'Greener' Fireworks Available for Ski Resorts

Patrick Thorne reports scientists are helping pyrotechnicians to make their colourful green fireworks even greener for the environment. The same chemistry that makes the crowds in ski resorts "ooh" and "ah" each New Years Eve apparently also rains "potentially toxic compounds on their heads", so scientists across the globe are helping pyrotechnicians to make their colorful green fireworks even greener for the environment.
The chemical reactions in a firework start with a stream of hot gas released by burning fuel -- a charcoal mixture called "black powder" -- that pushes the rocket upwards. This fuel feeds on oxygen produced by an "oxidizer". At the top of the rocket's path, a second charge of powder ignites and explodes with a hue determined by a "color agent" mixed with the powder. Green fireworks get their color from the metal barium and burn thanks to the oxidizer perchlorate, the same chemical that NASA puts in the solid rockets used to launch astronauts into space. When a firework explodes, it scatters traces of various chemicals into the environment. This year, a study found that the snow on New Year's Day in Saalbach, Austria contained 800 times more barium than it did before the previous night's fireworks show.
Whether these amounts pose a health risk to the plants, animals, and people in the affected area remains an unresolved question. In large enough quantities, barium can interfere with the thyroid -- the gland that helps our body to regulate hormones -- and cramp muscles, disrupt heartbeats, and constrict the lungs – but the volumes left by firework displays are believed to be much too small to cause health problems for most people.
However until the health risks are definitively determined, experts recommend that people who have respiratory ailments should think twice before sitting underneath the shower of particles released by fireworks. Studies in Hawaii and India showed an increase in the number of asthma cases on the Fourth of July.
Performers in venues that use fireworks regularly are also thought to be vulnerable. In the 1990s Disneyland started to receive complaints from its neighbors in Anaheim, California about the clouds of smoke drifting out from its nightly pyrotechnics show. Subsequent testing showed that metals were building up in local waters, so Disney recruited scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico to develop fireworks that produce less smoke and contaminants.
"If everything in a firework worked perfectly, you would just make gaseous products like carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas", said LANL chemist David Chavez. But imperfections in the chemical reactions leave a fog of particles that include unburned carbon and crystallized metals such as barium. To cut down on the smoke, Chavez helped create nitrogen-enriched fireworks that require less perchlorate to burn or substitute cleaner oxidizers such as nitrate. With less smoke obscuring the sparks, these fireworks do not require as much barium to bring out the color. "From a health standpoint, if the evidence shows that there is a need for more environmentally-friendly pyrotechnics ... I think it would be about a 10 to 20 percent cost increase to use these in the outdoor market", said Chavez.

www.Skiinfo.com Reports Summer Ski and Southern Hemisphere Resort Openings Takes World Tally Past 60 Choices ln A Dozen Countries

