Weekly snow news roundup – 23/06/2009
THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES
Tignes Opens For Summer Skiing In Bikinis
Latest NZ Ski Area Opens For Season
Kumi Yama in Les 2 Alpes
Sun Valley To Install New Gondola
Kitzsteinhorn Plans Summer Ice Arena And Festival
Argentinian Ski Resort Makes Helmet Wearing Compulsory For Children
Steve Redgrave leads Red Devils charity skydive
More Tunnels Under Construction To Link 2014 Winter Olympic Venues
More Snowmaking For Lenzerheide
Prestigious Award For Snow TV Series
Tignes Opens For Summer Skiing In Bikinis
Tignes is the second French resort to open for summer skiing after Les 2 Alpes a week ago. To celebrate the resort staged a bikini ski event in which a small number of enthusiasts took to the snow slopes clad only in swimwear and ski boots. Ski gloves, eye protection and sun cream were also allowed in this ‘competition.’
The lifts opened at 7.15am on Saturday, June 20,heralding the start of the summer ski season which is staged on 20km of piste on the Grande Motte glacier between 3,000 and 3,500m above sea level.
The ski area will be open for the next 10 weeks through to 30th August from7.15am to 1pm daily.
The Perce-Neige underground funicular lifts skiers to the glacier in only seven minutes where a dozen ski lifts are operational.
A one day ski ticket costs 31 Euros for an adult, 25 Euros for a child.
Latest NZ Ski Area Opens For Season
Bright sunshine, excellent snow cover and all lifts operating made for a beautiful day in the mountains at The Remarkables ski area near Queenstown in New Zealand for the start of the 2009 winter season.
It was all smiles at the alpine resort as people drove up through the low cloud over Queenstown to discover the mountains bathed in sunshine. First on the chair honours went to Will Orr, Adie Lawrence, Connor Gambles and Conor Dolman all of Queenstown (pictured). The four arrived at 5.30am to secure their first on the chair spot in the lift queue.
Early birds to The Remarkables were welcomed with a glass of Lindauer bubbles to celebrate the occasion while mascots Spike and Shred entertained the young and not-so- young.
Ski Area Manager Ross Lawrence said the opening was the best in years.
“It was an awesome day. Just one of those beautiful days with excellent snow and everything running the way it should be. There was a laid back atmosphere with music on the deck, kids with their faces painted and people really enjoying the day. We were able to open all lifts including the shuttle for Homeward Run, which we thought was a pretty good effort for opening day.”
The DirtyDogTerrainPark and TararuaIceCoffeeMiniPark were also open with a full range of features on offer.
“The feedback on snow cover, quality and terrain available has been awesome,” said Mr Lawrence. “It was also great to see people using the FReemarkables bus service. The bus drivers reported strong numbers and the feedback is that people are finding the service easy and stress free.”
www.nzski.com
Les 2 Alpes will stage the Japanese themed ‘board sport event’ on its glacier on July 3, 4 and 5, 2009 with 10,000 Euros and trip to Tokyo up for grabs to the winner.
Describing the contest as, “THE boardsport event of the summer,” Kumi Yama follows on from last year’s successful Taravana freestyle with its Tahiti theme.
The event brings together all European Freestyle skiing and snowboarding professionals, and Japanese riders are also invited to take part.
There are two competitions: Slopestyle, which involves teams of three, and a new “one on one” Super-pipe contest.
There is also a professional and amateur photo competition as part of the contest.
Sun Valley To Install New Gondola
Sun Valley in Idaho, the resort that gave the world the chairlift and probably the hot tub, will unveil a new gondola next winter.
“The new Gondola on the River Run side of Bald Mountain will carry passengers from the base of River Run to the Roundhouse mid-way up the mountain.” said resort spokesperson Shannon Besoyan
The new lift is part of the first phase of a recently unveiled 50-Year Master Plan for the resort created after two years of consultation by owners Mr and Mrs. Earl Holding.
“The Master Plan is as notable for what it does not do as what it does. It does not build out to its potential – in fact in almost every case, the plan reduces the maximum unit development by a third to one half. Through the foresight of Mr. and Mrs. Holding, this development program will allow Sun Valley Resort to maintain its world-class standing for decades.” Said a company statement.
Along with the new gondola, phase one of the Sun Valley Master Plan includes the construction of the new Guyer Ridge and Seattle Ridge ski trails; the addition of snowmaking on Olympic Lane, Upper and Lower Broadway, Guyer Ridge, Upper Cozy, Upper Hemingway, Christmas Bowl and Brick’s Island runs and the removal of the Exhibition lift. A terrain park will be created on lower Greyhawk.
More new runs, snowmaking, three new quad chairlifts and another new gondola are planned for phase two.
Kitzsteinhorn Plans Summer Ice Arena And Festival
The Kitzsteinhorn Glacier above Kaprun, one of about a dozen European glacier ski areas still offering summer skiing, has announced added attractions in the coming weeks.
The Kitzsteinhorn’s Ice arena will open next Friday, June 26th. Facilities include snow slides served by a magic carpet conveyor lift, a ‘PistenBully’ snow grooming vehicle for children to play on and a snow beach with Ice bar, a panorama terrace at the summit station and a 362m long panorama tunnel straight through the Kitzsteinhorn. In addition the Panorama terrace Glocknerkanzel provides a view of the Großglockner, Austria’s highest mountain. There is also a secured glacier path across the eternal ice and a daily free guided panorama hike across the glacier on offer.
On Sunday July 5th the centre celebrates all these facilities and opportunities by staging a festival for the whole family with free use of many of the facilities. The program includes a guided summit tour up to 3203 meters, a guided panorama glacier hike, access to the Ice Arena with its sliding areas and snow beach, PistenBully rides and a special program on the day for children.
