Weekly snow news roundup – 13/07/2009
THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES
Saas Fee Ride This Weekend
2009-10: Goodbye Snow Train, Hello Ski Train
Eco Friendly Lodge Planned For Bruce Willis Owned Ski Resort
40 Years of Bond At Murren
Finnish Snow Hotel Ready For 9th Season This Winter
Saas Fee Hotel Wins Environmental Awards and Offers Rain Insurance
Intrawest Look At Cost Saving Measures
New At Bariloche
Snow Conditions Good Across Southern Hemisphere – Crystal Offer Special Holiday Deal
Ski Rebel Online Magazine Continued Explosive Growth in June
Saas Fee in Switzerland will stage one of the biggest events on snow later this week when the resort’s annual summer Ride event which attracts many of Europe’s top freeskiers to the Allalin Snow Park on the Saas-Fee glacier on Saturday, July 18th.
Last year’s Saas-Fee Ride was seen across the globe with a 26 minute TV programme that surprised many people of just how good summer glacier skiing can be. It has just clocked up over 500 hours of television airtime and has given the 50+ athletes at the comp some much deserved publicity.
This year’s main discipline is Big Air. There will also be a Rail Jam session for athletes to show their style for the TV crews
Saas-Fee is the perfect location for the comp due to the north facing glacier, which keeps the snow in great condition and the safety standards high. For everything to do in Saas-Fee check out www.saas-fee.ch.
www.saasfeeride.com
2009-10: Goodbye Snow Train, Hello Ski Train
The Snow Train service which operated an overnight sleeper service between London and the French Alps has been axed by operator Rail Europe for the coming winter.
The service, famous for its high quality staff and low quality French rolling stock had been reported to be growing business as people switched from air to rail and enjoyed the added bonus of an extra day’s skiing in the Alps by travelling overnight to the slopes. However Rail Europe are blaming the current economic climate for cutting the service.
The Snow Train involved taking an afternoon or early evening Eurostar to Paris and then boarding an aged chartered sleeper train down to the Alps. This was popular with students and young skiers due to the disco car and party atmosphere but lacked comfort or essentials for families and more mature travellers.
Within days of the announcement of the demise of the Snowtrain however, Eurostar were releasing details of their daytime services to the French Alps which speed down from St Pancras. It also remains possible to do a DIY snow train service yourself by taking the Eurostar to Paris and then a regular sleeper down to the Alps, although this normally involves a simple station change in Paris where the Snowtrain served used just one Paris station.
Eco Friendly Lodge Planned For Bruce Willis Owned Ski Resort
Building work may begin soon on a new main ski lodge at Soldier Mountain ski area in Idaho. The old lodge, which had been due for upgrading, burned down in a fire on the morning of March 30, earlier this year.
Residents had been concerned that the fire might spell the end for the small ski area, which operates four lifts and about 40 ski runs close to the town of Fairfield, would open for the coming winter.
Because of the ski areas high altitude location, above 1750m, construction possibilities are limited by the weather and the resort’s operators, Valley Entertainment, owned by Fifth Element and Die Hard Hollywood movie star Bruce Willis, are reported to be keen to start work in time to allow for the new lodge to be completed before the weather becomes too difficult for building in late autumn. Local bodies such as the forest service are keen to expatiate the administrative part of the process if they can.
The new lodge design is reported to have a number of environmentally friendly initiatives in its construction including a passive solar design.
The new lodge will have a grill and kitchen area, dining area, lounge, Unlike the old, the new building will feature restrooms, as well as a ski rental shop, ski school and ticket booth.
The lodge will have a Western North American architectural design, with large windows facing the ski hill to maximize solar gain and views.
The deck is planned to have pavers rather than wooden planks, which will improve traction for those walking in ski boots and be easier to maintain.
The picture perfect Swiss resort of Murren owes its famous revolving restaurant high on the Schilthorn mountain to funding from the film company that made the early James Bond movie, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, the first Bond film after the departure of Sean Connery from the role.
Murren is still grateful to Bond, and despite the film’s star George Lazenby only appearing in the role for that one film, thy are still serving up James Bond spaghetti in the restaurant, if not a shaken not stirred martini, apparently.
This summer the resort is celebrating forty years since “On her Majesty‘s Secret Service” hit the screens, with an exhibition of photographs on the 2970 metre-high summit.
The pictures show how the filming on the Schilthorn took place, and how James Bond and the film crew managed to cast a spell on the entire valley which continues to this day.
The exhibition lasts to the end of October and is free to Schilthorn visitors.