Skiinfo reports that all three of the glacier ski areas that are still opening each year for summer skiing in France are now open, following Val d’Isere’s summer snow opening on Saturday. It joins already open Tignes and Les 2 Alpes for a 6-10 week summer season. All three resorts are reporting snow depths around about 180cm (six feet) on their glaciers.
Austria still has four glacier ski areas open, the largest at Tux, close to Mayrhofen, which has more than 23km (15 miles) of runs to enjoy. The Kitzsteinhorn glacier at Kaprun, the Dachstein glacier near Schladming and the Molltal glacier are the three other choices
Italy now equals Austria with four summer-ski choices available, the most for any one country. Newly opened last weekend is Cervinia, which gives access to Europe’s highest ski lifts above Zermatt over the border (currently still the only summer skiing in Switzerland, although due to be joined by Saas Fee this Saturday, July 4). There are also summer ski runs on the Italian side of the border, and Cervinia is reporting snow depths of 180cm (six feet) at opening. A Cervinia lift company spokesman commented, "The glacier is in splendid condition this year!". The Presena glacier above Passo Tonale is still open although the tourist office reported last month it expected the glacier ski lifts would close, "by the end of June", so best to check direct before you travel there. It unusually offers tough skiing only with two reds and one black run and a snow depth – which was amongst the deepest in the ski world all last winter at up to six metres/20 feet - still at 320cm (nearly 11 feet). The other Italian summer ski choices are Passo Stelvio and Val Senales. In Zermatt the Matterhorn glacier paradise, billed as the largest summer ski area in the Alps is currently hosting the Stoked Ski and Snowboard school which offers great summer "freestyle" camps in a on the resort’s Gravity Park, which has its own dedicated lift. "Instead of being in crowded swimming pools, get some refreshment on the snow. Supported by our coaches and professional riders, you can improve your skills and technique riding the pipe, various kickers, rails and obstacles", said Thomas Schetty from the resort.
Norway ‘s three glacier ski areas are all open and Folgefonn is currently reporting the deepest snow base anywhere with a 5m (17 foot) accumulation. The Stryn glacier has a 180cm (six foot) base and Galdhøpiggen 150cm (five feet).
In North America the two open ski areas remain open to all - the Horstman Glacier on Blackcomb mountain at Whistler, Canada which has about a metre (over three feet) of snow and Timberline in Oregon, USA, where the shrinking snow pack still remain above 150cm (five feet).
However the snow slopes of Copper Mountain in Colorado, USA, one of the world’s 10 highest ski areas, were open to participants in the resorts new summer camps which combine a new indoor ski training facility with artificial slope surfaces and a campers-only on-snow terrain park which opened each day in the morning, with features such as a big-air jump, multiple rails and boxes, and a jump onto an airbag.
In South America, Portillo in Chile reported 28cm (a foot) of new snow on Monday and that access roads to the resort were blocked by snow. Snowfall to date this season has already reached 180cm (six feet) with a base in excess of a metre (over three feet) at the hotel. La Parva reported 35cm (14 inches) of new snow in 24 hours on Monday, part of a 95cm (three foot) fall in seven days. It has about a quarter of its lifts and runs open and describes conditions as ‘powder’. Valle Nevado has also reported big snowfalls, with 35cm (14 inches) of new snow on Monday taking falls to data this season to 138cm (4.5 feet) with a 40cm (16 inch) base. Over the border in Argentina, Las Lenas has reported big falls but remains closed. Catedral at Bariloche, the continent’s largest ski area, has a 45cm (18 inch) base on upper runs.
In Africa Tiffindell remains open with a 60cm snow depth on a 175m long run, Afriski in Lesotho is still closed.
In Australia most ski areas have seen temperatures hovering around zero for several days now and a few cm/inches of fresh snow falling. Typical is Mt Buller with an average 45cm (18 inch) base on open terrain. At Mt Hotham snow fall yesterday evening (Tuesday 30 June) above 1600m and is expected to continue throughout Wednesday and Thursday above 1300m. With any luck this will also continue into Friday with scattered snow showers predicted.
Two more New Zealand ski areas opened at the weekend. Cardrona Alpine Resort opened its gates to thousands of skiers and snowboarders on Friday (June 26), with ideal snow and weather conditions, a superb start to the 2009 ski season. There is over a metre of snow on groomed trails. "There were plenty of happy people up here today", said sales and marketing manager Nadia Ellis. "Everywhere you looked there were smiling faces as everyone enjoyed a fantastic opening day. We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the 2009 season". Meanwhile another kiwi resort, Whakapapa, opened for the season on Saturday (June 27) with both Happy Valley and the Rock Garden open. The Rip Curl Terrain Park Crew have managed to get a few small features installed too so they'll be ready to play with on opening day. The grooming team has spread out the snow a whopping two metres thick over Happy Valley. Snowmaking actually had to stop because they ran out of water. The resort has turned 72 million litres of water into snow so far.

Dolomites Declared Natural World Heritage Site

The World Heritage Committee holding its 33rd session chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, has inscribed Dolomites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
"The Dolomites now officially belong to the most beautiful mountains in the world", said a statement from the Dolomiti Superski organisation which operates nearly 500 ski lifts in the mountains in winter, covering one of the world’s largest ski pass areas with up to 1,200klm (750 miles) of runs open on one ticket.

