Good start to season for Teter
It has been a good start to the season for
Hannah Teter who claimed the woman's halfpipe title at the U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix on Sunday. Teter led from her first run and won with a score of 45.20. Kelly Clark, a gold medalist at the Salt Lake City Olympics, was second at 40.20.
Czeschin, Teter win take halfpipe titles at Snowboard Grand Prix
Snowboarders spend night in open
Three US snowboarders are lucky to be alive after spending an icy cold night on a B.C. ski mountain. A father and his two sons were found unharmed today after a lengthy search in an out-of-bounds ski area of Rossland's Red Mountain.
Snowboarders found after cold night on mountain
Beijing's ski fields hit by warm snap
The warm winter in China's capital Beijing this year has resulted in the postponed opening of its many ski fields. China's weather forecast center said the country is experiencing the 19th warmest winter this year, with the average temperature in the north about 2-4 centigrade higher than that of the same period last year.
Warm winter brings Beijing's ski fields "cold" business
Racer collides with snow machine
A 13-year-old Steamboat Springs ski racer died Sunday after colliding with a resort snowmobile before the start of a slalom race on Vail Mountain. A preliminary investigation by the Colorado State Patrol revealed that Stamp was skiing at "full speed." A resort employee working on the race course was driving about 10 mph uphill and had sirens on.
Accident at resort kills young ski racer
Skier survives chute at Tahoe
41-year-old David Benson survived an avalanche in the newly opened "
Chutes" expert terrain at Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe resort near Reno last Friday when he was able to ride the wall of snow and wrap himself around a tree. The slide occurred the day after Mount Rose opened the Chutes to skiers and snowboarders for the first time in more than 40 years.
Reno skier recalls Sierra avalanche experience
Freak tropical storm shuts resort
A freak subtropical weather system carrying warm temperatures and heavy rain has saturated the snowpack at Schweitzer Mountain Resort located at Sandpoint in northern Idaho (USA). The storm has not only delayed the resort's opening for last weekend; it is also causing some concern to local business owners who are beginning to feel the effects of a winter resort town without skiers. Due to severe rainfall and unstable snow conditions, the ski area will not be open until further notice.
Warm weather chills ski business
Jasey Jay Anderson wins in China
Jasey Jay Anderson of Mont Tremblant in Quebec, Canada, has picked up his first gold medal of the World Cup snowboard season by winning the cross event Tuesday. Capitalizing on a quick start, Anderson beat a pair of Swiss rivals, Guillaume Nantermod, who was second, and Marco Huser, who was third, at the Skiareana Nassfeld course in China
Jasey Jay AndersonFrance’s Deborah Anthonioz won the women’s event, beating Kathrin Kellenberger of Switzerland and Frenchwoman Sophie Rodriguez.
Deborah AnthoniozCanadian wins World Cup snowboard race event
Alison Eastward's boyfriend dead at Vail
A snowboarder found dead at Vail Ski Resort was the boyfriend of actress and film producer Alison Eastwood. Michael Combs, 42, was found late Tuesday morning in trees near the bottom of Vail Mountain, Eagle County sheriff's spokeswoman Kim Andree said. He was reported missing Monday night.
Alison Eastward with DadBoyfriend of Eastwood's daughter found dead at Colo. ski resort
Ford plans Indian Ski Resort
Alfred Ford, great-grandson of Henry Ford (founder of Ford Motors), is keen to find a spot in the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh to open a $250-million ski village. Ford's company has surveyed several spots including, Manali, Chanshal, and Kangra mountains, besides a couple of places in the neighbouring hill state of Uttaranchal. A spot overlooking Manali is the favourite location for theinternational standard resort at about 8,000-9,000 feet above sea level, close to where the treeline ends.
Skiing above ManaliFord plans ski village in Himachal
Korean resort rejected for 2014 Olympics
The Gangwon Province city of Pyeongchang will likely become the sole South Korean bidder for the 2014 Winter Olympics after rival city Muju was turned down Wednesday by an international sports body due to concerns about environmental damage. The International Ski Federation (FIS) has conducted three-month onsite inspections at the Muju ski resort at the invitation of the Korean Olympic Committee to decide between the two rival cities.
Miller wins GS
Bode Miller, 27-year-old American, continued his run on the World Cup record books, winning the giant slalom in a combined time of two minutes, 20.66 seconds at Val d'Isere, France on Sunday. It was Miller's fifth win of the World Cup season. After the race Millar commented, "
It's such a tough course,". In addition to his prize money, the American also won his weight in local wine .
