Messages posted by : J2SkiNews
The Austrian resort of Ischgl, which already runs one of the world's most state-of-the-art networks of high capacity, high speed gondola and chairlifts will add a new eight-person chairlift this winter, but it's a lift support tower rather than the €14m lift itself that's grabbing the attention! That's because pylon Number 3 of the new Flimjochbahn, which replaces a quad chair, will also be Pylon Number 9 of the existing Hollboden eight-seater chair, the two lifts crossing over each other before continuing on their separate ways. And with the new Flimjochbahn able to carry 3,200 skiers and boarders per hour from the main lift hub at Idalp to Flimjoch at 2,752m and the Hollboden eight-seater chair able to carry 3,700 people, it means the lift tower 3/9 will be holding 6,900 people per hour at capacity, a world record. Another feature being touted as a world first is an ingenious exit system at the new lift's top station means the operation of the new lift will not be so affected by high winds. In high wind conditions a downwind exit will come into use, and the whole unloading area will have a surrounding windshield. This being the Ischgl area, the resort has more news for 16-17 too. It's also unveiling a €2m 2km long zip wire and just up the valley at the family resort of Galtür, a new €8m 10-seat gondola will replace the existing Breitspitzbahn chairlift, serving the beautiful runs above the scenic Kopsee reservoir. A new 3km piste has also been created sweeping down to the bottom station by the lake. www.paznaun-ischgl.com |
|
Snowsport England's annual promotion designed to encourage more people to try skiing and boarding (or get back to the sport if they've done it in the past) through England's dry slopes and indoor snow centres is back for its third year. Part of the organisation's wider GO SKI GO BOARD campaign, this year's initiative will run from Saturday 24th September until Sunday 23rd October 2016 and involves 70 separate free or discounted taster and recreational sessions running nationwide. During the campaign, which this year is supported by retailer Ellis Brigham, free taster sessions are happening at Sunderland Sports Complex (25th September & 10th-16th October), Pendle Ski Club (4th October), Ski Kidsgrove (8th October) and also in the build up at Kendal Snowsports Club (18th October). The campaign includes 25 dedicated events and as well as taster sessions there'll be open days, races, competitions and freestyle events. The sessions and fun, family-friendly activities are open to all ages, with many of them suitable for beginners and those looking to take up a new sport. For people who already ski or snowboard, there will be a chance to get the ski legs back or have a go at something different – whether that be freestyle, ski racing, rollerskiing or another discipline. "This is a great way to help raise the profile of our facilities in Sunderland and get members of the community engaged in snowsport," said Dean Randall, General Manager at Sunderland Snowsports Centre , who added, " It's an exciting time for us with the refurbishment just round the corner so hopefully this will be a chance for people to see how great a facility we have and hopefully getting more people trying skiing and snowboarding." 30 Days of Snowsport will also coincide with Sportsaid Week from 26th September until 2nd October, which is aimed at raising money and awareness about the charity that supports rising stars of the sport. 30 Days of Snowsport: www.30daysofsnowsport.org.uk GO SKI GO BOARD: www.goskigoboard.org.uk Sportsaid Week: www.sportsaid.org.uk/sportsaidweek Participating slopes in 30 Days of Snowsport include: Ackers Adventure, Birmingham Aldershot Ski Centre Bracknell Ski and Snowboard Centre Chatham Ski and Snowboard Centre Chill Factore (Cross Snowsports Club) Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre Kendal Snowsports Club London Region Nordic Ski Club Mendip Snowsport Centre Pendle Ski Club Snozone (Cas/MK) Ski Kidsgrove Ski Rossendale Southampton Alpine Centre Stoke Ski Centre Sunderland Sports Complex Swadlincote Ski and Snowboard Centre York Uni Cycle Track (Yorkshire Dales and 'Go Rollerski' clubs) Wolverley School Slope 30 Days of Snowsport Free Taster Sessions: Kendal Open Day, 18th September (Active Cumbria) Pendle Ski Club Open Day, 4th October Ski Kidsgrove Open Day, 8th October Sunderland Launch Day, 25th September Sunderland Taster Week (all activities from Mon 10th – Sun 16th) Offers running at the following slopes throughout 30 Days of Snowsport (Taster sessions, Recreational sessions & Tubing): Aldershot (Every Weekend during 30 Days bar Half Term) Kendal (Every Weekend during 30 Days) Mendip (Every day during 30 Days except Tuesdays & Thursdays) Ski Rossendale (Every weekend during 30 Days) Open Days during 30 Days of Snowsport (Taster sessions, Recreational sessions, Tubing & Future Booking Discounts) : Bracknell, 24th Sept Gloucester 24th Sept York 'Go Rollerski Club', Beginner Race, 25th Sept Cross Snowsports Club Open Day (Chill Factore), Thurs 6th & 13th) Southampton, 8th October Swadlincote, 9th October Ackers, 16th October Chatham, 22nd October Stoke Ski Centre – Sportsaid Charity Freestyle Jam/Open Day, 22nd October Yorkshire Dales CC Ski Club, Beginner Race @York, 23rd October |