The Dolomites (Italy) comprise a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps, numbering 18 peaks which rise to above 3,000 metres and cover 141,903 ha. It features some of the most beautiful mountain landscapes anywhere, with vertical walls, sheer cliffs and a high density of narrow, deep and long valleys. A serial property of nine areas that present a diversity of spectacular landscapes of international significance for geomorphology marked by steeples, pinnacles and rock walls, the site also contains glacial landforms and karst systems. It is characterized by dynamic processes with frequent landslides, floods and avalanches. The property also features one of the best examples of the preservation of Mesozoic carbonate platform systems, with fossil records.
The best known peaks, such as Marmolada (3,342 m), Tofana di Rozes (3,225 m), Sassolungo (3,181 m), Three Peaks of Lavaredo (2,999 m), Mount Pelmo (3,169 m) and the Pale di San Martino (3,192 m) are the centre pieces of one of the most charming mountain landscapes on the planet.
UNESCO was enchanted by the beauty of the Dolomites, as were the great poet Goethe, the writer Mario Rigoni Stern and the architect Le Corbusier – pointed spires, jagged summits and glorious colors that change throughout the day. At sunset the Dolomites turn a fiery red, then change to violet before disappearing into the night. This is the "Enrosadira”"– a phenomenon caused by the unusual chemical composition of dolomite – a natural spectacle that is beyond compare.

Ski Paradise is two years old

Ski Paradise is two years old. The first post went up on June 29, 2007. My introductory post was titled Get away from it all in Verbier. Now, I want to commemorate and celebrate the second anniversary with this post. The blog that you see here is definitely a labor of passion, a passion for ski and the mountains. When I started I had no idea how it was going to work out, but 510 posts later, I can not see myself without it. It has forced me to read and research, to be creative and fundamentally helps me to update knowledge and learn more and more about Snow Tourism and Ski & Mountain Resorts.
When I look back to my blogging journey since that wonderful morning, I am amazed how I have managed to ride this slope. If you have blogged, you probably know the troubles and doubts you worry about as a non-techie and inexperienced blogger that I had to face during this time.

Canadian Ski Council announced Recognition and Excellence Research Awards

The Canadian Ski Council (CSC) has named five recipients of the 2008-2009 Canadian Ski Council Industry Recognition and Excellence Research Awards, which are presented to ski areas from each province or region of Canada that have proven to have an outstanding record of customer loyalty, excellence in customer satisfaction and a strong commitment to increasing growth in skiing and snowboarding.
Each of these traits were measured based on the results of the customer service and satisfaction questions that were included in the CSC National Consumer Profile and Satisfaction Survey. This year's provincial/regional research award recipients include: Sun Peaks Resort, British Columbia; Sunshine Village Resort, Alberta; Oshawa Ski Club, Ontario; Massif du Sud, Quebec; and Marble Mountain, Newfoundland. In addition to regional/provincial winners, an overall National Award winner was selected from the provincial/regional award winners, based on which ski area had the highest overall results. This year's National winner of the CSC Industry Recognition and Excellence Research Award is Sun Peaks Resort located in the province of British Columbia. This is the second time that Sun Peaks Resort has won the overall award. The last time that they won this award was in 2007. "On behalf of the Canadian Ski Council Board of Directors, staff and the entire ski and snowboard industry, we would like to congratulate and thank each of these award winners for their contribution, dedication and commitment to conducting research and enabling our industry to increase growth and participation in our winter sports", said Colin Chedore, President of the Canadian Ski Council.
The 2008-2009 CSC Industry Recognition and Excellence Research Awards winners will be recognized at the CSC State of the Ski and Snowboard Industry Conference that is taking place at the Hilton Whistler Resort and Spa from July 6th to 8th.

