Ski Paradise

Richard Amacker's Winning Line at the Swatch Freeride World Tour Courmayeur Mont-Blanc 2012

2012-01-28T09:55:00.001+01:00

Sam Smoothy's Winning Line at the Swatch Freeride World Tour Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2012

2012-01-28T09:45:00.004+01:00

Best of the Swatch Freeride World Tour Courmayeur Mont-Blanc 2012

2012-01-27T15:30:00.005+01:00

Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc has been an amazing host to the Swatch Freeride World Tour.
In an incredibly competitive Men's ski competition, Richard Amacker from Le Valais in Switzerland was the last rider down and chose an original line in the riders left hand side of the face. The 23 year old then quickly put on a demonstration of world-class Freeriding. Always in complete control his jumps were longer and cleaner than his rivals and deservedly took away the main prize. A clearly very happy Amacker said: "I had a great day. The snow was good, I took a lot of air on my jumps and landed all three really cleanly".
In the Men's snowboard, Backstrom the American just gets better and better. Taking a line on the extreme riders right, Backstrom patiently worked the upper face as he transitioned into his first drop of the day which he executed with a silky smoothness. He then glided his way across the face to a steep and rocky section where he dropped no less than three cliffs in quick succession. Backstrom has that something that only the very best athletes have - he makes it look easy. Backstrom said: "I'm very happy, the conditions were great for high-speed airs. I rode my preferred line, I stayed fast and fluid".

Best of the Swatch Freeride World Tour Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2012

2012-01-27T15:24:00.003+01:00

The Men's snowboard contest saw local Chamonix rider Douds Charlet take first place followed by tour newcomer Ralph Backstrom from the USA and another French rider Aurelien Routens in third. Rock solid in Revelstoke, Douds was again on the top of his game taking a creative line on the extreme lookers right of the face. He was smooth and clean throughout, a text book Freeride lesson for any youngsters with world tour ambitions. "It's great to win at home in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. I threw a front side 360 at the top and dropped four cliffs overall. I tried to stay fast and clean and I think I achieved that".
Winning a men's ski contest on the Swatch Freeride World Tour deserves a place on the list of "hardest things to do in sport". Sam Smoothy from New Zealand who has battled through qualifiers and injuries over the last few seasons proved that persistence always pays off and hit the top rung of the podium for the first time. In second place was one of the tour's most consistent performers Reine Barkered from Sweden and in third, tour newcomer Oakley White Allen from the USA who following his second place finish in Revelstoke will go to the top of men's ski rankings. Smoothy chose the lookers left line taken by a number of riders and looked to be fighting for a place on the podium with his control and fluidity in the upper face. Then he took a slightly different angle into the final section and dropped an absolute beauty of a cliff - longer, cleaner, sweeter than his rivals. Smoothy was almost speechless afterwards: "Winning here in the home of Freeriding, it doesn't get better, it's amazing".
When it comes to Freeride locations, Chamonix Mont-Blanc has few rivals, so it's no surprise that the Freeride World Tour was back for a third year in 2012. As home to the stunning Mont-Blanc, Chamonix is arguably the world's most renowned alpine resort. Host of the first ever official Winter Olympics in 1924, skiers and snowboarders come from all over the world to take on its vast range of steep "couloirs".

Wins for Amacker and Backstrom in Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc

2012-01-26T16:27:00.004+01:00

Richard Amacker won the men's ski contest and Ralph Backstrom won the men's snowboard contest here today on the Mont-Fortin in an absolutely stunning Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc, Italy.
In an incredibly competitive men's ski competition, Amacker from Le Valais in Switzerland was the last rider down and chose an original line in the riders left hand side of the face. The 23 year old then quickly put on a demonstration of world-class Freeriding. Always in complete control his jumps were longer and cleaner than his rivals and deservedly took away the main prize. A clearly very happy Amacker said: "I had a great day. The snow was good, I took a lot of air on my jumps and landed all three really cleanly".
Sam Smoothy from New Zealand continued his outstanding early season form with second place. Sam dropped in very aggressively, powered over two cliffs and blistered his way to the finish. Making it a great day for Switzerland, Samuel Anthamatten took third place. Samuel's technical ability is clear for all to see but he's also been working on some tricks during the off-season. Samuel first brought the hammer down on a massive cliff in the super steep and technical central part of the face then rounded off his run with a brilliant back flip. Samuel who's had an off-colour first part of the season said: "I'm really satisfied with my run. I wanted to do more jumps but overall it went well and I'm very happy with my landing off the back-flip".
In the men's snowboard, Backstrom the American just gets better and better. Taking a line on the extreme riders right, Backstrom patiently worked the upper face as he transitioned into his first drop of the day which he executed with a silky smoothness. He then glided his way across the face to a steep and rocky section where he dropped no less than three cliffs in quick succession. Backstrom has that something that only the very best athletes have - he makes it look easy. Backstrom said: "I'm very happy, the conditions were great for high-speed airs. I rode my preferred line, I stayed fast and fluid".
In second place was the 27 year old Austrian Max Zipser who chose the most popular line of the day on the right hand side. Max quite simply got the job done; clean, fast, fluid and controlled. A beaming Max said: "What a great day with great snow. I hit my line exactly as I wanted, took some nice jumps. I really felt in control and comfortable up there". Rounding off the podium was Douds Charlet from France who continued his early season run of podium finishes.
Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc has been an amazing host to the Swatch Freeride World Tour but the show must go on. Next stop: Røldal in Norway (February 25-March 2) for the fourth event of the 2012 season.

More Snow In The Alps And Substantial Falls In The US At Last

2012-01-26T15:12:00.007+01:00

The heavy snowfall in the Alps won’t let up it seems and several big name resorts including Chamonix and St Anton have added a metre or more of fresh snow in the past 7 days.
The good news is that Western North America is gaining lost ground on its slow start – in terms of snowfall – to 2011-12 with heavy snowfall in parts of California at last, the biggest accumulations up to 1.8m (six feet) at Lake Tahoe. Elsewhere the snow is in excellent condition in Western Canada as it has been all winter.
The news is not entirely good. Although most of the Alps have had good snowfalls the headline grabbing figures are mostly at northern, high altitude resorts and some lower regions could do with more. There’s been little fresh snow in the Pyrenees this month although snow depths from earlier falls and snowmaking are still in place.
There has been more heavy snow over the past few days in Austria. All roads in to Lech Zuers were closed when another 30cm+ of snow fell but the main streets opened again later the same day. In the last seven days St Anton in Arlberg reported 125cm of new snow while SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser – Brixental had 120cm and Solden 86 cm. There were 45 powderalarms for 20cm (8 nches) or more new snow in Austria on Tuesday. There’s now over five metres of snow in St Anton at Arlberg, which has the deepest snow depth in the country, and in Europe, followed by neighbouring Lech Zuers. The Zugspitzplatt has 400cm. It’s likely to remain snowy and cold over the next few days with high avalanche risk at many resorts.
There’s been fresh heavy snowfall in France over the past week, particularly last weekend in the Northern Alps when a metre of snow fell on resorts including Arêches Beaufort (a ski resort known for its off-piste) and Les Houches (which will host the Alpine World Cup Skiing men from 3rd to 5th February). Snow depths in the slopes in the Chamonix valley now vary between 2m at the base and 4m60 up top. More generally, the snowfall figures were between 50 and 70cm in the Savoie and Haute-Savoie and around 20/30 cm in the department of Isere. The other mountain areas were not so lucky with 20cm at Pelvoux and Superdevoluy (in the Southern Alps), 15cm at Gerardmer and Lac Blanc (the Vosges), and 5 small cm at Chalmazel (Massif Central) and Formigueres (Pyrenees). There’s no change, therefore, the Northern Alps reinforced their "supremacy" and remains the snowiest in France (460 cm in Chamonix, La Rosiere 385 cm, 350 cm in Alpe d'Huez). Although not all benefited from the recent snowfall, the ski resorts of Hautes-Alpes, however, offer very good conditions (150cm at Les Orres and Montgenevre, Serre Chevalier 145 cm). Some light snow is expected in the next few days but no more heavy falls for a while.
Italian ski areas have been further building their base depths over the past seven days with Courmayeur adding 40cm and Cervinia 50cm of new snow while Livigno has a foot (30cm).
The small ski area of San Domenico di Varzo currently has the country’s deepest snow with 320cm followed by the Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale in the Dolomites with 2.7m (nine feet) and Cervinia with 2.6m (just under nine feet!).
Switzerland has been seeing lots of fresh snow in the past few days – once again, building on already big base depths. Yesterday there were a dozen Swiss powder alarms with resorts reporting at least 20cm of new snow in 34 hours; yesterday there have been more with falls of up to 50cm including 30cm for Gstaad and Grindelwald. The best Swiss snow depth can be found in Engelberg with 460cm, Laax has 400cm and Saas Fee 360cm (12 feet). In the last seven days there’s been 138cm at Crans Montana, 130cm at Laax and 115cm in Lötschental.
Snow bases remain reasonable to good at most areas in the Pyrenees but there has not been much fresh snow in January so a top up would be useful. Resorts in Andorra and Spain report 60-150cm bases. In France there’s 130cm in Piau Engaly, Peyragudes 90cm and 70cm in Saint Lary but conditions remain satisfactory even if a snowfall of about 20 to 30 cm would be welcome at bottom of ski areas where the snow is still sometimes limited.
Most resorts in Scandinavia are in good shape with good snow cover. Røldal in Norway is claiming the deepest snow in the region with 340cm (11.3 feet) while Voss has 290cm (nearly 10 feet).
Conditions are looking much better in Scotland than a week ago following a week of snowfall at most areas. However the situation remains changeable as it has all winter with freeze-thaw patterns and the seemingly endless arrival of strong o gale force winds every few days.
On the west Coast Glencoe is largely open and Nevis range has more than 500m of skiable vertical but strong winds and warming temperatures are making snow on the upper mountain softer and wetter and runs on the lower mountain are likely to be thin and narrow. For beginners and novices the Alpha lift is running to Tower 2 for the artificial slope and patches of snow on the trainer tow. Back Corrie has been off piste and not patrolled. On the east most runs at The Lecht are complete. Cairngorm can not quite yet offer top-to-bottom skiing but the route from the Top Station to the mid station is now complete again and offering great snow sports. The bottom zig is still a bit sketchy, with the best route for lower abilities being from the mid zig to the Gunbarrel. Glenshee has a 300m vertical and recent snow has improved the runs with good skiing/boarding to be had on those that are open. Cairnwell and the Butcharts Tows are complete with fresh snow on a hard packed base. Other runs are thin in places.
Western Canada continues to report great conditions and there seems to be no end to the snowfall with Kicking horse in BC reporting another foot (30cm) today already. Fellow BC resort Revelstoke has now achieved a 209cm (7 foot) base with 40cm of snowfall over the weekend and a total of 68cm in the last seven days. The resort says it`s still snowing heavily down to the base with a big snowfall in the forecast for tonight plus more snow on the way this weekend
After a weird two month snow droughtin the USA, the first real storms of winter have already left a big impression on California's Mammoth Mountain and Lake Tahoe ski areas.
Snow started flying on Friday and as of 8am Monday morning, Mammoth had picked up four feet / 1.3m of snow and more is expected over the next couple of days. In Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort has received two to three feet / 1m of snow since last week and is expecting additional snow over the next few days, and in Northstar California at the top of the summit four feet / 1.3m of snow has fallen in the last week. Other resorts around Tahoe also reported big accumulations with Squaw Valley and Alpine meadows claiming up to 1.8m (six feet) fell.
At over 10,000 feet / 3,000m, Heavenly is Lake Tahoe's highest resort and they are currently operating 24 of 30 lifts, accessing 30 trails and more than 19 miles of terrain, and anticipate being able to open more terrain soon. In Northstar, they have 15 lifts open and 57 trails open. In both resorts, the natural snow has added nicely to the existing machine-made coverage, making for excellent conditions. The much needed powder will allow Mammoth to open all lifts and terrain by the end of this week.

Swatch Freeride World Tour: Super Smoothy in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

2012-01-24T10:21:00.006+01:00

Winning a men's ski contest on the Swatch Freeride World Tour deserves a place on the list of "hardest things to do in sport". Sam Smoothy from New Zealand who has battled through qualifiers and injuries over the last few seasons proved that persistence always pays off and hit the top rung of the podium for the first time. In second place was one of the tour's most consistent performers Reine Barkered from Sweden and in third, tour newcomer Oakley White Allen from the USA who following his second place finish in Revelstoke will go to the top of men's ski rankings. Smoothy chose the lookers left line taken by a number of riders and looked to be fighting for a place on the podium with his control and fluidity in the upper face. Then he took a slightly different angle into the final section and dropped an absolute beauty of a cliff - longer, cleaner, sweeter than his rivals. Smoothy was almost speechless afterwards: "Winning here in the home of Freeriding, it doesn't get better, it's amazing".
The men's snowboard contest saw local Chamonix rider Douds Charlet take first place followed by tour newcomer Ralph Backstrom from the USA and another French rider Aurelien Routens in third. Rock solid in Revelstoke, Douds was again on the top of his game taking a creative line on the extreme lookers right of the face. He was smooth and clean throughout, a text book Freeride lesson for any youngsters with world tour ambitions. "It's great to win at home in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. I threw a front side 360 at the top and dropped four cliffs overall. I tried to stay fast and clean and I think I achieved that".
American Jackie Paaso who delighted everyone with one of her trademark cliff jumps in the lower part of the face took first place in the women's ski . Behind Jackie in second was Angel Collinson also from the USA and who seems to podium at every tour stop. In third, making it a great day for New Zealand riders, was Janina Kuzma. After her win, Jacky said: "I chose a line that suited my style and everything went to plan with two airs high in the face and another towards the end. I'm really looking forward to the next contest in Norway".
The women's snowboard contest was won by US rider Maria Debari: "I was not expecting to win at all although I did ride my chosen line". In second was French rider Margot Rozies who has started the season in great form and in third was another American rider Shannan Yates.
The Swatch Freeride World Tour now moves on to Italy with a quick transit to Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc for the third men's ski and snowboard contest of the season.

Sam Smoothy Winning Line:

OnTheSnow Acquires Skiinfo

2012-01-20T09:19:00.004+01:00

Mountain News Corporation, publisher of OnTheSnow, the world's most visited snow sports online and mobile platform, is expanding its reach with the acquisition of Skiinfo, Europe’s most visited snow sports website.
This acquisition will increase Mountain News Corporation's reach in key European ski markets and creates a total audience of more than 23 million unique visitors per year. The combined companies will operate in 14 languages and 20 countries.
Established in 1996 in Oslo, Norway as a snow reporting website, Skiinfo.com expanded over the years adding offices in Germany, France, Italy and Slovakia, and has become the top ranked source for snow reports and snow sports information in Europe with an audience of 11 million unique users in 2011.
"This acquisition allows us to combine the dominant snow sports leader in North America with the leader in Europe to create the first ever, truly global snow sports media platform", said Chad Dyer, global managing director of Mountain News Corporation. "With a combined 23 million unique visits per year, we will be able to offer advertisers access to skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts around the world -- one of the most coveted demographics in media. The combined companies also will be able to offer skiers and riders the most comprehensive global snow sports content and most robust worldwide snow reports".
According to Dyer, with the combination of OnTheSnow and Skiinfo's snow reports, the new company will provide snow reports to more than 1,500 worldwide websites and international media companies, and will provide advertisers with an expanded reach and capabilities to reach skiers on a global scale.
The acquisition remains subject to certain conditions and is expected to close on February 1st, 2012.
Mountain News Corporation (MNC), a subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN), is the publisher of OnTheSnow & the Ski Report mobile applications. MNC, is also a top provider of snow reports to more than 1,500 web sites throughout the world, including approximately 400 news media websites. In addition to its snow reports and website, OnTheSnow.com publishes and delivers a weekly e-mail newsletter to its database of more than 300,000 subscribers worldwide. MNC also operates MountainGetaway.com, the year-round headquarters for information regarding popular mountain resort communities and regions in the summer months.

Snowfall Returns To USA After A Calm Week In The Alps

2012-01-19T17:24:00.005+01:00

After the huge snowfalls of the first 10 days of January conditions have been much calmer in the Alps over the past week. The USA, where key states have been needing snow, have seen the first substantial falls for over a month in Colorado, Utah and new England though.
Heavy snow, possibly disruptive in places is expected in the next few days however with Western North America and France/Switzerland expected to get the biggest falls – potentially huge 1m+ accumulations – although most other areas will see fresh snow too.
Big falls have already been reported in the past 72 hours with parts of Hokkaido in Japan, already known as one of the snowiest places on earth, managing to clock up their greatest ever 48 hour accumulations and Western Canada – which has had a great snowy season so far anyway, seeing more big falls of up to 75cm in 24 hours. Some resorts there have now received around 6m/20 feet of snow so far this winter.
Conditions have calmed down in Austria after the huge snowfalls in the first week of January led to road closures and cut off resorts by road and rail. During the last week some resorts got up to 40cm fresh snow however keeping slopes in good shape. Obertauern and Zauchensee report 40cm for the last seven day while Fieberbrunn, Zillertal and St Johann in Tirol got 20cm each. Thanks to all the early January snow there are still huge snow depths in Austrian ski resorts. The deepest can be found in St Anton at Arlberg with 440cm (nearly 15 feet). Zugspitzplatt Ehrwald has 370cm and Lech Zurs at Arlberg has 350cm. There are ten other resorts with a snow depth over three meters (ten feet). Other Austrian news is that the Fun Park in Solden has opened for this season but the off piste avalanche risk is high at several resorts, including Mayrhofen (degree 4 of 5). Towards the end of the week it will be getting warmer in Austria and the snowline will rise to above 1000m. Fresh snowfalls are expected for Saturday afternoon.
For the second consecutive week, French ski resorts are enjoying sunny days and temperatures become colder. This lull has allowed stations to overcome the chaotic situation encountered earlier this year (caused by heavy snow). Everything is now back to normal and the ski conditions are still outstanding on the northern Alps (over three metres/10 feet of snow at the top of Chamonix’s slopes), excellent in the Southern Alps (150cm/five feet in Montgenevre and Les Orres), very good over the Pyrenees (150cm/five feet in Piau Engaly), satisfying in the Jura (60cm/two feet Jura Mountains), but just average in the Massif Central (10 to 60cm) and the Vosges (30 to 60cm depending on the stations). The last significant snowfall occurred more than 10 days ago now but the lull could be only short-lived as the forecast is for a return to snowy weather from Wednesday night with new snowfall continuing through the weekend. All mountain areas should benefit these snowfall (and this is a good news) but the biggest falls are, once again, expected for the northern Alps. The forecasts need to be finalised but could again exceed a metre of new snow in some ski resorts (La Clusaz, Avoriaz ...). "Let it be said, the snow is back in France!" says Skiinfo France’s Stéphane Giraud.
In common with the rest of Europe, there’s been little or no new snowfall in Italy in the past week. However base depths are very healthy. In most areas after the previous large accumulations. The deepest, just, is at Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the West of the country with 2.8m (over nine feet), with Arabba in the Dolomites on the Eastern side only 2cm (less than an inch) behind at 278cm.
The past few days have been sunny in Switzerland. Skiers and boarders benefitted from the big falls a week ago. Snow depths are excellent and skiers are enjoying the good conditions at the moment. On Thursday and Friday new snowfall is expected, especially in the northern Alps. The best snow depth can be found in Lungern-Schönbüel with 450 cm, followed by Engelberg with 385cm and Gstaad Glacier 3000 with 380 cm. However despite the great snow condition the ice is too thin at St Moritz where the 28th Polo World Cup on Snow 2012 on the resort’s famous frozen lake cannot go ahead for the first time in the tournament’s 28-year history.
Conditions remain good across most of the Pyrenees although there’s been little fresh snowfall in the past week. Baqueira – Beret in Spain has the deepest snow base at up to 160cm, followed by Piau Engaly on the French side with 150cm. Vallnord in Andorra in the centre is in third place with 140cm and Cauterets, back in France, has a 130cm base.
It’s snowy in Scandinavia with Strandafjellet in Norway receiving some of the biggest snowfalls in the world over the past 7 days with 80cm. Most of the regions larger resorts are now sitting on healthy base depths with Roldal on top with 290cm (nearly 10 feet).
Western Canada’s excellent season continues and has even moved up a gear with Fernie in British Columbia reporting 75cm (30 inches) of new snow in the past 24 hours on an already healthy base. It’s a similar story across the province: "After an incredible snowfall over the past weekend with close to 50cm of snow falling in 48hrs, Revelstoke Mountain Resort boasts amazing snow conditions nearing a 200cm base and 550cm of snowfall to date", said a resort statement. A heavy snow cycle is forecast to return this weekend with great skiing temperatures throughout the week. Recent snowfalls have developed the lower mountain, with runs below Mid-Mountain Lodge officially opening at Revelstopke for the first time yesterday. Skiers and snowboarders can now enjoy the Most Vertical in North America with 5620’ vertical feet of skiing fun!
Western US is bracing for a dramatic change to its lacklustre winter 2011-12 with big snowfalls and temperatures up to 20 degrees below average as new fronts move in to the region, severe weather warnings are in place. If this all happens as predicted it should, once the extreme weather has moved on, transform the ski areas in California that have been suffering since early December from warm weather and little or no natural snow. Conditions have already picked up in the major ski states of Utah and particularly Colorado which issued powder alarms for over 8 inches (20cm) of fresh snow and in some cases as much as a foot (30cm) in 24 hours over Monday/Tuesday this week. Beneficiaries included Vail and Beaver Creek. The snow has been good all season in some parts of the US and Alaska, Washington State and Wyoming in the North West of the country have also been reporting more heavy snow as they have for most of the winter. Eaglecrest in Alaska has the country’s deepest snow at 376cm (12.5 feet) while Mt Baker in Washington State, the famed snowiest-resort-in-the-world is not far behind with 368cm. Conditions have picked up a great deal in recent weeks on the East Coast too, although snowfall there at the end of last week has now eased, many resorts, particularly in Vermont, benefitted from several feet of snow.

Ice On Tour: Over 100 winners to gather in Saas-Fee

2012-01-17T12:36:00.006+01:00

In 2012 Ice On Tour, including the 13th Ice Climbing World Cup to take place in Saas-Fee, will once again provide both spectators and contestants with thrilling competition and wild parties until next Saturday.
This January the renowned ice-climbing competitions will draw athletes and fans from all over the world. This year, the organisers are again expecting over 100 professional climbers to compete in the Lead and Speed disciplines. The athletes will travel from all over Europe, as well as from Azerbaijan, Iran and Korea. Also expected are lots of Russian climbers, who always dominate the Speed events and who regularly achieve top rankings in the Lead events, too. As an Ice Climbing World Cup event is taking place in France for the first time this season (February, Champagny en Vanoise), we will probably see a greater number of French athletes getting involved in the sport, too. Participants from a total of over 20 countries are expected to show off their skills on the 40-metre-high ice wall located deep in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park.
After last year’s changeover in the Swiss ice climbing scene, when young talent like Aufdenblatten, Feller and co. slipped in to take the places of the old guard leaving the scene, it will be interesting to see how the Swiss fare among this year’s strong and diverse field of competitors.
The organisers have found a great solution for all those who are not able to travel to the heart of the action in 2012. They can follow all the exciting ice climbing action in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park via a live video stream. The link to the live stream will only be active during the events and is posted on the official Ice Climbing World Cup website.