BODE Miller continues dominant run on ski circuit
Speeding skiers get passes pulled
Enforcement on a speeding skier begins with an attempt at education. Once the speeder is stopped by a resort employee, a short discussion will ensue wherein the enforcer will talk about skier responsibility or slow zones. The guest's attitude will greatly depend on where the situation goes from there. Passholders can be potentially banned for the season.
This guy had his pass pulled for the season!'Ski fast, lose your pass!'
Top three operators struggle in stagnant ski industry
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the big-three ski-resort operators in the United States reported a variety of activities - and results - this week as they struggle to improve bottom lines in a stagnant industry. Park City-based American Skiing, which owns The Canyons Resort nearby, said its net loss for the quarter ending Oct. 24 was $37.7 million, an improvement over the $41.3 million deficit in the same three-month period a year earlier. Vail, meanwhile, said its loss for the three months ending Oct. 31 was $31.5 million, or 89 cents per share, compared to a loss of $25.4 million, or 72 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue fell to $97.9 million from $104.1 Intrawest, the world's largest public resort operator and owner of giant Whistler/Blackcomb resort in British Columbia, stock rose just 4 percent in the past year well below the sector average.
Related Link:
Intrawest Does China
Ski Patroller of the Year
Bob Freund, aged 56, has been picked for the second time by the 24,000-member National Ski Patrol as its Alpine Patroller of the Year. Ski Patrolling is not some adrenalin charged extreme job but one of eliminating risks, making calculated and conservative decisions and by performing what Bob calls "
mitigation of safety hazards."
Meet Bob Freund, the ski patrol's Top Gun
Artificial snow blocks highway
Man-made snow at Granite Peak Ski Area sometimes accumulates on Highway 51 and Highway 29 when there is a strong wind, somtimes if falls as far east as Weston and it forces the county's highway crews to salt and sand the roads more often to ensure motorists a safe drive.
Ski resort, highway chief at odds over snow
Go-ahead for Revelstoke Expansion
The British Columbia Provincial Government has given the go-ahead for the expansion of Revelstoke's Mt. MacKenzie ski hill into a new all-season resort. The $270-million project includes more than 16,000 beds, full guest service facilities, an 18-hole golf course, a multi-use trail system, 25 lifts and 100 ski and snowboard trails.It will have the fourth-highest vertical ski drop in the world – 1,945 metres, which is more vertical than Whistler. The new Mt. MacKenzie resort will be about one-third the size of Whistler, and comparable to the Big White and Sun Peaks resorts.
Revelstoke ski resort wins approval
Brits shun Tour Ops
According to figures from the Ski Club of Great Britain nearly a quarter of the 1.2 million Biritish skiers will shun traditional Tour Operators and travel independently this season. A three-fold increase over 5 years. Indpendent travellers are using budget airlines and booking accommodation over the internet to save themselves a fortune.
Ski companies feel the coldRelated Link:
Package your trip online - the Guardian
Werner Franz Wins at Val d'Isère
Werner Franz, off at position number two, has won the third mens downhill at
Val d'Isère. It is his first World Cup win in the discipline but wasn't totally unexpected after being second in training yesterday. The conditions were said to favour the Austrian team and Bode Miller had to be content with fourth place after a small fault cost him vital time. Hermann Maier, the fastest in training, trailed in back in 26th place.
Avalanches Kill Two, Close Lift
A Utah man, named as Zachary Eastman, 23 years old, was swept up in an
avalanche while
backcountry skiing and killed Friday, marking the state's first such fatality this season. The U.S. Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center warned of high avalanche danger Friday because of recent snowfall and warmer temperatures. A snowmobiler was killed by an avalanche Saturday near Strawberry Reservoir. Two snowshoers were missing late Saturday in the Mineral Fork area of Big Cottonwood Canyon, where a Salt Lake County search and rescue effort there may have been hampered by slides.
According to Bruce Tremper, director of the Utah Avalanche Center. "
All of these slides that have been breaking out have been 3 to 8 feet deep and very difficult to survive"
Utah man dies in an avalanche
A massive avalanche has forced the Mount Bachelorto close down one of its ski lifts. The avalanche happened Wednesday evening. Mount Bachelor and it was one of the biggest avalanches to occur on Bachelor since the 1960s. Trees up to 30 feet high and 12 inches in diameter in the avalanche's path were sheared or knocked down by the avalanche.
