Weekly Snow News Roundup – 26/10/2009
Snowcarbon launches website with rail travel information to ski resorts in the Alps
It’s been another busy week in the world of skiing, snowboarding and all things snowsports related. From the return of the Abondance ski resort in France to the early season openings in Kitzbühel and Mont Saint-Sauveur, we’ve got more snow news than you can shake a ski-stick at. So, sit back, kick off your shoes, put your mobile on silent and read our weekly snow news roundup…
THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES
Kitzbühel Opens
Abondance Bounces Back from ‘Global Warming Closure’
Peak Retreats Win Major Travel Award With Near Total Customer Satisfaction
Snowcarbon Website Launches With Train Information To The Alps
Canada Is Open
Ski Club of Great Britain Report 6% Decline in UK Snowsports Market
Austria Makes Ski Dreams Come True In New Competition
Compagnie des Alpes Sell Saas Fee Shares
New Range of 100% Recycled Sportswear Launched
Mad Dog Launches New-look Website
The 2009-10 skiing season began in Kitzbühel on 24 October – earlier than ever before. The low temperatures combined with ultra-modern snow-making facilities and almost a metre of new snow mean that skiing is already possible in Kitzbühel ,two months before Christmas.
It’s the second year in a row the 80 year old ski area has broken it’s earliest-opening record, opening two months earlier than usual.
The heavy snow fills skiers with enthusiasm and forms a good basis for this season. Although the geographical location of the Kitzbüheler Alpen means that snowfall is very heavy here every winter, skiing in October is nevertheless a first in the 80-year history of the Kitzbühel cable cars.
From 24 October, Kitzbühel ski resort will be open at weekends and from 28 November, it will be open daily. All 7 of the ski resorts in the Kitzbüheler Alpen have received plenty of fresh snowfall already and are ideally equipped for the coming winter.
Kitzbuhel is often referred to as a ski area likely to suffer from global warming but it has produced figures showing snowfall averages have not declined and it keeps opening earlier each winter season.
Abondance Bounces Back from ‘Global Warming Closure’
It was “The start of the end of skiing in the Alps” two seasons ago when in the middle of one of Europe’s worst ski seasons for snowfall the small French resort of Abondance announced it would not be running its lifts.
The Associated Press agency seized on the news and it appeared in newspapers all around the world as evidence that skiing in the Alps was coming to its end (eg: http://www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth/archives/2007/07/whatta-mean-the.html)
The problem with the story was that Abondance’s decision was not really related to climate change, but more to economics – a problem faced by thousands of small ski areas around the world in the past decade. It’s a very similar scenario to other business sectors, the decline of small local shops as customers favour supermarkets being the obvious parallel.
Their lifts, often built in the 1960s or 70s, are getting elderly, their costs for staffing, power, insurance are all escalating, the trend is for skiers and boarders to head to the big glossy resorts favoured by tour operators and newspaper reviewers. In short, the future’s not looking bright and huge bills for maintenance and possible replacement appear unavoidable as a major government inspection looms.
Hundreds of small ski areas had already decided to call it a day, largely un-noticed, before Abondance, and this season, as every season, dozens more will decide not to open.
Abondance, happily, will no longer be closed. Alas climate change is still with us, but none-the-less Abondance re-opens this winter, thanks to its purchase by an American investor, who already works in the ski lift industry so can help there. He apparently wanted to get a toe in to the European market and sees Abondance as a good bet.
Peak Retreats Win Major Travel Award With Near Total Customer Satisfaction
Peak Retreats, the specialist for winter holidays in pretty, unspoilt, traditional villages in the French Alps, has won the prestigious Best Ski Operator 2009 in the annual Guardian and Observer Travel Awards.
It won the prize from many much more high profile UK tour operators, registering a satisfaction rating of 97.9% in a poll of nearly 20,000 readers in what was the 23rd year of the UK’s longest running independent travel awards.
The Guardian/Observer said: “Some of this year’s victors are long-standing favourites, others are newcomers, proof that it is possible to prosper in the hardest of times. Peak Retreats, for example, has been voted the number one ski company by pioneering a different type of product to its competitors. ”
“While many ski companies seem happy to plug away at the same old resorts, Peal Retreats is ploughing its own furrow. Looking beyond the Meribels and Val d’Isères, it takes guests to smaller, more authentic French villages, several not featured by other British tour operators. And many of these hidden gems have lifts connecting to far larger resorts, giving the best of both worlds. Setting up in new destinations can be an expensive gamble, so we’re delighted to see if it is paying off for this dynamic company.”
Xavier Schouller, who sold his own home to set up Peak Retreats with his partner Nathalie Soma in Portsmouth in 2002, said: “It’s a huge honour for a small, niche operator to be recognised in this way and we feel incredible proud.
