Although opening dates have been mooted on several occasions over the past 15 months, the latest suggestion of March 2008 comes from Moscow’s first indoor snow centre’s own website.

Continue reading ‘Moscow’s indoor ski centre to Open this month’

Mont-Sainte-Anne in Quebec has just broken all its previous records by surpassing the 500cm marker for snow fall since the beginning of the season.
Skiers and riders are reported to have embarked in a white gold rush to take advantage of the incredible powder conditions seen all over the skiable terrain, which has remained 100% open since December. At the same date last year, Mont-Sainte-Anne had registered 200cm of snow fall.
Nearby Stoneham mountain resort is also well on its way to breaking a record, with more than 425cm of snow, versus 219cm last year.
www.mont-sainte-anne.com or www.ski-stoneham.com

Plans for a luxury but environmentally friendly ski resort in the Indian Himalayas appear to have suffered a set back following a change in government of the country’s Himachal Pradesh region where the resort is due to be located.

Continue reading ‘Himalayan Ski Village faces Political Hurdles’

Dawson & Routhier lead Canadians at World Junior Championships
Brittany Phelan finishes third among J1’s in Ladies slalom in Formigal, SPA

Travis Dawson (Calgary, AB) led the way for Canada for the second consecutive day, finishing 18th in today’s Men’s Super G at the World Junior Alpine Ski Championships in Formigal, SPA.
Eve Routhier (Sherbrooke, QC) battled through rain and intense fog to be top Canadian in a Ladies slalom which was also held today, finishing 20th with a two-run combined time of one minute 37.26 seconds. Routhier was followed closely by Larisa Yurkiw (Owen Sound, ON) in 26th and Brittany Phelan (Mont Tremblant, QC) who placed 27th overall, finishing an impressive third among J1’s (15 to 16-year-old’s).

Lurching from one near disaster to another …
Warren’s World: How Extreme Can Ski Racing Get?
On Feb. 23, 1934, the starting gun went off and 57 men on skis shoved out of the starting gate at the same time. The finish line was 3,000 feet below, two miles away and none of the course had been packed. There was only a start and finish line with no gates in between.

Women ski jumping would `water down’ Olympic medals, Rogge says
Countries like Canada that are investing millions of dollars in sport in the quest to “own the podium” are not subverting the Olympic ideals of equality and celebrating humanity, the president of the International Olympic Committee said today.

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area
Mammoth Mountain is as funky, innovative and fun-loving as its state, and it has been that way ever since 1955 when Dave McCoy defied all naysayers by getting the National Forest Service to let him sink a ski lift into this remote mountain where he had found consistently superior snow and great weather.

The Summit Daily News has reported that US Division of Wildlife officers shot and killed a coyote on a ski run Saturday after it nipped at skiers at Copper Mountain.
Skiers reported the animal trying to bite the jackets and then boots of passing skiers from Wednesday last week onwards. After the animal’ behaviour appeared to become increasingly aggressive, Copper’s ski patrol quickly closed off the area and Division of Wildlife officers were called in. They killed and then removed the animal.
A Division of Wildlife spokesman said such aggressive behaviour was rare and speculated that the young animal had lost its fear of people because some had been feeding it.

Zoe Gillings, Britain’s number one Snowboardcross athlete continued her season’s storming success on February 15, when she finished in second place at the FIS World Cup Snowboardcross competition in Japan.

Continue reading ‘Zoe Gillings takes Silver at FIS Boardercross in Japan’

Lift operators in the world’s largest ski area, the French Three Valleys, went on strike earlier this week in a campaign for better pay and conditions.
The resort of Courchevel was worst hit with the Daily Telegraph reporting that 20,000 holidaying skiers and boarders were left stranded on Monday, some opting to travel by bus to neighbouring resorts like Meribel, Les Menuires and Val Thorens where lifts operations were largely unaffected. The strike was reported to have been called off yesterday.
The workers who went on strike are employees of The Societe des Trois Vallees which employs 675 workers in the ski season. Union officials from two of four unions involved initially said that workers would continue industrial action indefinitely, the other two unions are reported to had agreed to negotiate.
French ski resorts are currently packed due to French school holidays. Courchevel Tourist office said those affected would get a full or partial refund of the cost of lift tickets.
www.s3v.com