Avalanche at Mt BachelorAvalanche sweeps BachelorSlides injure one, claim 2nd victim in 2 days
Hanging on a thread
A 12-year-old skier had a chair lift ride he'll never forget on Saturday in Park City, Utah. Anthony Trabert was about to get off when his backpack straps got caught on the safety bar. The lift kept going, and soon Anthony was dangling almost 30 feet above the ground, outside the lift. He finally wiggled out of the backpack and fell down. The snow and powder on the ground broke his fall.
Dangling Skier To Ski Again - includes video footage of the accident
Video Clip of the incident - 19.3 MB Real Media file
Trespassers will be prosecuted
It seems not everyone is keen on living close to a ski area, especially not when your land is crossed by skiers and the piste patrol reguarly lob dynamite into your backgarden to control the avalanche risk lower down. Aspen businessman Jim Jackson is suing the owners of Silverton Mountain for what he says is systematic trespass on an island of land he owns within the ski area. In addition Jackson argues that the snow-safety program, which involves tossing explosives on Jackson's land to limit the risk of an avalanche on ski terrain below his property, constitutes trespass.
Neighbor sues Silverton ski area
Hermannator is back
Despite a dodgy knee the Austrian Hermann Maier recorded the fastest time in training today prior to the Men's World Cup in
Val d'Isère on Saturday. His big rival at the start of the season, Bode Miller, who was in fifth place was disqualified for wearing a non-standard ski suit.
Even on one ski he is quickThere had been some doubt as to whether the event would go ahead as planned after
Thursday's training session was cancelled due to overnight rain. But with clear, if somewhat warm temperatures all looks set for tomorrow.
Intrawest Does China
After taking a look at France in the shape of les Arcs 1950, Intrawest Corp.is in talks to develop skiing areas what it views as the largest potential market in the world: China. The Canadian Ski Developer is keen to tap apparent demand for the sport among the country's growing middle class. This follows on the heels of reports that the Beijing authorities are worried about the
environmental impact of ski resort building and will be taking a much keener interest in the future. The development at Les Arcs has been roundly criticised - the faux Savoyard style was described as "Lunapark" by one French journalists and the resorts founder slammed the felling of 350 rare Cimbro Pines.
Intrawest to Develop Ski Resorts in China to Tap Growing Demand
Val d'Isère World Cup on the brink
The first training session of the men's World Cup in Val d'Isère has been cancelled this morning due to warm weather. Temperatures are around 5C today and it rained overnight and early this morning. It should get cooler later today according to the weather service. Tomorrows training is mandatory if the race is to go ahead. The event was cancelled last year due to lack of snow. This year the resort has made around 44,000 cubic meters of artificial snow.
Related Link:
Val d'Isère ready for 49th Criterium Première neige
The nightmare of Rossi
Take a close look at these skis. On the face of it they look like a pair of Rossignol Scratch BC. But look more closely and you'll notice a slight change in design between the left (European) and right (North American) ski. As Rossi's Canadian marketing manager explained to
BigLines.com with a smile as big as a cat, the Euro ski has an interesting graphic. The three lines extending into the woman's throat symbolise Freddy Kruger's fingers slashing her neck, the red sidewall represents her blood. Lovely.
After a huge campaign by the recently hacked telemarktips.com forum and their editorial staff Rossi decided to make a design change to the North American version. Their po-faced marketing spokeswoman said that Rossi in no way condones violence against women. Except in Europe it seems!
Don't go looking for the clip of smiling Pierre on BigLines.com website. Rossi's legal beagles got it pulled. We have a copy if anyone is interested. The graphics change have not helped
Rossignol's fortunes in the US where they have been hit by the weak dollar.
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Most reliable pow in the world?
It's a variation on a familiar story - man likes shaver so much he buys the company. In this case, Australian, Colin Hackworth liked skiing in Japan so much he bought the mountain. The mountain is on Hokkaido, Japan's northern island, and has, according to Hackworth, the best and most reliable powder snow in the world. For Australians ski holidays in Japan are much cheaper than either Europe or North America and there is no jet-lag.
Is that mountain for sale?
China Clamps Down on Ski Resort Construction
According to the New Bejing Daily, the local authorities are discouraging the buiding of new ski resorts around the city. Beijing is in a relatively cold but arid region. Bulding ski resorts, supplemented with artificial snow, has become all the rage in China recently. Existing resorts will also be put under strict supervision. With warmer weather this year the resorts are unable to make as much snow and are losing money. On average ticket prices are being increased by 10%
Big Mountain Skiing
Heads up to our friends at the
Teton Gravity Forums who found this movie of Tormod Brattheim skiing Cho Oyo earlier this year, a summit on the way to his final goal, Mount Everest.