Children up to the age of 15 get a return day ticket for skiing free of charge, youth and adults pay special prices of 12.10 Euros for a return ticket or 21.50 Euros for a ski ticket for youths, or 15.20 for a return ticket or 28 Euros for a day’s ski ticket for adults.
Argentinian Ski Resort Makes Helmet Wearing Compulsory For Children
The leading Argentinian ski resort of Las Lenas, which opened for its 2009 season this week, is the latest to make safety helmet wearing compulsory for children younger than 12 years of age.
The resort has purchased 600 new helmets this year and is offering them for rental.
“In Las Lenas guest security is our fundamental responsibility and we constantly work to improve it year after year”, said Fernando Montero Commercial Director of Marketing the resort,
“In Las Lenas we prepare the mountain and we work on infrastructure improvements all year in order to be able to start the winter season with the highest standards of excellence. More than 70 people carry out maintenance tasks in the mountain during the summer,” he added.
Steve Redgrave leads Red Devils charity skydive
Sir Steve Redgrave is to lead a team of brave individuals in a charity sky diving fundraiser with the Red Devils in aid of Disability Snowsport UK.
The skydive team will include former Olympic skier Alain Baxter, the charity’s CEO Fiona Young, Crystal’s MD Mathew Prior and British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) Chairman Andrew Lockerbie. Together with Crystal staff and instructors from BASI the team will attempt to raise £25,000 for DSUK. They will jump from 13,000 feet as part of a tandem sky dive alongside the Parachute regiment’s free fall team ‘The Red Devils’ at their base in Netheravon, Wiltshire on July 10th.
Disability Snowsport provides access to adaptive skiing for people with disabilities. To take part in a sport such as skiing there are numerous barriers to overcome, including paying for specialist equipment. The charity aims to give people with disabilities access to snow sports at a cost equivalent to that which an able-bodied person would pay.
The event will also be the beginning of a new partnership between Crystal and Disability Snowsport UK. Crystal Ski will use its power as the No1 tour operator to make Disability Snowsport more widely known, offer ski trips at reduced prices and provide practical help and assistance in resort. Crystal’s Mathew Prior, said: “We applaud the work the charity does to make snow sports available to disabled people. We will do everything we can, as the leading ski operator, to assist them commercially as well as with practical help in resort and by spreading the word about what they do.”
Sir Steve Redgrave is a supporter of the charity and came up with the idea for the jump earlier this year. He said: “I was a bit apprehensive at first and when I broke my leg at a sporting event I thought I would be able to get out of it, but unfortunately the plaster comes off two days before the jump! The money raised is going to a great cause and although I can’t say I am looking forward to the jump I am glad we are raising huge amounts of money for the charity.”
To sponsor the team, please visit the justgiving page at: www.justgiving.com/sir-steve-red-devils
General information about the charity can be found at www.disabilitysnowsport.org.uk
and for more information about Crystal at www.crystalski.co.uk
More Tunnels Under Construction To Link 2014 Winter Olympic Venues
Work has begun on the construction of further rail and road tunnel connections between the 2014 Winter Olympic venue of Sochi, a city on the Black Sea coast, and the inland ski areas around Krasnaya Polyana, about 50km (30 miles) inland.
The new tunnels, which will extend for about 25km (16 miles) in total will further cut journey times, already shortened by the opening of an initial tunnel several years ago by then president Vladimir Putin, a keen skier and crucial backer of the 2014 Olympics who owns a condo in the area.
Some Western commentators have criticised preparations for the 2014 Games pointing to ski area development delays and saying that construction may not be completed in time. In part this is said to be due to the drastically diminished fortunes of some of the wealthy private investors in Games venues due to the worldwide economic downturn.
The construction of facilities for the 2014 Games has also been criticised by local and international environmental groups who claim it is encroaching on formerly unspoilt wilderness areas.
However Games organisers dispute all criticisms saying construction is on target and will not cause damage to the environment and that criticism is due to prejudice against Russia rather than reality.
More Snowmaking For Lenzerheide
Lenzerheide will be able to guarantee more snow cover next winter than in past years, so long as the temperatures are low enough for snowmaking.
New equipment has been installed in the Scalottas, Danis and Stätz regions, which makes these zones snow-sure from the start of the season.
Snow can now be made to cover 55 out of 155 kilometres of slopes. The current snow report as well as live pictures from the ski resort will be available at www.lenzerheide.com
Prestigious Award For Snow TV Series
At it’s annual convention, this year held in Reno, Nevada, the Far West Ski Association has announced the winners of its annual service awards, including awards to journalists who make noteworthy contributions to skiing.
One of the most prestigious of these trophies is the Warren Miller Modern Media Award, given for outstanding service to skiing by the film, television, radio, and electronic media.
This year, the winners of this coveted plaque were Jimmy Petterson and Ari Heinilä, who combined efforts in creating the TV series, Raider of the Lost Snow. The 6-part series was loosely based on Petterson’s seminal work on skiing, his 2005 book, Skiing Around the World.
This was the second honour for Petterson, Heinilä and Raiders within a short period, as the series also won the Harold Hirsch award, given by the North American Snowsports Journalists, in March this year.
With over 50,000 members, the Far West Ski Association is one of the largest ski organizations in the United States.
Petterson and Heinilä were very thankful for the honour. In a letter sent to FWSA convention chairman Steve Coxen, Petterson, writing on behalf of himself and Heinilä, wrote, “Thanks very much to all of you for this high honor. To be associated with the name Warren Miller and receive this award really makes Ari and I feel fantastic.”
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