Program for the next days:

18.01.: Ice Night-Time Ski-Touring Race (Swiss Cup), Saas-Fee

20.01.: Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup, European & Swiss Masters, Saas-Fee Ice Climbing Party

21.01.: Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup, European & Swiss Masters, Saas-Fee
Ice Climbing Party

Ice on Tour: A week of action, sport and parties

2012-01-14T10:00:00.008+01:00

From 14 to 21 January 2012, ice-climbing and ski-touring freaks from across the globe will once again flock to Saas-Fee. Again "Ice on Tour" will take place in the glacier village, a week-long
programme of action-packed sporting events and legendary iceclimbing parties in the multi-storey car park.
This January the renowned ice-climbing competitions will draw athletes and fans from all over the world. The decision to create an exciting events programme to accompany the Ice Climbing World Cup was made in 2010 – and it has proved to be a very good idea. In 2012 Ice On Tour, including the 13th Ice Climbing World Cup to take place in Saas-Fee, will once again provide both spectators and contestants with thrilling competition and wild parties right through from Saturday to Saturday.
This year’s Ice on Tour week kicks off with the SAC Swiss Ice Climbing Youth Swiss Masters in Saas-Grund. Climbers will compete in two categories (U22 and U18) in the disciplines Lead and Speed climbing. Everyone is welcome to join in, although a certain degree of ice-climbing experience is recommended.
There will also be musical entertainment and a bar serving drinks and light snacks to ensure the event has a party atmosphere.
Exciting night-time ski-touring races will take place on the Wednesday, when around 150 athletes will compete in three different disciplines. All races will start and finish on the village square in Saas-Fee. The "Race" discipline is aimed at those looking for a real sporting challenge; the "Fun" discipline will appeal to those who take the Olympic approach and believe it’s the taking part that counts; while in the "Kids" category keen youngsters can take on their own special course equipped with snowshoes. Before, during and after the races, spectators can enjoy hot drinks, Swiss raclette and "Icespaghetti" on the village square.
Registration for the Ice Climbing World Cup takes place on the Thursday and, in accordance with tradition, all participating athletes are invited to come and gather their strength at a big pasta party.
The action starts in earnest on the Friday and Saturday, when the spectacular ice-climbing competitions get underway on the 30-metre ice wall in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park – with up to 3,000 spectators. Afterwards, if previous years are anything to go by, there’ll be no time for resting as the hugely popular ice climbing parties are known to continue until morning!B
Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup; European and Swiss Masters
The ice-climbing competitions in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park are a great opportunity to see top Swiss and international athletes in action and to experience the party spirit of the ice-climbing scene. The competitions take place in a distinctive, one-of-a-kind location: Saas-Fee’s ten-storey car park.
With its spiral access ramp, this indoor venue provides spectators with shelter from the elements and an ideal vantage point to watch the action. Each year some 3,000 spectators get close enough to the climbers to see almost every detail of their ice axes and gripping fingers. Deep down at the bottom is the party zone where guests can let their hair down, hit the dance floor and celebrate the climber’s amazing performances. To make sure no one misses out on any of the sensational action on the ice wall, the climbs are also shown on various large and small screens throughout the venue.
The disciplines: Lead and Speed
In Lead climbing, competitors have to master a long, difficult and unfamiliar route in a given amount of time. Routes can be anything up to 35 metres in height. Besides the ice wall itself, climbers must contend with obstacles such as overhangs, hanging ice blocks and tricky rock sections. Ice climbers consider this discipline the ultimate challenge. The winner is the competitor who covers the greatest distance in the allotted time. One way of measuring
this is by counting the number of carabiners that the climbers manage to clip the rope through.
As its name suggests, the competition’s second discipline is all about speed. As soon as the starting barrier falls, the competitors leap onto the 15-metre vertical wall of ice and scramble to the top at a breath-taking pace – just like Spiderman! Top athletes can complete the course in an incredible 13 seconds. In 2012 this discipline will be run in parallel for the first time.
A legendary party atmosphere
When night falls, the ice-climbing parties get going in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park, ten floors below ground level at the foot of the competition ice wall. These parties have become the stuff of legend for the spectacular performances given by the pros that attend. Ice-climbing holds are fixed to the ceiling of the party zone especially for these shows. As the party gets later and crazier, more and more climbers start lining up for another opportunity to show off their prowess. Dangling upside down, they make their way across this unique course, once again reminding us of Spiderman. The spectators, who prefer to keep their feet firmly on the ground, look on in incredulity as the climbers appear to stick to the ceiling like glue. Alongside the main party zone, which pumps out the latest chart and club hits, the Bacardi Bar offers the ultimate après-ski party atmosphere. For those who need to come down a little, the heated food tent with its wide variety of cuisine is a great alternative – as is the tavern, which serves a selection of fine
Valais wines.

Program 2012
14.01.: SAC Ice Climbing Youth Swiss Masters, Saas-Grund
18.01.: Ice Night-Time Ski-Touring Race (Swiss Cup), Saas-Fee
20.01.: Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup, European & Swiss Masters, Saas-Fee Ice Climbing Party
21.01.: Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup, European & Swiss Masters, Saas-Fee Ice Climbing Party

North Americans Dominate the Swatch Freeride and Freeskiing World Tour Revelstoke 2012

2012-01-12T18:05:00.004+01:00

In a growing collaboration between the Swatch Freeride World Tour, the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding which brought together one of the strongest rider fields ever assembled, North Americans dominated both the ski and snowboard competitions. With its vast ski and snowboard options, warm hospitality and consistent annual snowfall, few destinations in North America can rival Revelstoke - all the signs point to Revelstoke becoming a mainstay on the Freeride World Tour.
Ski Contest - Results
On what could become an iconic competition face on the Freeride World Tour, the North Americans swept the podium in both men's and women's ski competitions.
A perfect bluebird day in deep pow on the giant Mac Daddy face in the heart of the Revelstoke back country - it was a classic big mountain Freeride competition. Leading after day 1, Canadian Kye Petersen tightened his grip on the field with an effortless looking ride on this steep and highly exposed venue. Clean, crisp and balanced throughout Kye's run had a ominous ring to it. If he maintains this level, the 21-year old Canadian is clearly going to be very difficult to beat this year. Kye remarked: "I just wanted to get to the bottom and stay on my feet. This is the best a competition can be, with the best skiers from North America and Europe, I’m excited to come out on top". Second place went to US rider Oakley White Allen who impressed the judges with his super fluid line. With a giant smile on his face White-Allen stated: "I followed my same approach from day one and that was to ski a line that is fun to ski, I think that comes out in your body language so that’s what I did today". Rounding out the top three was Drew Tabke who weaved his way across the technical face jumping and stomping almost non-stop in the lower section.
French riders Adrien Coirier and Jeremy Prevost just missed out on the podium finishing 4th and 5th respectively. Germany's Basti Hannemann continued his good early season form with another solid performance finishing in 9th position. Other leading European contenders Aurelien Ducroz and Samuel Anthamatten both crashed out attempting huge drops.
In the women's contest Angel Collinson proved again what a truly world class performer she is. Absolutely rock solid on the highly exposed top section of the face, balanced and fluid in the technical sections she finished her run with a fully stomped cliff. Freeride World Tour runner-up in 2011, Angel has already put her marker firmly in the snow for 2012. "My day was already made when I woke up to bluebird skies this morning. I was really excited to ski that awesome face with tons of options and I felt I had a strong run today,” said Collinson. In second place was Crystal Wright who hit one of the biggest drops of the day for the ladies and completing the US 1,2 3 was comeback kid Jesse McMillan who straight-lined the bottom section.
Germany's Pia Widmesser was Europe's top placed female rider in 5th position and looks set for a strong season.
Presented to the winners were Howitzer Shell trophies, courtesy of Swatch. These awards represent shells used in avalanche control work-necessary to ski a venue like the “Mac Daddy”.
Snowboard Contest - Results
The "Mackenzie Face" played host to the world’s best big mountain snowboarders in a one-run winner takes all contest.
American Ralph Backstrom earned the highest score of the day, with a 92.67 out of a possible 100 points. On the notoriously challenging "Mac Face", Backstrom was aggressive from the outset, starting with a very technical entrance and finishing with a solid double cliff drop. Backstrom said: "I stayed on my feet, I went really fast, pretty fluid, I kind of white-roomed myself once or twice. My line had some nice features. I am really stoked – we had really good snow".
In second place was Jonathan "Douds" Charlet from Chamonix. The French snowboarder stomped three cliffs with his fast and fluid style, earning a score of 91.67. After his run Douds said: "I am very happy. I changed my line at the last moment, popped a big cliff on the right, it was much bigger than I thought, nice landing – really good powder". Rounding out the Men’s podium was US rider Blair Habenicht with a score of 90.00.
Of the six women invited to compete, Maria DeBari topped the talented field with a score of 80.67; twenty-five points ahead of the next competitor. Honing her skills on Mt. Baker’s big mountain lines, DeBari chose a smart line, allowing her to ride fast and flawlessly down the steep face. Maria explained: "I rode that skier’s right panel up against the cliff because it looked like the coolest thing when I was looking at it".
Finishing second was France's Margot Rozies "I was really nervous up there, because I was the first to drop in and it is my first Freeride World Tour Competition. The snow was really sluffy and I had to wait a bit before I could jump, but it was really exciting and I had a great run". In third place was American Shannan Yates, with a score of 43.33.
The Swatch Freeride World Tour now moves on to the Freeride Mecca of Chamonix Mont-Blanc for the weekend of 21-22 January. With heavy early season snowfalls in Europe and the Mont Blanc as a back-drop the scene is well and truly set for another great competition.

A Big Contest Day One for North American Riders in Revelstoke

2012-01-07T09:36:00.005+01:00

With snow falling and a fully loaded rider field, the scene was set for a highly competitive first day of the 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour. The North Bowl in Revelstoke Mountain Resort, BC, Canada provided the world's best riders with their first major challenge of the season.
Much was expected from the North Americans and they didn't disappoint. In the men's skiing Canadian Kye Petersen leads going into Sunday's Final with Americans Drew Tabke and Oakley-White-Allen just in behind. Petersen at just 21 years old is already a Freeride icon. He started with a double-cliff, skied fast and aggressively through the open bowl area and landed two huge 360's towards the end of his run. "I had a solid run, I landed everything and I hit the line I wanted to hit, I added a few little things at the bottom and pulled it off. I felt good about it", said Kye.
European riders struggled to shine with only Germany's Sebastian Hannemann (video attached) in the top ten: "I jumped a big double, probably the biggest double I have ever jumped. The landing was not totally clean but I didn’t crash and I am happy with my run", explained Basti.
Reigning Freeride World Champion Aurelien Ducroz sits back in 20th place. The top 25 men quality for Sunday's Final.
The story was similar for the women, a North American one, two, three. Going into Sunday's final on top will be American Ashley Maxfield with Canadian Nicole Derksen in 2nd place and Angel Collinson third. An elated Ashley said: "On my run I chose a line I have been eyeing the last few days. When I sent it off the first drop I went bigger than I thought but as soon as I landed on the second pillow I knew it was easy from there on out. I had so much fun skiing the fresh snow and when I went off my last air I just thought have fun. It was one of my favourite competition runs I have ever had".
Leading European riders Eva Walkner and Lorraine Huber both fell effectively taking them of contention.
The 2012 Swatch Freeride and Freeskiing World Tour at Revelstoke Mountain Resort continues Saturday with Snowboarders from The Swatch Freeride World Tour and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding, competing on Mac Face for a one-run final. The Final day of the Swatch Freeskiing and Freeride World Tour is currently scheduled for Sunday, January 8.

Yet Another Huge Snowfalls In The Alps, More Coming

2012-01-05T15:09:00.004+01:00

After a largely sunny Christmas week in the Alps, another spate of huge snowfalls occurred over New Years Eve and New Years Day with some resorts receiving a metre of fresh snow during the 48 hour period. Snowfall has slowed a little now but resorts are still reporting 20-30cm falls across Europe and bigger falls are expected again towards the end of the week.
This is clearly good news for snow depths for the rest of the season with many areas that had next to no snow this time a month ago now reporting base depths at the average they’d normally be at around mid-February in an average year, if such a thing exists.
In the short term however the abundant snow has caused operational problems with slopes closed due to high avalanche danger and ski resort access made difficult with snow and ice on roads.
Elsewhere in Europe there has been more heavy snow in parts of Scandinavia and Scotland’s five ski areas have re-opened following fresh snowfall after earlier snow had thawed away in double digit temperatures over Christmas.
In the USA conditions remain ‘challenging’ on both east and west coasts with limited snow and warm temperatures making snowmaking difficult, but colder weather has arrived in the East at least now improving things.
There have been good snowfalls across Austria. In Nassfeld Hermagor around 40cm was reported on Tuesday morning and all slopes are open in the resort. There were good snowfalls too in Silvretta Montafon (20cm) and Gargellen (15cm). The best Snow depth can be found at St Anton with 305cm where 255km of slopes are open. Snowfalls of up to 95cm (three feet) in total over the past week have been reported in Austrian ski resorts including at Silvretta Montafon 95cm, Zillertal 85cm, St. Anton 78cm, Sölden 71cm, Serfaus Fiss Ladis 65cm and Lech Zurs 55cm. Avalanche risk is high at the moment in Berwang, on the Pitztal Glacier and at Rifflsee.
The last week of 2011 was marked by heavy snowfall in the French Alps. In the past seven days it has, for example dropped 111cm (nearly four feet) of fresh snow at La Plagne, 100cm (3.3 feet) at Les Carroz and 92cm (three feet) at Le Grand Bornand. Snowfall has continued today (Wednesday 4 January) with 20cm reported by many resorts including Avoriaz and Val d’Isere. The snow depth measured at the top of the runs have already reached the kinds of levels they’re at by mid-February with 350cm (12 feet) at the top of the ski resort of Chamonix, 300 cm at the top of La Rosiere, 280 cm at the top of the slopes of La Clusaz ...
These heavy snowfall have also temporarily disrupted access to some ski resorts with roads closed to allow for avalanche control that threatened safety. However, the good snow news was somewhat disturbed by a sharp increase of temperatures and even a few drops of rain Saturday and Monday. This warmer weather was not enough to endanger the snow conditions in the Alps but is still quite disturbing for low-altitude ski resorts of Les Vosges, where there’s only 40cm of snow at the top of slopes and 15 small cm at the bottom of ski areas. The end of week should be accompanied by still more new snowfall on the northern Alps, but by rain showers on Jura, Vosges and Massif Central. The Southern Alps and the Pyrenees should remain stable weather. In Italy slopes are looking largely good with up to 70cm of snow reported in the past week, and 50cm at Courmayeur. Powder alarms of 20-25cm of new snow have been reported today in the Dolomites at Alta Badia and Brixen. Snow has fallen across the region above 900m above sea level for the second night in a row.
There have been more good snowfalls of over a metre during the last seven days in many Swiss ski resorts. Laax reports 140cm for the last week, Andermatt 120cm and Gstaad 110cm. However all slopes at Gstaad Glacier 3000 are reported to be closed at the moment due to the conditions but ready to re-open as soon as these improve. "As soon as the conditions are good enough we will (re)open the lifts and slopes. The snow conditions are good and we do our best to prepare further slopes. We already primed the slopes at the glacier and at Martisberg as good as possible", said a resort spokesperson. Snow depths have passed three metres (ten feet) in Lötschental 356cm, Engelberg 347cm, and Saas Fee (picture attached) 340cm.
Still more new snow is forecast in the next few days and it is expected to get very windy (winter storm) on Thursday with the snowline falling down to 600 metres.
Conditions remain good in most areas of the Pyrenees following healthy December snowfalls bringing bases depths up to a maximum of 1.8m (sis feet). Spain’s Baqueira–Beret reported 20cm of new snow overnight yesterday.
The powder alarms have kept arriving from resorts in Scandinavia and two resorts – Roldal and Voss in Norway, have reported q1.2m (four feet) of snow in the past seven days.
Bad weather in the UK has brought fresh snow to Scotland’s ski slopes and all five centres are open again, although strong winds continue to cause operational disruption. On the West coast at Nevis Range recent snowfall has greatly improved conditions with lots of fresh snow in deep drifts. A statement from Glencoe said, "Conditions on the mountain are much improved and we expect when the wind dies down to have most runs and lifts open". On the east Cairngorm above Aviemore is opening and at Glenshee the ongoing snow is filling in the runs - some of which are now complete with good cover of pisted fresh snow and there are ample nursery areas. The Lecht is also looking very white although the access road was closed on both sides yesterday and the hill was stormbound.
Western Canada continues to enjoy a great season in Alberta and British Columbia. "RED Mountain isn't short on the fluffy stuff heading into 2012. We've received some consistent snowfall - there has been new snow 7 out of the last 11 days", said a resort statement. "Our forecast calls for many more snow days in the next two weeks and all of our chairs are turning, Granite and Red are fully open, and we have 88/88 shred-able runs available on 100-percent natural snow". It’s a similar story at other resorts in the region, which is good news for the Freeride World Tour getting underway with Revelstoke where snow depths have reached 4.6m according to the organisers. Overall BC resorts are in the best shape of any part of North America right now.
US destination resorts in the West of the country are continuing to face some of the most challenging conditions for more than a decade with limited natural snow and weather too warm for snowmaking. Lake Tahoe in California is reported to be particularly hard hit. Conditions are reported to be picking up in New England and in other East Coasty areas however which had faced similar conditions but is now benefitting from a cold front bringing fresh snow and temperatures cold enough to fire up the huge snowmaking arsenal deployed there.
The best conditions in US are to be found in the North-Westerly states of Alaska and Washington.

Winter X Games Tignes 2012

2012-01-04T13:10:00.002+01:00

ESPN and CANAL + Events will collaborate to host and televise the third iteration of Winter X Games Tignes from March 14-16 at Tignes Ski and Snowboard resort in the French Alps. Winter X Games Tignes 2012 will welcome 150 world-class athletes competing in Snowboard and Skiing events. There will be eight different competitions for men and women over three days, including Ski SuperPipe, Snowboard SuperPipe, Ski Slopestyle, Snowboard Slopestyle as well as Snowmobile demonstrations. Winter X Games Tignes will bring together ESPN's world class X Games franchise with France's leading pay TV broadcaster and the local expertise of Tignes Resort.
In the US, the Winter X Games are an institution, seen by top sportsmen and women as the big one, the high point of the season. It's a colossal event, with some 54 million television viewers tuning in last year to watch a spellbinding show, broadcast in over 140 countries, from Israel to Australia, and from Africa to Asia. The annual Winter X Games is the premier winter action sports event in the world, featuring athletes from across the globe competing in three sports: Ski, Snowboard and Snowmobile. All Winter X Games competitions take place in Aspen-Snowmass, Colorado (USA), at the resort’s Buttermilk Mountain.Winter X Games Europe is a joint venture between ESPN and CANAL+. ESPN launched the first Winter X Games in 1997, two years after creating X Games in Rhode Island. Now, 15 years later, the winter event that united an entire generation is leaving American shores for the first time and choosing as its French partner and general coordinator of the new event, CANAL+ Events, to launch the Winter X Games Europe. CANAL+ Events, the CANAL+ Group's sports marketing and events subsidiary, and ESPN have set themselves the target of ensuring the European edition is as big as its American equivalent within three years.

The Swatch Freeride World Tour 2012 starts this week in Revelstoke, Canada

2012-01-03T17:14:00.003+01:00

The 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour starts this week in Revelstoke Mountain Resort, BC, Canada. With 15 feet (4.65 metres) of snow already on the ground, the world's best Freeskiers and Snowboarders, as well as fans, are in for a real treat.
Revelstoke Mountain Resort boasts North America's greatest vertical at 1,713 metres (5,620 ft). The resort also offers 3,121 acres of fall line skiing, high alpine bowls, 13 areas of graded terrain and phenomenal groomed terrain. Revelstoke Mountain Resort is also the only resort world-wide to offer lift, cat, heli and backcountry skiing from one village base.
This season's first event marks another landmark in the rapidly evolving relationship between the Swatch Freeride World Tour, the North American-based Subaru Freeskiing World Tour and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding. With leading athletes from all three tours present, The Swatch Freeride and Freeskiing World Tour 2012 in Revelstoke is bringing together the largest group of world-class riders ever assembled in one place.
"It’s really exciting that with swift and around-the-clock efforts from Mountain Sports International, Swatch Freeride World Tour, and Revelstoke Mountain Resort, the best big mountain skiers and snowboarders will drop into the remote town of Revelstoke to compete head-to-head on its rugged terrain", said MSI Event Director Bryan Barlow. "With the ample, well-bonded snowpack, new venue lineup, and stacked roster, it truly is the recipe for a next level big mountain event!".
From the Swatch Freeride World Tour, the 2011 men's ski champion from France Aurélien Ducroz, Swiss runner-up Samuel Anthamatten and Sweden's Reine Barkered are expected to be strong contenders. From the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour, current leader Guerlain Chicherit and American Josh Daiek are strong podium candidates.
The women’s freeski event sees the return of Angel Collinson from the US who in 2011 won the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour and finished second on the Freeride World Tour. Currently leading the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour after a first place finish in Las Leñas is Jackson Hole’s Crystal Wright.
2011 Freeride World Tour snowboard runner-up Flo Orley from Austria will start as one of the favorites in the men's snowboard competition and French/Swiss 2011 Freeride World Tour snowboard Champion Anne-Flore Marxer on the women's side.

Great Conditions In The Alps After Sun Re-appears

2011-12-28T16:06:00.007+01:00

After the snow deluge that blanketed Europe for much of December up to Christmas, the snowfall has eased to a more regular rate and conditions have stabilises. That is particularly good news in the French and parts of the Swiss Alps where the huge snowfalls led to travel problems and piste closures while lifts were dug out and runs made avalanche safe. However the off piste avalanche risk remains high at many resorts in Europe.
In Austria, Sölden has reported the most new snow in the past week with an impressive 1.1m (just under four feet) of new snow with Lech in the Arlberg in second place with 75cm (2.5 feet) which gives both well groomed trails and great off piste conditions. After four months the country’s deepest snow depths are no longer on the glaciers but now both Ehrwald and St Anton have reported a 2.3m (7.6 feet) base. There is a high (grade 4) danger of avalanches in Serfaus Fiss Ladis and a extensive danger (grade 3) in Berwang, Fieberbrunn, Pitztal and Seefeld. Skiers have to be extremely careful in off the slopes.
In France ski resorts have seen the most of the snow of anywhere in the world over the past few weeks and now have some of the deepest snow bases anywhere – which bodes well for the rest of the winter. The Chamonix Valley – which had to largely close its slopes for three days before Christmas due to operational difficulties and avalanche danger caused by the massive snowfalls, is now full open again and reporting the deepest snow in the country at 3.1m (10.3 feet). But conditions are great across the country.
Resorts in the Aosta Valley continue to dominate Italy’s snow stats with 2.3m (7.7 feet) at Cervinia and snow depths in Monterosa between 1.8 and 2.1m (6-7 feet). La Thule, Courmayeur and Pila are also among the top 10 in the country for snow depth. Snowfall has been limited over the past week with the most snow in the south of the country including more than 30cm in the Apennines. More than 1000km of piste are now open in the Dolomiti Superski region.
Switzerland had good snow falls over the last week. Laax reports 80cm for the last seven days, Gstaad 70cm and Verbier 125cm (4 feet). Over the Christmas Weekend many resorts got fresh snow around 10cm-20cm. Resorts like Engelberg, Lötschental, Gstaad and Verbier could offer a white Chrsitmas with good snowfalls. The best snow depth in Switzerand can be found in Saas Fee with 325cm (11 feet) at the mountain station. Second are Gstaad and Lötschental with 300cm each. Moderate snow falls can be expected for Friday and Saturday.
Conditions have improved dramatically in the Pyrenees a fortnight after resorts in the region could hardly open due to a lack of natural snowfall and temperatures too warm for snowmaking. Baqueira Beret in Spain has a 150cm (5 feet) base and Vallnord / Arcalís in Andorra has up to 140cm base depth and Grandvalira is getting closer to opening its full 205km of piste available this winter (the first time a resort in the Pyrenees has offered more than 200km of lift served terrain). On the French side of the border Cauterets is up to 130cm (4.3 feet) and Piau Engaly 120cm (4 feet).
There have been some good snowfalls in Scandinavia in the past 24 hours with the region’s largest resort, Are in Sweden, issuing a powder alarm today (Wednesday 28 December) for 20cm of snow in the past 24 hours and Oppdal in Norway also issuing an alarm for the same accumulation yesterday.
After the good start to Scotland’s winter in mid-December, the double digit Christmas temperatures have taken their toll and all five centres have had to cease winter sports operations as snow cover has thawed away. On the West Coast Glencoe and Nevis Range are expecting fresh snow later today (Wednesday 28 December) and Nevis range hopes to re-open on Thursday.
Conditions remain good in Western Canada where most resorts in Alberta and British Columbia are sitting on healthy bases of around 2 metres/7 feet and most are receiving a few centimetres of fresh cover to keep conditions top notch. Whistler issued a powder alarm for 20cm of new snow on “6 December. On the east Coast conditions are less spectacular but resorts in Quebec reported fresh snow for Christmas. On 22 December Mont-Sainte-Anne went from 6 open trails to 22 as a result, and the Canadian weather service is expecting 15cm of new snow to fall in the east over the next 24 hours.
US media continues to bemoan snow conditions that range from ‘below average’ in Colorado (But still perfectly good in most cases) to ‘very challenging’ at other areas. The Denver Post reports that snow depth averages in Colorado are the lowest this century - Vail, for instance, measured a meager 19 inches — compared with a Christmas Day average for the 2000s of nearly 33 inches.” That’s 48cm compared to 83cm. It’s a similar picture in most other regions except for Washington state and Alaska where snow depths are among the world’s greatest (as usual) at 3-4m. There has however been some good snowfalls in the past week with Stowe in Vermont on the East both reporting around 25cm in 24 hours on December 25th/26th dramatically improving conditions, particularly on the east.

