Monthly Archive for August, 2008

Europa and World Cup moves indoors due to weather

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 31, 2008
in Ski France, Ski Holland and Snow Domes
. 0 Comments

No doubt the early season competitions and increase changing patterns associated with climate change, are behind this decision to hold early season indoor world cup events indoors. The first event will be held at Snowworld at Landgraaf in Holland, the International Ski Federation (FIS) is expanding the number of events to be staged on indoor snow this season, with venues in France and Germany added to the now regular Dutch fixture.

Europa Cup Slalom competitions will be staged between November 4th and 7th, first at France’s only indoor ski centre at Amneville, then at Snoworld Landgraaf in Holland and finally at Neuss in Germany.

Landgraaf will again hold Snowboard World Cup Parallel Slalom events on 10th and 11th October.

World University Games come to China

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 29, 2008
in Athletes and Competition, Ski China and Ski Resorts
. 0 Comments

Although the Beijing Olympics have now closed and attention switches to the coming World Alpine Ski Championships in Val d’Isere next winter and the 2010 Olympics the season after, China is still to host one more major international contest, and this time its snow sports.

The 24th edition of the World University Games, also known as the ‘Universiade’ will be held in the country’s skiing capital city Harbin, 800km (500 miles) north of Beijing and a former host of the Asian Winter Games.

The ski events will be held at Sun Mountain Yabuli, the country’s original resort in the late 1990s, from which (at last report) 300 new ski centres have developed across the country over the past decade. The resort is now operated by Melco China Resorts Ltd, established for only six months, but already owner of half a dozen major ski areas in the country, making it the Chinese equivalent of Vail.

The company is busy converting these areas in to up-market developments with year round attractions, and has signed up the prestigious Small Luxury Hotels of the World group, which has properties in many of the world’s top resorts, for one of its properties.

At Yabuli MELCO is adding heated gondolas and new hotels at the top and bottom of the slopes as part of a $25m spend. The number of skiers in China is expected to reach 10 million by 2010 from a standing start in 1996.

Snowbird Tidies Up Another Old Mine

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 28, 2008
in SKI USA
. 0 Comments

Following on the heels of its award-winning efforts with the Pacific Mine, Snowbird ski resort in Utah is continuing to improve local environmental conditions and water quality by embarking on a second mine restoration project in American Fork Canyon.

With assistance from Trout Unlimited (TU), Snowbird is redirecting water from the Live Yankee Mine in Mary Ellen Gulch away from its current path over contaminated mine waste. This redirection helps ensure that the water quality in the stream will meet Clean Water standards and provide a healthy environment for the occupants of the mountain streams of American Folk Canyon. Snowbird’s efforts are supported by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and the Forest Service. The project will be completed during this week, August 25th to 29th.

The Live Yankee Mine project is a natural extension of Snowbird’s desire to protect and improve our local environment,

said Snowbird President Bob Bonar. “We are proud to have helped lead the way in demonstrating how the ski industry can tackle the challenges of abandoned mines.”

Currently, potentially lethal heavy metals are leaching from the Live Yankee Mine waste piles and being carried to the stream in Mary Ellen Gulch. The water from the mine contains 10 times the metal content acceptable by US Clean Water standards and is killing almost all the water insects that are crucial to the survival of fish downstream. The plan to redirect this water around the mine waste through conduits was deemed the most environmental and economically feasible solution considering the remoteness of Mary Ellen Gulch, an area adjacent to Snowbird’s Mineral Basin. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that more than 500,000 abandoned mine sites litter the western landscape, affecting 16,000 miles of streams.

www.snowbird.com

Solden gets ready to crank up first eight seater chair

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 28, 2008
in Ski Sweden
. 0 Comments

Solden is replacing its old triple chairlift at Giggijoch with a modern eight seater version, the resort’s first.

At the same time the Giggijoch Restaurant has been renovated with a new traditional-style restaurant created and escalators installed so there will no longer be any need to climb stairs in your ski boots.

Solden opens for the winter in less than two months on Saturday 11th October. Tickets will cost 38 Euros per day for adults through to 19th December, with multi-day as well as child, teen and senior discounts available. The resort also hosts the first European round of the FIS World Cup on the 25th and 26th of October.

Inghams launch high end ski packages

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 22, 2008
in Ski UK
. 0 Comments

Inghams have released their 2008 - 2009 Ski Luxury collection which the company says aims to offer the elusive combination of affordability and luxury. Its seventy-one hotels, in forty-three of the world’s finest resorts are as distinctive as they are distinguished. Hotels have been chosen for their exceptional quality, individual style and unique ambience.