|
The former cricket star and current leading Pakistani Politician Imran Khan yesterday declare open a new double chairlift installed at Pakistan's Malan Jabba ski area. The original chairlift at the centre, Pakistan's only fully commercial ski resort, was destroyed around 2007 by the Taliban when they took over the Swat Valley where it is located. Locals had continued to ski at the centre since the Taliban were driven out of the region in 2009, hiking up the slope or making use of a makeshift, DIY lift until funding was secured to build the new lift at a reported cost of one billion rupees (£7m). Imran Khan said the government was making efforts to increase tourism in the area, and plan to establish similar projects in feasible locations across the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The new lift is 800 metres long and took only 53 days to erect. The original Malam Jabba resort was built in the 1990s with help from the Austrian government who also donated the original chairlift. |
|
A number of ski areas have told J2Ski that they've found Pokémon lurking on their ski slopes and are obviously keen to get the word out that there's a new reason to head to their resorts this winter besides just skiing. Well that's if you're part of the Pokémon™ GO app craze that has seen people pointing their phones at places all over the word and seeing Pokémon characters that aren't visible to the naked eye. Some have questioned the safety aspect of heading around the slopes looking at your phone screen rather than where you're going, but others have countered that it's just a bit of fun. Verbier said it had a number of 'PokéStop's appear on its slopes in the summer but that the last one disappeared on August 31st. Closer to home, the long established ski tour operator Erna Low have found that they have a PokéStop in a ski scene mural they have painted on the exterior wall of their London offices. |
|
(image credit: Valerii Tkachenko) Kitzbühel has published data showing that its ski seasons have got progressively longer, on average, over the past two decades. The famous resort in the Austrian Tirol opened for an average 1409 days back in the early 1990s but has been opening up to 155 days for snowsports in recent seasons – stretching the snow cover period by more than two weeks. The longest season over the 24 year period the graph covers was 182 days in 2012-2013 – half the year. Kitzbühel has endeavoured to open for skiing in autumn weekends earlier and earlier over the past decades and this coming winter says it plans to open on October 22nd, all being well, then stay open through to May 1st 2017 more than six months later. Interestingly the shortest winter in the 24 year analysis was winter 2005-6 when the ski slopes were only open for 129 days, just over four months. Coincidentally this was the same season that the OECD published a major report on climate change in the Alps and said snowsports at resorts like Kitzbühel could be under threat later this century due to its comparatively low altitude ski area from 800-2000m. Ever since then Kitzbühel has used snowmaking know how at an altitude location likely to hold the snow to endeavour to open earlier and earlier each Autumn. |
|
Scandinavia seems to be (re)gaining ground as an ever more popular ski destination with Crystal offering Trysil in Norway new this year as well as Levi and Yllas in Lapland (already offered by Inghams), and Igluski announcing ski holidays to Oslo to visit the Norwegian capital's small local ski area at Tryvann which can be reached by tram from the city centre. Now EasyJet have launched a new direct flight direct from Gatwick to Östersund Airport which is very close to Scandinavia's biggest ski resort and the 2019 World Alpine Ski Championships venue, Åre in Sweden. The service, which will run on Sundays only, starts 11th December 2016 and is expected to be especially popular with skiers and snowboarders with tickets from £30.49 each way (excluding baggage, seat reservation etc). easyJet expects to carry 4,800 passengers in its first winter of operations. The new route will be easyJet's first service from the UK to Sweden. When it launches it will be the 32nd country in easyJet's network and the 107th destination available from London Gatwick airport. easyJet expects to carry 4,800 passengers in its first Winter of operation. "Åre Östersund, which is located in Sweden's Jämtland province, is a great skiing destination and we are sure it will prove a popular service for both skiers and snowboarders looking to explore the region," said Neil Slaven, easyJet's UK commercial Manager, who added, "High profile sporting events such as the Alpine World Championships coupled with the ever increasing quality of ski resorts across Europe are helping to inspire first time skiers and contributing to the rise in popularity we are seeing amongst our customers for ski breaks." |