Finnish Snow Hotel Ready For 9th Season This Winter
Whilst the famous Swedish Ice Hotel is made mostly of snow, the more recent Finnish Snow Hotel has more ice in its construction – 300 tonnes to be precise.
Located nearly 200km above the Arctic Circle and close to the ski resorts of Levi and Yllas, the SnowHotel has an IceBar serving Finlandia rather than Absolut vodka but with drinks still served in ice glasses and an ice disco in which to slip—slide the night away. Or you can just marvel at the magnificent sculpture art all around the area.
For winter 2009-2010 the Snow Village including the SnowHotel will be built for the 9th time. Construction begins when the temperature drops about ten degrees below zero which is usually at the end of October or the beginning of November.
Approximately 1,5 million kilos of snow and 300 000 kilos of crystal clear, natural ice are used for the construction. The builders,, specialized in using snow and ice as building material, are constantly developing new tools and instruments for snow construction and exploring innovative ways of taking this art form to new levels.
Snow Village is built entirely of snow and ice and covers approximately 20,000 square metres. During the winter season there are about 3,000 square metres of covered indoor spaces built as a combination of different snow and ice structures. The architectural design and the themes of interior decoration vary from year to year offering always a unique experience. Visitors will find the biggest ice dome in Europe and an á la carte restaurant with ice carved tables , in addition to amazing snow galleries full of beatifully illuminated ice art.
At Snow Village you can also experience an overnight stay in a room made of snow. Because of the good isolating features of snow, the indoor temperature of Snow Village remains always between -2 and -5 Celsius degrees, regardless of the outdoor temperature. There are approximately 30 rooms, all made of ice and snow. Individually decorated suites with different themes are also available.
For wedding couples Snow Village offers a remarkable setting for an unforgettable day of ceremony and celebration. To start with couples can choose between an ice chapel with furnishings made of ice and a traditional, cosy wooden chapel.
Snow Village will open again on December 10th 2009 and will remain open until April 15th 2010 with day visitors welcome from 10am to 10pm.
Saas Fee Hotel Wins Environmental Awards and Offers Rain Insurance
The five star Ferienart Resort and Spa in Saas Fee has won more awards for its environmental achievements.
The hotel already achieved the first Swiss Milestone for sustainable development In November last year. The Milestone is the most important prize of the Swiss tourism industry. This year the hotel has received a new special prize for the first time for the country’s best progress in sustainable development. Finally the hotel has achieved the ISO 14000 global environmental management certification.
This summer The Ferienart Resort and Spa, in collaboration with Celsius Pro, is offering new ‘weather insurance’ for holiday guests. The good weather guarantee is offered to all hotel guests who book at least three nights between June and October. If it rains for more than two days during their stay, the overnight stay for each additional rainy day will be free of charge. A rainy day is classified as such if the weather station in Saas-Fee measures more than 5 mm of rainfall. This could be good news for summer skiers, as the rain may fall as snow on the glacier – meaning both free nights in the luxury hotel and fresh powder on the glacier.
Finally, the majority of the rooms in the Ferienart Resort & Spa have now been converted in to suites, with what were formerly two rooms will be made into one suite. The entire main building, which was constructed in 1983, has also received a facelift.
Intrawest Look At Cost Saving Measures
Intrawest, the company which owns 10 leading North American ski areas including next winter’s joint winter-Olympic venue, Whistler Blackcomb, is reported to be looking at ways to reduce its debts according to Canadian media reports in the past week.
The media reports speculate that this may involve selling one or more of its resorts, although the company itself has made no comment on this suggestion.
Intrawest is reported to have approximately $1.7-billion (US) in loans, and last autumn during the low point of the global financial collapse, managed to re-finance the debt at the 11th hour to save needing to seek creditor protection.
Intrawest was established in the 1970s and has gradually grown over three decades acquiring Blackcomb Mountain in 1986 and then many other famous resorts including Tremblant in Quebec and Copper Mountain, Winter Park and Steamboat in Colorado.
The company has made its name and had much of its financial success on the basis of well designed, pedestrianised resort base villages generating income more from real estate than from ski area operations. It iss a model subsequently copied by many other ski area operators and which Intrawest brought to Europe with ski resort developments at Les Arcs and Flaine in France.
The original owners sold the company at the peak of its financial success to date in 2006 to Fortress Investment Group LLC for $2.8-billion.