Fredrik Ericsson's Partner Michele Fait dies on K2

Tragedy struck Fredrik Ericsson's attempt to be the first to ski K2 (8611m), known to be one of the most deadly mountains in the world. Michele and Fredrik were on a second day of acclimating and skiing on K2.
Vinicio Stefanello, editor of PlanetMountain, wrote: "Michele was a good man. This was my first thought when, this morning, it was confirmed that Michele Fait had fallen to his death between Camps 2 and 1 at roughly 6400m while skiing down the Cesen route on K2. His skis slipped on a sheet of ice and then hit some rocks, catapulting him down to the base of the wall. More than a thousand meters left no chance for survival. News of the tragedy was confirmed Fredrik Ericsson, the Swedish skier who planned to descend K2 together with Fait. The two mountaineers had spent a night at Camp 2 at circa 6400/6500m and had started their descent which then proved fatal for Fait".
Sean Wisedale, the first African to climb the highest mountain on each continent, is currently one of four expeditions up on K2. He reported on his blog: "Swedish extreme skier Fredrik Ericsson and Italian Michele Fait were attempting to be the first to ski down K2. This morning, the weather was perfect – which was of no benefit to Fait. On the descent, the worst scenario possible happened - Fiat plummeted. Ericsson was skiing lower down the slopes and after he had seen Fiat fall, began to haul upwards to get to him. At Base Camp we watched, unsure if the fall had been fatal or not. We started to construct a make-do stretcher and prepare to assist with the rescue effort. Our leader Fabrizio headed out back up the middle of the glacier and we watched as Ericsson and Fabrizio reached Fait’s limp body 20 minutes later and began to lower him down to the base of the route. The slopes are avalanche prone and as the pair descended, Fabrizio then approached them from below. There is no way to safely recover Fait’s body today…he is secured on the slope. Fabrizio and Ericsson descended to base camp and we will attempt to recover his body tomorrow at first light".
This morning, Wisedale posted this about the recovery of Fait's body: "We left base camp at 07h00 this morning for the foot of the Cesen route to recover Michele Fait’s body. The weather was perfect but there was a wind building from the west. Wim, Wilky, Jake, Fabrizio, Tunc, Dave, Fredrik (Michele’s skiing partner), Dave from the German expedition and I set out. On the walk in we could see Michele’s body lying on the slope. The details of the recovery are grim, save to say his body is wrapped and buried. 10 strong men stood in respect of a fellow mountaineer. Fredrik wept at the passing of his friend".
Sometimes life and adventure in the mountains could be really hard. A few days ago Fredrik's wrote: " The next morning both Michele and I woke up with a headache and it was blowing and snowing outside. Great! After breakfast and a bit of fresh air my headache was gone but Michele must have caught some altitude illness since he didn't get well until we were back in base camp. After chilling in our tent for a few hours it stopped snowing and cleared up so we put our skis on and started sliding down the mountain. We took it easy in the beginning since I am always a bit unsecure on a new mountain especially when it is steep and rocks around. The snow was better than we had expected, cold and just a little windpacked and it was sloughing a bit. When the slope opened up I could do bigger turns and carry more speed, just cruising down the mountain. I had a big smile on my face, cause even if only a third of the mountain, we were skiing on K2. I got 900 vertical meters of nice skiing before I, totally euphoric, took my skis off 30 meters from my tent in BC. I had just skied the coolest ski slope in the world".

