Davos Klosters Mountains have once again made a large investment in snow-making installations, in time for winter 2007/08 with new installations on five mountains.

On Parsenn, the section from Weissfluhjoch to the Schifer middle station has been integrated into the snow-making system and 16 new snow cannons have also been bought.

Jakobshorn will have six new snow cannons this winter and a new pumping station has been built on Bolgen so that more water can be pumped up to the ski region. “Last winter quite clearly showed how essential technical snow now is,” commented a resort spokeswoman. Continue reading ‘Davos and Klosters Spend on Snowmaking, Again’

The Transmontagne group, which ran 10 ski areas has been wound up by Lyon’s Commercial Court, six months after it filed for bankruptcy protection. The Group, which operated ski lifts at mostly mid-sized and low-lying ski resorts was hit hard by the poor snow conditions and warm temperatures in the early season at Alpine resorts last winter. Its assets are now being sold off to various buyers.

Transmontagne ran half a dozen ski areas in France including international destinations Pra Loup, Valfrejus and Chamrousse – which has appeared in several major Tour operator brochures for the first time this winter.

It also operated Nendaz by Verbier in the Swiss 4 Valleys and Bovec in Slovenia. Its best known resort however is probably Ski Dubai, the famous indoor ski centre. However insiders there report the company only had one staff member on site managing the franchise and that he would simply be seamlessly re-employed by Ski Dubai’s owning company.

Andorra’s continuing move up-market is likely to be helped considerably by news that a new airport is to be built 15 minutes away from the tiny Pyrenean principality, in Seu d’Urgell in Spain.

The new airport is likely to open by 2010 but will not be large enough to take medium or large jet aircraft so may not initially be a huge help to package tour operators from northern Europe whose clients normally have a 2-3 hour transfer from Barcelona or Toulouse.

However it will be very useful to smaller planes of up to 80 passengers including private jets, enabling wealthier guests to take advantage of some of Andorra’s major attractions including zero income tax and duty free shopping. Experts are predicting that in ten years the principality could be more like Monaco than Ibiza. Property prices are reported to be continuing to rise at a rate of around 10% per year on average.

US ski resorts are concerned that a restriction on legal immigration currently in force in the country will make it hard for them to fill all vacancies this winter.

The issue is down to a government decision not to offer a special type of visa that was previous available for returning seasonal workers until at least April 2008 – too late for ski resorts. The situation is occurring as a result of an ongoing debate about ways to combat illegal immigration.

Larger resorts are reported to be facing shortfalls of between 50 and 500 workers each.

Family-run online skiing company Chalet1802, based at the foot of Mount Blanc in the French Alps, is one of the first independent firms to go carbon negative and give skiers an environmentally-friendly choice when booking their ski trip.

Partners, Matthew and Charlotte Richardson, both 27, moved to Chamonix from Devon four years ago. The couple have built up a successful skiing company with luxury holidays appealing to foodies and serious skiers. And they insist luxury does not have to come with a hefty environmental price tag. Continue reading ‘New ‘Green Chalet’ in Chamonix’

After the first European snow events in Solden, the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup will continue on 10th-11th November in Levi, Finland where a joint men’s and ladies’ slalom weekend will be carried out for the second time.

The FIS World Cup races will be staged on an even more challenging Levi Black slope than last time.

“We have made significant adjustments to the race course for this year. The start has been moved and several terrain changes have been added both at the beginning of the steep part of the course and at its bottom which will require multiple rhythm changes and full concentration from the racers,” explained Mikko Saarinen, General Secretary of the Levi Organizing Committee. “Our goal is to offer something new every year and this year the focus has been on the slope.”

Another premiere at Levi will be the relocation of the public draw and prize ceremonies to the center of Levi. All the side events will also be carried out there, including the substantial entertainment program featuring leading Finnish presenters. The main evening event will take place on Saturday night in conjunction with the ladies’ prize ceremony and the men’s public draw.

High altitude Avoriaz in France has launched a publicity campaign highlighting its excellent snow record. The initiative is aimed at countering the initially generalised and then inaccurate media reporting of “No Snow In the Alps” last winter, when most higher resorts actually had plenty.

Although north American resorts commonly highlight their snow record and report every snowfall to media outlets, Europe’s ski areas have traditionally made little reference to snowfall, even when they have huge dumps. Even after all the negative reporting last winter, Courchevel only mentioned a fall of several feet of snow at item number five in its weekly news brief.

Situated between Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva, Avoriaz benefits from exceptional climate conditions, including a high level of snowfall due to humid air rising from one of Europe’s largest water reserves and hitting the cold barrier of Europe’s highest summit.

Avoriaz is a “snow-bubble” whose success comes from its guaranteed snow-coverage. Over the last 10 years, the average snow coverage per winter has been 8.29 metres.
Last winter Avoriaz increased business with 6,29m of snow.