Freeride World Tour announces new three-year partnership with Swatch and a new global Freeride rankings system

2011-12-22T15:41:00.004+01:00

With typical Swiss precision and impeccable timing, Swatch has signed a new three-year deal to become title partner of the Freeride World Tour. In a ground-breaking deal that will ensure six elite level Freeride events over the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons, Swatch confirms its commitment to the thriving action sports sector.
Swatch President Arlette-Elsa Emch says: "A passion for sport is one of the long-established pillars of the Swatch ethos. With this in mind, we are extremely proud to confirm our support of and commitment to the Freeride World Tour, as its title partner. During the next three years, working alongside the Freeride World Tour, Swatch wishes to build upon the existing excitement surrounding Action sports by increasing and promoting its significance globally, in order to enrich the experience of those participating in and those watching these amazing events".
The 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour season will now see events in Revelstoke (Canada) and Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc (Italy) adding to the already confirmed stops in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Røldal, Fieberbrunn and Verbier.
The Revelstoke event will also mark the next step in a rapidly evolving partnership between the Freeride World Tour organisers and American Freeskiing and Freeriding organiser Mountain Sports International (MSI). This evolution will include a co-organised event and a new global ranking system in which all results from the new Swatch Freeride World Tour, Freeride World Qualifiers, The North Face Masters of Snowboarding and Subaru Freeskiing World Tour will be included.
Freeride World Tour founder, Nicolas Hale-Woods says: "With strong support from Swatch, the 2012 season will be the next step in globalising the sport. We're really pleased to have a new event in Courmayeur-Mont -Blanc which presents us with a superb range of Freeride competition options and we're working ever closer with MSI to further align our events and activities in 2013". MSI founder and CEO Adam Comey says: "Combining the Freeskiing and Freeride competitions structures in the Americas with those in Europe is inevitable and we will continue to discuss and work together in order to create a common platform for riders and fans alike".
Revelstoke Mountain Resort Chief Operating Officer, Rod Kessler says: "Although Revelstoke Mountain Resort is expanding into the family market, our heart and soul is big mountain skiing and riding. The combination of the Swatch Freeride World Tour and the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour marks a historic event amongst the Snow Sports industry. Revelstoke Mountain Resort and the Revelstoke Accommodation Association is excited to host the world’s top big mountain ski and snowboard athletes in January 2012. Our goal is to deliver an unforgettable experience to both athletes and guests alike, while showcasing Revelstoke’s unparalleled terrain, snow conditions, and hospitality".
Gioachino Gobbi, president of the of the Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc Funivie says: "We are honored to host a stop of the Freeride World Tour, giving a chance to all Freeride lovers to see the best athletes in the world competing on our grounds! I would like to underline that all this is possible thanks to a joint operation and collaboration between Società delle Funivie, the association of hoteliers, the association of high mountain guides, the town of Courmayeur and the Regional regency of Valle d'Aosta".

Countdown to the 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour in Chamonix Mont-Blanc

2011-12-20T15:52:00.010+01:00

The date (21- 27 January) of the 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour (FWT) is coming closer and closer. The Tour will once again stop in the famous French resort of Chamonix, set against the beautiful backdrop of the Mont Blanc, and widely considered as the Mecca of Freeriding.
The 5th season of the FWT promises again to become a competition full of suspense with the world’s best freeriders competing for the prestigious Swatch Freeride World Tour Champion title. Some exciting new riders from the 2011 Freeride World Qualifiers (FWQ) will join this year’s competition.
One of them is Ludovic Guillot-Diat, who won the men's 2011 Freeride World Qualifiers (FWQ) snowboard tour and at the same time his ticket for the FWT 2012. He competed for many years in the French boarder cross team and is looking forward to his first season on the Tour: "I am fortunate this year to be part of the dozen riders who will compete for the title. My main goal for this season is to acquire a maximum of experience. For that I will compete on the FWT and the FWQ to learn as much as I can. The program will be intense. A very good season for me would be to finish in the top 3 of a FWT and a victory of a FWQ stop. My long-term goal is to to become one day Freeride World Champion. The Freeride World Tour until last year was for me a childhood dream, I am now a big kid who will fulfill his dream!".
Kevin Guri won the 2011 FWQ ski competition. He comes from a Freestyle background and will be, at just 22 years old, the youngest competitor on the Tour: "I will have a very busy winter with a lot of competitions and also some shootings for films. I am looking forward to be at the start of the Freeride World Tour with a lot of very famous riders. I hope to learn a lot from them but also to bring a new and young vision to the Freeride World Tour with freestyle tricks in the faces".
On the side of the women the tour welcomes back to the ski competition Lorraine Huber from Austria who was absent in 2011 and is ready for the new season: "Competing in the Freeride World Tour has been my major source of motivation to get my body in shape again this year. It was very tough coming back from chronic illness and a long-term knee injury but I'm feeling stronger than ever now. I haven't competed since 2010 and I don't want to put too much pressure on myself by setting my sights on a win, so my main goal is to enjoy the skiing and ski consistently".
The 2012 Freeride World Tour (FWT):

1. Freeride World Tour, Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2012 by Swatch
Dates: 21- 27 January; Location: Chamonix (FRA)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

2. Freeride World Tour, Røldal 2012 by Swatch
Dates: 25 February - 01 March; Location: Røldal (NOR)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

3. Freeride World Tour, Fieberbrunn 2012 by Swatch
Dates: 09 -15 March; Location: Fieberbrunn (AUT)
Disciplines: Men's Ski and Snowboard

4. Freeride World Tour, Verbier 2012 by Swatch
Dates: 24 March - 01 April; Location: Verbier (SUI)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

Freeride World Tour stops in Rosa Khutor-Sochi (Rus) and North America are to be confirmed.
The Freeride World Tour was launched in 2008 and after four full seasons is now recognized by riders, the ski industry and the media as the competitive pinnacle of the sport. In 2012, the best Freeriders - men, women, skiers and snowboarders - will once again visit some of the world’s most iconic ski resorts in pursuit of the world title. The Freeride World Tour is supported by Freeride World Qualifier events around the world where the same criteria for event organisation, choice of locations, security, contest format, and judging is applied.

Huge Snowfalls In The Alps

2011-12-15T14:44:00.009+01:00

Skiinfo reports the Alps, Scandinavia and Scotland are all looking ‘mostly good’ after moderate to large snowfalls since the start of December. Up to 1.5m (five feet) of snow has fallen in parts of the Alps over the last week, most Scandinavian resorts have had big falls too and all five Scottish ski areas expect to be open this weekend. It’s not 100% good news however as some low elevation ski area in the Alps still need more snow and the Pyrenees are still waiting for a good snowfall and/or consistent cold weather for snowmaking.
After the great snowfalls of November in North America there’s been much less fresh snow in December and no snow at all reported in the USA in the past week. This is not a problem at resorts in the West where many resorts were running well ahead of seasonal averages anyway, but in the East it has been challenging with resorts struggling to open just a few runs when it’s been cold enough to make snow at night.
Around half of all Austrian ski resorts are open now, the remainder should open before Christmas or in some cases, New Year. Resorts have reported excellent falls over the past week including over three feet at St. Anton (95 cm), and great accumulations too at Lech Zurs (80 cm) or Pitztal (79 cm). The best snow depths in the country can still can be found at the glaciers Molltaler (150 cm), Tux (140 cm) and Kaunertal (132 cm) but that’s less of an issue once the main resorts have begun to built up adequate bases as now.
It’s been a December so far for snow in the French Alps and it’s till snowing with resorts including Avoriaz and Meribel reporting 30cm+ of new snow in the past few days and much more is expected later this week too. 60 to 80cm more fresh snow should fall on Savoie, Haute Savoie and Isère from 1400m above sea level. In the Southern Alps, large high-altitude resorts (Serre Chevalier, Vars / Risoul, Montgenevre or Orcières ...) are also preparing to welcome guests and already offer substantial snow depth at the top of the slopes (155cm in Serre-Chevalier ...). However at lower altitudes, small villages resorts still lack snow to be able to open their slopes. However, new falls (from 25 to 40cm) are expected Thursday and Friday which should improve things markedly.
New snow in Italy too has helped further improve conditions there. On the West side of the north of the country there have been powder alarms for heavy snowfall at Courmayeur and the Aosta Valley while on the Eastern side almost a third of the Dolomiti Superski’s 1280km are now open and the Sellaronda opens on Saturday 17th December after 10-25 cm of new snow fell on Monday night. The 40km track around the Sella mountains and the region expects to have more than 500km of slopes open then. Everything is also ready for some of the biggest events of the season with the slopes described as, "perfectly prepared" for the Ski World Cup 2011. On Friday and Saturday, the athletes will fight for victory in Super-G and downhill in Val Gardena then on Sunday and Monday it’s the turn of technical disciplines with a GS and a slalom in Alta Badia.
It may be hard for some to believe that after being the subject of a mainstream media ‘There’s no snow in Switzerland’ reporting frenzy less than two weeks ago, Swiss resorts have been seeing the greatest snowfalls of all over the past week with the greatest falls reported by Gstaad and Elm of 1.35-1.45m over the past 7 days. In addition Les Marécottes reported 120 cm and Crans Montana 80 cm including 40cm on Sunday/Monday so the powder is fresh there. It is still snowing in Switzerland and yesterday (Tuesday) ski resorts reported fresh snow at Zinal (20 cm), Zermatt (15 cm) and Andermatt (10 cm). Saas-Fee has greatest snow depth in the Alps at 245cm (over 8 feet).
Conditions are less promising in the Pyrenees where there has still been little or no snow this autumn and temperatures were in double figures again yesterday afternoon. No French resort has been able to open (although Cauterets aims to open upper slopes this weekend) there yet and while the two Andorran ski areas are open, they have very limited terrain available with machine made snow. Grandvalira is closed at Soldeu but reports 10-35cm of cover at its highest sector in Pas de la Casa.
Conditions are good across most of Scandinavia now after the warm October and early November. In fact the resort of in Norway reports the most snowfall in Europe over the past seven days with 125cm (just over four feet), 50cm of it over the past 24 hours!.
All five Scottish ski areas were due to open after fresh snowfall last week but storm force winds damaged lifts and buildings at the two West Coast areas, Glencoe and Nevis Range, preventing them from joining Cairngorm, Glenshee and the Lecht on Saturday. 400 skiers and boarders were reported at Cairngorm making first turns of the season. Glencoe was ready to open still afrer hard work by staff but was thwarted by a wait having electrical supplies restored. All five centres hope to open this weekend, with fresh snow forecast, marking a second year when all five have been open before Christmas.
In Canada Western ski areas continue to be in great shape following the November snow deluge and as well as being well ahead of seasonal snowfall averages for this early in the season, have had fresh snowfalls too to freshen things up. In the East it’s been a more challenging start to the winter but most areas are now open with limited terrain. Tremblant and Mont Sainte Anne are both open, Mont Sutton opens this Saturday, December 17th but due to the warm weather temperatures of the last few days, only the Cascade trail and chairlift II west of the Family Zone will be open.
Resorts in North Western US like Mt Baker in Washington state and Eaglecrest in Alaska are still reporting among the world’s greatest snow depths at present (around 2.4m) but much of that dates back to November and resorts are mostly waiting fresh snow.
On the East coast the situation is not so good as there’s been little snow and temperatures too warm for snows making in some areas, although resort further north such as Sunday River in Maine have had some fresh snow. Attitash in New Hampshire, for example, one of New England’s leading ski areas, has been closed but reopened yesterday after snowmakers took advantage of the past couple of days' cold temperatures and dry humidity. Limited intermediate/advanced skiing is available and unfortunately more mild weather is expected later this week.
On the West Coast resorts are still benefitting from early season snowfall accumulations. Last season Mammoth in California was deluged with several metres of snow in the week before Christmas and they must be hoping for more big falls – currently base depths are 45-60cm. It’s currently sunny there but cold and there’s hope of fresh snow at the end of the week.

Share comments and ski photos with Skiinfo iPhone App

2011-12-11T11:51:00.003+01:00

A new version of the "Skiinfo Snow Report" was released for iPhone, and it is now possible to both take and share your photos which can then be displayed on Skiinfo and Facebook. Same goes with comments. If you are on the slopes, you can share your comments in the largest ski community in Europe to help fellow skiers find the best conditions.
When you are among the trees in deep powder above your knees, you may like to share your spot and powder snow with the whole world, but perhaps only to the 10 million Skiinfo users in Europe, or just to your best 500 friends on Facebook? Anyway, there might be times where you like to share your skiing or snowboarding experience with other, to tell its great, or take a picture and tell its not like you expected. You can either log a ski day and explain the conditions by a short comment, or you can upload a photo that says it all.
Through the new Skiinfo app for iPhone you are able to share, and at the same time let others know about true snow conditions in the various ski resorts in the world.It is valuable for other users to read about fresh snow, and for many of us it is pure porn to see fresh photos of powder skiing. Skiinfo is focusing more and more on direct updates from the users for the users, so it is possible to give fellow skiers to choose “Should I stay or should I go” with the right expectations in mind. Using Skiinfo app before you go skiing:

Check weather conditions in the 1600 ski resorts in Europe

See updated webcamsCheck out the snow report

See 3 day snowforecast and weatherforecast.

New:

Additional information from other users:

See new images taken by the last visitor

Read users' recent comments about the snow conditions

How to use the app while you are skiing:

From the cabin or hotel room you can check webcams and see if there is foggy / sunny on top of the mountains.

See trail maps and weather

Take a picture and share on Skiinfo and Facebook

Logg your ski day

Write a comment in the app and guide fellow skiers where to go

Huge Snowfalls In The Alps

2011-12-07T21:42:00.006+01:00

What a change in 48 hours!. The long awaited snowfalls in the Alps began at the weekend and have gathered pace with the biggest yet reported over the past 24 hours with some of the biggest accumulations including 60cm in 24 hours at Meribel and 70cm in 24 hours at both Les Arcs and St Anton.
Although the heavy snowfall in central Europe has taken the emphasis of the great start to North America’s season a little, conditions there, particularly in the west of Canada and the USA, remains excellent, with snow depths well above the (generally impressive anyway) norm for this time of the season.
In Northern Europe, some resorts in Scandinavia have in fact had more snow than either the best in the Alps or North America in the past week and at least two of Scotland’s ski areas plan to open at the weekend.
Parts of Austria have, like the rest of the Alps, been seeing big snowfalls in recent days, particularly the last 24 hours to 7 December, and the snow is still falling. Indeed St Anton reported one of the biggest 24 hour accumulations of 70cm (28 inches), its neighbour Lech reporting 40cm. The snow line has now dropped to between 400m – 800m during the week and around 20 ski resorts are open in Austria. Among the many fresh snow beneficiaries across Austria, those already open in the Tirol with powder to enjoy include Kühtai: 30 cm of fresh snow in the last three days; Ischgl: 20 cm of fresh snow last night, total snow height: 50 cm; Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis: 25 cm of fresh snow last night, total snow height: 40 cm; Obergurgl: 10 cm of fresh snow last night, total snow height: 70 cm; the Kaunertal glaicer: 25 cm of fresh snow last night, total snow height: 123cm and the Pitztal glacer: 13 cm of fresh snow last night, total snow height: 146cm – and the snow is still falling. Although the country’s highest snow depths are still on the glaciers, half a dozen of which have been open since September and October, resorts like Obertauern, Serfaus Fiss Ladis and Ischgl have prepared their slopes well and the latter has more than 80km (50 miles) of runs open.
There have been big snowfalls in the French Alps over the past 24 hours, building on significant falls that began earlier this week. Today (December 7) has so far seen about 10 to 20cm in South Alps (Serre-Chavalier, Orcières 1850, Praloup) and as much as 60cm at Méribel, 50cm at Les Saisies and 40cm at La Plagne/Paradiski (picture attached) all reported over the past 24 hours. "After a particularly dry and warm autumn which severely disrupted the opening of ski resorts, the snow has finally appeared on the Alps", said Stéphane Giraud of Skiinfo France. "Since Saturday, weather systems have started to stick over the country bringing with them valuable snowfalls: initially 20 to 30 cm at 1800m altitude, and locally from 50 to 80 cm around 2500m". Initially it was mainly the ski resorts in the Northern Alps and the Jura that benefitted from the snowfalls but they’ve now spread across much of France. While so far only eight ski areas were open, the new snowfall should allow about 30 ski resorts to quickly start their ski season: Alpe d'Huez will open its slopes on Thursday (December 8), Avoriaz, Chamonix, Flaine, Les Arcs, Vars, Risoul, Montgenevre and twenty other resorts will welcome skiers from Saturday (December 10). "The weather in the next days is expected to bring more new snowfall. From 30 to 60cm of fresh snow should fall over the next three days, enough to bring smiles to the managers of ski resorts", says Stéphane.
Resorts in western Italy have seen the most snow in the past week with Sestrie, clavier and Sauze d;’Oulx in the 2006 Olympic vebnues of the milky way recording 20cm accumulations.
Italy’s biggest ski area, the Dolomiti Superski, will see most of its dozen separate sectors opening at least some runs over the next 24 hours with 124 Lifts and 210km of slopes will be open in nine of Dolomiti Superski’s ski regions. The skiable slopes are in Alta Badia (30 of 130 km), Val Gardena/Alpe di Siusi (60 of 175 km), Cortina d’Ampezzo (5 of 140 km), Kronplatz (60 of 114 km), Val di Fassa/Carezza (10 of 133 km), Sextner Dolomiten/Alta Pusteria (20 of 77 km), Val di Fiemme/Obereggen (20 of 156 km), San Martino di Castrozza/Rolle-Pass (3 of 60 km)and the Trevalli (2 of 100 km). More lifts and slopes will open for the coming weekend of the 10th/11th December.
Switzerland has had its share of good snowfalls in the past week with Anzere topping the table with a metre of new snow. Saas Fee has had more than 60cm (two feet) and has one of the world’s deepest snow bases up on its glacier at around two metres. Conditions are looking increasingly good at most other Swiss resorts with ski areas in the Portes du Soleil issuing powder alarms for 20cm in 24 hours yesterday (6 Dec). Laax which is open this weekend reports it has had up to 25cm in the last two days with 75cms on the Vorab Glacier.
Norway has had the most snow in Europe since the start of the month and that’s now the most snow in the world as Strandfjellet became the first ski area outside North America to post the biggest weekly snowfall total - 1.4m – anywhere, over the past seven days, earlier this week.
The Lecht and Glencoe have announced they will open this weekend, starting the Scottish ski season. Nevis Range are yet to decide, Glenshee has not had enough snow and Cairngorm also say they need more snow – but it is still falling.
Conditions are superb in Western Canada which has had one of the best starts to the season of any region in the world. Typical is Marmot Basin in Alberta which has already received half of its average annual snowfall and there is still over five months of skiing and snowboarding remaining in the season. 200cm of snow had fallen up to December 5 compared to 111cm last year at the same time. Prime, mid-winter conditions exist throughout the entire ski area. Comments on Facebook and Twitter are rife with superlatives from Marmot skiers and snowboarders recounting glorious powder-filled days of perfect skiing; and it is not yet even mid-December.
Although the recent snowfall in the Alps has finally given some European balance to the epic early-season conditions in Western North America, Wolf Creek in Colorado is only 5cm off being able to report the most snow in the Western World over the past seven days with 1.35m (4.5 feet) accumulated. Alyeska in Alaska has had another 90cm (three feet) and Telluride, Colorado (USA) another foot (30cm).

Swiss ski resorts "must diversify to survive"

2011-12-07T13:08:00.005+01:00

Simon Bradley from swissinfo.ch reports swiss winter resorts must improve the quality of their offer and focus more on niche markets like mid- and budget-range holidaymakers to remain competitive. These are the main conclusions of a Credit Suisse report that compares 31 Swiss winter resorts. Already plagued by the strong franc, Swiss resorts are also struggling with the lack of snow caused by unusually warm, dry weather.
According to the comparative study published on Tuesday, Swiss resorts face major challenges for their long-term survival. "We realise that the competition, especially Austria, has not slept on its laurels like Switzerland. They have cheaper offers which on the whole better meet the needs of modern tourism", Sara Carnazzi Weber, head of Credit Suisse’s economic research department for French-speaking Switzerland, told swissinfo.ch. Between 1993 and 2011 the number of overnight stays increased by six per cent in Austrian resorts, compared with a 12 per cent drop in Swiss resorts to just under 13 million. Weber said the Swiss tourist industry, which contributes some five per cent to gross domestic product, had been penalised by the recent surge in the Swiss franc, which rose by more than 20 per cent against the euro earlier this year. Overnight stays from foreign visitors are forecast to drop by 4.2 per cent, according to the BAK Basel Economics research institute as tourists shun the Swiss Alps for cheaper destinations.
Promotional avalanche
But Weber pointed out that even when taking into account the recent exchange rate fluctuations, the prices in Swiss hotels and restaurants were on average 20 per cent higher than in France, Italy, Austria and Germany due to high personnel and product costs. To lure price-conscious skiers to the slopes and stop locals crossing the border, this season Swiss resorts have come up with an avalanche of promotional offers such as free lift passes, ten-per-cent-off holidays, discounted ski lessons and ski hire. Grächen in canton Valais is offering guests an exchange rate of SFr1.35 to the euro, compared with the current rate of SFr1.24. But cutting prices is not a viable option in the long run, said Weber. "In general Switzerland cannot compete with its neighbours on price so it has to focus on quality", she said.
While Swiss resorts were well positioned in the luxury, four- and five-star hotel segments where they enjoy an international reputation, they had much catching up to do in the mid- and budget segments, the authors stated. "Consumers who keep an eye on the prices are willing to make concessions on comfort but also want functional, clean and modern rooms and currently many cheaper Swiss hotels do not meet these criteria", they wrote. Those resorts targeting the middle classes should try to develop a clear niche, such as families or sport enthusiasts, and major investments are necessary, they continued. "In general there has been a rise in investments in new construction and transformations in the tourism sector in Switzerland after blockages after the 1990s", said Weber. "But they are mostly concentrated on big cities and less in Swiss resorts. Zermatt, for example, invests only SFr1,500 per bed which is much less than Zurich or Geneva". Veronique Kanel, spokeswoman for Switzerland Tourism, said she generally agreed with the report’s conclusions, "which support what we have been saying for some time, that is, focus on quality, cooperation between resorts and innovation". "Our big problem in Switzerland is the mid-range resorts which have not found their niche and don’t have sufficient resources to position themselves differently or invest in greater quality", she told swissinfo.ch.
In the study Zermatt and St Moritz came out on top in terms of best overall winter offers and the highest demand from tourists. Davos, Verbier, Crans Montana, Celerina/Schlarigna and Gstaad were also ranked highly in terms of the activities and accommodation they offered winter holidaymakers. The resorts that generated the most demand included Gstaad, Engelberg, Grindelwald, Sils im Engadin and Villars/Gryon.

Timeline Project: This is my winter (full movie english version)

2011-12-05T11:07:00.003+01:00

Ice or snow, you’ll find here Xavier de le Rue best sessions. "At this time of the year last season, with my friends Guido, Tero and Matthieu we’ve decided to create our own movie production company called TimeLine Film.
With the support of my partners we have released a web serie during the season. We’ve tried to document more than just the action and show people what it takes as effort, luck and commitment to get the best possible big mountain video part in TB20 from Standard Films. Although the snow conditions were terrible in Europe last winter we hoped all season long we could have enough unseen action and interesting backstage material to come up with a movie and have a chance to share our experience. Here it is, THIS IS MY WINTER !", Xv de le Rue.