www.Skiinfo.com Reports Bikini Skiing in France

Skiinfo reports that Europe’s summer glacier ski season continues to improve with two more centres open and up to 18cm (Seven inches) of fresh snow reported on the still-open slopes of Austria. South of the equator still more ski areas have been opening to great conditions in New Zealand and more snow is forecast for Australia.
In France Tignes is the second resort to open for summer skiing after Les 2 Alpes a week ago. To celebrate the resort staged a bikini ski event on Saturday in which a small number of enthusiasts took to the snow slopes clad only in swimwear and ski boots. Ski gloves, eye protection and sun cream were also allowed in this ‘competition'. The lifts opened at 7.15am on Saturday, June 20, heralding the start of the summer ski season which is staged on 20km of piste on the Grande Motte glacier between 3,000 and 3,500m above sea level. The ski area will be open for the next 10 weeks through to 30th August from 7.15am to 1pm daily. The Perce-Neige underground funicular lifts skiers to the glacier in only seven minutes where a dozen ski lifts are operational. A one day ski ticket costs 31 Euros for an adult, 25 Euros for a child.
Austria continues to offer the widest choice of glacier skiing in Europe with four centres operational.
The Mölltaler Glacier re-opened on Saturday with about 9km (six miles) of pistes open every day from 8am to 4pm. Temperatures are typically a few degrees below zero and the glacier snow base depth 330cm with 10-cm (four inches) of fresh snow reported in the past few days.
The Kitzsteinhorn Glacier above Kaprun has reported 18cm (7 inches) of fresh snow. Seven lifts are operational with a 365cm (12 foot) base on the glacier. The Kitzsteinhorn’s Ice arena will open this Friday, June 26th. Facilities include snow slides served by a magic carpet conveyor lift, a ‘PistenBully’ snow grooming vehicle for children to play on and a snow beach with Ice bar, a panorama terrace at the summit station and a 362m long panorama tunnel straight through the Kitzsteinhorn. In addition the Panorama terrace Glocknerkanzel provides a view of the Großglockner, Austria’s highest mountain. There is also a secured glacier path across the eternal ice and a daily free guided panorama hike across the glacier on offer. The Hintertux glacier continues to have the largest ski area open with 23km (14 miles) of piste served by weight lifts and a 225cm (9 foot) base. The Dachstein Glacier also has a small ski area open.
Elsewhere in Europe three glacier ski areas remain open in Norway, with deep snow bases at each, Italy also has three glacier ski areas to choose from and in Switzerland Europe’s highest ski lifts and the world’s biggest lift-served summer vertical remain in operation at year-round ski area, Zermatt.
Across the Atlantic in North America, after a brief hiatus Whistler Blackcomb is back in snow business with the opening of the Horstman Glacier on Blackcomb Mountain on Saturday, June 20 for summer skiing and snowboarding. It joins Timberline in Oregon, south of the border,
Professional skiers and snowboarders from around the world made their way to Whistler Blackcomb for their annual summer snow sesh. Everyone from Olympic Gold medalist Jennifer Heil to TransWorld SNOWboarding's Reader's Choice snowboarder of the year and Red Bull athlete Marie France Roy will be there seshing some of the best snow features in the Northern Hemisphere.
In South America there’s been very heavy snow in recent days with Argentina’s Las Lenas resort reporting 120cm (four feet) of snow accumulated at the base and 260cm (nearly nine feet) at the top of the mountain, it expects to open shortly. Caviahue opened today (June 24) with snow depths of 20 to 80cm (10 – 32 inches). Other Argentinian ski areas are reporting snow but are not yet open, for example Los Penitentes reports a 20cm (eight inch) base. Chapelco has between 2cm (an inch) on lower slopes and 50cm (20 inches) on upper runs and temperatures hovering a few degrees below zero. Catedral also has a good covering of fresh snow. In Chile, Portillo reports its slopes are 65% open having received over 140cm (five feet) of snow already this season. More than half of that has fallen in the past week and conditions are described as “packed powder”. Valle Nevad0 opened on Monday (22nd June) reporting a metre (3.3 feet) of snow falling n the previous 72 hours. Chapa Verde reports 30cm (a foot) of snow but that it’s waiting for more before it opens.
Back across the Atlantic, the southern half this time, South Africa’s Tiffindell and Lesotho’s Afriski have had a dusting of fr4esh snow, but Tiffindell is the only one of the two that’s open, with a 175m long snow run and 60cm of mostly machine made snow.
In Australia there’s hope of more fresh snow later today and during the rest of the week. 16 lifts are expected to be in operation across Perisher and Blue Cow tomorrow with snow depths of up to 48cm (19 inches). The Australian Weather Bureau has forecast snow to fall above 1500m tomorrow, which is great news given Perisher village sits at 1720m. Mt Buller has nine lifts open with good cover on firm packed snow across the open runs. There’s a natural snow base of 33cm (13 inches), and an average of 47cm (17 inches) in the snowmaking areas.
New Zealand continues to have a great early season, already four weeks old for some areas there but others are still opening. Bright sunshine, excellent snow cover and all lifts operating made for a beautiful day in the mountains at The Remarkables ski area near Queenstown in New Zealand for the start of their 2009 winter season on Saturday. It was all smiles at the alpine resort as people drove up through the low cloud over Queenstown to discover the mountains bathed in sunshine. Early birds were welcomed with a glass of Lindauer bubbles to celebrate the occasion while mascots Spike and Shred entertained the young and not-so- young. Ski Area Manager Ross Lawrence said the opening was the best in years. "It was an awesome day. Just one of those beautiful days with excellent snow and everything running the way it should be. There was a laid back atmosphere with music on the deck, kids with their faces painted and people really enjoying the day. We were able to open all lifts including the shuttle for Homeward Run, which we thought was a pretty good effort for opening day". The Dirty Dog Terrain Park and Tararua Ice Coffee Mini Park were also open with a full range of features on offer. "The feedback on snow cover, quality and terrain available has been awesome", said Mr Lawrence. "It was also great to see people using the FReemarkables bus service. The bus drivers reported strong numbers and the feedback is that people are finding the service easy and stress free", both in New Zealand. Cardrona Alpine Resort is next on the list to kick off its 2009 season this Friday (26 June) welcoming skiers and boarders to enjoy what they are reporting to be the best opening snow conditions in over a decade, the resort will open all facilities and 100% of their extensively groomed trails. "We’re expecting a good turn out from locals and visitors raring to get their first turns and jumps in for the season", said Nadia Ellis Cardrona sales and marketing manager. "A lot of work has gone into ensuring conditions are at their best and the mountain looks great with top to bottom pristine snow coverage". For the 2009 season Cardrona has made many improvements including expansion of the terrain with a new trail down Arcadia Basin for more advanced skiers and boarders. The 22-foot half pipe has been primed for visitors and ready to host major events this season including the Burton New Zealand Open, NZ Freeski Open and Winter Games NZ. Meanwhile excitement is snowballing at Coronet Peak as the ski area gears up for the 35th Queenstown Winter Festival which opens this Friday, June 26. As the festival’s mountain home, Coronet Peak will host a range of events with mountain bikes and dogs joining the skiers and riders on the snow. Ski Area Manager Hamish McCrostie said mountain staff were looking forward to winter festival’s opening party. "We’ve had such a great start to the season so far and we’re really looking forward to hosting a fantastic line up of festival events", he said. "Skiers and riders are enjoying superb conditions and we’re in great shape to welcome the community and our visitors for fun, social and sporting events". Coronet Peak’s festival celebrations get underway with the Browns Mountain Bikes on Snow event on Saturday, followed by a breakfast like no other on Monday. Night Skiing for the 09 winter season kicks off on Friday July 3 as part of the mountain party that is the Grabaseat Mountain Mayhem and skiing and riding under lights will also be on offer on Saturday July 4. The epic Queenstown Winter Festival Rail Jam (July 5) will see Queenstown’s hottest snowboarders and skiers performing top tricks under the watchful eyes of a buzzing crowd and stoked up by top DJs. The party doesn’t stop there because the rail jam turns into the Festival Closing Party, where an adrenalin-pumping aerobatics and parapenting display will close the festival in style. "The festival is a long running celebration of the start of winter for us and a time when we welcome skiers and non skiers alike to the mountain to enjoy the lighter side of winter", said Mr McCrostie.

