Les 2 Alpes opens up for business June 16th

Les 2 Alpes is ready to launch the biggest snowpark when it opens up for summer skiing and boarding on June 16th.

The French high alpine resort is once again going to be the first to open for the summer and will offer 1,000 m vertical (3,280 ft.) descents starting from an altitude of 3,600 metres.

Continue reading ‘Les 2 Alpes expands snowpark for summer business’

The renowned Garmisch-Partenkirchen ski area in Bavaria.

It’s going to one heck of a winter in Germany’s alpine ski region of Upper Bavaria.

In addition to being one of Europe’s up and coming ski destinations, Bavaria’s ski areas will host a plethora of major competitions this upcoming season, giving tourists many excuses to visit the historic region.

The 2011 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships will be held in Bavaria’s famous Garmisch-Partenkirchen ski area from February 7th till February 20th. Garmisch-Partenkirchen last hosted the World Championships in 1978. It also hosted the first Olympic alpine skiing competition at the 1936 Winter Olympics.

Garmish has invested heavily in preparing for the World Championships, including the creation of a second downhill slope to compliment the famous Kandahar downhill, and the addition of several new cable cars and chair lift.

According to the mayor of the town of Garmish, Thomas Schmid, the ski resort has invested about 60 million Euros ($80m) for the event, and another 42 million Euros ($57m) has been spent to speed up the train from Munich to Garmish for 2011. The train is well-known because skiers can take the train from Munich with their skis on, because it stops 200m from the bottom of the ski hill. The train ride takes about an hour and a half.

Continue reading ‘German Alps look forward to epic ski season’

Avoriaz village in the French Alps.

A massive expansion of Avoriaz ski resort in France that will create two totally new resort districts gets underway this month.

Each district will include several new accommodation complexes, and that’s not all. Avoriaz is also building a large new water park and a spectacular new lift to replace the cable car link between the resort and Morzine in the valley below. Much of the new development will be completed in time for the winter after next, so December 2011.

The two new resort districts will be called Crozats and Amara. Between them they will add nine new Maeva and Pierre and Vacances residences containing more than 40 new apartments.

Continue reading ‘Huge expansion of France’s Avoriaz gets underway’

Les Deux Alpes in France.

A great place for first timers to learn to ski and board could be summer glacier skiing in Les 2 Alpes in France.

There are 90 hectares of ski runs including two green nursery slopes and four more easy blues to progress on to. For the more advanced there are two red runs as a freestyle zone and off-piste area. 16 ski lifts operate in summer (51 in winter) comprising two gondola lifts, a cable car, four chairlifts, seven drag lifts, a snow tow, a funicular and an inclined lift.

From the top of the glacier skiers and boarders also enjoy a breathtaking 360 degree panorama, views over Mont Blanc and the Ecrins National Park and the chance to visit a glacier ice cave.

Continue reading ‘Summer skiing in the Alps is a beginner’s paradise’

A lone skier enjoys the summer weather at Stryn.

The struggling Stryn summer ski centre in Norway may survive after all.

Online reports say that the favourite ski resort of many ski racers including the great Alberto Tomba has been saved from threatened closure due to its economic difficulties.

Norway operates three small summer ski centres, equal to France, Italy and Switzerland, with only Austria offering more. Stryn operates a chairlift and a drag lift from late May to early August. The exact season end date depends on the amount of snow melting during the summer and weather conditions.

Continue reading ‘Norway’s struggling Stryn soldiers on’

Nighttime in Zermatt during mid-winter.

The Summer Weekender in Zermatt is coming back for its fourth consecutive year this summer.

From the 15th to the 18th of July, the Swiss ski area will host the annual event created to give people that work in the Snowsports industry a snow fix in between seasons. The weekend is an opportunity to network, party and race on the glacier.

The weekender includes two races on the glacier, the Ski Club of Great Britain Giant Slalom and the Metrosnow.co.uk Team Dual Slalom. There will also be the chance to take part in the Matterhorn Mystery Challenge, details of which will remain secret until arrival, but will no doubt involve some super sleuth skills.

Continue reading ‘4th annual snowsports insider weekend this July’

Colorado's Copper Mountain ski resort.

Colorado’s Copper Mountain and Italy’s Val di Fassa have topped a list of the most satisfying ski vacation destination this season.

The numbers come from a poll conducted by TUI Ski, the company which owns Britain’s largest ski tour operator Crystal, as well as other leading brands Thomson, First Choice and Flexiski.

Copper Mountain in Colorado is the most popular overall, although as the company sends a limited number of clients there, the verdict is not based on the number of passengers. The company believes Val di Fassa would probably triumph if the number of forms returned was factored.

Continue reading ‘Copper and Val di Fassa top ski satisfaction survey’