World’s Highest Ski Resort in Meltdown
The Bolvian glacier of Chacaltaya above La Paz and home to the
world’s highest ski station at 5 300 meters altitude (17,000 feet) is in danger of vanishing within five years according to scientists. The cause, a warming climate. Chacaltaya is the only ski station in Bolivia. Samuel Mendoza of the Bolivian Andes Ski Club has said it is the worst year they have known and that the club would like to use artifical snow making to conserve the skiing. The sole rudimentary ski lift dates from before the 2nd World War.
Photos of the evolution of the glacier from
SkiPass.com
British Woman Raped on Snow Train
As thousands of tourists remain trapped in the Alps after the return of winter it emerge that a British tourist heading off on a ski holiday was raped on the "snow train" from Paris to Bourg St Maurice as it travelled to the slopes on Friday night.
Around 500 people were on the train which had been chartered by a British tour operator. Scene of crime officers from Chambéry have taken forensic evidence and hope to continue their inquiries in ski resorts during the week.
La Plagne in debt 14 years after Olympics
The Savoyard village of de
Macôt la Plagne, which hosted the four man bobsleigh event in the 1992 Albertville winter Olympics is sitll in debt to the tune of 12 million Euros 14 years after the games. The money is owned to banks in Luxembourg who are showing little Olympic spirit to the tiny community of 1750 inhabitants.
The debt follows a long court battle that was finally settled on the 28th of February by the French High Court (cour de cassation). Before the 1992 games the community stood guarantor for a hotel complex that would house competitors. The builders (Créolie) had borrowed 45 million francs from three banks based in Luxembourg however the builder went bust. In 2001 the village got a new administration who were not keen to pay the debts of Créolie and launched into a long, and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle. It now looks like the town will have to borrow the money over 20 years and raise local taxes by 10%. Fortunately the hotel, hardly the best example of ski architecture, was bought by a tour operator brining in much needed revenue to the village.
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