Xavier de le Rue's Timeline Project: "TimeLine will get you behind the scenes access to exclusive footage of my season. You’ll discover what it takes to film a big mountain video part, to compete on the Freeride World Tour and what is happening during trips to Canada, Japan, Norway or Alaska. It will show you team efforts of passionate friends to seek the best lines and best snow and use the best mountains as our playground, Guido Perrini as filmer, Tero Repo as photographer and myself along with my friends".

THIS IS MY WINTER (full movie english) from TimeLine Film on Vimeo.

Unforgettable winter holidays in the Free Republic of Holidays Saas-Fee!

2011-12-02T22:23:00.005+01:00

Those who only associate Saas-Fee and the Saas Valley with skiing, snowboarding and après-ski are missing out. The resort offers a wide variety of other activities that make any winter break in the "Free Republic of Holidays" an unforgettable experience for the whole family.
Those longing for pure mountain air, bright blue skies and a snowy winter wonderland surrounded by lofty mountains will love the Saas Valley. Eighteen 4,000-metre peaks – some of the highest in Switzerland – encircle its four rustic mountain villages, and with sunny days 80 percent of the year, a 100- percent chance of snow in winter and the prospect of ascending 4,545 metres above everyday life, there’s no better place to go on holiday than the "Free Republic of Holidays". Skiers, snowboarders and Telemark skiers can whizz down over 140 km of slopes, while cross-country fans can explore the 26 km route between Saas-Balen, Saas-Grund and Saas-Almagell or glide along Saas- Fee’s 5 km route. But the Saas Valley has plenty more winter activities on offer, both on and off the slopes.
To give you an idea of just how much is on the activity and events calendar in Saas-Fee and the Saas Valley, here are some top tips for the coming winter.
Those who want to take some time out after their exertions on the pistes can enjoy a range of other winter activities. For adventure-seekers there are the sledging runs in Saas-Fee and Saas-Almagell and the 11 km sledging slope in Saas-Grund. Or how about racing down the Feeblitz toboggan run? Those who like even more action can try adrenaline-pumping activities like ice climbing or snowtubing, and sporty types can visit Bielen leisure centre for a swim or to play tennis or badminton. But the Saas Valley also offers plenty for those who are looking to take it easy. For example, guests can stroll along the well-signposted trails though the picturesque winter landscape – with or without snow shoes. The Saas Museum is well worth a visit too, thanks to its enchanting exhibits that bring the valley’s past to life. There is also a variety of wellness hotels where you can let go of all the stresses and strains of everyday life.
To ease the burden of holiday planning, the Saas Valley also offers numerous guided activities. The guided village tours are a great way to familiarise yourself with the resort. They also feature lots of interesting information about the history of the Saas Valley. During magical torch-lit walks through the snowy forests, visitors can enjoy views of the twinkling villages below, and wine-lovers can discover the fruits of Valais vineyards at various tastings.
Thrill-seekers will love the Gorge Alpine, where they can make their way from Saas-Fee to Saas-Grund via zip-lines, ladders, rope "vines" and suspension bridges, kept safe all the while by a mountain guide and via ferrata safety kit. The gorge is particularly impressive in winter when snow and icicles adorn its walls. The particularly bold can even cross the gorge by night. This extremely cool experience is followed by a warming mug of mulled wine and a cheese fondue.
If you’re not feeling quite that daring, you can enjoy a Nordic walking or snowshoe tour and leave your tracks in the snow on the sunny slopes of the Hannig.
Visitors to Saas-Fee and the Saas Valley can also look forward to a variety of concerts and events. Here are some of the highlights from this winter’s programme:

Ice Climbing World Cup/Ice on Tour, Saas-Fee (14-21 January 2012).

Also in 2012, the Ice Climbing World Cup will take place in the glacier village. The 30 meter high ice wall is located in the parking garage. In a unique atmosphere, guests will experience the world's best ice climbers. In addition, there will be exciting week-long competitions under the title Ice On Tour (incl. the Ice Climbing World Cup): Ice Climbing Youth Championship, nighttime ski touring race, a.m.

Glacier Bike Downhill, Saas-Fee (24 March 2012).

On the 24 April 2012 the spectacular Glacier Bike Downhill race will be held again in Saas-Fee. At the Glacier Bike Downhill the adrenalin in the glacier village Saas-Fee purely flows. The Downhill Mountainbiker go not like used on land or tar routes, but on ice and snow. On this unusual material, the riders have to master 1800m elevator. After the mass start on 3500m it approaches to the valley in a high speed.

Migros Grand Prix Final, Saas-Fee (30 March-01 April 2012).

Starts like Didier Cuche and Lara Gut in the biggest youth ski running of Europe! The biggest ski running of Europe for youths between 8 and 15 years offers an unforgettable experience on the ski run for every skier! Whether beginner or ski crack: Completely after the motto "the start is the aim" everyone is welcome to the Grand Prix Migros.

15th Schneegaudi at Kreuzboden, Saas-Grund (08 April 2012) .

One of the best parties of the year, surrounded by the mighty Saas Mountains. In the afternoon the keyword is FUN and at night it's PARTY!

30th Allalin Races, Saas-Fee, Saas-Fee (13-14 April 2012).

Ski & Snowboard: The Mittelallalin open downhill races are the highest races on a glacier in the world. Participants from all over Europe compete in various disciplines. On the 13 & 14 April 2012 the races take place again in the glacier village.

Big Snow Again Out West While Europe Battles To Open Slopes

2011-12-02T00:10:00.005+01:00

Resorts in Europe continue to struggle to provide adequate snow to be able to open and an increasing number are postponing their opening for the ski season. St Anton has decided to delay opening for at least a week, and the Skiwelt to the 15th December. It’s not all bad news as resorts in Scandinavia have reported up to 55cm of fresh snow in the past week, Zermatt says it has 117km of pistes open and a 1500m+ vertical on the Italian side and Ischgl spend €1m on snowmaking last week to create 81km of piste. Solden reported 24cm of fresh snow during the 24 hours to Wednesday, 30th November.
In Austria despite challenging conditions and some resorts having to delay their openings, others are managing to open on time, most notably Ischgl with its 81km (50 miles) of piste open for around 18,000 fans at the Roxette season opening concert at the weekend, nearly 15,000 of whom had taken to the slopes during the day. Further good news is the fresh snow reported at Solden and that Serfaus Fiss Ladis can start as planed at the 2nd December, with enough artificial snow the resort will be prepared for the first skiers. Nassfeld Hermagor is also optimistic to start next weekend. Snow machines are running all the time and the valley run is already prepared.Otherwise the country’s 8 or so glacier areas continue to offer good skiing. The Pitztal Glacier has the most with 1-1.55m but you can also ski now at Kaprun, Kaunertal, Tux, Dachstein, Molltal, Solden and Stubai and non-glacier Obergurgl has up to 60cm of snow cover.
Conditions remain very challenging in France with four areas now open, mostly with man made snow at high altitude, ranging in depth at up to 60cm. The options are Isola 2000, Tignes, Val Thorens and Val d’Isere.
Around 15 resorts are now open in Italy which continues to have one of the deepest snow bases in Europe with the Presana Glacier above Passo Tonale reporting a 2m base – deeper than anywhere else. Cervinia is also doing well with a 1.45m (nearly five foot) base and runs are open all the way down to Valtournenche – a vertical of over 1500m, the biggest in the Alps and one of the biggest in the world at present. Many of the country’s biggest resorts are now open like Bormio, Cervinia and Livigno are already open with 50cm bases. Many more ski areas including resorts in the Dolomiti Superski area are scheduled to open from this weekend onwards.
It remains largely glacier ski slopes that are open in Switzerland but Davos Klosters has now opened and has a free skiing offer up to Christmas Eve and a Facebook competition running too. Saas Fee, which has been open all summer and autumn, claims the deepest snow depth at 165cm, but Zermatt, Glacier 3000 (above Gstaad/Diablerets) and the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz in the Engadin are all open and the slopes of Laax are open at weekends. Samnaun opened with its linked partner resort Ischgl across the border last weekend too and has a 20cm base.
Sierra Nevada, Europe’s most southerly resort, was the first in Spain to open last weekend and reports a snow base of 50cm, made up partly of machine made snow and partly of 30cm (a foot) that fell in early November. Otherwise, after good early snowfall early this month the Pyrenees are facing the same challenging conditions as much of Europe. Grandvalira in Andorra has delayed opening planned this weekend. It says it has some snow built up on its pistes but wants to preserve and enhance it ready for more important dates in December when Spain has bank holidays.
Half a dozen resorts in Norway have reported at least 50cm of new snow in the past week, the most at Strandafjellet which says they’ve had 55cm. Coastal Voss has had 3-cm (a foot) in the past few days.
In Canada Sunshine ski area, one of the three Banff areas has had the most new snow in the country this week with 99cm whilst Lake Louise, venue for this week’s World Cup competitions, has had 66cm and further west in BC, Whistler is in the top five for snowfall this week with 75cm in seven days. Most other resorts in the region are now open or opening next weekends, some early including Fernie, Panorama and Revelstoke. Marmot Basin has opened their new quad chairlift. On the East Coast Mont Sainte Anne and Stoneham near Quebec City both opened at the weekend.
Conditions are great in the US– particularly the North West where Mt Baker in Washington state has reported 119cm (four feet) of snow in the past seven days, keeping up its reputation as one of the world’s snowiest resorts. Alyeska in Alaska, another resort with a reputation for big snow, has had 64cm (over two feet). In Colorado, Copper Mountain has become the first resort to open a Super Pipe. It’s not bad on the east coast either with heavy snowfalls at many areas, Cranmore in New Hampshire reporting the most with 60cm, nearby Bretton Woods has had 40cm.

Freeride World Tour Announces 2012 Event Schedule

2011-11-25T11:46:00.006+01:00

Supported by long-time partner Swatch, the Freeride World Tour enters its fifth season solidifying its position at the very top of competitive Freeriding. Alongside Chamonix Mont-Blanc will be Austria's best kept big mountain secret, Fieberbrunn and a new Scandinavian stop - the tour will descend upon Røldal in Norway for the first time. The world's best Freeskiers and Snowboarders will then meet for the season finale on the legendary Bec des Rosses in Verbier which continues to stand alone as the world's biggest and most prestigious Freeride competition.
Competitive Freeriding has evolved rapidly over the last four seasons with the pros spinning, cliff-jumping and stomping with an ever increasing intensity. We're expecting to see further progression in 2012 as the experienced big mountain riders compete against a new wave of young talent.
The men's skiing line-up will feature big mountain specialist and two-time World Champion Aurelien Ducroz, the furiously fast and fluid Reine Barkered, Zermatt's favourite son Samuel Anthamatten and the ebullient Henrik Windtsedt. The rapidly advancing female skiers will again be pushing the limits with reigning World Champion Janette Hargin battling it out with USA's Angel Collinson and kiwi Janina Kuzma.
Xavier de le Rue, widely recognised as the world's best all-round snowboarder, will no doubt be "charging down the Alps" to win back his title, although Austrian stalwarts Mitch Toelderer and Flo Orley as well as exciting newcomer Christian Schnabel might have a few things to say about that. Swiss rider Anne-Flore Marxer impressed everyone in her rookie season taking the World title at the first attempt but will face stiff competition from Germany's Aline Bock and a field of contenders from both sides of the Atlantic.
The Freeride World Tour welcomes Swatch as its main sponsor partner alongside a growing array of ski industry partners - Scott, Dakine, Marker, Powderhorn, Kask, Snowpulse and Teko.
"This fifth season promises many things. The riders' performance improves every year and we'll undoubtedly see the bar raised even further in 2012. We have a first-ever Norwegian tour-stop, where we'll be working closely with a very experienced group of local organisers and we will be launching an Expo and Test at three tour stops - Chamonix Mont-Blanc, Fieberbrunn and Verbier. We will continue to actively support the 30+ qualifier events around the world and encourage the next generation of riders with three Juniors stops. I'm also absolutely delighted to see Swatch alongside us as well as so many ski industry partners", said Freeride World Tour founder and organiser, Nicolas Hale-Woods.

The 2012 Freeride World Tour (FWT):

1. Freeride World Tour, Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2012 by Swatch
Dates: 21- 27 January; Location: Chamonix (FRA)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

2. Freeride World Tour, Røldal 2012 by Swatch
Dates: 25 February - 01 March; Location: Røldal (NOR)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

3.Freeride World Tour, Fieberbrunn 2012 by Swatch
Dates: 09 -15 March; Location: Fieberbrunn (AUT)
Disciplines: Men's Ski and Snowboard

4. Freeride World Tour, Verbier 2012 by Swatch
Dates: 24 March - 01 April; Location: Verbier (SUI)
Disciplines: Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard

Freeride World Tour stops in Rosa Khutor-Sochi (Rus) and North America are to be confirmed.

The Freeride World Tour was launched in 2008 and after four full seasons is now recognized by riders, the ski industry and the media as the competitive pinnacle of the sport. In 2012, the best Freeriders - men, women, skiers and snowboarders - will once again visit some of the world’s most iconic ski resorts in pursuit of the world title. The Freeride World Tour is supported by Freeride World Qualifier events around the world where the same criteria for event organisation, choice of locations, security, contest format, and judging is applied.

Big Snow Again Out West While Europe Waits

2011-11-24T12:59:00.003+01:00

Skiinfo reports there have been increasingly heavy snowfalls in Western North America over the past few weeks, with Whistler reporting a metre of fresh snow in the past seven days and most other resorts on the western side of the continent reporting healthy snowfalls too.
In Europe warm weather and a lack of natural snowfall has been the less promising trend of November 2011 leading to some postponed openings. Currently about 20 resorts are open, most with glaciers, but non-glacier resorts including six in Norway have started opening and Ischgl will open 71km of pistes this Friday. Colder weather is expected towards the weekend allowing for more snowmaking and some natural snowfall.
Thanks to its many glacier ski areas Austria has had more centres open since early October than any other ski area in the northern hemisphere. Or at least it did have until dozens of Canadian and US ski areas opened in the past few weeks. Although like most of the rest of Europe these areas are waiting for fresh snow, bases accumulated earlier this month and last have left most glaciers with still at least a metre of snow on upper slopes at least. . The Pitztal Glacier has the most with 1-1.5m but you can also ski now at Kaprun, Kaunertal, Tux, Dachstein, Molltal, Solden and Stubai and the non-glacier slopes of Obergurgl and Schladming also have limited terrain open with 30-50cm of snow cover. Ischgl (picture attached) has a big opening weekend coming up and says they will have more than 70km of trails open and 20,000 people are expected to attend the big opening concert on Saturday starring Roxette.
Europe’s highest ski area, Val Thorens in France, was due to open last weekend and join the only French ski area currently open, Tignes, but postponed this to tomorrow, November 24th. Val d’Isere is due to open this Sat (26/11) as is Isola 2000 in the Southern Alps), but in its case only for the weekend with full opening from 3rd December. Cold temperatures are currently expected to arrive in France next Monday (28th).
Italy currently has some of the deepest snow bases in Europe with the Presana Glacier above Passo Tonale reporting a 2m base – deeper than anywhere else. Cervinia is also doing well with a 1.45m (nearly five foot) base. Some of the country’s big name resorts like Bormio and Livigno are already open with 50cm bases, and Alagna and Madonna di Campiglio currently expect to open this weekend with a 40cm base. Many more ski areas including resorts in the Dolomiti Superski area are scheduled to open from this weekend onwards.
It remains largely glacier ski slopes that are open in Switzerland. Saas Fee, which has been open all summer and autumn, claims the deepest snow depth at 167cm, but Zermatt, Glacier 3000 (above Gstaad/Diablerets) and the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz in the Engadin has a short run open. Engelberg’s glacier lifts are closed for maintenance to this Friday 25th and the slopes of Laax are open at weekends.
After good early snowfall early this month the Pyrenees are facing the same challenging conditions as much of Europe. Grandvalira in Andorra, the region’s largest ski area, has delayed opening planned this weekend. It says it has some snow built up on its pistes but wants to preserve and enhance it ready for more important dates in December when Spain has bank holidays.
Colder temperatures at last in Northern Europe has allowed several resorts to open. In Norway six ski areas - Hafjell, Kvitfjell, Trysil, Bjorli, Rauland and Kongsberg all opening at the weekend and more are expected to open in the coming days.
In Finland, after a month’s delay on the hoped for October 15 opening due to warm weather, Ruka opened last week on November 16.
Great conditions in Western Canada where resorts that have already open are reporting great conditions with others like Fernie and Revelstoke planning to open for ‘preview weekends’ this weekend. The latter reports more than two metres of pre-season snow has fallen. All three Banff resoerts are open in Alberta with Lake Louise soon to host the annual World Cup downhill races.
The US has got off to a great start to the season and with most of the leading ski areas on the west side of the country already open or doing so in the next few days ready for the key Thanksgiving Holiday weekend, it’s hard to think of a better start to winter 11-12 for the area. Resorts have been opening on the East Coast too, thanks primarily to snowmaking efforts. Mt Baker has the deepest snowbase at 183cm, but 49 Degrees North, also in Washington state, has had the most snowfall is the past seven days – 137cm.

Roxette to launch Ischgl's winter season

2011-11-22T12:49:00.000+01:00

Next Saturday, Roxette will be marking the start of the winter season in Ischgl with their world-famous catchy tunes such as "The Look", "Sleeping in my car" and "Joyride" at the legendary Top of the Mountain Opening Concert. Admission to the concert is free with a valid ski pass.
"It all begins where it ends" – this famous line from Roxette’s global hit "Joyride" is perfect for the opening of the new winter season in Ischgl on 26 November 2011. After all: the legendary Top of the Mountain Opening Concert in Ischgl picks up where it left off at the start of May: with freshly prepared mountain pistes and global stars on the open-air stage. While ‘The Killers’ rocked the stage to mark the season finale, the Swedish pop band Roxette will be performing catchy hits such as "Listen to your heart", "Sleeping in my car", "Crash, Boom, Bang" and the mega-hit "Joyride" to some 20,000 fans at the start of the new winter season.
Swedish artists Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson founded the pop band Roxette in 1986. Their international breakthrough came in 1989 with the global hit "The Look". This was followed by 70 million record sales worldwide and a large list of hits. Even today, Roxette remains Sweden’s biggest music export after ABBA. In 2006, a greatest hits album was released to mark the band’s 20th anniversary. In the same year, Roxette was awarded a medal of honour by the Swedish royal family for their services to music as one of the most successful pop bands of the 1980s and 90s. Following an exten-sive break from the creative scene, the band made a long-awaited comeback in 2009. In 2011, the single "She’s got nothing on (but the radio)" was released from the album "Charm School", making the top 10 in many charts. The album went straight to number 1 in the German charts. Given their extensive success, it is little wonder that Roxette were asked to perform at the gala evening following the marriage of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling.
Roxette follows the footsteps of a galaxy of superstars who have entertained skiers and boarders in the Austrian resort's traditional Top of the Mountain gig. Fourteen years ago, Ischgl decided to put its entire advertising and marketing budget into staging two massive concerts a year to open and close the winter season. Elton John was the first star to feature in the Tirolean resort's now famous season closing concerts, back in 1995. Since then the resort has hosted Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Sting, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, Atomic Kitten, Peter Gabriel, The Corrs, Alanis Morissette, Lionel Richie, Pink, the Scissor Sisters, the Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna, Elton John again, Gabriella Cilmi, Leona Lewis, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys, Gossip and The Killers.
Ischgl (1377m) is a truly Ski Paradise in Tirol (Austria). The 235 kilometres and 506 hectares of slopes are all located on north-facing slopes assuring a reliable snow cover (natural snow conditions are helped by 575 snow-machines with a total max. performance of 1050 l/sec). 31 snow cats groom the Ischgl runs every night offering perfect conditions in the morning. You can count on the best conditions throughout the winter months: Cruise through loose powder, carve down hard-packed slopes and race through corn snow in spring. In Ischgl you can find ultramodern lift and cable-car system (3 cable cars, 2 aerial cableways, 23 chairlifts and 12 draglifts) with a transport capacity of 78,500 persons per hour ensure skiing without queues (€120 million have been invested over the last years). The new lifts managed by the Silvretta Seilbahn AG Company offer a high level of comfort and countless extras, such as heated seats in the Fimbabahn cable car built for the 2007/08 season. A variety of slopes 38 kilometres of blue/easy runs, 132 kilometres of red/intermediate runs, 45 kilometres of black/difficult runs, and 20 kilometres of ski routes offer a opportunity for everyone, from beginners to experts looking for challenging pistes. Eleven is the name of the longest piste with approximately 11 kilometres from the top of the ski resort in Greitspitz (2,872 metres) to Ischgl village (1,400 metres).
From Ischgl you can access to the Silvretta Arena Ski Paradise, thanks to an alliance between two Companies (Silvretta Seilbahn AG and Bergbahnen Sammaun AG) and two ski resorts (Ischgl-Sammaun) from two different countries (Switzerland-Austria).
This winter skiers will be able to enjoy enhanced comfort during the winter season of 2011/12 thanks to the new 6-seater chair lift: the new family chairlift ‘Sonnenbahn B5’ comes with an easy-to-use restraining bar locking system and replaces the Sonnenlift. Hungry skiers will certainly appreciate the new ‘Panorama Salettl Idalp’ bar. And there’s no more getting lost in the Silvretta Arena thanks to the new iSki Ischgl APP for iPhone, Blackberry and Android. The Ischgl App enables skiers to find their way around on a piste map using GPS. The design of the APP has been updated and a new GPS tracking system added which records the entire day’s activities in the ski re-sort.
The Tyrolean skiing area’s motto is: "Relax. If you can …" meaning you can choose between a great number of winter activities apart from the main attractions of skiing, boarding and night life.

Be a Virtual Torch Bearer for Innsbruck 2012 on Facebook!

2011-11-11T18:25:00.008+01:00

You can carry the Virtual Youth Olympic Torch and be in with the chance of winning a trip to Athens as the first Torch Bearer of the Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Torch Relay on 17 December 2011.
It’s easy! Simply register on our Facebook page and help take the Virtual Torch on a journey around the world. You will automatically be entered into the draw to win the awesome Torch Bearer role in Athens as well loads of other cool prizes.
The route of the Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Torch Relay, which will travel across the whole of Austria, will last 18 days and includes 2,012 Torch Bearers, 65 Break Sites and 18 days. The Youth Olympic Torch Relay will traverse the country, visiting all of Austria’s nine regional capitals as well as the country’s most famous winter sports resorts. Along its journey the Olympic Flame will be carried by 2,012 inspiring, athletic Torch Bearers – including some well-known personalities and sports stars – who will each run approximately 150 metres holding the Torch.
The Austrian leg of the Torch Relay will start in Innsbruck on 27 December 2011 and will return to the Tyrolean regional capital on 13 January 2012 to light Innsbruck’s third Olympic Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games. This moment will be a truly unique event in the 116-year history of the modern Olympic Games, as Innsbruck becomes the first host city ever to welcome the Olympic Flame on three separate occasions.
There is another reason why the Tyrolean regional capital and the Olympic Flame enjoy a special relationship: lighting the Olympic Torch using only the sunlight and a concave mirror – today an Olympic tradition – took its origin in 1964, when the Olympic Flame made its way from its home in the Greek town of Olympia to Innsbruck for the Olympic Winter Games.
On 17 December 2011 the Torch for the Winter Youth Olympic Games will once again be lit in Greece before being transported to Austria.

