Skiers with iPhones can leave comments on apps about actual snowfall conditions.

Skiers can now stay up to date with Skiinfo’s snow reports with a new iPhone app from the snow information provider.

The new application allows users to search for snow data from more than 1500 ski resorts in Europe. It gives daily updates of snowfall, current weather, snow depth statistics, ski-lift status and comments from other users of the service. The information is also available in a choice of 10 languages, including English, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch and Polish.

Continue reading ‘Stay in the know about snow info’

Cairngorm's digging crew celebrate their accomplishment.

Last month, SkiRebel reported on Cairngorm’s massive effort to dig itself out of a ridiculous amount of snow which shut down the ski resort for days.

The Scottish resort had the unusual problem of having too much snow in the first half of January, which led to a huge community effort to dig out key parts of the ski area including access roads, lifts and the summit restaurant so that skiers could reach the slopes, closed by too much snow.

Continue reading ‘Whisky reward for Scottish snow diggers’

The Nevis Range is one of Scotland's popular resorts.

A great season has allowed Scotland’s ski resorts to hit the 100,000 visitor mark before the end of January.

More than 100,000 skiers and snowboarders have been enjoying some of the best snow Scotland has seen for decades since the start of the season. The good news is that the exceptional snow conditions look set to continue into February.

Scotland’s five mountain ski areas had sold more than 107,500 tickets by the 27th January. This total excludes all the season ticket holders who have been visiting regularly, and some school and other groups. These are counted separately by some ski areas and are usually only included in the final total number of skier days at the end of the season.

Continue reading ‘Scottish skiing hits new summit’

Screen shots of the Ski Club's new app.

The Ski Club of Great Britain have launched a new app for the iPhone which provides detailed live snow information on 250 of the world’s leading resorts.

The app provides live data including last snowed information, current snow depths, piste conditions, off piste conditions, live weather, live webcams and the latest ski and snowboard news.

Brought to iPhone users in association with Land Rover, the free app is now available to download from iTunes.

Continue reading ‘Brits, there’s a new app for that’

Only 8 days away...

With the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler and Vancouver just over a week away, most of the athletes have already flown in to the region for acclimatization and final preparations.

Snow conditions are varied across the venues as the region has had very heavy precipitation over the first two months of the season. Whistler has reported around 10 metres of snowfall over the last 10 weeks, but rain has been falling at Cypress Mountain, venue for the freestyle and snowboarding events.

Maintaining the half pipe and other snow slopes has been particularly difficult with teams working 24 hours a day and measures including covering snow with straw and other protection and helicoptering in loads of fresh snow from higher up the mountain among measures taken.

Continue reading ‘Olympic fever builds in BC’

Griz greets skiers at Fernie.

Griz, the legendary Fernie giant, is due to make an appearance at the British Columbia resort soon.

Locals believe Griz is responsible for Fernie’s famed powder which clocks up to nine metres (30 ft) of snowfall a season. Two years ago he left his ski poles, believed to be the world’s longest at seven metres (25 ft), just lying in the snow.

A giant cut-out of The Griz, complete with hole in face for photo taking, just arrived at the resort and should be installed soon. The cut out is the latest Griz-themed object to appear in Fernie.

Continue reading ‘Giant coming to Fernie’

Vickie the Viking won't be pillaging any Scandinavian villages anytime soon.

Thanks to an annual contest, skiers at Austria’s Ischgl ski resort will be able to gaze upon giant creatures carved in ice and snow for the rest of the season.

The 17th annual Shapes in White contest took place on Jan 15-17 at Ischgl in the Austrian Alps, with this year’s theme being the mainland Euro-favourite Vickie the Viking and her friends and enemies.

Ten pairs of skilled sculptors from all over the world took on the mighty task of crafting the cartoon characters from massive piles of snow in a five day challenge. Their masterpieces now adorn the slopes to the delight of skiers and boarders.

Continue reading ‘Ice Vikings take over the slopes Of Ischgl’