With gourmet dining and pampering in opulent spas, the highest possible standards of service are found in these hand picked, minimum four-star hotels.

New additions this year include three of the worlds leading resorts including Baqueira-Beret, Spain’s answer to Klosters, where the Spanish Royal family take their luxury holiday breaks. Their hotel of choice, the five star La Pleta, is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World group. Exclusive to Inghams, the Austrian resort of Serfaus adds to their range of destinations suitable for intermediate skiers.
Its highlight, the 5* Spa Hotel Schalber, combines Gault Millau award winning dining with stunning amenities. Other accommodation additions in Austria include the totally renovated Schloss Lebenberg in Kitzbühel, once an aristocratic hunting castle, and the recently refurbished four star Alpine Hotel Wolf in Hinterglemm in the vast interconnecting ski circus of Saalbach Hinterglemm. In the Italian resort of Cervinia, the newly built, 27 bedroom, four star boutique hotel Principe Delle Nevi offers an enviable ski in-ski out location with a relaxed ambience, superb food and excellent views of Monte Rosa. In Courchevel 1650, one of the resort’s finest hotels, the four star Hotel Le Manali has been included for the first time.
Litsa Constantinou, Chief Executive, said

“Last winter more clients than ever travelled with Inghams to our luxury winter properties. We appreciate that luxury ski holidays are about much, much more than just first class hotels. We put great emphasis on giving a complete service during the booking process all the way through to clients’ return journeys. We offer convenient and flexible flight times from 23 UK airports, relaxing rail options with daytime services to Switzerland, an array of transfer arrangements including Audi 7 private transfers in Austria and bespoke holiday choices. Private instructors and mountain guides are also available as part of the highest standard of ski pack options in our market sector.

Inghams has built its reputation over 70 years and has found that the combination of these components guarantees the ultimate luxury winter adventure which this winter starts with White Weeks in Obergurgl on 6 December 2008.
A week’s luxury ski holiday from the Inghams Luxury Collection costs from £579 per person, based on four sharing a room at the five star Rimrock Resort Hotel in the Canadian resort of Banff, on room only, while luxury at the top end is provided by a week at the 5* Hotel La Palace des Neiges in Courchevel 1850 costing from £4745 per person, based on two sharing a suite. Both prices include return flights and transfers.
www.inghams.co.uk

Austria introduces green lodging ratings

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 21, 2008
in Environment Issues and Ski Austria
. 0 Comments

“When it comes to the environment,” says Alfred Strigl, deputy director of the Austrian Institute for Sustainability, “Austrians are top of Europe and top of the world.” Being green, he explains, has always come naturally to his countrymen.

We are the indigenous people of Europe. We have a broad traditional knowledge of natural topics that has been handed down from generation to generation. We know about the cycle of life, to listen to the wind and to pay attention to the seasons and the way the herbs grow, the birds, the mushrooms and so on.”

It is the combination of what Strigl calls this “aristocratic” green sensibility along with a new environmental awareness triggered by global warming and globalisation that makes Austria the world’s most environmentally friendly country today, continues Strigl.

“Seventy per cent of our power comes from alternative energy,” he says. “And 60 per cent of all waste is recycled. We are a recycling world master. It’s been like this for ten years, and there’s not much more we can do to make it better.”

In Austria, there are a huge number and variety of affordable places to stay – from B&Bs and guesthouses to campsites and mountain huts – for the environmentally conscious visitor. More than 180 have achieved the standards of the Östereichische Umweltzeichen – Austrian Eco-label – a government run scheme that attaches particular importance to efficient waste and energy management, easy-to-use recycling systems, minimising the use of packaging and using seasonal, local, organic food, sustainable materials in bedrooms and ‘soft chemistry’ to clean bathrooms.

It’s the same story up in the mountains. In fact, Austria has the largest number of eco-friendly mountain huts of any country in Europe. The 40-bed Adolf Nossberger hut in Carinthia’s Schober Mountains is one of 63 that have achieved the prestigious Austrian Alpine Association’s Seal of Environmental Excellence.

It uses solar-charged batteries to power low-energy light bulbs, sustainably sourced wood for heating and a combination of filtration and composting to process toilet waste.