Big Snowfalls in the Alps and Pyrenees As Canadian Resorts Open

2011-11-07T16:10:00.004+01:00

Snowfalls of up to 80cm (nearly three feet) have been reported by ski resorts in the Alps over the past 48 hours.
In Italy, already-open Cervinia reported 80cm of fresh snow while just over the Swiss border nearby Saas-Fee, which has been open since last Spring, has also reported a big fall, with 30cm (a foot) of fresh snow on Sunday and another 65cm today.
Down in the Pyrenees, Formigal, Grandvalira and Vallnord has reported of new snow over the weekend too. "This fall has increased the level of snow at the slopes in the ski area from 10 to 30 cm at 1800m", said Jose Luis del Valle, the resort’s commercial director. "At the same time we have started the snow cannons in this area so we are further increasing the snow level at the slopes. We are very happy to say that the South-Westerly front has which bought this weather is staying with us. We are pleased to say that we plan to open the resort on the 26th November".
Meanwhile in North America the Lake Louise Ski Area (picture attached) and Mt Norquay by Banff, both Alberta neighbours in Canada, opened at the weekend (Saturday 5th November) with the promise, they hope, of another great La Nina season. The two resorts join Keystone and Copper Mountain in Colorado which opened on Friday (November 4th) taking that state’s tally to five areas open.
"We have all heard the La Nina rumours and are expecting another great snow filled season", says Dan Markham, Director of Marketing and Sales at Ski Banff Lake Louise Sunshine.
The Lake Louise Ski Area kicked off the season running the Glacier Express Quad and the Sunny T-Bar allowing guests to ski on: Wi waxy, Bald Eagle, Easy Street and Sunny Side runs. "With some help from Mother Nature in terms of natural snow fall, as well as cooler temperatures, we've been able to work diligently making snow" says The Lake Louise Ski Area President Charlie Locke.
Lake Louise has far more acres of natural snow than any other ski resort in Alberta including its famous back bowls, the extensive upper mountain, and the groomed cruising runs in the Larch area which together offer more runs than most skiers can cover in a week. To complement, new upgrades this year to what was already one of the largest, most sophisticated grooming and snowmaking systems in the world, will help ensure snowsure conditions from November to May. Having good snow coverage is important for the resort as they host the first World Cup Downhill race of the season. The Men's race is held on the November 26th weekend with the Ladies racing the following weekend.

Aspen/Snowmass, Steamboat and Winter Park Launch New Colorado Triple Play

2011-11-04T13:12:00.005+01:00

Three of Colorado’s most historic and celebrated ski towns have joined forces to unveil the new Colorado Triple Play featuring an unprecedented two days of skiing and riding at Aspen/Snowmass, Steamboat and Winter Park Resort during the 2011/2012 winter season.
"Skiing and snowboarding have always been a passion and way of life in these three mountain communities for decades and something that has always been shared", said Christian Knapp, vice president of marketing for Aspen/Snowmass. "The new Colorado Triple Play is our way of sharing the best of these three iconic Colorado resorts at an exceptional value".
The new Colorado Triple Play, which features two days at Aspen/Snowmass, two days at Steamboat and two days at Winter Park Resort, kicks off sales today, Friday, November 4th at the Colorado Ski Expo in Denver; online at ColoradoTriplePlay.com; and, at participating Colorado Front Range Christy Sports stores. The Colorado Triple Play will available for $299 for adults (13 & over) and $249 for children (12 & under) while supplies last.
"Aspen/Snowmass, Steamboat and Winter Park Resort have been known for their industry-setting family programs for decades", said Gary DeFrange, president and chief operating officer at Winter Park Resort. "The Colorado Triple Play ensures even the littlest powderhounds can enjoy the slopes, making for the ideal adventure across three of Colorado’s premier family resorts".
Colorado Triple Play pass holders will discover majestic peaks, fresh powder and uncrowded terrain across nearly 10,000 acres, more than 70 lifts, 13 terrain parks, almost 15,000 vertical feet, as well as industry leading family programs across these three resorts. Each mountain town is steeped in tradition, heritage and history, representing the best of the Colorado winter experience.
"Another La Niña snow year is in the works, and now, guests have a fantastic opportunity to experience these genuine Colorado communities and their legendary skiing heritage on one incredible ticket", commented Rob Perlman, senior vice president of sales & marketing for Steamboat. "If you want the ultimate winter experience, then the Colorado Triple Play is your ticket to ride the best of the Colorado Rocky Mountains".
All three resorts received abundant and consistent snowfall last season and signs are pointing toward another bountiful La Niña weather forecast for the upcoming winter. The 2011/2012 winter season is currently scheduled to operate:

Winter Park Resort: November 16 to April 22
Steamboat: November 23 to April 15
Aspen/Snowmass: November 24 to April 15

Aspen To Require Helmets On All Employees

2011-11-03T12:13:00.009+01:00

Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) is instituting a new employee helmet policy tas an integral part of its commitment to safety. ASC currently recommends that all snowsport participants wear a properly fitted snowsports helmet whenever they are skiing or riding. To further instill that habit this season, all Aspen employees will be required to wear a helmet while on duty and "clicked in" to their skis or snowboard.
Aspen was one of the first resorts to require helmets for some clientele and employees when, in March 2002, it mandated helmets for all children enrolled in ski school classes. Last year, Aspen required helmet use by a number of employees who were seen as influencers. More than 80 percent of guests and employees at Aspen/Snowmass currently wear helmets, well above the national average.
"The safety of our employees and our guests is our top priority", said Mike Kaplan, ASC president and CEO. "The new helmet policy will take our focus on safety to the next level".
All employees who are required to wear a helmet as part of this policy will be provided a helmet at no charge if they do not already have a suitable one.
A number of leading resort groups in North America including Intrawest and Vail Resorts have already made helmet-wearing compulsory in various scenarios including for on-mountain staff and for guests taking ski school lessons.
According to findings of the 2011 National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) National Demographic Study, 61 percent of skiers and snowboarders now wear helmets while enjoying the slopes at U.S. ski areas, up from 57 percent during the 2009/10 season. Helmet usage among those interviewed nationwide has increased 140 percent since the 2002/03 season, when only 25 percent of skiers and snowboarders were wearing a helmet at the time of being interviewed. More importantly, nearly 80 percent of children aged 17 and younger now wear helmets on the slopes. The annual Demographic Study is compiled from more than 130,000 interviews of skiers and snowboarders nationwide, over the course of the 2010/11 season. "Parents and resorts continue to do a great job of promoting the use of helmets for guests, especially children", said Michael Berry, president of NSAA.

Where To Ski and Snowboard In November

2011-10-31T14:41:00.006+01:00

After two months with less than two dozen ski areas open in the northern hemisphere, the past few days have seen the 2011-12 ski season really take off with the first non-glacier ski areas open following heavy snowfalls in North America and more ski areas opening in the Alps. Over the next month hundreds of ski resorts will open for winter 2011-12. With the opening of five centres in the US at the weekend it now has nine ski areas open, equalling Austria.
Austria currently has eight glacier ski areas open along with a 1km long run at Schladming/Planai. Austria can also claim the deepest snow currently to be found north of the equator with 1.7m (nearly six feet)n on the country’s highest slopes at Pitztal. Good snowfalls in the country during October have kept conditions good. Skiinfo reports that the Dachstein, Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn (above Kaprun), Molltal, Solden, Stubai and Tux glaciers are also open. Grossglocker/Heiligenblut on the 12th and then Obergurgl and Obertauern expect to open on the 17th.
The ski season never ends at Zermatt (Switzerland), Europe’s highest ski centre, and Saas Fee has also been open since July and will remain so to late spring 2012. Engelberg and Laax have recently opened their glacier ski areas, the latter at weekends only through November. The Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz is also reported to be operating. Full resorts are scheduled to start opening on the 17th/18th November including Crans Montana and Davos – the latter offering free ski passes with packages up to Christmas. Les Diablerets is due to open at the weekend.
Only Tignes is currently open in France. Other resorts may open in the latter half of November, particularly Chamonix, if conditions are good and Val Thorens, Europe’s highest resort, plans to begin its 40th year anniversary season on the 19th.
Cervinia (Italy) opened at the weekend for weekend skiing and boarding through November. Passo Tonale is also due to open and join summerski areas Val Senales and Passo Stelvio. Most other Italian areas will open on the last weekend of the month although Madesimo expects to open on the 12th.
Warmer than usual temperatures have delayed the usual start to the Scandinavian ski season. Ruka in Finland began snowmaking in the middle of October but had to stop again and it looks like this will be the first year for more than a decade when the resort – which kept a run open to last June, hasn’t opened in October. Norway’s Kvitfjell is also waiting to open and it’s due to be joined next weekend by Bjorli and Hemsedal as well as Are in Sweden and Levi and Pyha in Finland.
US resorts normally rely on low temperatures to enable snowmaking guns to run and thus open a few trails, but this autumn the country has been surprised by several feet of snow falling on parts of the West Coast and most recently around a foot of ‘unseasonable’ snow in New England on the East. As a result, around nine centres are already open – more than any other country at the start of November - including Boreal in California; Loveland, Arapahoe Basin (picture attached) and Wolf Creek in Colorado, Timberline in Oregon, Killington in Vermont and Sunday River in Maine. The small area of Woodbury in Connecticut also announced it would open last weekend.
If conditions remain good most of the country’s resorts will open over the next four weeks in time for the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of the month. Resorts due to open soon include Copper Mountain on 5th November and Breckenridge, for its 50th season, on 11.11.11 – both in Colorado.
Nakiska near Calgary was the first ski area to open in Canada for the season on 29 October. It’s due to be joined by Lake Louise on November 5th
Southern Hemisphere
The last ski area open in the southern hemisphere for the 2011 ski season is believed to be Turoa on Mt Ruapehu in New Zealand. It is scheduled to stay open until this Sunday, November 6th.

Utah Earns Top Spot in Ten of Twenty SKI Magazine Reader Survey Categories

2011-10-20T20:05:00.006+02:00

Utah ski resorts topped the charts of the 2011 SKI magazine reader survey. Leading the charge, Deer Valley Resort earned the overall number one spot for a remarkable five years in a row. Joining Deer Valley on the top twenty list, Park City Mountain Resort was ranked number six, Canyons Resorts ranked 16th and Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort landed the 20th position.
Utah resorts received the top rating in half of the category divisions including Alta for "Overall Satisfaction", "Character", and "Snow"; Powder Mountain for "Value"; Deer Valley for "Weather", "Grooming", "On-mountain Food", "Dining", "Lodging", and "Service".
"Utah’s resorts are committed to enhancing our natural strengths as a destination", said Ski Utah President Nathan Rafferty. "Year after year, these rankings positively reinforce that our efforts are improving the Utah ski experience for local and destination visitors alike".
Along with incredible representation in the overall rankings, Utah resorts dominated the categories Ski Utah considers its greatest assets - snow, access and value. Famous for its trademarked Greatest Snow on Earth, six of the top ten listings for "Snow" were Utah resorts: (1) Alta, (3) Powder Mountain, (4) Snowbird, (6) Brighton, (7) Solitude, (10) Deer Valley.
Additionally, seven of the top ten resorts listed in the "Access" category were in Utah: (2) Deer Valley, (3) Park City, (4) Snowbird, (5) Canyons, (6) Solitude, (7) Brighton, (8) Alta.
"Value", another vital component of Utah’s wintersports product, had four Utah resorts in the top ten: (1) Powder Mountain, (7) Brighton, (8) Alta, (10) Solitude.
Utah ski resorts also scored highly in the lifestyle awards with Alta ranked "Top Skiers Mountain", Park City Mountain Resort named "Best Resort to Ski with your Kids", and Deer Valley acclaimed for "Top Ranked Food and Dining".
Ski Utah is the marketing firm owned and operated by the 14 statewide ski resorts (Alta Ski Area, Beaver Mountain, Brian Head Resort, Brighton Resort, Canyons Resort, Deer Valley Resort, Eagle Point, Park City Mountain Resort, Powder Mountain Resort, Snowbasin Resort, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Solitude Mountain Resort, Sundance and Wolf Mountain) that make up the Utah Ski and Snowboard Association. The organization has been creating brand awareness of and demand for the Utah wintersports product since its inception in 1978.

Zermatt's IDE All Weather Snowmaker in Full Swing

2011-10-18T12:29:00.005+02:00

Zermatt is playing its trump card – the Snowmaker – so that skiers and snowboarders can take to good pistes in the early days of winter as well. The snow machine produces snow regardless of temperature, even above freezing point. And so a good snow base can be laid in early autumn to ensure perfect pistes in winter.
Zermatt Bergbahnen was the first ski resort to order a new kind of artificial snow system: the IDE’s All Weather Snowmaker. Later Pitztal Gletscherbahnen was the second Company to order, following Zermatt’s footsteps, the snowmaker. IDE Technologies is a world leader and pioneer in water desalination, wastewater concentrators and purifiers. The snowmaking technology comes from the mining industry where it is used to cool the goldmines.
CEO Zermatt Bergbahnen Christen Baumann explains how it works: "To put it simply it works like a freezer. The temperature of the surrounding air is irrelevant. In a closed container with a diameter of 3.2m and a height of 10m, water is exposed to a vacuum without any additives. A small portion vaporizes, the remaining water freezes to snow, which is afterwards expelled at a rate of about 40 cubic metres every hour. The snow produced has the consistency of a wet spring snow".
The technology is based on a principle of physics whereby water placed in a vacuum will immediately partly evaporate – without having to reach boiling point. However, the energy needed for evaporation must come from somewhere. In this case, the evaporating water extracts this energy from the remaining water, which is appreciably cooled and thus crystalizes. This crystalized water is thus snow, similar to spring snow, and is used for piste preparation. A transport spiral shoots the snow out to the waiting snowcats. These then distribute the snow in early autumn, as for example between the Theodul Glacier and the summit station of Trockener Steg.
The Snowmaker is used for around 14 days in early autumn for about two to three weeks. Then it is in operation around the clock. The machine is also used systematically in winter and spring, depending on weather and snow conditions.
Kurt Guntli from the Zermatt Bergbahnen AG is the project manager for the huge machine. "Thanks to the Snowmaker we can guarantee the route from the Theodul Glacier to Trockenen Steg from as early as the beginning of October".

The Alpine Ski World Cup starts next Weekend in Sölden

2011-10-17T11:43:00.003+02:00

Next weekend (22-23 October) Sölden (Tirol, Austria) again hosts the ultimate FIS Ski World Cup Races. As every year, the Women's Giant Slalom opens the new World Cup season.
On Saturday the FIS World Cup opens with the Women’s Giant Slalom on the Rettenbach glacier in Sölden. The FIS Women's and Men's Alpine Ski World Cup is held for the 14th time in the Tyrolean ski resort.

Programme:
22.10.2011 Women's Giant Slalom
23.10.2010 Men's Giant Slalom

Starting times:
09:45 am: 1st run
12:45 pm: 2nd run

On Friday the FIS Forum Alpinum – the Information Session for Ski Journalists – will take place in the Freizeit Arena in Sölden. At 6:30 pm, the Krone World Cup Party will be held in the Postplatz square in Sölden village center.
Sölden is a municipality located in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. With tourist bed nights running at over two million per year, the municipality is second only to Vienna as an Austrian tourist destination. The main village of Sölden is located at 1,368 meters above sea level. The highest peak is the Wildspitze which is at 3,768 meters the second highest mountain in Austria after the Grossglockner. Sölden is a very popular ski resort.
The first FIS Alpine Ski World Cup race of the year traditionally takes place on the slope located on the Rettenbach glacier, a high-quality icy track with the starting gate situated over 3,000 meters in altitude.

Sölden offers the marvelous BIG 3, Austria's only ski area with 3 mountains higher than 3,000 meters which are accessible by lifts or gondolas. From November trough May thanks to the ski area's high-Alpine location (1,350 - 3,250 m) and the modern snowmaking system (covering all slopes lower than 2,200 m) snow is guaranteed in Sölden.
Markus Mayr, the FIS Race Director in charge of the ladies' technical events, has given green light for the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Glacier Opening in Sölden. "The course is in probably the best condition it has ever been at this time of the year. We are very pleased with the preparation work by the Organizers", said Mayr. "So much so that the course will remain open for all nations to train there until Saturday and we will only begin the race preparations on Sunday. It is looking excellent for the season opening giant slalom races in Sölden on 22nd-23rd October".

Forbes Announces 10 Best Ski Resorts for Families

2011-10-13T13:19:00.010+02:00

Forbes Magazine recently announced their list of the 10 Best Ski Resorts for Families in the U.S. and Canada.
"The best (ski resorts) offer excellent group and private instruction geared towards children of all ages, plus dedicated teaching areas on the slopes. Many have free or discounted lift tickets, equipment rentals, and even lessons for children. For non-skiing members of the family, they should have day care or supervised kid’s camps with a variety of activities. Ski resorts and towns can also be family friendly off the slopes. There should be a variety of family entertainment options for evenings, nights, and non-ski days. While posh boutiques and glamorous cocktail hours attract many to resorts like Aspen, these are not nearly as big selling points for families as having a mountain coaster or zip lines. There should be a wide variety of reasonably priced family restaurants, and ideally, lodging that caters to families, like condos with multiple bedrooms and a kitchen for eating breakfast in, a touch many families appreciate".

Forbes Top 10 Ski Resorts for Families:

Beaver Creek, Colorado

Crested Butte, Colorado

Deer Valley, Utah

Northstar-at-Tahoe, California

Okemo, Vermont

Mt. Tremblant, Quebec (Canada)

Snowmass, Colorado

Steamboat, Colorado

Vail, Colorado

Stowe, Vermont

Colorado Resorts Opening

2011-10-13T12:05:00.005+02:00

Three Colorado resorts have opened or are opening in the next 24 hours.
Normally there is a snowmaking race to see which resort is first, but this season heavy snowfall across the state last weekend led to resorts being able to open with real snow.
The biggest fall – of some 44 inches or 110cm - was in the state’s southern San Juan Mountains and Wolf Creek Ski Area there opened with a 45cm/18 inch base on Saturday 8 October with 1500 excited skiers and boarders on the slopes.
Top the north Arapahoe Basin and Loveland Ski Area, two of the world’s highest and traditionally among the first to open in the US each season, will start operating today, and tomorrow, October 13th and 14th, respectively.
"Warm weather delayed the start of snowmaking, but cold temperatures settled in and our snowmaking crew has done a great job making up for lost time", said Rob Goodell, Director of Business Operations. "We still have some work to do, but the mountain looks great and we will have eighteen inches of snow from tree-to-tree for skiers and riders on Friday morning".
Loveland will offer lift served access to one top-to-bottom run. Skiers and riders will drop one thousand vertical feet (330m) in a little over a mile (1.6km) via the trails Catwalk, Mambo and Homerun.
"When the cold temperatures settled in, we were able to make a lot of progress very quickly", said Eric Johnstone, Snowmaking and Trail Maintenance Manager. "We started last Thursday and have been running non-stop with the exception of a short stoppage on Tuesday. Our snowmaking crew has done a tremendous job and opening day skiers and riders are going to be very happy with the conditions".
Elsewhere in the US, Las Vegas ski area in Nevada opened last week and Timberline ski area in Oregon, which is open almost year round, re-opened after a few week’s annual maintenance closure in late September.

2011 Free Radicals: The Sunny Side

2011-10-10T12:39:00.004+02:00

Free Radicals is a loosely knitted group of free riders that is often referred to as Scandinavia's foremost. The history of Free Radicals begun in 1987 when three legendary Swedish freeskiers started the Free Radicals ski workshop. The idea was to help good free riders to find sponsorship to be able to develop as skiers and be good role models for new generations of riders (1987!!).
In the 90's snowboarding made it's big break through and there were few heroes on skis. The Free Radical group felt it was time to change that. In 1997 the first film about the Free Radicals was produced. The success was a fact and many of the starring riders could get their sponsorship and make a living off freeride skiing. Most of Scandinavia's big names in freeriding have had a sequence in a Free Radicals film, like Henrik Windstedt, Jon Olsson, Kaj Zackrisson, Sverre Liliequist, Jesper Rönnbäck, etc.
2011 Free Radicals The Sunny Side is the 12th Free Radicals film! It will premiere 21 October in Gothenburg, Sweden. Freeride fans will be able to see it through film tours, festivals and TV-runs all over Europe and the US. The original idea still persists: The established riders draw the audience with their star quality and the young stars-to-be get a chance to show their stuff.
Later on in December the entire film will be available through streaming.

Colorado's Wolf Creek Ski Area Opens Today

2011-10-08T19:10:00.005+02:00

The Denver Channel reports Colorado is getting its first snow storm of the season, and it's enough for one ski resort to open.
Wolf Creek Ski Area opens today and tomorrow with more than 3 feet of snow; 3 lifts; $33.00 lift tickets! Seniors and Children will be $19.00. Treasure, Bonanza and Nova will be operating from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM servicing beginner, intermediate and expert terrain, including Alberta Face and Treasure Falls. Alberta Lift, Alberta Peak, Waterfall Area, Knife Ridge and Horseshoe Bowl are all closed.
Wolf Creek Ski Area is on Highway 160 between Pagosa Springs and South Fork. The ski area is about 250 miles from Denver.
This early opening is a record breaker for Wolf Creek, with the prior earliest opening being October 27, 2006.
Closer to Denver, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and Loveland turned on their snow guns Thursday afternoon. Arapahoe Basin and Loveland typically open in October.

Where To Ski and Snowboard In October?

2011-10-03T10:58:00.008+02:00

With snow falls of up to 60cm (two feet) reported by Skiinfo in the Alps in September and ski areas already starting to open for the 2011-12 ski season, excitement is building for the coming winter – although you can get on the snow today if you want to!
Many areas organise special new season gear testing events as well as offering heavily discounted ski-and-stay packages to attract skiers and boarders so why wait? Families will find more space and better value skiing in the October school holidays rather than the busy and expensive February ones.
Austria is the leading country for October glacier skiing with the Hintertux, Kaunertal, Molltal, Pitztal, Solden and Stubai glaciers already open and due to be joined by the Dachstein and Kaprun’s Kitzsteinhorn glacier on the 9th. The fresh September snow here has led to great conditions.
After a month with no resorts open in France, Tignes will re-open its glacier slopes on Saturday and stay open to next May. It will be the only French resort open until late November except for an end of October ski and board festival at Les 2 Alpes from the 22nd.
Glacier ski areas Val Senales and Passo Stelvio will be joined by more glacier ski choices in Italy at the end of the month October with Cervinia and Passo Tonale open from the 29th.
In Switzerland Engelberg is scheduled to join Saas Fee (open since last July, picture attached) and Zermatt (always open) when it re-opens on the 8th, conditions permitting. The Diavolezza glacier near St MNoritz will be a fourth choice by the end of the month, opening on the 22nd.
The northerly latitude of Finland, Norway and Sweden get the cold temperature and thus the snow earlier than most. Ruka in Finland aims to re-open on Friday 14th having only closed last June, to begin it’s near 250 day 2011-12 ski season. Kvitfjell in Norway will join it on the 29th.
Timberline in Oregon is currently the only ski area open in the US but snowmaking is scheduled to begin imminently one some of the world’s highest ski slopes in Colorado as the annual race to be first in the state is staged between areas like Arapahoe Basin, Copper Mountain and Loveland.
The 2011 season is winding down south of the equator but some resorts in Argentina, Chile and New Zealand look set to stay open through October. Particularly promising is Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand where the snow was lying more than three metres (10 feet) deep at the start of the month and the area has a record of staying open at least to ‘Snowvember.’

SkiUtah.com Reveals New Skin. Website Redesign Highlights Content, Blog and Social Media Upgrades

2011-09-28T10:51:00.008+02:00

Leaves are not the only thing changing colors this fall as they prepare for quickly approaching winter. Ski Utah has recently launched a new skin for its website, skiutah.com. The new skin was inspired by the organization’s 2011-12 advertising campaign incorporating bright playful colors and feathery snow images. The campaign slogan, "You’ll Never Look at Snow the Same Way Again", highlights the light fluffy quality, incredible consistency and massive abundance of Utah’s Greatest Snow on Earth.
The new site has also been redesigned to better feature the company’s Blog and social media efforts. "Consumers want authentic and relevant information that will not only entice but enhance their overall vacation experience,” said Ski Utah Content Editor Brandon Ott. “The Ski Utah Blog Team and Yeti mascot enable website visitors to create a personal relationship with Utah’s wintersports product".
Ski Utah’s new website has also been reengineered to assist users in more easily locating content related to their search items and to improve the overall flow of information. Up-to-date videos and photos will also be more prominently displayed.
In addition to site enhancements, Ski Utah has recently awarded the coveted Park Rat blogger position to Tom Haraden of Kennebunk, ME. Haraden will make the move all the way to Utah from his home in Maine to live his snowboard dream. Readers of Haraden’s blog will be able to explore Utah’s resorts, and park and pipe terrain through the fresh and enthusiastic eyes of Utah’s newest transplant.
In addition to these latest improvements, Ski Utah contnues to work towards a more perfect user experience with a new "My Vacation Cart" feature, an updated mobile website and apps underway. Ski Utah is the marketing firm owned and operated by the 14 statewide ski resorts (Alta Ski Area, Beaver Mountain, Brian Head Resort, Brighton Resort, Canyons Resort, Deer Valley Resort, Eagle Point, Park City Mountain Resort, Powder Mountain Resort, Snowbasin Resort, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Solitude Mountain Resort, Sundance and Wolf Mountain) that make up the Utah Ski and Snowboard Association. The organization has been creating brand awareness of and demand for the Utah wintersports product since its inception in 1978.