|
Although there's a serious lack of interesting new conventional ski destinations for the UK's leading ski tour operators for this coming winter, with most just offering the same places others already offer, there are, rather surprisingly, some new more unusual destinations to try. Both Iran and Iraq are being sold as ski trip destinations by two separate companies. Mountain Heaven, who have previously specialised in Chalet and apartment holidays mostly in the French Alps, are offering Iran, whilst Untamed Borders, specialists in travel to more off the beaten track destinations are offering what's believed to be the first ski trip to Iraq. Although their names are similar and they are of course neighbours, the skiing experience offered by each country is very different. Iran has a long history of skiing with some of the world's highest ski lifts, established conventional resorts and with the lifting of sanctions is regarded as a largely safe destination by the Foreign Office. Iraq has more limited mountain terrain, mostly in the north of the country is the area controlled by the Kurds. The Foreign Office warns against all but essential travel here and against all travel to large parts of the country. Untamed Borders, has announced it will be organising a 10 day "reccy" ski trip to Iraq from 28th January - 6th February 2017. "As far as we are aware, this will be the first ever commercial ski trip to Iraq," said James Willcox of Untamed Borders Ltd, a company experienced in organising trips to very off-the-beaten-track ski destinations, including Afghanistan. "Using the experience the Untamed Borders team has of guiding and climbing in Iraq, we have identified areas that offer some great ski touring terrain," said James. Guests should ideally have some prior experience of ski touring although the trip is designed for people of all abilities to come along. Skiers will follow paths and routes explored by Untamed Borders' guides trekking and climbing in the area over the past two winters. The group will ski the slopes of Halgurd – Iraq's highest peak and other areas. The group will be also exploring new routes and runs. Almost all of the area has never been skied. The tour will start in the historic city of Erbil and head straight to the peaks around the town of Choman near the Iranian border which has a reputation for the region's best and most reliable snow. Tour participants will also head to the village of Penjwen to witness and ski with Iraq's only ski club that teaches winter sports to local school children. There will also be a visit to Korek Mountain Resort, subject to conditions, which is home to Iraq's only ski lifts. "Iraq has some major problems at the moment but in the far north of the country security is good and it is possible to experience some of the famous Kurdish hospitality amongst the peaks. The chance to truly blaze a tourist trail is a rare opportunity," says James. The trip costs US$2450 (approximately £1,850) which includes all accommodation, breakfast daily, lunch when skiing, all ground transport and guiding. A maximum number of 10 people can take part in the trip and are asked to make their own arrangements for travel to Iraqui Kurdistan and bring their ski equipment with them, as well as their insurance and visas (which can normally be arranged on arrival in Iraq) although Untamed Borders can provide advice on all these matters. untamedborders.com |
|
Snowfall has been reported on mountain tops in Colorado and areas of the Northwestern USA raising anticipating for winter 16-17 for some. In fact snowfall year round on high mountains is fairly common, it's just that it's that time of year… The snow in the US comes a week after up to 15cm/6 inches of fresh snow fell on the Folgefonn and Galdhoppigen summer glacier ski areas in Norway to the delight of skiers and boarders expecting old snow in August and instead finding powder. There's been fresh snow in the southern hemisphere too, Australian ski areas (including Perisher pictured above) had similar snowfalls to those Norwegian centres on the other side of the world and there's been more snow in South Africa too, which has had one of its snowiest winters in years. slopes in New Zealand, Chile and Argentina are also now all looking good after a mixed start to winter 2016. The deepest snowpack – nearly 3m/10 feet, is at Valle Nevado in Chile. |
|