Catedral ski area, Bariloche, Argentina the biggest ski area in South America is selling an online ski pass this winter enabling guests to purchase ski passes wherever they are with a credit card. The online ski pass then automatically downloads to a KeyCard or Proximity Card electronic lift ticket. When guests arrive at the ski slopes the ticket is activated as they pass through the first turnstile to the ski lifts.
On the mountain Catedral is offering cross country skiing this winter with a new 4km long trail near the Upper Station of the Amancay cable car in a forest of “lenga” trees (austral beech) standing at 1650 to 1550 meters ( 5400 to 5085 ft.) above sea level. The area gets good snow cover and there’s easy access for beginners and advanced skiers.
The resort’s terrain park has also had a revamp with new and renovated circuits incorpoirating boxes, rails, jumps, barrels and an extraordinary multiple module.
Finally a new fleet of 20 state-of-the-art, 2009 model snowmobiles and quad bikes have been acquired . for daytime tours through the snowy forest and night-time caravans to the new restaurant at La Cueva. The ten new 400cc CAN AM Bombardier 4×4 2-seater quad bikes and ten 550cc Bombardier SKI DOO snowmobiles are based at the Lower station at the South Sector Cabin.
La Cueva has been entirely refurbished as a cosy mountain living-room, with great views of the incredibly beautiful surroundings. The facility has a brand-new kitchen with ovens for preparing homemade dishes and serves up Patagonian food tasting, and offers free wine and champagne tasting at what has become the mountain’s most exotic and exclusive place, with only seventeen guests at a time.
Snow Conditions Good Across Southern Hemisphere – Crystal Offer Special Holiday Deal
Fresh snow in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Chile has been reported by snow reporting agency skiinfo.com in the past week. Virtually all of the southern hemisphere’s ski areas, including Tiffindell in South Africa, are now open.
In South America snow conditions are good at many resorts in Argentina and Chile. Tour operator Crystal have announced a special deal at Portillo in Chile this summer. Families were up to two children under 12 ski, eat and sleep for free for departures in August and a nine day, full board stay including Heathrow departure on August 21st with transfers to Portillo Grand Hotel’s Octogen Lodge including 7 day lift pass include, day care for children aged 3-7 years, free use of pool, Jacuzzi, fitness centre, games room with aerobics and gym classes and two nights in Santiago at the four star Atton El Bosque Hotel costs £2,339 per person (adults) and £1,429 (children).
In Australia the Heavenly Valley chair started turning for the first time this season last Saturday after over half a metre (20 inches) of snow dumped on Hotham in Australia in a 48 hour period. Keen skiers and boarders heading out for first tracks on Hotham’s signature terrain and what is arguably some of Australia’s best black diamond terrain. The lift will open everyday and for first tracks at 7.30am from Wednesdays to Sundays all season long (snow and weather permitting).
Many of New Zealand’s resorts got a good amount of new snow early in the week. This took the base to 134cm (4.5 feet) at Turoa and 91cm (3 feet) at Whakapapa for example.
Snow Park NZ was the latest resort to open, last Saturday 4 July, with good fresh snow coverage across the terrain park and new features introduced. Night skiing and riding sessions kicked off twice weekly, on Tuesday (7 July).
Mt Hutt reported receiving 50cm (20 inches) of new snow at the start of the week and 74cm (2.5 feet) in the last week and is now boasting a good base of 150cm (five feet) with more snow forecast for the next couple of days.
“Everyone was beaming ear-to-ear today as they skied knee-deep powder,” said Dave Wilson, Ski Area Manager. “Awesome snow falling with little winds has created near-on perfect conditions at Mt Hutt for the school holidays.”
Ski Rebel Online Magazine Continued Explosive Growth in June
Explosive growth continued throughout the month of June for Ski Rebel Magazine as visitor increases surged more than 65% over last year and page views increased by 35%. Year over year, the website has grown by a compounded rate of rate of 25%.
“With each passing month, we are overjoyed to see such huge increases in our visitor numbers and page views. As fall approaches and we begin ramping up for the 2009/10 winter season in the northern hemisphere, many new features will come online that will delight our growing audience,” said Frederick Wallace, President and Managing editor of Ski Rebel Magazine.
”As a result exponential growth will continue and we are very confident that we will solidly lock down the position as one of the best ski websites on the world wide web within the next five years,” he added.
A new staff writer has also joined the team. Alex Leduc, is currently in charge of editing and optimizing our content on a weekly basis. Some new projects have been in the works and are currently being tested before being rolled out. Our readers will also be able to enjoy our new online shopping experience, set to be unveiled in the coming weeks.
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