Resorts Start Opening Following Fresh Snow In The Alps

2011-09-20T10:55:00.005+02:00

Skiinfo reports that the first ski resorts to open for the 2011-12 ski season will do so tomorrow (September 21st) and Saturday (September 24th) with the benefit of fresh snow.
Glacier ski areas in the Alps have reported up to 30cm of fresh snow in the past 48 hours following on from falls on the highest peaks in Colorado reported at the end of last week.
The Stubai glacier (picture attached) has announced it will open tomorrow, September 21st, following recent falls. It has a 60cm (two foot) base and reports 50cm of that is ‘fresh’.
Pitztal in Austria begins its nine month long season this Saturday, 24 September, joining the half dozen ski areas in Austria (Molltal 80cm, and Tux 105cm), Italy (Passo Stelvio and Val Senales 40cm) and Switzerland (Saas Fee 59cm, and Zermatt 20cm) which have been open since the summer and remain so.
Pitztal currently has a 51cm base and will also be unveiling its new Doppelmayr built eight passenger cabin gondola with heated seats on Austria’s highest glacier up to 3440m. As natural snowfall Pitztal benefits from an IDE snowmaking system, the only one designed to produce snow in positive temperatures when necessary. Only Pitztal and Zermatt have this machine installed.
Other Austrian resorts are expected to open or re-open shortly too, including the Dachstein, Sölden, Kitzsteinhorn and Kaunertal glaciers. Tignes in France plans to open on October 1st and Swiss resorts including Engelberg and Glacier 3000 are expected to open early in October along with Cervinia in Italy.
In the USA Copper Mountain, which along with Breckenridge issued images of fresh snow on its peaks last week, has said it plans to begin snowmaking on 26th September. The near year-round US ski centre of Timberline in Oregon plans to re-open on 30th September.
The southern hemisphere’s season continues to wind down but is far from over at resorts like Ruapehu in New Zealand which is reported closed today due to blizzard conditions and another 10-15cm of snow falling. The Turoa ski area on Ruapehu currently has a 333cm (11 foot) base – believed to be the deepest snow in the world at present.
Australia’s great season is continuing too although temperatures are fluctuating between well above freezing to just below for spring-like conditions. Perisher still has a 1.13m (nearly four foot) natural snow base and reports a dusting of fresh snow today.
Most ski areas are still open in South America, with up to two metres of snow on upper slopes at the best of them (Catedral in Argentina).

International Tourism Symposium (Zermatt)

2011-09-18T21:27:00.008+02:00

The 13th International Tourism Symposium (ITS) starts tomorrow in the Grand Hotel Zermatterhof in Zermatt. Experts and Companies from all over the world will be reunited around the theme: The Real Issues of Tourism. Customer - Social media - Innovation.
A unique opportunity to exchange experiences at the highest level on these issues and to globalize your network with 200 selected participants from more than 150 companies and 20 countries from Europe, North America and Asia.
In our economy where industrial activities are continuing to globalise, our Industry faces a turning point, as we enter a period that some experts describe as "Marketplace chaos". In this context, Tourism has an important role to play but its development will depend on our ability to attract the millions of emerging tourists and to maintain loyalty of the traditional customers.
The overarching strength of ITS is its determination to anticipate and plan for those challenges. The 2011 Program is designed to tackle the most relevant issues, challenges and opportunities, focusing on recent successes. The top "Movers and Shakers", high-caliber speakers leading the most successful companies in the tourism industry, will demonstrate the requirement to build our future on solid fundamentals. We need both industrialised and innovative solutions, which not only address the problems, identified but do so in a sustainable manner.
This includes answering questions like the management of crises and cultural sensitivities, revenue optimisation with e-tourism, the requirement to redesign the nature of Mountain, risk and safety management and the future profile of Winter Olympic Games organisors.
To succeed in this period of economic depression, a new vision needs to be realized, one which addresses the dramatic unemployment numbers, the increasing number of people living under the poverty line and our irreversable impact on the envrionment.
The Symposium Association was created in 1988 with the aim of developing a platform for strategic consideration and discussions at the highest level for key players in the tourism industry. In order to ensure that such activities continue with an international focus, in April 22, 2009, the ITS Foundation - International Tourism Symposium - was created.
The Foundation has now become the benchmark "business" event in the tourism industry for the mountain regions.
The success of the Symposium's annual meetings, alternating between Zermatt and Chamonix Mont-Blanc, is based on its international positioning and its business focus.

Zermatt and Saas-Fee Win Top Recognition for their Environmentally Friendly Transport Systems

2011-09-18T21:06:00.006+02:00

Fourteen destinations were evaluated by the VCS (Swiss Motor Club): Adelboden, Arosa, Crans-Montana, Davos Platz, Engelberg, Grindelwald, Lenzerheide, Leukerbad, Saas-Fee, Scuol, St. Moritz, Verbier, Wengen and Zermatt. This new "mobile & ecological" rating by the VCS is intended to assist consumers with decision making on winter holidays. The survey was supported amongst others by the STV (Swiss Tourism Association) and the Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE.
Zermatt takes 1st place. In second place was Saas-Fee, also car-free, followed by St. Moritz. The Transport and Environment Association gave the highest ratings to Zermatt and Saas-Fee for their excellent rail and bus connections. The two winter hotspots in canton Valais were also recognised for their efforts in promoting public transport.
"For car-free Zermatt, this award is confirmation that our decades of effort and commitment for a sustainable destination are being rewarded", says Zermatt Tourismus Director Daniel Luggen. He is aware that tourism is effectively a balancing act between comfort, growth and improvement of offers on the one hand and sustainability on the other: "We will continue to be committed to sustainability. We’re staying on the ball!".
The Transport and Environment Association also praised other resorts, such as Davos and Grindelwald where local bus rides are free.
Another resort that received special praise was the Lower Engadine resort of Scuol, where "Holidays Without Your Car" packages - that include free access to public transport, separate transport of luggage and electric bicycles for hire - are available.
Among the criteria evaluated were travelling time to the destination, signage, local buses, frequency of public transport and luggage transport possibilities.

IOC's Coordination Commission visit concludes in Innsbruck

2011-09-11T19:24:00.007+02:00

The International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Coordination Commission for the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck in 2012 concluded last Tuesday its fourth and final visit to the Austrian host city. The Coordination Commission visit took place after three successful days of Chefs de Mission meetings with all 65 nations that will compete in Innsbruck.
With 129 days to go until the Opening Ceremony, the Innsbruck Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (IYOGOC) remains on track as it enters the operational readiness phase in its planning.
Headed by Chairman Gian-Franco Kasper, the IOC Coordination Commission was particularly impressed with the progress of the Youth Olympic Village (YOV). The YOV will accommodate approximately 1,660 athletes and officials during Games time, and, as a legacy of the Youth Olympic Games, will be used as affordable housing once the Games have concluded. "The Innsbruck Organising Committee heads into the final few months of preparation with an extremely organised and creative team who are working tirelessly to ensure an unforgettable elite sporting event for the world’s best young winter athletes", said Kasper. "This unique host city has a rich Olympic history, and today we can feel the excitement building as it makes history again with the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games".
The IOC has supported the move to have all snowboard and freestyle events at the Kühtai venue. Based at over 2,000 metres and with excellent snowmaking facilities that practically guarantee snow conditions, the venue, thanks to the new facilities, is expected to become one of the best winter freestyle sport and training centres in Europe. This adds to the legacy of the recently completed Biathlon shooting range at the Seefeld venue.
At Innsbruck 2012, several new disciplines will be seen for the first time at an Olympic event, such as snowboard slopestype, ski half pipe and ice hockey skills challenge. Also integrated into the sports programme for the first time is women’s ski jumping, the winner of which will be awarded the first Winter Youth Olympic Games medal.
The Coordination Commission was also pleased to note the full integration of the unique Culture and Education Programme (CEP) into the overall schedule for athletes, spectators and local schools. The Programme will enable athletes to learn new skills, experience different cultures and cover key topics such as the benefits of healthy lifestyles, the dangers of doping, and the values of friendship, solidarity and fair play. The CEP was successfully tested this week during a seminar involving the 33 Young Ambassadors chosen by National Olympic Committees. This group will then guide the athletes through the programme during Games time.
The volunteer programme, launched earlier this year, has attracted almost 2,500 applications from 40 countries — double the amount of volunteers actually required. In addition, partnerships with 12 international universities have also been secured.
Communication and promotion of the Youth Olympic Games will build in the final months leading up to the Games, with the main focus on ticketing and the 18-day Torch Relay that will visit 50 national locations. Several digital media initiatives are also under way, increasing traffic and fan numbers on IYOGOC’s website and social media platforms. Supporting the promotional campaign will be a group of ambassadors selected by the IOC that includes Alpine skiers Lindsey Vonn (USA) and Benjamin Raich (Austria), with more to be announced in the lead-up to the Games.
In one month’s time, Innsbruck 2012 will celebrate its 100-day countdown, and will take the opportunity to present a number of engaging initiatives and events to mark the milestone.
"Holding 63 medal events and a wide-ranging Culture and Education Programme in the space of just 10 days requires a tremendous amount of detailed planning, organisation, coordination, leadership and monitoring", said Innsbruck 2012 Chief Operating Officer Peter Bayer. "I am proud of our team. The vision of the Youth Olympic Games is within touching distance, and there is great enthusiasm among all the members of the Organising Committee. We have embraced and are living the Olympic Spirit, which is reflected in the excellent work we’ve done so far".
The first Winter Youth Olympic Games will take place between 13 and 22 January 2012. The Winter Youth Olympic Games will be a 10-day multi-sport, cultural and educational event. The Games will bring together 1,048 athletes between 14 and 18 years of age from approximately 80 National Olympic Committees. The programme of the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games will be established on the basis of the seven sports included in the Vancouver 2010 programme (Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Curling, Ice Hockey, Luge, Skating and Skiing). The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will highlight the different sports and provide an efficient platform to motivate young people to "get active" and adhere to the Olympic spirit.
Innsbruck (Tirol, Austria) was the host city to the Olympic Winter Games back in 1964 and 1976 (Innsbruck replaces Denver at short notice to host the Winter Games after the people of the state of Colorado voted to prohibit public funds from being used to support the Games).

Sochi 2014 Venues On Track

2011-09-11T18:32:00.008+02:00

Preparations for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games are continuing, with work expected to be completed on many of the mountain venues by the end of this year. During the 2014 Games, events will be focused around two different areas – a coastal cluster of venues in Sochi for ice events, and a mountain cluster in the Krasnaya Polyana Mountains.
The mountain cluster will be home to all the skiing and sliding sports and will include a Biathlon and Ski Complex, a Bobsleigh Track, a Ski Centre and a Ski Jump Complex, as well as a Snowboard Park and Freestyle Centre.
Many of the venues are due to host international events at the beginning of 2012, in preparation for the 2014 Games, and IOC Coordination Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Killy was confident that the athletes would be impressed following a recent visit to Sochi. "I am confident that the world’s winter athletes will be impressed when they arrive in Sochi for the up-coming sports events and the Games in 2014", said Killy. He continued, "The entire Sochi 2014 team deserves great praise for their achievements over the past six months".
The Biathlon and Ski Complex, located on the crest and slopes of the Psekhako Ridge, will host both the FIS Cup and the IBU Cup in January next year, while the Alpine Centre, on the Aibga Ridge, will host the Alpine FIS World Cup in February.
The Ski Jumping Complex, which is located in Esto-Sadok village on the northern slope of the Aibga Ridge, will stage the FIS Ski Jumping Cup in February, while the Snowboard Park and Freestyle Centre, to the West of the Rosa Khutor plateau, will host both the Freestyle FIS European Cup and the Snowboard FIS European Cup in March.
The Olympic Park will be the main focus of the coastal cluster and will be home to the Central Stadium, the Bolshoi Ice Palace, the Maly Ice Palace, the Sochi Curling Centre, the Figure Skating and Short-Track Centre and the Speed Skating Centre. It will be the first time in Olympic history that all the ice venues are within walking distance of one another, creating a centralised Olympic Park that will be able to accommodate around 75,000 fans when full.
The Olympic Park, which is being built by the Black Sea coast in the Imeretin Valley, will also house the Main Olympic Village, the International Broadcasting Centre and the Main Press Centre. All the venues and facilities will be newly built. "We are impressed by the speed that Sochi is changing", said IOC Coordination Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Killy. "The first test event held in February this year is proof of their progress and the government is committed to the Games".
According to Sochi organisers, developments are well on schedule: "The plan is to finish the mountain and coastal venues two seasons before the start of the Games. All of the infrastructure will be done by 2012 for the Olympic Park".
After the Games, the Central Stadium will become a football stadium to be used by the Russian national team and as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Speed Skating Centre will be turned into a trade and exhibition centre, while the Bolshoi Ice Palace will serve as an ultra-modern, world-class multi-purpose sports and entertainment centre.
The Maly Ice Palace, the Sochi Curling Centre and the Figure Skating and Short-Track Centre are all temporary venues, which will be dismantled and transported for post-Games use in other Russian cities.
The VIth visit of the IOC Coordination Committee for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will be held from September 12-14. On Wednesday, September 14, IOC Coordination Commission Chairman, Jean-Claude Killy, and IOC Executive Director, Gilbert Felli, will host an official press-conference to provide an update on their assessment of Sochi 2014's progress.

IOC's Seminar To Prepare PyeongChang for 2018 Olympic Winter Games

2011-09-11T17:57:00.000+02:00

A delegation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) wrapped up a successful orientation seminar (29-31 August) with representatives of PyeongChang 2018, less than two months after the South Korean city was elected host of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Led by the Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for the PyeongChang 2018 Games, Gunilla Lindberg, and Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli, the IOC group spoke to the local delegation about the management of the Olympic Games and the key milestones that occur during the lifecycle of an Organising Committee. They also laid out the framework of partnership that will guide preparations for the next seven years and outlined some best practices from previous Games. Speaking after the seminar, Lindberg said: "We are excited to be here so soon after PyeongChang was awarded the right to host the 2018 Games. Our Games Management process helps cities to get up and running quickly and effectively, which is highly beneficial because, as PyeongChang will discover, the seven years between now and the Games will go by rapidly". "The city has already benefited from the transfer of knowledge from past Games and from their previous bids and we can see how well-prepared and eager they are already (...)We were pleased with the presence of all levels of government during our visit, as we met Minister Choung from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Governor Choi; and the mayors of the host communities. This underlines the strong ties between the Games stakeholders and the commitment of the country to these Games", she continued.
The PyeongChang 2018 delegation at the orientation seminar was headed by Bid Committee Chairman Yang Ho Cho and included Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) President Y.S. Park, IOC member from Korea Dae Sung Moon and Ki Hong Kim, Director General of the Sports Bureau, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Yang Ho Cho, Chairman and CEO of PyeongChang2018, said: "We are very happy to have welcomed Ms Lindberg and the IOC representatives to PyeongChang again. As we wrap up the IOC Orientation Seminar, I feel that we are off to a very good start. We are learning a great deal from the IOC's expertise and experience, and the information we have received during this Seminar will serve as the foundation for our preparations. For the next seven years, we will work closely with the IOC, and all of their guidance, counsel, and friendship will ensure that we host a successful Winter Games in 2018".
As part of its transfer of knowledge programmes, the IOC runs an orientation seminar shortly after the election of each host city. The aim of the seminar is to help the newly elected city make the transition from bidding for the Games to being a Games organiser. It explains in detail the preparation phases and the operations that will need to be finalised over the next seven years, while building upon the transfer of knowledge that the cities receive from the IOC during the bid stages. The seminar also helps the organisers to decide where they should focus their efforts during the start-up phase and is an opportunity for the IOC to share its Games management philosophy with them. This enables everyone to understand what is expected of them and ensures that the collaboration is as efficient as possible right from the outset.
The IOC’s Olympic Games Knowledge Management (OGKM) programme plays a key part in allowing Organising Committees to build top-quality Games on the basis of past experience. In addition to the orientation seminar, the IOC’s Olympic Games Knowledge Management programme consists of a knowledge base, accessible via an extranet, comprising key reports, plans and information from every area of Olympic Games management, observers’ and secondees’ programmes during the Games, a debrief following each edition of the Games, and access to specially tailored courses for Organising Committees with the participation of Games experts.

Team Europe Wins the Swatch Skiers Cup Trophy in Valle Nevado

2011-09-11T10:53:00.005+02:00

Team Europe clinched the SWATCH SKIERS CUP today with a final score of 14 – 10 at the inaugural freeski competition high in the Chilean Andes. In today’s showdown on the Backcountry Slopestyle course, Team Europe held their own against the favored strength of Team Americas freestylers and it was Kaj Zackrisson and his band of seven riders that held the SWATCH SKIERS CUP triumphantly aloft at the end of the day.
In two rounds of eight head-to-head duels, Team Americas would showcase its unrivaled freestyle strength on the two large features shaped by David Ny, and the varied natural hits, cliffs and powder landings of the Backcountry Slopestyle. The panel of three international judges awarded a single point to the winner of each man-to-man heat.
Round 1: Coming off the Big Mountain segment of the event Monday trailing 2-6, Team Americas’ riders were pressed in the Backcountry Slopestyle discipline to reverse their deficit. Powered by the talents of Rory Bushfield (CAN) and Dylan Hood (USA), they delivered their best. Rory simply stomped everything he threw, though his top run would include a 360 over the entry hip, a cork-720 off the kicker, a right-side 360 off a medium-sized drop and finish with a 180 nosetap off a rolling 10-meter drop.
Switzerland’s Nicolas Vuignier, his first-round rival, answered with one of the most stylish cab-540’s of the day. Most impressive in the first round was the explosive energy of Markus Eder’s (picture attached) (ITA) cab 900 mute and switch 540 revert.
A series of spills by Team Americas would limit their gains, though, and both teams finished the first round with an additional four points, making it 10-6 for Team Europe.
Round 2: Round two would see Henrik Windstedt (SWE) charge to the finish with solid, controlled skiing, winning a total of two points today for Team Europe. Co-founder of the event and big mountain specialist, Sverre Liliequist (SWE) would display a whole new side with a misty 720 and a stomped backflip.
Team Americas refused to be outshined , however and equalized the round yet again with Dylan Hood’s (USA) enormous cork 720 and switch tricks around the venue.
Captain of Team Europe, Kaj Zackrisson (SWE) also pushed his limits today to land both left and right 360’s – a first in his long career as a freeskier – after brief instruction from young compadre Nicolas Vuignier (SUI) the previous day.
Team Americas’ Josh Bibby (CAN) would win both his runs, but the favored talents of teammates Dana Flahr (CAN) and James Heim (CAN) would not shine in the showdown today.

In the end, Europe would gain enough points by the third duel in the second round to win the event. The athletes agreed that after such an experience in Chile, they would certainly support another SWATCH SKIERS CUP. Says Richard Permin (FRA): "I think it’s the best spirit I have ever seen in a contest".
Team Americas Captain, Mark Abma (CAN) was very impressed with the SWATCH SKIERS CUP inaugural: "I think this has been a success just because of its team feel, and the camaraderie that comes from it. We have so many contests these days that are individually focused, that to create a team focus is really a funky twist. These days we just need something different and [Kaj and Sverre] stepped-up to it".

David Lopez and Miguel Caballero overall champions of the 2011 Gore-Tex Transalpine-Run

2011-09-10T20:35:00.005+02:00

David López Castán and Miguel Caballero have won the 2011 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run. The two 29-year-old trail experts of Spanish Team Trangoworld Gore-Tex covered the monstrous distance of 273.73 kilometers and a cumulative ascent of 15,436 meters in astonishing 26:37:51.0 hours.
Trailing the overall victors by merely 17 minutes after eight intense days of trail running are Jethro Lennox and Joe Symonds of Scottish Team Inov-8 Gore-Tex Footwear (26:54:18.5). The finishing touch of their race performance, however, was not just a well-deserved second place position in the overall ranking but today’s stage victory well ahead of any other team (2:50:26.9).
Julien Chorier (FRA) and Philipp Reiter (GER) of Team Salomon International ended the globally recognized trail running event in third place overall after a total of 27:54:37.2 hours on the trail. After logging a distance of 30.2 kilometers today that packed 1,807 meters into a single sustained climb, the two racers even managed to come in second (3:02:33.1) ahead of the Spanish overall race champions.
For the first time in its seven-year history, a Spanish team made up of members of the National Trail Running team, won the Transalpine Run. "It’s simply an incredible feeling right now. We are overjoyed that we ended up winning the race as first-time participants", shared Miguel Caballero who was clearly the stronger of the two team members on the last two stages. Apparently, his teammate "David started experiencing an increasingly upset stomach. That ended up costing valuable time", said Caballero. "In view of that, our overall victory ended up being a real piece of work".
Closest competitors of the Spanish overall victors, Jethro Lennox and Joe Symonds, had experienced similar health issues early on in the race. Having fully recovered, they went full bore today winning the hearts of spectators with a riveting sprint to the finish line in sun-drenched Latsch. In the end, though, that extra effort didn’t pay off in real terms. Joe Symonds, junior brother of last year’s champion Andrew, put it in plain language "Naturally, it is nice to know that we ended up being the strongest runners in the field today. However, in the end that doesn’t count. The prize goes to those who went all the way in the least amount of time". Still, the audacious attack the two Scotsmen launched on the overall leaders was laudable if only as a daring expression of not accepting defeat without at least trying. After setting a punishing pace up to the Göflaner Scharte (2,396m) and beating it back down to valley elevation (640m) at break-neck speed, Symonds and Lennox had managed to reduce the Spaniards’ extensive lead by one half. That, in turn, prompted Symonds’ tongue-in-cheek request to "extend the Transalpine Run by yet another two stages".
While winning the Gore-Tex® Transalpine Run was a first for champions Lopez and Caballero, Dr. Thomas Miksch and Anton Philipp of Berglaufteam Haglöfs-Gore have savored that privilege already twice before. The Master category, where the cumulative age of both runners must exceed a total of 80 years, has been dominated by this highly experienced race duo (29:15:59.3) three consecutive times by now.
Having spent one half hour longer than the category champs on the trails between Oberstdorf and Latsch, Anton Steiner and Klaus Wellenzohn of Team Schlanders (29:43:34.9) claimed second place in the overall ranking.
Steffen Walk and Christian Stork of Team Salomon/Sport Reischmann (29:51:13.8) had closely pursued Team Schlanders throughout this week. Their courageous effort was rewarded by third place in the end. In a gesture of true sportsmanship, Walk and Stork decided to cross today’s finish line in synch with Marco Schneider and Holger Finkelmann of Main Ausdauershop Trail Team with whom they had raced chin-to-chin for much of stage. The joint endeavor paid off as both teams ended up crowding the top podium position for today’s fastest time among the Masters (3:08:03.1).
While Anton Philipp and Dr. Thomas Miksch won the overall title, their performance on this final stage demonstrated a degree of vulnerability to the competition. Anton Philipp shared "I’m happy but also relieved. Thomas again suffered a great deal today. Thus, we were eager to simply get through. This tactic played out all right".
Claire Gordon and Fiona Maxwell have claimed the trophy among the Women teams at the 2011 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run. The two Scottish racers definitely dominated not just yesterday’s stage but also the final day of racing ending up in Latsch in less than four hours (3:57.32.8) and with a sizeable overall lead of nearly five hours ahead of the closest competition (34:40:28.5).
Gerti Ott and Sabina Kraus of Orthomol Sport Team Lautrach finished as runner-ups in the overall ranking (38:07:46.7) while Switzerland's Brigitte Eggerling and Daniela Nusseck of Team Alpinrunner rounded out the overall podium as third (39:57:25.5) after eight exhausting days on the trails across the High Divide.
After a couple of failed attempts, Gaby Steigmeier (SUI) and Seppi Neuhauser (AUT) finally have met their long-standing objective of ruling and winning the GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run as a Mixed team (31:44:16.8). They accomplished that goal in an impressive manner that left little doubt as to their supremacy in that category. With already seven stage victories under the belt, the Swiss-Austrian duo gave another handy demonstration of seasoned technical skills and physical prowess today arriving in the record time of 3:21:34.9 hours. Steigmeier, was clearly moved and shared "A long-held dream has come true. I’m overjoyed. Finally, it worked out!".
Andrea and Uli Calmbach of Team Salomon Deutschland wrapped up their race week as second fastest duo in the ranking (33:42:14.6) while Sonja and Andrea Irendorfer of Team Innenausbau Irendorf were overjoyed with the remaining podium position (34:22:28.2).
Akin to the victors of the Mixed category, Rudi Schöpf (GER) and Hans Hörmann (ITA) finished the 2011 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run without ever loosing the lead to another team. They carried that distinction right to the finish in Latsch, which they reached in 3:39:00.9 hours. That accomplishment brought their grand total to 33:50:06.0 hours spent on their feet.
The Senior Master category, where the cumulative age of team members must add up to at least one hundred years, sported other spectacular performances, such as the times of last year’s champions Gerald Blumrich and Jörg Schreiber of Team Trail Magazin who ended up claiming second place overall.
Also on the podium for today’s stage race and their overall time were Axel Zapletal and Peter Sandmeier of Team Pax Feldafing 100, who celebrated a much-deserved third place.