Since then the Portsmouth-based company has helped British skiers ‘discover’ the real France and resorts generally ignored by the big name operators such as Samoëns, Notre-Dame de Bellecombe, Sainte Foy, Morillon and Termignon. These and the other 35 resorts it is featuring for winter 2010 offer huge advantages over more famous ‘commercialised’ resorts being not just cheaper and more pleasant to stay in, but with the added benefit of having queue-free, high speed cable car links to the major ski areas making them ideal back-door resorts.
Another key to success has been in providing the new generation of more spacious and comfortable self catering accommodation, with the majority of apartment residences having indoor pools and leisure facilities.
“When we started some may have seen it as a gamble, but it’s clearly paid off and our clients thank us for offering them an alternative to the big name mass tourism resorts to be found in France,” said Mr Schouller. “With a dedicated team we make it our priority to ensure our clients get the personal service they deserve which leads to lots of repeat business. They also have the confidence in their holidays being fully ABTA bonded to offer complete financial protection.”
Snowcarbon Website Launches With Train Information To The Alps
A new independent website has launched with the aim of encouraging more people to travel by train to ski resorts. snowcarbon explains exactly how to book rail journeys, how to get the best fares, and which resorts are easiest to reach by train.
The site which was founded by two respected national travel journalists, fills a vital gap. Until the launch of snowcarbon, there was no single source of information about rail travel to ski resorts.
With a clean, simple design, the site features 30 resorts across Europe, from Andorra to Austria, plus France, Italy and Switzerland, all of which can be conveniently, quickly and cheaply reached by train.
snowcarbon also features independent resort reviews written by leading ski journalists, as well as a sophisticated Resort Finder and unique email alerts that send users an email reminder on the day the lowest fares are available for their journey.
The site aims to encourage skiers and snowboarders to abandon increasingly stressful and expensive journeys by air in favour of the train. The environmental benefits are huge: the carbon footprint of a trip by plane to a ski resort is typically 10 times greater than the equivalent rail journey.
If more skiers chose the train, the environmental benefits would be significant. According to the Agence De l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie (a French government agency), 73% of a typical ski resort’s carbon footprint is made up by the journeys of tourists take to get there.
The rail journeys detailed are comfortable and stress-free. Couples, groups and families will love the space and freedom on board, and children under four travel for free on all UK and European trains. With vistas of lakes and mountains, the scenery is spectacular and by travelling overnight in a couchette, you can get two extra days on the slopes.
Many resorts have mainline railway stations – including St Moritz in Switzerland, St Anton in Austria and Chamonix in France – so the transfer from train to ski accommodation takes only a few minutes. Some resorts can be reached directly from London without a change of train, including Tignes, Meribel and Courchevel.
Surveys suggest that skiers and snowboarders are keen to take the train, but don’t have the necessary information or encouragement. A survey in 2005 by the Ski Club of Great Britain found that 68% of its members would prefer to travel to resorts by train.
A comparison of a door-to-door journey between London and Sauze d’Oulx, Italy, booked 5 weeks in advance, found the flight took 10 hours, rail travel 11 hours, 30 minutes. The flight costs £217 (including train to Gatwick, minibus transfer to resort, luggage charges), the train £178 (including private taxi transfer to resort, Metro fare in Paris). The carbon footprint for the flight was 96.8kg CO2, train 11.1kg CO2 (Car would be 227.1kg CO2 per car, by Eurotunnel)
Snowcarbon also offers practical advice on how to change trains in Paris. Precise Metro changes or private taxis that meet you on the platform can be pre-booked using a simple email form. There’s a guide to how to get the lowest fares from London to European ski resorts (from £99 return). The site also has a guide to UK tour operators that feature rail-inclusive packages and that offer non-flight discounts as well as information and links for booking accommodation independently.
Mont Saint-Sauveur enjoyed its earliest ever opening on October 18th and was the first resort in Canada to open, just behind Canada’s Olympic park in Alberta, according to ski news website First Tracks (www.firsttracksonline.com)
Mont Saint-Sauveur sets a new record by opening 9 days earlier than its previous record of 1997 with an opening October 27. The station is also the first station in Canada to open the night skiing.
The trails 70 OUEST is now open for skiers and snowboarders served by the L’Étoile chairlift. Staff at Mont Saint-Sauveur says that as long as the weather keeps giving perfect conditions, snowmaking will go on and give more skiable terrain hour by hour.
Further east, Mont-Sainte-Anne near Quebec City isn’t open yet but it is already covered by over 15cm of fresh snow!
The resort plans to open on November 14th with low temperatures projected for the next few weeks. Ironically, the first important snowfall of the season coincides with the arrival of Martin Larichelière, the resort’s new expert in snowmaking and grooming.