Here is the movie. It's not fast, it's not deep but it's steep and high and a testament to the durability of the
Dynafit Tourlite ski mountaineering binding:
Cho Oyu - 42 MB link.
Loud Powder
Tim Jones of the Metro West Daily News has been brushing up his powder skills...
in artificial snow. He says that the first rule of riding under the guns is to prepare for an artificial blizzard. You absolutely must have good goggles, oh and wear a hat! With
Val d'Isère claiming to have made 42,000 cubic meters of the stuff since November there is certainly a lot to go round at the moment.
Downhill from here: Loud powder under the guns
Beaver problems for Maier
The Norwegian Lasse Kjus won his first World Cup giant slalom since 1996 on Saturday, winning in two minutes 29.82 seconds to beat Austrian Hermann Maier into second place. The racingt was held at Beaver Creek, Colorado.
Maier is suffering from an injured right knee. World Cup leader Bode Miller, looking to become the United States' first overall champion since Phil Mahre in 1983
crashed out at speed.in his first run of the day.
Lasse Kjus won't compete in the Slalom today, preferring to return to Norway to take care of a respiratory problem before heading to Val d'Isère next weekend.
Kjus edges Maier
Russian Invasion Signals Cold Winter?
The Guardian's Journalists think that an invasion of Siberian waxwings, an exotic crested bird, may be the signal for a harsh winter. Professonal weather observers are skeptical and predict a warmer than average winter in their three month model. So far the professionals seem to be getting it right, at least in the
northern French alps.
Folklore's portents warn of cold times
Hermannated!
Hermann Maeir, the overall winner of last seasons ski World Cup has suffered an injury to his right knee during Friday's downhill race.
Maeir, who already has health worries, had hoped to be a serious contender this season and beat
Alberto Tomba's record for world cup wins.
Hermann Maier blessé au genou - link in French
Blond Bomshell wins World Cup
A win likely to bring a smile to her
hard-pressed sponsors, Rossignol young, blond and pretty American Lindsey Kildow took her first World Cup race Friday, taking the season's first downhill in 1 minute, 23.44 seconds. Kildow described the win as "
awesome". Her previous best finishes were third and fifth last year in downhills at Cortina, Italy.
Hmmm is she sponsored by Rossi?Kildow earns first World Cup ski win in downhill
Ski Cops Fight Pikeys and Cheating Brits
French police will be stepping up their action against ski theft and insurance fraud this winter after a number of different initiatives being taken by the Gendarmes last winter brought spectacular results. The best results were in the two big Isère resorts of
Alpe d'Huez and
Les Deux Alpes where reports of ski and snowboard theft were down by 50% from over a thousand in 2002-2003 to just 500 in 2003-2004.
railweb.techsite.czThe police say that 95% of theft reports involve hire gear. Most of these are made at the end of a holiday and the vast majority are by British and Dutch guests. Countries where insurance companies do not sufficiently scrutinize claims. The police have therefore decided to ask people who say they are victims of theft to first of all pay the hire shop for their loss before they can put in a complaint. The penalties for false claims are also clearly shown in the Gendarme's offices in different languages. The police have also raided apartments and cars armed with the serial numbers of hire gear. After last winter's successes the operations will be reinforced.
In the Savoie, which has around 50% of the French ski market, ski and snowboard thefts have numbered between 3000 to 4000 each year for the last 3 years. Last year the police kept a record of people who made complaints about theft and they noticed that 621 names came up twice. The police controlled these people when they left the resort and also alerted their tour operators. According to the Colonel Cailloz, insurance fraud isn't the major problem. Theft has more to do with season workers who steal gear to make money for parties. There is organised theft on the TGV at Bourg-Saint-Maurice where thieves get off at Moutiers with people's gear. "
There are also hire shops who dump their gear in order to renew their stock. There are a lot of thefts done to order and of course Pikey's who steal skis and boards in bulk to resell down the valley in ski auctions" According to the Colonel.
Don't let go of your skis over lunchIn the Haute-Savoie, where the British represent just 7% of guest but 24% of thefts measures have been taken to search the cars of foreigners. In the Hautes-Alpes thefts have dropped from 530 to 480. Hire shops have been asked to increase deposits and this seems to have had an affect on false declarations. There has also been a campaign in mountain restaurants to make people aware of the situation.