Symonds and Lennox claims seven stage victory at the Gore-Tex Transalpine-Run 2011

2011-09-10T07:02:00.002+02:00

Joe Symonds and Jethro Lennox of Team Inov-8 Gore-Tex Footwear delivered the evidence today that the hitherto dominant Spanish leaders of the GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run are not entirely invincible. The Scottish racers mastered today’s stage from Mals to Schlanders across the infamous Rappenscharte (3,012 m) in 3:42:52.8 hours – quite a feat since the course packed no less than 36.90 kilometers and a whooping vertical gain of 2.063 meters. Already in second place in the overall ranking, Joe Symonds and Jethro Lennox took a huge bite out of the Spanish dominators’ sizeable lead today reducing it by nearly 14 minutes. Yet, it is far too early to write off today's third ranked Miguel Caballero Ortega and David Lopez Castan (3:56:34.2) who may have shown a chink in their armor but still book nearly one half hour over Team Inov-8 Gore-Tex Footwear with only one short stage to go.
Second to arrive in the midday heat of Schlanders were German Philipp Reiter and French Julien Chorier of Team Salomon International (3:55:46.6) who had certainly tried but did not manage to keep up with the pitiless pace of Symonds / Lennox. The latter had clearly decided to pursue the uncompromising mission of dethroning the Spanish leaders at least once in the 2011 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run. By the time they reached the first catering stop (1,824m), the Scottish racers indeed had distanced themselves quite successfully from the strong vanguard posse of podium contenders booking a lead of four minutes. In fact, they managed not just to carry that principle across the legendary Rappenscharte, but even to enlarge it modestly. Symonds and Lennox were clearly exulted that their risky strategy to go full out paid off as planned. "We knew that it was going to be a very steep ascent and kept our focus on maintaining our lead. After reaching the pass we gave all on the descent to keep ahead", revealed Symonds, clearly touched by the triumphant finish. Lennox, at 34 years of age the senior teammate of the two, shared "Actually our objective for the last two stages was to defend our second-place position. But it’s very rewarding that we were able to claim a stage victory after all". Symonds added "It’s good to know that we’re still up to it because we came here to win the race. The two Spaniards (Caballero and Lopez) really surprised us. May be we’ll manage next year".
Things clearly didn’t go according to plan, when professional athletes Mireia Miro (ESP) and Stephanie Jimenez (FRA) realized at today’s start that the tendonitis in Miro’s right foot had not improved any over night. After owning the race to date with already six stage victories and only two more to go, the dominant Women’s team decided to give it at least an honest try. However, to no avail since a pain-stricken 23-year-old Miro simply could not carry on upon reaching the first food stop. This misfortune brings what were well-founded title aspirations to an abrupt and unexpected end. A disappointed Miro shared "Of course, I knew already last night that something was wrong. But naturally I wanted to see if I could get by". The unexpected withdrawal of the leading Women team ultimately benefited Claire Gordon and Fiona Maxwell of Team Shettletrot who had repeatedly run formidable times over the course of the last stages but had always trailed the leaders with little hope to outrun them. Today, they finally were first to arrive in Schlanders in 4:56:57.7 hours claiming the overall lead as well. Jubilant about their first stage victory, they were still saddened by the unexpected withdrawal of the leaders. Gordon revealed "We had no idea that they had to quit. We were convinced that they got taped up at the catering stop. Mireia and Stephanie so much deserved winning this race after their performance so far".
Second to cross the finish line in Schlanders were Brigitte Eggerling and Daniela Nusseck of Swiss Alpinrunner Team (5:18:08.7) who were overjoyed to make it onto the podium on such a tough day. Third place went to Germans Gerti Ott and Sabine Kraus of Orthomol Sport Team Lautrach (5:46:13.2).
Roaring applause from the many local spectators in the finish area announced the arrival of Anton Steiner and Klaus Wellenzohn who call Val Venosta home and had made it their duty to claim today’s stage as victors. Little over four hours was the final time the two Italian runners of Team Schlanders (4:00:58.6) needed to make it to sun-soaked Schlanders. Despite the best of intentions, an overjoyed Anton Steiner ended up being a bit surprised by their tremendous performance "Of course, you try to give your best on a stage that takes you home but we didn’t count on a victory. This morning I still suffered from an upset stomach but then it surprisingly got better".
Roughly five minutes after the local victors, Dr. Thomas Miksch and Anton Philipp of Berglaufteam Haglöfs-Gore (4:05:42.2) arrived in their Green Leader Jerseys. It was yet a few more minutes before Christian Stork and Steffen Walk crossed the finish line securing the third podium position for Master Team Salomon/Sport Reischmann (4:08:28.1).
One more stage victory is all that separates Swiss Gaby Steigmeier and Austrian Seppi Neuhauser from an untainted overall victory in the Mixed category. The two have repeatedly participated in the Transalpine Run but in the recent past have never been so close to fulfilling their coveted ambition of winning. Today’s victorious time of 4:24:28.4 hours extended their already sizeable lead by over 20 minutes.
They may not have had it in them to touch today’s victors but Austrians Sonja and Andreas Irendorfer have run a remarkable race overall so far. Today’s performance across the renowned Rappenscharte proved once more to the competition why they have to be considered serious podium contenders.
Team Innenausbau Irendorfer raced to Schlanders in 4:46:53.2 hours just ahead of second overall Andrea and Uli Calmbach of Team Salomon Deutschland (4:48:26.1) who – short of calamity – are sure-bet candidates for a podium position.
Rudi Schöpf (GER) and Hans Hörmann (ITA) of Team Latsch/Mountain Heroes leave little room for improvement in regards to their flawless race performance to date. They are ever so close to completing their quest to win the race among teams with a cumulative age of 100 years and didn’t miss a beat today either. The international centurion team continued its victorious streak crossing the finish line first after 4:39:26.4 hours on the trail.
Gerald Blumrich and Jörg Schreiber of Team Trail Magazin (4:55:08.8) arrived with some delay on the leaders but their time was good enough yet for second place in the Senior Master category.
Axel Zapletal and Peter Sandmaier of Team Pax Feldafing 100 made it to third position with their time of 5:17:39.3 hours between Mals and Schlanders in Northern Italy’s sun-drenched Val Venosta.
For many racers, today’s objective simply will be to make it through the day en route to the finish line in Latsch, Italy. For some, however, it’ll provide the last opportunity to improve their ranking – possibly even make it onto the podium. As such, the 30.2 kilometers and 1,807 meters of vertical ascent of the ultimate stage promises lots of excitement. The racers will climb to a picturesque ridgeline overlooking the western expanse of the Ortler Range, the seventh and final mountain chain to get across in eight arduous days of racing. The highest point of today’s stage will be the Göflaner Scharte at 2,369 meters from where race participants will finally take sight of their ultimate destination Latsch. A single, long descent from the scenic crest will complete this year’s 273.3 kilometer long GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run that packed no fewer than 15,436 meters of vertical gain.

Goodbye Lifts, Hello Back Country

2011-09-09T12:12:00.008+02:00

While the groomed runs of your local resort are great, finding some adventure off the beaten path can add an entirely new aspect to your skiing experience. Aren’t you sick of reading ‘tips up’ on every single chair-lift pickup? While heli-skiing is by no means cheaper than a day pass to your local mountain, it’s well worth the experience.
Beginning in the 60’s, Hans Gmoser is credited for starting heli-skiing in the Bugaboo Mountains of British Colombia. As a mountain guide and Canadian immigrant, Gmoser was able to use a helicopter to access otherwise impossible locations to ski. Since then, heli-skiing has become far more structured and safer. In fact, heli-skiing locations are constantly examined by guides to ensure your runs will be on the best snow.
Simply put, there is a reason that heli-skiing has become so popular in recent years. With new turbo-shaft helicopters and trained professionals, skiing remote locations has never been easier. New adventure tours are created every year, which makes it tough to find a heli-skiing service that caters to your specific needs.
However, FindTheBest recently created a heli-skiing comparison that’s actually really useful. There are several filters that allow skiers to narrow search results and find a perfect heli-skiing company that fits their skill level and trip length.
Stepping outside your comfort zone on the mountain can be incredibly dangerous. However, using the services of heli-skiing companies allows skiers to discover new terrain and develop new abilities. Making plans for the winter is always fun, so check out FindTheBest and weigh your options!

By Woody Robinson. Woody is a graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara and skis at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe

Six in a row - Miguel Caballero and David López Castán don’t waste any time getting to Italy

2011-09-09T07:58:00.001+02:00

Day after day, Miguel Caballero Ortega and David Lopez Castan keep demonstrating their dominance in the 2011 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run. The two Spaniards of Team Trangoworld Gore-Tex made it to Mals in the Italian Val Venosta in no more than 3:14:26.9 hours – a stunning accomplishment given the distance of 37.02 kilometers and 1,332 meters of vertical gain en route. Possibly, their performance had something to do with runner-up Team Salomon International who challenged the leaders for much of today’s stage relentlessly rushing them on to the finish line. However, second-placing Julien Chorier and Philipp Reiter (3:15:24.6) eventually ended up trailing the leaders by a single minute after courageously taking the lead for much of the day.
Third to call it a day were Tofol Castaner Bernat and Miquel Capo Soler of Team TransMallorcaRun who added to Spanish runners’ pride by claiming the remaining podium position after 3:19:30.2 hours.
The two Scottsmen Jethro Lennox and Joe Symonds surprised spectators in Mals arriving as the fourth Mens’ team, for the first time missing a beat in their quest to claim podium positions on each of the eight race days. They finished the day in 3:23:37.0 hours after their plan to distance themselves from the leading posse right off the start in Scuol backfired leaving them worn out for the latter part of the stage. The two Inov-8 Gore-Tex Footwear Team members had tried to wear out the Spanish leaders of Team Trangoworld Gore-Tex with repeated, unexpected accelerations to a pace of 3:30 minutes / kilometer all the way to precipitous Uina Canyon. However, in a twist of irony it was not the Spaniards but them who ultimately had to declare defeat as Joe Symonds shared: "Unfortunately, our strategy didn’t work since Jethro’s legs had not recovered sufficiently from yesterday’s sprint race".
Unlike the unlucky Scottish initiators of the attack on the leaders, the French/German Team Salomon International benefited from the frequent change in pace early on in today’s stage. Given the relatively undemanding nature of today’s stage, it was probably the most suitable day to launch a strategic attack on the dominant Spaniards.
Philipp Reiter was clearly surprised when the Scotsmen suddenly fell back and their team found itself in the lead. "That was pretty amazing". The 20-year-old trail talent from Germany immediately used the opening gap with running partner Chorier (FRA). They even managed to gain a lead of almost three minutes over the hitherto dominant Spaniards Caballero/Castan upon reaching Plantapatsch (2,261m). However, they may have underestimated Team Trangoworld Gore-Tex who let the attack play out refusing to be lured into a premature chase. With less than 13-kilometers to go, they finally took the bait and calmly played out their tremendous downhill skills. Reiter was impressed but still satisfied with running to second place, his team’s best stage ranking to date. "I guess I underestimated yesterday’s stage which cost some strength. We were unable to keep up with the Spaniards’ furious pace on the descent. They really are very strong".
In the end, the stage didn’t deliver much of an upset and the Spaniards productively responded in trademark cool and collected manner to the challenge thrown at them. David Lopez was modest about his team’s accomplishment: "Today was very hard. We took quite a beating during the rapid changes in pace early on in the stage. We are pretty happy that we were able to close the gap towards the finish and that we ended up winning today".
Without having expressed their objective explicitly, the two victorious members of the Spanish Trail Running National Team continue to be on track regarding their ambition to win every one of the eight stages in the 2011 GORE-TEX® Transalpine Run.
It came as a suprise and probably tore at the nerves of the overall leaders in the Master Men category. Marco Schneider and Holger Finkelmann of Main Ausdauershop Trail Team (GER) launched a successful assault on Dr. Thomas Miksch and Anton Philipp of Berglaufteam Haglöfs-Gore on today’s stage from Switzerland to Italy. Main Ausdauer Trail Team managed to stun the competition today with their triumphant time of 3:27:54.8 hours across the High Divide of the Central Alps. On account of two meager performances early on in the eight-day stage race and their unpresumptuous seventh place ranking overall, the duo Schneider/Finkelmann had not raised much attention to date. However, they came back to regular form today and rejoiced accordingly. "It’s crazy. We had played with the thought of attacking on today’s stage and had prepared ourselves mentally for it during the last two days. But didn’t dare to think that we would be keeping the leading teams in check", Marco Schneider exulted. No newbies to the Transalpine Run, 41-year-old Schneider mused that his intimate knowledge of the course between Scuol and Mals played a big role in leading to success. "Four years ago we arrived in 3rd place on this stage".
Second to arrive in Bella Italia were Germans Steffen Walk and Christian Stork of Team Salomon/Sport Reischmann. Their time of 3:33:06.0 hours was sufficient to relegate Italians Anton Steiner and Klaus Wellenzohn of Team Schlanders (3:35:56.4) to third place and also reduced the latter’s lead in the battle for the second place in the ranking to five minutes.
Women’s Team Salomon International simply proves unbeatable
With already five decisive victories under their belt, they were clearly the favored team to win today’s stage. Yet, Stephanie Jimenez (FRA) and Mireia Miro (SPA) of Team Salomon International also made the unthinkable possible when reaching Mals, Italy, in well under four hours. Their astonishing time of 3:49:57.2 hours left little doubt that they may be difficult to beat at their game at this point.
Their most immediate competition was once again the Scottish Team Shettletrot. However, Claire Gordon and Fiona Maxwell were unable to stay below the magic four-hour mark but still claimed a hard-earned second place with a final time of 4:05:54.6 hours.
Gerti Ott and Sabine Kraus of Orthomol Sport Team Lautrach (4:29:37.9) arrived with a delay of more than 20 minutes on the Scottish ladies, a performance that was still good enough for the remaining place on the podium and testimony to a deserved third place in the overall ranking.
Having experienced much misfortune during the 2009 and 2010 Transalpine Runs, the forever-dominant Mixed team around Gaby Steigmeier (SUI) and Seppi Neuhauser (AUT) is inching closer to reaching their long-held goal of overall victory. Team Salomon covered today’s 37 kilometers through breathtaking Uina Canyon and across scenic Schlinig Pass in 3:48:28.2 hours and appears to be untouchable at this point in the race.
While Spaniards Leire Elosegui and Xabi Lekue of Team Leire_Xabi were not too far off with their performance of 3:56:10.1 hour, they had to make do with second place, which they had already achieved in yesterday’s mountain sprint. Chasing them, but to no avail, were Andrea and Uli Calmbach of Team Salomon Deutschland (3:57:527) who still rejoiced over a well-merited third place.
Rudi Schöpf (GER) and Hans Hörmann (ITA) of Team Latsch/Mountain Heroes continue to raise eyebrows given the extensive lead they have accumulated over their competition by now. The two leaders of the Senior Master category arrived in Mals after 4:03:38.2 hours, almost ten minutes ahead of their British age peers of David Jelley and Matrin Gabriel of Team Ripon Runners (4:13:46.7), who in turn were jubilant about their first podium ranking.
Axel Zapletal and Peter Sandmaier of Team Pax Feldafing 100 once again rounded off the podium trilogy with their performance of 4:15:05.3 hours.
Today runners will reach the zenith of the Western course of the 2011 Transalpine Run on tomorrow’s penultimate stage. As the crow flies, the distance between Mals and Schlanders may be less than 15 kilometers but the racers will have to detour via the Rappenscharte at 3,012 m elevation, an infamous highlight of the annual race. The ascent of the lofty mountain saddle leads through mostly trail-less terrain and a vile boulder field testing the runners’ surefootedness with every step. The descent across seemingly endless alpine meadows, in turn, may prove a relief at first but, nonetheless, requires a lot of technical competency. The stage skirts the Southern Ötztaler Range and sports the longest continuous descent to Schlanders via the picturesque Kortscher Alm.

Doppelmayr's New Lift on the Italian side of Mont Blanc

2011-09-08T12:49:00.006+02:00

Doppelmayr Italy scores the biggest order of their corporate history with an order value of EUR 105 million. Doppelmayr Italia GmbH was awarded the contract for the construction of the new ropeway on the Mont Blanc. This is the biggest order so far for the South Tyrolean company with headquarters in Lana.
The new, spectacular installation replaces the old ropeway from the 1940s and 1950s. The installation is located on the Italian side at the foot of the Mont Blanc and connects the tourist resort Courmayeur with the Pointe Helbronner.
The ground-breaking ceremony for the model project took place at the beginning of April with the first preparatory works for the building site. The procurement took place after three months of evaluating the bids. In order to take part in the tender several companies merged in a consortium. Under the name of "Cordée Mont Blanc" renowned companies participate in the construction of the new jig-back ropeway: the ropeway manufacturer Doppelmayr Italia and several building contractors, such as PAC SpA from Bolzano, Valdostane Cogeis SpA, Costruzioni Stradali B.G.F. Srl, I.V.I.E.S. SpA, and another building consortium from the Aosta Valley.
Operator of the ropeway installation is the company "Funivie Monte Bianco", in which the autonomous region Aosta is considerably engaged, and eventually gave preference to the consortium "Cordée Mont Blanc" for the construction of the ascent installation.
The future ropeway to the Mont Blanc scales the Pointe Helbronner at approximately 3,500 m above sea level in two new sections. The three line sections of the old installation will be demolished upon completion of the building works for the new ropeway. Glass and steel will set architectural highlights for the station buildings and the futuristic cabins. The stations are spacious and allows for views over the impressive mountain scenery by means of observation platforms.
The cabins have a round shape, are completely glazed and rotate about their centre axes. Doppelmayr has already implemented this advanced technology in other famous locations: for example in Cape Town, Palm Springs, at the mountain Titlis in Switzerland or at the Monte Baldo at the Lake Garda. But it is still a challenge for Doppelmayr: Never before has a rotating cabin been used in such height.
In each section a total of 4 carriers with a capacity of 80 passengers each is planned. The overall line length is 4.3 km and a difference in height of 2,140 m is overcome with an operating speed of 9 m/s (approx. 30 km/h). The track ropes are approximately 7 cm thick.
The drive consists of two electric motors with an output of 600 kW each. Per hour 800 and respectively 600 passengers (section 1 and section 2) can be transported.
The new cabins are a show piece of aesthetics and innovation. Thanks to the panorama glazing, the passengers can enjoy the 360 degree view without interruptions. The interior fittings are of state-of-the-art design: heating elements integrated into the cabin floor and walls, sound system, and video screens. On these screens pictures made by the camera that is attached to the outside of the cabin floor are shown through a wireless connection. In addition, the screens show information such as weather data and event tips. Other features the high-tech cabin offers are air conditioning, adjustable LED lighting and intelligent sway dampers – to only name a few.
The new bottom station is built in Pontal d'Entreves – opposite the ropeway "Val Veny". Despite being an aesthetic and spectacular eye catcher, the construction blends in perfectly with the overall view. The station can be easily reached via the motorway and provides enough parking spaces – a present problem of the existing station.
The mid station will be constructed near the old station and only be displaced by a few meters. Conference rooms and a restaurant complex are planned to find space inside. Nearby in Mont Frety, the legendary botanic garden can be seen – the most elevated in Europe.
At a height of 3,500 m above sea level and near the Pointe Helbronner, the new top station will be built – equipped with a huge observation platform and a breathtaking panorama view on the Mont Blanc massif: Dente del Gigante, Grandes Jorasses, Vallée Blanche and the Mont Blanc (4,810 m above sea level). Due to the restricted space conditions, the station is designed in terraces.
From the top station, a new elevator in the rocks leads downwards to the mountain shelter "Rifugio Torino". Up until now, the shelter could be reached by means of a small ropeway and a tunnel with stairs. The construction of the new elevator and the connecting tunnel is a work-intensive effort: the elevator well has a diameter of 7 meters and a difference of height of 70 meters. Ultimately, 130 meters of rock must be drilled through.
While building the new ropeway, special attention is paid to efficiency and sustainability in order to keep the energy consumption as low as possible. Thus, materials with high thermal insulation capacities are used, as well as photovoltaic installations and a heating system with heat pumps for heat recovery. This shall approximately reach the standard of a zero-power building.
The bottom station in Pontal d'Entreves even fulfills the criteria for a so-called "active house": More energy is generated than consumed.
The construction period of the new ropeway on the Mont Blanc is four years, the start-up is scheduled to take place in 2014.

