Mark Hunter
The ski region has four major ski resorts, the Claviere, the Cesana-Sansicario, the Sauze d’Oulx, and the Sestriere. The Claviere ski resort is ideal for families in which the parents are teaching the young ones how to ski.
Romantic couples that enjoy the private rustic settings prefer the Cesana-Sansicario ski resort. Groups of people who loved a lively après ski would go to the Sauze d’Oulx ski resort. The serious skiers, however, who demand challenging pistes as well as comfortable amenities, the ski resort of Sestriere is the superior choice. The Sestriere was built in the 1930s. As innovations and improvements are implemented every year, the Sestriere is always a new ski resort.
Continue reading ‘Sestriere Ski Resort, Ski City in the Milky Way’
Excited by the early media coverage and tour operator promotions for the coming winter and can’t wait to get on the snow? Well the good news is that snow is already blanketing the Alps and www.skiinfo.com has reported more than 20 European ski resorts are ALREADY OPEN for winter 2008-9. The Skiinfo powder alarm service has been alerting skiers and boarders by email to falls of up to 70cm through October, with more heavy snow over the past few days which is currently continuing to fall.
Continue reading ‘November powder at your ski tips! Where to get the fluffy stuff’
Tourists to the Kitzbuhel Alps can buy a new lift pass that covers a ski area that is about half as previously sold. The all new Kitzbüheler Alpen AllStarCard covers 357 lifts, 1,081 kilometres of pistes, 90,820 vertical metres and 256 mountain restaurants between from Tirol to Salzburg.
Ski areas included in the ticket, which is valid for one day or longer, include Kitzbühel, the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental , the Schneewinkel area around St Johann, Hochtal Wildschönau, the Alpbach area, Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang and Zell am See-Kaprun which includes the highest ski area in the region, the Kitzsteinhorn glacier at 3,203m. A six day pass costs € 204,00 for adults or a full season ticket is € 497,00 if purchased before 4th December, € 555,00 afterwards. Children pay half price.
www.kitzalps.com
Skiers hoping to get a break from Andorra’s Grandvalira regional price increase for skiing are in for a big surprise as the six day ticket increased to 210 euros, making it one of the most expensive ski tickets Europe.
By comparison, a high season six day pass for the area which includes the villages of Pas de la Casa and Soldeu has been priced at 213.50 Euros, more than the cost of lift tickets at Verbier or Val d’Isere.
Indeed very few single European resorts now charge more for a lift ticket than Grandvalira. The highest price at Ischgl for skiers who don’t qualify for guest discounts and visit high season is 219.50 Euros. Otherwise it is area passes that cost more, with Dolomiti Superski priced at 220 Euros in high season, the Three Valleys 225 Euros, the Chamonix area’s Mont Blanc Unlimited pass will be 235 Euros, the Paradiski pass linking La Plagne and Les Arcs costing 243 Euros.
Europe’s most expensive single ski area lift tickets are likely to be again found further west than Andorra with Spain’s Baqueria Beret charging 222 Euros for a six day pass.
In a challenge to Murren’s long standing Inferno race, Zermatt has announced that it will stage the ‘Infinity Race’ which it is dubbing “The World’s Biggest Drop” a 10km course with twist and turns on December 14th.
Starting from the 3,800 metre (12,500ft) peak, the highest served by lifts in Europe, at the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, competitors will descend windy 2,200 vertical metres course via Garten, Furgg and Furi to finish in Zermatt itself at 1600m (5,200ft) after a 10km (6.25 mile) run.
The race, which will have a Le Mans style start, is open top all and even families can win the event as when a child under the age of 12 takes part, their time is divided by three. To be eligible for participation, competitors must ski, snowboard or telemark down the course. Registration is available online at www.infinity-zermatt.com . A preview of the course will be available the day prior to the event.
Andorra’s Vallnord, which encompasses the ski areas at Ordino/Arcalis, Pal and Arinsal, has announced that it has invested 10 million Euros in improvements for the coming winter.
The biggest investment is going toward a new detachable six-seat chairlift for Arinsal, as well as the continued expansion of the area’s large snowmaking system.
The new chair lift “Arinsal” replaces the old double one and will mean a faster, more comfortable route up from the mountain base at Arinsal (1550m) to Comallemple (1950m). Another chairlift will be installed in the Pal sector at Pla de la Tosa, above Pic del Cubil. This chair provides an alternative route for skiers from Pal to Arinsal, Setúria or Coll de la Botella areas.
Slope improvements include the remodeling of the Túnel pistel in Arcalís area which will change from blue (medium) to green (easy), gaining more room for beginners in the area that otherwise contains the greatest challenges of Vallnord. The De la Portella trail has also been widened at its narrowest part and there has been a remodeling of the Freestyle area.
In Pal the Del Camí Inferior trail from Coll de la Botella up to Planell has been widened and there’s a new freestyle area for beginners.
The additional snowmaking includes 15 more snow machines in the Arcalís area on the Portella del Mig and Basera trails, with a total of an additional three kilometres covered, as well as 31 new snow machines in the Arinsal area covering one more kilometer, and at Pal, covering two more kilometres.
The international web ski forecaster skiinfo has reported large snow dumps across most european resorts with Austria getting most of the snow.
More than 70 cm (28 inches) of snow in the past few days have given an early head start to dozens of European ski resorts with exceptional powder conditions. For the rest of the continent’s leading resorts, it means a big boost in anticipation of the coming winter.
Continue reading ‘Snow dump kickstarts 2008 ski season in Europe’