Mr. LaRichelière, a true ski passionate, has been a technical delegate International Ski Federation (FIS) and is also recognized as a Level 3 instructor and a Level 3 ski coach. To that effect, he has even been director of the National Training Center in Charlevoix.
He has also cumulated years of experience in managing operations at a Quebec ski resort and has even acquired special knowledge in snowmaking as Director of Sales and Marketing at Turbocristal enterprises, a leader in snowmaking technology.
Mr. Larichelière expects to fire 120 of his mobile snow guns during the first week of November. The powerful system will be entirely located on the famous North Side, to focus of some of the more popular slopes: La Quanick, La Printannière, La Mélanie Turgeon and La Paradeuse. Another initiative: an 800 meter cross-country skiing loop, dedicated to training purposes, will be created at the summit on the Western Side and will welcome teams form Quebec and abroad.
The resort is constantly improving its infrastructures. This year, a gondola restoration project has been initiated and is planned over the next 3 years, with an estimated value of 1.5 million dollars. Their mechanical system has been completely revised and the next step will be to refresh the actual gondolas.
www.mssi.ca / www.mont-saite-anne.com
Ski Club of Great Britain Report 6% Decline in UK Snowsports Market
The UK snowsports market fell by 6% across all sectors in 2008/9 according to the Ski Club of Great Britain’s annual Snowsports Analysis report. The total UK snowsports market is now reported at 1.27 million people.
The decline in overall numbers can be attributed to the economic climate and the weak pound, although the report suggests that the excellent snow conditions last winter may have influenced some people not to forego their winter sports holiday as they might otherwise have done. Additionally the report discusses a returning confidence to the industry and last season’s great snow acting as a catalyst for more people to start skiing again or go for the first time.
Although overall sales fell, a 2% rise in the tour operator market means it now makes up 79% of the overall market. This increase is at the expense of the independent sector, which now sits at 21%. It seems more skiers favoured a package holiday as this enabled them to know the upfront cost of their holiday. The increased cost of flying at peak times with no-frills airlines, and ski carriage charges, may also have impacted the independent market.
France continues to dominate the UK snowsports market with a 43% share – this has stayed static from 2007/8. Austria increased their market share by 2% and Italy and Switzerland both saw a 1% increase in market share which meant there was a small decline in visitors to the USA and Canadian resorts and to Andorra and Bulgaria.
The report goes on to identify the rise in the average cost of a snowsports holiday, going from £664 (per person) in 2007/8 to £686 in 2008/9. The pound’s weakness against the Euro and Swiss Franc meant that there were increased costs for holiday companies which in turn were passed on to the consumer.
Caroline Stuart-Taylor, Chief Executive of the Ski Club, commented on the report: “We are not surprised to be reporting a decline in the overall snowsports market after a really challenging winter season. The ‘credit crunch’ hit at a bad time for the snowsports market, but the ski industry is actually very resilient and we are feeling positive as we head into 2009/10. Already we have seen ski operators offering some excellent early season deals and combined with the industry pulling together to promote the snowsports to both existing skiers and boarders, as well as first timers, we are remaining cautious but confident as we head into the winter season.”
Other findings from the report include the fact that skiers make up 79% of the snowsports market and snowboarders 18%. The ski weekend decreased by 5% with the market share for a seven day holiday rising to 81%. Market share for the train as a transport method to get to snowsports holidays increased 1% year on year to 6%. The catered chalet maintains its dominance in the UK snowsports market with a 37% share of all sales. 45% of the snowsports market is made up of females, and 55% males.
Scottish resorts received 5,000 fewer visitors than the previous season, but Cairngorm Mountain, Glenshee and The Lecht all saw an increase in skier days.
Austria Makes Ski Dreams Come True In New Competition
A new online competition at http://winterdream.austria.info allows anyone to post their details of their dream winter holiday in the Alps. The most original and imaginative will win their winter dream come true!
The competition’s organisers, the Austrian National Tourist Office, suggest entrants, “Let your imagination run free as you post your dreams.” And provide a few ideas of their own, including having the ice rink outside Vienna’s Town Hall all to yourself as you jump and twirl, or timing yourself on a speed skating lap.?
The best dreams will be judged by a panel, but your chances of winning will increase if as many of your friends as possible vote for you online.
One oif the most popular dreams so far comes from Mike who says, “I would wish for an unforgettable 10th anniversary for me and my wife. I’d like to ski down the closed – off piste, just the two of us, at the Sonnbergkogel, where we met 12 years ago, followed by a romantic overnight stay in the best local hotel.”
Another entrant wants to be driven in a 4-man bobsleigh down the run at Igls in Innsbruck by the Austrian national bobsleigh team.
