A powerful storm hit California’s Eastern Sierra over the weekend dropping up to 45cm (18 inches) of snow on Mammoth Mountain. By late Sunday, resort operators made the decision to open the slopes for skiing and riding today, this past Monday, 10 days earlier than scheduled 10 days prior to schedule.
Continue reading ‘Mammoth opens 10-days earlier than planned’
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The race is on as to which resort will claim bragging rights to opening up first for the 2008-09 ski season. Loveland Ski Area in Colorado, one of the world’s highest ski areas, experienced colder temperatures last week and immediately fired up snowmaking in the hopes of getting a head start on the season.
“It has been cold up in the high country, but it didn’t look like we would get the temperatures necessary to start making snow until later in the week,” said Eric Johnstone, Loveland’s Snowmaking and Trail Maintenance Manager.
We had all our guns placed on the hill and our crew was on standby so we were ready to go when the temperatures dipped last night.”
Loveland Ski Area has started making snow at midnight on the trails Catwalk, Mambo and Homerun for Opening Day 2008. These trails form a top to bottom run of 1,000 vertical feet.
“We have been getting flooded with calls and e-mails from skiers and riders eager to start the ski season,” said Rob Goodell, Director of Business Operations. “We still have snow up on the peaks from the last storm and now we have some snow on our trails too. Let the race begin!”
Snowmaking updates are available at www.skiloveland.com/snowmaking.
The site will be updated regularly with pictures and progress reports so visitors can get daily updates on snowmaking progress.
A lounge made entirely of ice will open at Mandalay Place in Las Vegas, located adjacent to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas this September.
The first permanent ice lounge of its kind in the U.S., the 2,000 sq. ft. Minus 5 Experience is a sub-freezing ice lounge that is owned and operated by the Minus 5 Group, a New Zealand-based company that has “ice-cool” attractions with six other Minus 5 ice lounges currently in operation in three countries around the globe.
Continue reading ‘North America’s first ice lounge opens in Las Vegas’
The Denver Post has reported that Colorado’s ski resorts are expecting to have to pay up to a third more in subsidies to airlines this winter in order to maintain services to the state’s ski areas due to the sudden spike in oil prices.
Colorado resorts, in common with leading mountain destinations across North America, provide guarantees of up to $2-million to airlines to protect them from possible losses in operating routes to the mountains in winter on marginal financial models.
Continue reading ‘Higher oil prices prompt Colorado resorts to pay more for airline services’
Boreal ski area in California’s new Castle Peak Quad Chair will replace the existing Gunnar’s and Claimjumper chairs, increasing base area capacity on beginner/novice runs and evolution parks. The new lift will take skiers and riders to a slightly higher end point than the Gunnar’s chair, offering skiers and riders terrain to the resorts mid-mountain.
The resort is also upgrading to a fully automated fan snowmaking system that will double the current output capacity and dramatically improve efficiency. This will make for a much improved early season product, cementing Boreal’s reputation as the first place to be in a Northern California winter. The expanded snowmaking will not only increase capacity, it will reduce the resort’s carbon emissions by over 300 tons.
Major Environmental Projects at Boreal also underway include a full retrofit planned for a major section of indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, upgrading to energy efficient lighting, reducing our carbon footprint by over 40 tons a year.
In addition, Powdr. Corporation, Boreal’s parent company has recently announced that it will offset 100 percent of the grid supplied electricity consumed at its seven ski/snowboard resorts through the purchase of renewable energy credits beginning in June 2008. Powdr Corp’s purchase of nearly 50 million kWh of renewable energy credits is the second largest among the US Environmental Protection Agency’s partners in the travel and leisure category.
Two US resorts who have offered incentives to hybrid-electric powered cars drivers such as the famous Prius have reported on the success of their schemes.
At Aspen guests arriving in hybrid vehicles had been granted free parking since 2003 at all four of the company’s mountains. However the programe has become a victim of its own success and Aspen are having to withdraw the scheme.
Continue reading ‘US Resorts Report Growth In Use Of Hybrid Vehicles By Guests’
Construction of the replacement for Jackson hole’s iconic tram, which will be larger and faster than the original, is reported to be on target for a December 20th launch, by the resort.
Conditions have been challenging as winter lingers in the Tetons, but towers 1 and 3 are erected and the new foundation for tower 4 has been uncovered from 20 feet of snow.
Sea containers from Europe arrive daily, as crews dismantle the old and erect the new tram components. The first photos of the actual tram cars, being built in Europe, can now be found at www.tramformation.com.
www.tramformation.com content also includes a video diary produced by award winning film maker Peter Pilafian. The videos showcase the project continuing, the people behind the machine and the resort that houses the story. Coming to the site will also be unique competitions including a chance to win a spot on the first tram.
The new aerial tram at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will be twice the size of the original, carrying 100 passengers, have modern, sleek cabins, a visually inspiring base terminal, plus be faster, more efficient and tougher than its predecessor. As well as the journey, it is the destination that captures the spirit of the Jackson Hole tram. Soaring 4,139 vertical feet in nine minutes it is unrivaled in the US ski industry, cresting the Tetons with an endless choice of mind-blowing ski routes below, not to mention incredible 360 views, and only a few fellow disciples to nod at before you choose your line.
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