Ischgl Cart Trophy

On 26th and 27th June 2009, the 3rd Ischgl Cart Trophy will bring Formula 1 feeling to the Tyrol. The event is open and those with courage and skill can form a racing team and fight against the pros. 30 teams, each with six to eight drivers, race through the middle of Ischgl in mini racing cars. On the 600 metre long circuit at the base station of the Silvrettabahn, racing carts will be competing for every place at speeds of up to 90 km/h. Pit lanes, warm up and a qualifying round provide an authentic Grand Prix atmosphere. After the training and qualification rounds on Friday, the fastest teams will take part in a spectacular flood-lit night race for victory on the Saturday and in the process will transform the village centre around the base station of the Silvrettabahn into a race track, including pit lanes and an audience area. Companies and individuals who wish to take part in the Ischgl Cart Trophy can form their own racing team and compete against the celebrity teams. Participation, including a pit crew, racing outfits (racing suit, helmet, shoes, gloves), name-brand racing cart, mechanics, catering and numerous other services, can be booked for teams of six to eight drivers each at Stars, celebs and people with style are catered to with "Rotation", the new party concept from the Art of Cart series. In any case, the night of 27th June will be characterised by highlights and hits at the highest level. This will be taken care of by, among others, by the fantastic sounding and lovely to look at Natascha Wright who will be treating us to jazz and pop with her unmistakeable voice. THE dance floor artist who is guaranteed to be a hit, Dr Alban will warm up the drivers and visitors just as surely as saxophone genius TOM X.

