reported not to be wearing a helmet, which is now legally required for under 14s in Italy and the matter is being investigated by police who may charge adults responsible for the boy’s health and safety in relation to the accident.

In the second accident, on December 28th, an empty car rolled 200m down a hill next to a ski slope at the leading Polish resort of Zakopane and crashed in to a group of skiers waiting at the base of a chairlift, killing an Israeli girl, also 12 years old, and injuring another.

Film actor, keen skier and California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger broke his leg on a family ski trip to long-time Hollywood celebrity ski resort Sun Valley in Idaho on December 26th.

Schwarzenegger, who is originally from Austria and has been a ski ambassador for both the Schladming region of that alpine nation and more recently for his adopted California is famous for his roll in the Terminator movies. This led to fellow Austrian Herman Maier being dubbed ‘The Herminator’ during his meteoric rise to ski fame in the late 1990s prior to a traffic accident.

59 year old Schwarzenegger had his broken leg wired together ahead of his second inauguration set for January 5th. He was described as, “now fully coherent” by doctors who allowed him to resume his duties as governor who expected him to leave hospital on December 29th. A full recovery will take two months.

Hemsedal Ski Center celebrated its 45th Anniversary on Saturday December 9th. That date in 1961 was the big opening day of the resort’s first ski lift.

To celebrate the opening all the school children in the village got the afternoon off so that they could use the new lift (the Totten lift was a Doppelmayer drag lift) free of charge and ski as much as their hearts desired.

Marketing Manager at the Hemsedal Tourist Board Mr Odd Holde was 12 years old at the time, and remembers the opening day as a great milestone in the history of Hemsedal as a tourist destination. Odd is now the proud owner of his 46th season pass in Hemsedal Ski Centre, and goes skiing as often as possible.

The investment in the first ski lift in Hemsedal was NOK 360.000, and since then enormous amounts have been invested in Hemsedal Ski Center which is rated as one of the very best ski centres in Scandinavia.

Continue reading ‘Hemsedal Has The Snow’

Swiss resort Crans Montana’s competition run, Piste Nationale, has been upgraded this season. This piste, structurally improve in the autumn ready for the Men’s Ski World Cup races, should delight all downhill fans, not just competitors. Skiers and snowboarders will be able to enjoy the widened Piste Nationale this winter; it has been completely remodelled and aims to offer exceptional skiing conditions. Two tunnels have been constructed so that the Crans-Montana ski area won’t be cut into two on race dates.

Continue reading ‘Crans Montana Develops On And Off The Slopes’