Miguel Caballero crushes previous stage record in mountain sprint

2011-09-08T07:46:00.001+02:00

Miguel Caballero Ortega grew wings in today’s uphill race from Scuol’s town square to the plateau of Motta Naluns (2.130m) high above the Swiss spa community. His time of 38.57,6 minutes beat the previous GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run two-year-old record of Italian Michael Fischer by nearly a full minute. By the end of the day, the new record secured Team Trangoworld Gore-Tex first place in today’s stage. Race partner David Lopez Castan had not been in the best shape today finishing the race himself in 44:01.2 minutes. However, no other team managed to beat the Spaniards cumulative time of 1:22:58.8 hours.
The victorious Caballero clearly benefited in today’s 6,19 kilometer uphill sprint race from fellow countryman Tofol Castaner Bernat, the 2010 Sky Running World Champion. Castaner, who claimed second place today with teammate Miquel Capo Soler of Team TransMallorcaRun (1:25:38.7) had served as an ideal, albeit unintentional, pacer for Caballero. Today’s staggered start required Castaner to race right ahead of Caballero who, in turn, never lost sight of his predecessor. "Naturally that was good for me since I was perfectly able to use Tofol for orientation" Caballero, victor of this year’s Stava Skyrace, explained. "I’m very happy that I won today". Castaner from the Mediterranean isle Mallorca, in turn, was not displeased with the turn of events that left him in second place despite his blistering time of 39:41.4 minutes. He shared his assessment "It’s quite all right. In the beginning I did very well. But when the terrain got steeper, Miguel had a clear advantage using poles. I’m from an island where you don’t use something like that".
It may have been a spur of the moment decision for Miguel Caballero Ortega to use the benefit of having Castaner as his unintentional pacer. In the end, that circumstance offered him a unique opportunity that was simply too hard to pass up – and Caballero knew full well how to use it to his advantage.
Only yesterday, today’s victor had expressed different intentions altogether hoping to use today’s sprint race as a welcome opportunity to regenerate rather than exerting himself too much. Today, the Spanish Club Champion of 2010 retracted and commented tongue in cheek "I guess in hindsight and by definition I lied then".
The third team on today’s podium were Jethro Lennox and Joe Symonds of Scottish Team Inov-8 Gore-Tex Footwear (1:26:18.2). Symonds also claimed 3rd place in today’s individual ranking, racing up the 936 m of elevation gain in blistering 41:36.3 minutes.
The fastest woman today, Mireia Miro of Spain, may have frightened the odd male racer today as she passed a long line of competitors along the steep ascent to Motta Naluns at mind-blowing speed. In the end, she finished the race day in first place among the Women, trailing the victorious Caballero by only 6:45 minutes. Suffering from an aching hip on yesterday’s stage, the 23-year-old trail running and ski touring talent, showed little sign of weakness today. In the end, she required only 45:43.1 minutes to reach Motta Naluns which also put her in 15th place in today’s overall ranking.
Miro’s French teammate of Team Salomon International, Stephanie Jimenez (53:39.4), also put in a formidable performance today reaching the finish at 2,130 meters elevation in under an hour’s time. The two leaders were, in turn, able to slip on another set of leader jerseys for the upcoming stage from Switzerland into Italy.
Second-placing Claire Gordon and Fiona Maxwell of Scottish Team Shettletrot again lived up to repute en route to today’s hilltop finish by adding no more than 1:42:48.4 hours cumulative time to their race tally.
Isabel Sanjuan Tabuenca and Nuria Dominguez Azpeleta of Trangoworld Gore-Tex (1:54:28.1) returned to the podium today putting an early end to what some competitors may have mistaken as a bout of weakness on yesterday’s stage.
In contrast to the leading teams of all other categories, the vanguard Master team had to accept a setback today. Italians Anton Steiner and Klaus Wellenzohn of Team Latsch (1:34:01.6) finally managed to advance to the very top in today’s stage ranking abandoning what had become a trademark second-position after four days of racing.
Their cumulative lead, however, turned out to be merely eight seconds over Anton Philipp and Dr. Thomas Miksch of Team Haglöfs-Gore (1:34:09.8).
Trailing these two teams by more than two minutes were Stephan Tassani-Prell and Oliver Steiniger of Team Salomon Deutschland, who jubilantly celebrated their first podium ranking with a cumulative race time of 1:36:29.6 hours.
Local Gaby Steigmeier (SUI) literally feels right at home in Scuol and had no more than a few footsteps to the start area. She and team partner Seppi Neuhauser of Austria made the most of it and delivered a victorious ‘home run’ with a cumulative time of only 1:38:29.3 hours.
The two veteran racers in the Transalpine Run Series claimed a fifth consecutive stage victory and start into the second half of this year’s race from a most comfortable position.
Spaniards Leire Elosegui and Xabi Lekue of Team Xabi_Leire (1:44:48.1) delivered the second-best time of the day rejoicing over a first podium position. Overall second-ranked Team Salomon Deutschland around Andrea and Uli Calmbach had to resort to third place as their time added up to 1:45:25.0 hours.
What may seem as a snide heading, in fact speaks of great respect for the Grand Masters of Transalpine Run(ning). Rudi Schöpf (ITA) and Hans Hörmann (GER) of Team Latsch/Mountain Heroes once more outpaced their international centurion competitors.
The Senior Masters will continue to be clad in black (leader jerseys) on tomorrow’s stage to Bella Italia as their cumulative time of 1:46:02.8 hours beat the second-best Team Elbland Sachsen (GER) by nearly three minutes.
Hans-Dieter Jancker and Jörg Schmoltz of the latter team yet were greatly satisfied with their respective time of 1:48:44,6 hours, possibly also since they managed to relegate podium regulars Gerald Blumrich and Jörg Schreiber of Team Trail Magazin (GER, 1:51:00,6) quite unexpectedly to third place.
Three scenic highlights await the international field of racers on today’s stage across the international border to Italy. Uina Canyon, Schlinig Pass and finally the high trails to Plantapatsch should provide sufficient motivation to give it all on the 6th of eight days of trail running in the 2011 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run. The stage ranks among the easier days in the race week with 37.02 kilometers and a single climb that packs ‘merely’ 1,332 meters of altitudinal gain.

López Castán and Caballero prove unbeatable four days into the Transalpine-Run

2011-09-07T07:45:00.003+02:00

It almost seems a daily routine by now that David Lopez Castan and Miguel Caballero Ortega lead the field of racers into the finish area at the 2011 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run. For the 4th day in a row, the two members of the Spanish National trail running team clearly dominated the race, reaching Scuol almost seven minutes ahead of the second-fastest team. Castan and Ortega, recognizable by their bright blue leader jerseys by now, covered today’s 39,93 kilometers and 2,339 meters of altitudinal gain en route to Switzerland in 4:06:46.8 hours.
Their most immediate threat, Scottish Team Inov-8 Gore-Tex Footwear, took 4:13:40.6 hours on the trail between Galtür and Scuol (SUI). Jethro Lennox and Joe Symonds’ attempts to break the dominance of the Spaniards all seem to have failed to date. Third to arrive in the spa community of Scuol were once again Julien Chorier (FRA) and Philipp Reiter (GER) with a time of 4:19:54.7 hours.
The overall leaders López Castán and Caballero Ortega have by now accumulated a cushy lead of roughly 35 minutes over the scond-ranking Scotsmen Symonds and Lennox. As such, the Spaniards enjoyed the unheard-of luxury of taking in the breath-taking scenery on today’s Futschölpass (2.768m) and Piz Clünas (2.793m) without feeling too rushed.
Bluebird skies, coolish temperatures in the morning and racy singletrack en route to Switzerland left little to be desired for the field of racers. Twenty-nine year-old David Caballero Ortega shared: “This was by far the most beautiful stage to date and we took some time to savor it.”
An experience that clearly motivated the overall leaders enough to chance a surprise dash on the first lengthy descent towards Alp Valmala (1,980m). Yet, the Spanish leaders were not entirely oblivious to their competitors from Scotland. Caballero Ortega from Segovia, Spain, recalled, "The two kept the pressure up but we managed to run our race. It was on the first downhill that we noticed that we were stronger and decided to increase our speed to get away for good".
Their strategy panned out once again, which Joe Symonds had no problem acknowledging: "Both are extremely strong on the downhill. They simply get along better with conditions on the descents than us. Unfortunately, I’m still somewhat handicapped by my fall on the second day and I may still be a little too cautious at this point". Such hesitance would seem plausible given that Symonds’ lacerated leg required several stitches at the end of Stage Two.
The younger brother of previous year’s victor Andrew Symonds is planning to use tomorrow’s relatively short vertical race to Motta Naluns (6.19 kilometers, 936 meters of vertical ascent) as a kind of interlude for regeneration. Most racers will welcome tomorrow’ shorter itinerary as it should allow preparations for the final three days of racing.
Women Leaders shake off competition – again
Like the leading Mens team, Stephanie Jimenez (FRA) and Mireia Miro (ESP) managed to break away from the field claiming their fourth consecutive victory. The team that has been dealt openly as the top favorite for victory in this year’s GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run took no more than 5:01:53.0 hours to make it to Scuol, a charming resort town in Switzerland’s sunny Engadin region. However, their impressive dash across the international border took its toll on the two female racers who themselves had gone into this race with high expectations for top podium positions. Miro admitted "We may have started out too fast on the first three days. The result of that today was Stephanie experiencing some problems, then me, so that eventually we decided to take a several-minute-long break for stretching". That disruption did not keep the whirlwind team from reaching the finish line on the medieval village square roughly 18 minutes ahead of their Scottish competitors of Team Shettletrot. Claire Gordon and Fiona Maxwell once again ran a formidable race but their time of 5:19:51.0 hours in the end was only good enough for second place given Team Salomon International’s invincible performance. Miro recognizes her team’s overwhelming lead: "Clearly, that is a huge lead that we now want to manage over the course of the next days and hope to defend successfully to the final finish in Latsch". While Miro / Jimenez have become regulars on the podium by now, Team Craft around Stefanie Felgenhauer and Kathrin Höfler (5:36:42.3) celebrated that distinction for the first time today in the 2011 Transalpine Run.
Trail runners Dr. Thomas Miksch and Anton Philipp clearly are on a very special mission: Winning three consecutive leader titles in their category. Their team, Haglöfs-Gore, may push a cumulative age of more than 80 years but the two Germans never seem to waste undue time or energy on the trail and always manage to stay ahead of their competitors. After 4:25:20.5 hours on the trail, they had not only secured first place in the Masters category for the fourth time in a row in this year’s event but also claimed 4th position overall.
Second across the finish line today were Anton Steiner and Klaus Wellenzohn of Team Schlanders (4:40:11.7) who took 15 minutes longer than the leaders to cross into Switzerland. They had a few minutes to put their feet up before Cristian Doliana and Fabio Varesco of Team La Sportiva/Gore-Tex Footwear (4:46:51.5) followed suite and called it a day.
Both teams had moved up a notch after the originally second placing Christian Stork and Steffen Walk had received a time penalty of 15 minutes for a short cut moving them back into fifth place. Gaby Steigmeier (SUI) and Seppi Neuhauser (AUT) don’t need to worry much about getting their laundry done during the weeklong race event. The two exceptional trail runners have grown accustomed to claiming a fresh set of leader jerseys at the daily flower ceremony by now. Team Salomon, a regular at the Transalpine Run for many years, extended its comfy lead further today.
On top of that, the two veterans stayed under the five-hour mark for today’s stage (4:55:56.2). Managing their lead to the end of the ultimate stage at the end of the week would seem to be their primary worry at this point.
Andrea and Uli Calmbach of Team Salomon Deutschland (5:07:06.1) came in second place today, more than four minutes ahead of the Austrian Team Innenausbau Irendorfer. The couple Sonja and Andreas Irendorfer claimed a deserved third place with their time of 5:11:20.4 hours.
Team Latsch/Mountain Heroes: A different kind of Senior lifestyle
Rudi Schöpf and Hans Hörmann, the seemingly untouchable Senior Master leaders, proved to be in a league of their own as they not just dominate their race category but keep on ranking among the top ten-percentile of race participants. The German – Italian team raced to Scuol in 5:17:44.8 hours, also claiming a fourth consecutive victory in this year’s Gore-Tex Transalpine-Run.
Somewhat slower, but still clocking a highly commendable time were their closest competitors of the previous days. Gerald Blumrich and Jörg Schreiber of Team Trail Magazin (5:32:28.7) came in second place- as has become customary by now, a comfortable position to start the second half of the race week from.
Their fellow countrymen Axel Zapletal and Peter Sandmeier of Team Pax Feldafing 100 (5:45:18.2) once more claimed the third position on today’s podium.
Next stage on the Western course of the Transalpine-Run is routinely dedicated for some R&R of the special kind: Race and Relax. The challenge of the fifth of a total of eight race days is a relatively short sprint race exacting a single climb of 936 meters of vertical gain. The vertical race will start at the old village square in Scuol and for some racers can be expected to finish in under an hour. The finish is located at the summit station of the Motta Naluns funicular on a plateau just above treeline with a spectacular view over the Central Alps. An apt setting for the halfway point of the eight-stage trail run across the Alps!. While tomorrow’s race is short, the steep ascent over mostly trail less terrain will require much in terms of technique and stamina – not exactly how most would define a rest day.

Vail Resorts Re-Imagines the Vacation Photo Experience With the Second Generation of EpicMix

2011-09-06T12:27:00.002+02:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine what it's worth if we take your perfect vacation photo, deliver it to your computer or mobile device for free and then combine it with the most important information and memories from your trip.
On August 31th, Vail Resorts announced the next generation of its popular ski and snowboard application, EpicMix which will revolutionize how guests take and share photos at all six of the Company's mountain resorts when it launches this season. Upon request, the Company's photographers will take portrait and action photos and automatically deliver the images to the guest's EpicMix account by quickly scanning a guest's RF-enabled lift ticket or season pass.
Using this RF technology, EpicMix photographers will seamlessly deliver an image to everyone in a group picture and kids' photos will be sent to their parent's secure account. The most revolutionary part is that Vail Resorts will provide these professional photos free to guests, in a "low-res" format for sharing on Facebook and Twitter, while a high-resolution image can be purchased online allowing guests to print unlimited copies at the vendor of their choice or on their own.
In addition to professional images, guests will be able to take their own photos and combine them in one place together with their vertical feet, digital pins and memories of other special moments of their visit through the new EpicMix platform. They'll also be able to create a "Remix" collage, a singular snapshot (or jpeg) customized with their digital information that captures their entire mountain experience.
EpicMix allows all of these images and information to easily be shared on Facebook and other social sites, or uploaded to popular photo storage sites such as Flickr, Snapfish and Shutterfly. Facebook estimates that more than 250 million photos are uploaded each day, making photo sharing one of the most popular activities on Facebook.
To broaden the engagement of EpicMix and provide an improved experience to all of its guests, Vail Resorts announced that it will eliminate nearly all paper tickets for the 2011-2012 winter season by providing guests with a reusable and durable card loaded with their daily lift tickets or season pass. The upgraded and smarter lift access card, which will be provided at no extra charge, will come enabled with RF technology and allow for a hassle-free "easy scan" process at the lifts meaning that there's no need to show a ticket or pass to the Vail Resorts lift scanning employees.
In addition to the integration of photo capabilities, the next release of EpicMix will be faster and will include hundreds of new pins and a new interface showing guests the pins they can earn.
"Last year's introduction of EpicMix was truly revolutionary in how it brought together the digital and physical experience of skiing and riding without anything getting in the way of truly enjoying the outdoors", said Rob Katz, Vail Resorts chief executive officer. "This season we're re-imagining how guest photos are taken, stored and shared at our resorts and delivering a groundbreaking way for skiers and riders to capture their experience on the mountains. Our six resorts will be offering something not available at any other ski mountain or other resort destination. Through EpicMix we're allowing people to remember their vacation - and photos are one of the most critical ways to create and share those memories".
When Vail Resorts launched EpicMix last year experts called it a "game changer" and "one of the most ridiculously cool ..." mobile strategies. Six months after it debuted, it won a "People's Voice" Webby award in the Experimental and Innovation category for mobile devices.
The true innovation is that the app and online site allows guests to selectively share stats and information via Twitter and Facebook without requiring skiers or snowboarders to do anything different other than enjoy their skiing and snowboarding experience. Instead of manual check-ins, the RF-enabled pass or ticket allows for automatic check-ins at each lift at all six resorts, which then tracks the vertical feet and rewards guests for accomplishments like riding every lift in one day to earn the Conqueror pin.
Nearly 100,000 guests activated their EpicMix accounts last ski and snowboard season which equated to a 15-percent adoption rate and resulted in 275,000 social posts on Facebook and Twitter and more than 35 million social impressions (based on Facebook's estimate of 130 friends per person).
EpicMix will be available to all Vail Resorts guests who purchase any lift ticket or season pass this year. Almost every ticket and pass will be enabled with RF technology and allow guests to participate in EpicMix and the new photo sharing functionality starting in mid-December 2011.
Once guests get their RF-enabled pass or lift ticket, they can simply log on to http://www.epicmix.com/ and activate their EpicMix accounts and download the free EpicMix mobile app for the iPhone, Android or other smart phone.

European Team Dominates Big Mountain Competition at the Swatch Skiers Cup

2011-09-06T10:38:00.003+02:00

Under a blazing South American sun at 3900m, 16 members of the world’s freeskiing cream battled it out today in the expansive helicopter-accessed wilderness adjacent to Valle Nevado resort. When the powder settled, Team Europe had overwhelmed Team Americas six wins to two in a series of 8 man-to-man ski-offs on the Big Mountain course.
Chilean Chopo Diaz (28 years old) brought down the house early in competition, bettering France’s Seb Michaud with an enormous air towards the top of the venue. This put Team Americas on the scoreboard, followed by Oakley White-Allen (USA) who would gain them yet another point today in his duel with Australian Chris Booth.
Their glory was short-lived, however, as Team Europe would blast each of the remaining six heats in today’s Big Mountain competition. Of particular note was seasoned Big Mountain powerhouse Henrik Windstedt (Sweden) whose solid skill shone throughout the 400m descent, dropping several cliffs and ousting Canada’s James Heim. Team Europe would send no better into the fray than Italy’s Markus Eder (20 years old) who took opponent Josh Bibby to the cleaners by heading to skier’s left for a line only visible from the helicopter that took him to the start gate. Eder would drop a series of couloirs and 10 to 15m cliffs in a high-speed charge to the finish. A strong Team Americas contender, Dana Flahr (Canada) was expected to deliver but instead fell attempting a 360 off a 15m drop. His rival, Kaj Zackrisson, would give it his all in this high altitude event, storming to victory for the last run of the SWATCH SKIERS CUP Big Mountain.
Time restrictions today limited competition to a single round of 8 heats however, as skiers were given time to inspect the features of the 30-35-degree face. Results from today’s single round will stand as the Big Mountain results and will now be carried-over to the Backcountry Slopestyle event.
Backcountry Slopestyle Yet To Come: Legendary features shaper David Ny has been hard at work sculpting the Backcountry Slopestyle course for the final day of competition at the SWATCH SKIERS CUP is scheduled for Friday, September 9th. Team Americas, bristling with high-powered freestylers, must now step up to the challenge presented today by Team Europe. Which team has what it takes to hold aloft the SWATCH SKIERS CUP?

Complete results of first day of competition: Big Mountain

Team Americas 2 vs. - Team Europe 6

Chopo Diaz (CHI - 28) 1 - 0 Seb Michaud (FRA - 38)
Oakley White-Allen (USA - 32) 1 - 0 Chris Booth (AUS - 23)
Matt Margetts (CAN - 23) 0 - 1 Nicolas Vuignier (SUI - 20)
James Heim (CAN - 29) 0 - 1 Henrik Windstedt (SWE - 28)
Josh Bibby (CAN - 28) 0 - 1 Markus Eder (ITA - 20)
Rory Bushfield 0 - 1 Richard Permin (FRA - 26)
Dylan Hood (USA - 27) 0 - 1 Sverre Liliequist (SWE - 39)
Dana Flahr (CAN - 29) 0 - 1 Kaj Zackrisson (SWE - 27)

Third consecutive victory for Team Trangoworld Gore-Tex Spain at the Gore-Tex Transalpine-Run 2011

2011-09-06T07:41:00.001+02:00

David Lopez Castan and Miguel Caballero Ortega once again ruled today’s field of runners! As on both previous stages of the GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run, they managed to distance themselves from any immediate competition halfway into the day and from then on simply ran their own race. The two Spanish talents put the full marathon distance between Schruns and Galtür behind them with seeming ease in the mind-blowing time of 3:49:47.7 hours. While today’s course had been changed to account for potential thunderstorm activity and avoided any exposed ridgeline trails in favour of a lower elevation route, the day still packed a punch.
Trailing the Spanish leaders by ten minutes were - as would have been expected by now - Jethro Lennox and Joe Symonds of Team Inov-8 Gore-Tex Footwear. The Scottish missed staying under the four-hour mark by a mere second with their time of 4:00:01.6 hours, but still rank second overall at this point.
Third to cross the finish line in the Austrian resort community of Galtür were Tofol Castaner Bernat and Miguel Capo Soler of TransMallorcaRun Team (4:09:09.9) with just a hair’s lead over their friends Julien Chorier (FRA) and Philipp Reiter of Team Salomon International (4:09:10.2). The four indeed leapt across the finish line in single file for a photo finish, a gesture implicit for the cordial race spirit in the Gore-Tex Transalpine Run series.
Conditions on today’s trails were anything but perfect. At higher elevations temperatures barely kept above freezing. Driving rain soaked the racers intermittently, while gusty winds pushed low-lying clouds around to obscure visibility at times. As such, opting for the alternative route turned out to have been a wise choice.
Race director Wolfgang Pohl was clearly relieved that most runners had enjoyed the new course despite the inclement conditions. "The original track would have been too exposed to the elements over a distance of nearly 18 kilometers. Subjecting over 600 racers to such a risk wouldn’t have been a responsible thing to do". The alternative route proved to be sufficiently challenging as it stood, which victorious Miguel Caballero aptly summed up: "It was very wet and cold, which made running a lot harder for us". Still, running in the clouds must have held something mystical for most runners – something many runners commented on - as they made their arduous way across two mountain passes at elevations of 1932 m and 2271 m, respectively. The strategy of race duo Castan/Caballero, both members of the Spanish National trail running team, to ‚up the ante’ only half way into the day’s single 29-kilometer long climb, clearly had a demoralizing effect on all other vanguard teams. Soaking wet but elated, 29-year-old Caballero explained: "We decided to increase our speed from one moment to the next and indeed managed to get away relatively easily. Let’s see what the next few days hold for us. We take itstage by stage".
Joe Symonds, once again relegated to second place, concurred with the victorious Spaniard: "It was indeed very exhausting. The climb just didn’t seem to end. Then, between the first and second food stop, they got away from us".
Every day Berglaufteam Haglöfs-Gore (GER) around Anton Philipp and Dr. Thomas Miksch seems to get a little closer to the ambitious goal of claiming a third consecutive victory in the Masters category at the GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run. So far, their race approach goes to plan as the two race veterans were once again the first Masters to cross the finish line in just 4:14:59.1 hours. That time also proved good enough for a deserved sixth place overall in today’s stage.
Steffen Walk and Christian Stork of Team Salomon/Sport Reischmann (GER) ended up trailing the leaders by over seven minutes but still entered the finish area in well-known ski town Galtür with the commendable time of 4:22:40.5 hours. The two German racers comfortably managed to stay ahead of Anton Steiner and Klaus Wellenzohn (ITA) of Team Schlanders who – once again – claimed third place on the podium with their time of 4:24:34.0 hours.
Stephanie Jimenez (FRA) and Mireia Miro (ESP) once more demonstrated both physical and technical prowess with seeming effortlessness. With only 4:39:51.8 hours on the trail, the two not only managed to come in first with a sizeable lead of 23 minutes over their most immediate competition, but also claimed 18th place in today’s overall ranking.
Claire Gordon and Fiona Maxwell of Scottish Team Shettletrot mustn’t have spend any time sight-seeing alongside the trail either, as they ran the marathon mountain stage between Schruns and Galtür in just 5:03:20.1 hours. That performance afforded them a sufficient lead over third-placing Germans Gitti Schiebel and Simone Philipp of Team Mountain Heroes/Salomon (5:15:52.8).
Gaby Steigmeier (SUI) and Seppi Neuhauser (GER) of Team Salomon clearly form a perfect match as a race team winning their third consecutive set of leader jerseys on today’s stage. Veterans of several in the 7-year series of GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Runs, they ruled their category yet again in trademark form with the victorious time of 4:43:03.4 hours.
Kasia Zajac (POL) and Christian Zimmer (GER) of Team Salomon Polen Deutschland came in second trailing the dominant leaders by only ten minutes (4:54:17.4). The two racers actually arrived clasping hands with Germans Andrea and Uli Calmbach of Team Salomon Deutschland (4:54:17.5). The latter stayed a nose-length behind the international race team and graciously accepted third place for today.
As in all other categories, the leaders of the Senior Masters were unwilling to relinquish their coveted vanguard position. Rudi Schöpf and Hans Hörmann (ITA) of Team Latsch/Mountain Heroes crossed the finish line after 4:59:55.7 hours on the trail extending their lead further over the ever-second German Team Trail Magazin around Gerald Blumrich and Jörg Schreiber (5:08:57.2).
The third centurion team on the podium were Axel Zapletal and Peter Sandmaier of Team Pax Feldafing 100, who didn’t exactly dilly-dally en route with their time of 5:28:07.5 hours.
Today's stage won’t afford the racers much of a break yet with a distance of almost 40 kilometers and a cumulative vertical ascent of 2,339 m. After warming up on a gently rising forest trunk road up the Jam Valley, racers will get back on racy singletrack trails that lead up to and subsequently down from the Futschölpass (2,768 m), which also forms the Swiss-Austrian border. Crossing into Switzerland also marks the beginning of the first descent to Alp Valmala before rising back up to an elevation of 2,370 m at Piz Clünas. From there, it’s going to be pretty much all downhill to the Swiss thermal spa community of Scuol.