-- translated from newswire report
Val d'Isère ready for 49th Criterium Première neige
Val d'Isère is preparing for the 49th Criterium de la Première Neige which will take place between the 7th and 19th of December. The International Ski Federation carried out a detailed inspection of the Oreiller - Killy (OK) piste yesterday and have given the green light to the resort which has invested over 2 million euros in the event. After last year's expensive cancellation it seemed touch and go again but 40cm of fresh snow on Monday seems to have saved the day. The station has worked flat out over the last month to prepare for the event and has made more than 42,000 meters cubed of
artificial snow.
Val d'Isère en piste ... - link in French
Fresh Snow Kicks Starts French Alps
After between 20 and 50cm of fresh snow earlier in the week five more resorts will open in the French alps this weekend, at least partially. This will bring the total number of open resorts to ten. It is not all good news, strong southerly winds over the next few days will bring warmer weather and possibly rain to 2000 meters. Oh no!
l'Alpe d'Huez Web Cam on the 3,200 meter Pic BlancThe following resorts will open their runs on Saturday morning:
l'Alpe-d'Huez (Isère) which currently claims 25cm of snow at the bottom of the pistes,
Courchevel (Savoie) and three resorts in the Hautes-Alpes (Risoul 1850, Vars and Les Orres).
Tignes, Val-Thorens,
Val d'Isère in the Savoie are already open.
Les Deux Alpes and Montgenèvre in the Hautes-Alpes have taken advantage of recent snowfalls to open more runs.
La Plagne is set to open on the 11th of December.
The commercial director of l'Alpe d'Huez, Christian Marie said that an early opening was good publicity but snow was guaranteed by some 720
snow canons. At la Plagne, which is the number one French resort in terms of turnover, they are expecting over 90% of the guests to stay for a number of days, amongst them 32% will be British. Resorts were also hoping to attract guests from eastern Europe, the Baltic states and Russia. L'Alpe d'Huez had some 12,000 guests from the Czech republic last season and 20% of the 170,000 passengers passing through the small Grenoble-Saint Geoirs last winter on ski charters were Russian.
Korea Move?
It is a short but enthusiastic season in North Korea that starts with the first November snowfall in Gangwon-do and ends with the final snow in March the following year. The resorts certainly have an asian flair to them, looking like Shanghai on Snow.
Ski season lures skiers to Gangwon-do
Overcrowding on the ski slopes
"The ski slope are like an anthill", complains Californian lawyer Tim Sanford who has been skiing for more than twenty years.
"I go skiing to relax", he continues
"and to me it's not relaxing to constantly feel like I'm moments away from being creamed by somebody." The problem is a mixture of low-cost season passes, faster lifts with no lift queues but lots more people skiing and the wider lines taken by carvers and snowboarders. The resorts see the solution in expansion but as Ed Ryberg, a Forest Service winter sports specialist for the Rocky Mountain region, explains, "
The difficulty of expanding a ski area is that the process is detailed and provides for a lot of public input. You also have (local governments) with jurisdiction, and addressing their issues can be quite time-consuming.". It is certainly a problem Europe's crowded resorts have run into with the
small resorts around the Mont Blanc valley recently abandoning their link-up.
TOUGH Crowd
Sno-cat Skiing in B.C.
Commercialized outdoor recreation is booming in British Columbia, and Sno-Cat skiing is no exception. Twenty-three Sno-Cat companies now have permission to use snow-cats to transport skiers to the province's backcountry, a 50 percent increase in just over three years. Despite the competition the industry seems to be finding plenty of clients in this mid-priced alternative to heli-skiing.
Sno-cat Skiing: B.C. is bursting with backcountry outfitters
A Boston Yankie in the Alps
Neil Cote of the Boston Herald was sold on a ski holiday in Europe last winter. He thinks every skiers owes it to themselves to do the Alps at least once while there's still cartilage in the knees. But advises skiers: "
Restrain your expectations". For him
Chamonix's 9,205-foot vertical drop and the famous 15-mile
Vallee Blanche trail were the deciding factors. Neil describe's Cham as
picturesque and
rife with traditional European charm. However he was frustrated by the weather: too much snow at altitude, too little lower down and a mixture of rain and fog elsewhere, neither the tops of the Aiguille du Midi or Grand Montets were open during his stay. He also advises to
ski with a guide or an expert local if you stray off piste - it is not the slopes of New Hampshire but dangerous high mountain terrain.
Slippery slopes: Ski Europe's Alps, but know what you're getting into
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