Well December is here and the ski season it’s looking nothing short than White Gold for many resorts around the world. In many respects this is looking like a great start to another bumper ski season with some ski resorts reporting increases in seasonal ski pass holders by as much as 15%…now with all the doom and gloom going on with the economy this can only help.
Stay tuned, we’ve been promising it for awhile now, but big changes are coming to the site in December. A lot of hard work and thought. We’ve been doing a lot of background work before hand so that the transition goes on smoothly.
Meanwhile we thought we’d give you a quick overview on the top 10 magazine stories that you liked the most.
As we usually do, here’s the top 10 stories that you’ve clicked through in the past month.
1. Tennis star Roger Federer buys home in Swiss ski resort
2. Helicopter sets quad towers for upcoming season at Snoqualmie
3. Shapes in White Snow Carving Contest in Ischgl
4. B.C.’s winter ski roundup: here’s what’s up?
5. Skiing in Jammu Kashmir: skiing on top of the world
6. US resorts ban employees from using Burton Playboy pictoral snowboards
7. Snow Mountain project slated for Houston, Texas
8. Kitzbühel claims snowfall bigger now than forty years ago
9. World’s biggest ski resorts kick off season
10. Alta Badia ranks number 1 of all European alpine ski resorts
The Lecht ski area in Scotland expects to re-open today after heavy snowfall closed the access road over the weekend. The snow gates on the road opened at 8.30am today on both sides providing access from Inverness-shire and Grampian.
Particularly heavy snow on Sunday afternoon filled in most of the runs.
The Eagle 1, Grouse and Chairlift served runs are now complete but there’s no beginners area available yet. A 150m vertical is expected to open.
www.lecht.co.uk
Both of Andorra’s ski areas opened at the weekend with up to a metre of fresh snow on upper slopes, which some resorts are claiming is the best snow conditions they’ve seen in 40 years.
On the Spanish side of the border Baqueria Beret, one of the country’s three largest resorts, also opened. All three resorts and a dozen others in Spain, several of which – including Formigal and Sierra Nevada - had already opened a week ago, are opening at least a week ahead of schedule.
On the French side of the Pyrenees, home to another few dozen ski areas, resorts are sticking more closely to their planned opening dates despite huge falls there, with St Lary at one point reporting the biggest snowfall in Europe.
Continue reading ‘More european ski resorts follow footsteps with 2008 openings’
By: Jamie Hanson
The Alpe d’Huez is undoubtedly the most famous alpine skiing resort in France. Its lowest region is at 1,860 meters and the highest elevation is at 3,330 meters. A mountainous pasture in the central region of the French Alps cradles the new ski resort of the Alpe d’Huez. The surrounding is charming, but this is not the major reason for its fame. What makes the Alpe d’Huez an undeniably famous ski resort? The ski resort is known for many things, such as being the world’s most extensive and most challenging alpine skiing region, being the principal venue of the Tour de France, and being the location of the bobsleigh events during the 1968 Winter Olympics.
Continue reading ‘Alpe d’Huez ski resort, adventure on the slopes’
By K H Travel
Skiing in Jammu and Kashmir is a thrilling and exciting experience for any adventure enthusiast. The Ski Club of India was established in Gulmarg in 1927, which is now considered as the ski paradise of India. Just 50 km from Srinagar, situated at an altitude of 2,730 m, Gulmarg changes its scenery from a flowery meadow to that of a small ski resort in winters. Ski-lovers from all over the country flock to the place because it is the only ski-resort in the mighty Himalayas where you can ski with a magnificent view of the Karakorams.
Continue reading ‘Skiing in Jammu Kashmir: skiing on top of the world’
By David Reichman
With the Summer and Fall Road Trip Planning now safely behind you, you might think you’re ready to rest through the Winter, content to hole up with only the holiday forays to consider. But hibernation is for bears, not people, and especially not outdoor people. So as much as you might initially think those woolly slippers are destined to toast your toes all Winter long, pretty soon, images of blue-white slopes, roaring lodge fires, and rosy cheeks start flitting across your mind and you remember…
Continue reading ‘Three hot ski in, ski out resorts to explore this winter’
by Ken Morris
Ski vacations remain popular escapes in the winter months, when you might live in a cold, but flat climate that does not offer you much in the way of ski mountain ranges. Ski vacations are also perfect for people who dwell in warmer climates and are tired of hanging Christmas ornaments on palm trees. Ski vacations can be a wonderful break from the norm in these cases, and afford the family a new way to enjoy the winter holidays.
Continue reading ‘Taking winter holidays on a ski mountain’