Several Austrian ski villages are promoting the concept of car-free holidays and low-traffic or vehicle-free zones. At the Alpine resorts of Werfenweng, Neukirchen am Grossvenediger and Hinterstoder, for example, subsidised shuttle buses are on hand to transfer visitors to and from the train station. Solar powered cars and electric bicycles can be hired at minimal cost, and guests are also provided with free mobile phones with which to hire taxis.

August skiing in Europe?

Published
by
Mike Styles
on August 20, 2008
in Ski Resorts
. 0 Comments

Our friends at Skiinfo recently sent us this copy on places where you can ski in Europe this time a year despite the high temperatures and melting glaciers. So if you are near one of these ski resorts and you fancy some skiing, so you can get early bragging rights on the season then you know what to do :-)

Warm temperatures on Europe’s glaciers have led some summer ski resorts to close early, but the majority remain open and the leading snow-reporting service Skiinfo.com has snow depth details for all of them. The company tracks snow conditions several times daily, year round, at more than a thousand European ski resorts, including the dozen that are currently offering summer snow sports. Remarkably, ski areas in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland have all reported fresh snow falling at times over the past fortnight.

The Tux glacier in Austria was amongst those recording fresh snowfall in the past week, topping up snow depths on the glacier to 105cm. Although temperatures have been variable, reaching +9C degrees at the bottom of the glacier ski area and +4C at the top, the centre currently has 13km of piste open , served by the three giant Glacier Bus lifts, one chair and five drag lifts. The ski day starts at 8.15 in the morning with the ski area winding down by 1pm daily because of the heat. The action then moves to the Treffpunkt Panoramaterrasse restaurant which also has specials on between 11am and 1pm. The lifts back down run to 4.30pm so there’s no need to hurry!

You can also ski on the Dachstein Glacier, which has two kilometers of piste on a 180cm base available although the terrain park is now closed until
(hopefully) September. The Molltal glacier is currently running three
lifts, serving nine kilometers of slopes.
A fourth choice, Kaprun, has about 70cm of snow on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier and five runs open served by six lifts. Several more glacier ski areas in Austria are due to re-open in September, including the Kaunertal, Pitztal and Stubai areas.

In France Val d’Isere’s glacier did close slightly earlier than expected usual after temperatures at 3000m reached 13 degrees Celcius, however Les 2 Alpes and Tignes both intend to stay open for the remainder of this month.

Les 2 Alpes has over 110 hectares of piste, including a popular terrain park, on a 400m vertical between 3,200 and 3,600 metres available to August 30th. Currently around 15 lifts are serving a dozen easy to intermediate grade pistes.

At Tignes the summer ski area on the Grand Motte glacier is open every day to 31st August, from 7.15am to 1pm daily. There are 20km of piste between 3,000m and 3,656m altitude available with 750m of vertical - as big as the biggest lift served vertical in the southern hemisphere. There are 12 ski lifts and a snow park to enjoy, with a new boarder cross course open this summer, as well as a mini slalom. Current snow depth is 40cm (16 inches).

In Italy Passo Stelvio has the most skiing available in the country at present. Sitting up at 2760 metres, the bottom lift station at Italy’s Passo Stelvio ( Stilfserjoch ) is the highest lift base in Europe, with trails up to 3450 metres, giving a near 700 metre vertical. The current snow depth varies between one and three metres with fresh snow a few weeks ago. The centre, one of Europe’s largest summer skiing areas, has 10 runs, with 20km of piste currently open. All but one of which are graded ‘red’ or of intermediate/more difficult standard, the other is an easy trail. A second Italian glacier ski area, the Val Senales glacier, is also open but with only a kilometer of skiing currently available.

The Matterhorn Ski Paradise in Switzerland, above Zermatt and also accessed from Cervinia in Italy, is Europe’s highest ski area, one of the largest summer snow operators, and one of the few remaining year-round operators.
Following recent snowfalls glacier snow depths are around 190cm with 10km of runs available served by six lifts. The resort is currently installing a pioneering new snowmaking system from Israel that can make snow in plus temperatures which the resort hopes will bridge a piste-gap that has grown at the base of the glacier where it has melted away, so skiers no longer need to walk to the lift station but can ski there as they could 20 years ago.

Norway’s three summer ski destinations remain open. Galdhoppigen has two
kilometers of skiing and a snow depth of 180cm, Folgefonn four kilometers of piste and a snow depth of 120cm and Stryn five kilometres and a 150cm base.