Lenzerheide Ski Resort to Host 2013 FIS Alpine World Cup Finals

At its meeting last week in the host city for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the International Ski Federation (FIS) Council decided by a large majority to support the decision of its Alpine Committee to award the 2013 FIS Alpine World Cup Finals to the Swiss ski resort of Lenzerheide. Lenzerheide is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden. The village lies at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn in a broadened section of the valley between the cantonal capital Chur to the north and Tiefencastel, beyond which are the Julier Pass and St Moritz.

Lenzerheide is popular as skiing resort. The skiing area, managed by the Lenzerheide Bergbahnen AG, includes two sides of a valley with 34 modern ski lifts and 155 km (74 Blue, 62 Red and 19 Black pistes) of prepared slopes at a snow-reliable 1230 m to 2865 m above sea level .
The decision to award the 2013 Alpine Finals to Lenzerheide was accompanied by other scheduling decisions reached by the Council. At its meeting in Levi, Finland last November, the Council approved the FIS World Cup calendars for the 2009-10 ski racing season. In Vancouver, the Council approved some adjustments proposed by the respective Technical Committees and confirmed the final versions of the schedule.The Council also approved the Alpine Ladies World Cup calendars for 2010-11 and 2012-13 that were rejected by the Council at its meeting in Levi, following their revision by the Sub-Committee for the Alpine World Cup and the Alpine Committee in Croatia.On proposal of the Hungarian Ski Association to change the rules for the qualification races at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, the Council approved the proposal of the Alpine Committee to establish a working group to study the matter and to find a solution for the benefit of global interest of alpine skiing.

Fredrik Ericsson K2 Ski Expedition 2009

After seven days of trekking up the Baltoro Valley Fredrik Ericsson finally reached the base camp of K2. This is where the climbing on K2 starts and his home for the next six weeks.

From Skardu they drove Landrovers on very small and bumpy roads to a village called Askole. The drive was six hours long and one of the scariest Fredrik have ever had. At one point they had to go through a small waterfall. The road was only as wide as the car. On one side was a rock wall and on the other was a hundred meters drop down to the river. The road was muddy from all the water and on his first try they got stuck in the mud and had to back up. The second try they had to touch the rock wall not to slide off the road. Fortunately they had a good driver and made it through. He was happy to arrive in Askole in one peace. That car ride was probably be more scary than anything they will face on K2.
To get all the equipment and food for six weeks up to K2 they had to hire porters. The farmers from Askole were happy to help them out. So happy that they almost started fighting about the loads. It was a bit chaotic before they had distributed the 40 loads to the porters. Unfortunately there where some guys that showed hoping to get work that didn't get any. Hopefully they will get some when the next expedition shows up.
The trek up the Baltoro Valley is a long walk. They hiked for six days and about 5-6 hours every day on small or non existing trails. It was rocks, sand and ice in an uneven mix. Fredrik's feet were not exactly happy after six hours of walking on rocks and glaciers. About halfway on the trek the porters wanted a break so they had one rest day in a camp called Paiju. The Guide had brought a live Goat for food. With Fredrik's stomach problems he wasn't so hungry for goat meat, neither was Michele so they gave it to the porters. They got very happy and had a little meatfest on the rest day in Paiju.
The higher up they got the better the views got. They passed some great mountains like the Trango Towers, Mustagh Tower and Masherbrum. The experience culminated at Concordia. From that great junction of glaciers you can view some of the finest mountains in the world: Mitre Peak, Gasherbrum 4, Broad Peak and K2. If you go there in beginning of June when there's not much people, like they did, it's a truly amazing place. From Concordia they had a five hours walk up the Godwin Austen Glacier to K2 base camp, including a tea break with two Austrian climbers at Broad Peak base camp.
Now they are at the Base Camp and they are getting ready to start climbing on K2, the mountain of Fredrik's dreams.