While a more charity minded entrant, Vanessa, says her winter dream is to stroll round the Christmas Market in Salzburg on a snowy day with a group of 20 underprivileged children and to be able to fulfil their every wish.
The competition closes on 11th November.
Compagnie des Alpes Sell Saas Fee Shares
The world’s largest ski resort operator, the French-based Compagnie des Alpes (CdA) has moved to sell its shares in SwissAlp, a wholly-owned Swiss subsidiary of the company.
CDA, concluded a memorandum of understanding on October 21, 2009, with a group of buyers headed by the municipality of Saas Fee. The buyers include the municipality, local business leaders, and an individual investor, Edmund Offermann. This memorandum of understanding covers the sale for 10.4 million Euros of the entire SwissAlp SA stake (41.6%) in Saas Fee Bergbahnen (SFB), the operating entity of the Saas Fee ski area.
CDA became a shareholder of SFB in 2001, and raised its stake from 35% to 41.6% (2007). However CDA recently sold its shares in another Swiss resort, Verbier, in July, while acquiring more French resorts, with Les 2 Alpes the latest it intends to acquire.
The sales of its Saas Fee shares will result in a net gain of 1.5 million Euros for CDA for the 2009-2010 financial year and will lower CDA debt by 35 million Euros.
New Range of 100% Recycled Sportswear Launched
New label Yew Clothing (www.yewclothing.com) has announced the launch of its new range of active wear made from 100% recycled materials. The company believe this is the first collection of high performance sports gear that’s kind to the environment.
Designed by athletes who wanted a little more from the sports clothing they wear, Yew’s selection of jackets and Everywear performance tops feature everything you would normally expect from high quality sports gear, but are made with 100% recycled polyester from consumer waste.
This means that the fabric used to create them is produced from re-processed plastics like drinks bottles or food containers, helping to reduce waste and using much less energy to produce than brand new fibres.
The resulting collection of high quality, durable garments are built to last, fit well, and will keep you comfortable and dry as a base layer on the slopes.
The range includes cosy, fleece-lined jacket that will help keep you warm when the temperature drops. The jacket features hidden pockets, a seamless shoulder to aid comfort and a fold over zip to protect the neck. The warm, breathable material will keep you snug and dry and is available in Carbon Grey and Skyrise Blue priced £55.00. All Yew Clothing products are available at www.yewclothing.com.
Yew Clothing is Jun Wong and Kresse Wesling, two athletes and budding environmental entrepreneurs who wanted a little more out of the sports clothing they wear. Unable to find clothing that reflected their ethical values and aspirations, Jun and Kresse formed their own sports wear company, Yew, which offers stylish, high performance gear made from 100% recycled or organic materials.
The material is manufactured into Yew active wear at a modern factory in Istanbul with good facilities for staff. Yew recycled polyester comes from Taiwan where recycling is more prevalent.
Mad Dog Launches New-look Website
Skiers seeking inspiration this winter can check out the new-look maddogski.com for advice on everything from the best places to ski, advice on booking holidays, finding the nearest resorts to destination airports and even searching for the best mountain restaurants. Designed by digital marketing agency MadeWith, the new site has been influenced by user feedback to offer an independent one-stop shop for skiers with more interactive features and online guides to more than 50 of the world’s finest ski resorts.
In addition to the existing news and advice, new features on the site include a ‘trip planner’ section – with interactive maps, the MadDogSki master packing checklist, links to ski insurance, special offers, top ski tips and a handy resort comparison feature letting users choose up to five resorts to review side by side
Resort guides – independent reviews of more than 50 resorts, with detailed guides to travelling, where to stay, things to do, food and drink and useful tips on every page
Mad Dog Club – sign up to a regular newsletter with offers, deals and news
Flight planner – users can select their local airport to generate a list of destination airports coupled with the closest ski resorts to that airport
Snowpedia – users can read articles, kit reviews, get up-to-scratch with ski jargon and add their own comments or entries
Launch competition giving away five pairs of bmibaby flights plus £100 of Ellis Brigham vouchers during the period from 26th October – 9th November
Commenting on the new website, Kate Whittaker, founder of MadDogSki said “Over the past few months, we have developed the site adding loads of news content and tools to help our site visitors plan their best ski trip ever. Working with MadeWith, we have worked to combine our knowledge and expertise with their know-how and capability to present the information effectively and efficiently. This is a website whose main focus is helping people have better ski holidays”
Mad Dog Ski guidebooks are available to buy online in the Mad Dog Shop, or through Amazon UK, Snow+Rock and Stanfords. All books cost £8 to purchase (except the smaller Courmayeur guide at £6).
Image used courtesy of SoylentGreen23.
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