J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Five years after the global economic crash seemed to put a halt to ever more extravagant indoor snow centre developments with ever longer indoor slopes (slopes up to 2km long were announced, so far the longest built is about a third of that), more and more projects have emerged during 2013 that indicate the 'indoor snow industry' is moving forward again.

Around 90 indoor ski areas have opened in more than 30 countries around the world since the first in Australia, Belgium and Japan opened 25 years ago. More than 50 are still operational – the most in Germany, The Netherlands and the UK with half a dozen each, although slopes in continental Europe are up to three times longer than those in the UK.

However asia, where Japan was once the dominant indoor snow centre nation in the 1990s (they've early al closed there now), is where the most projects are currently under construction with Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt all set to join the world's snowsports nations in the next year.

Projects announced by the Dutch indoor snow company SnowWorld however seem to be moving forward with major new ski centres planned for Paris and Barcelona, the latter mooted as part of Spanish bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

However the success or otherwise of indoor centres remains problematic. While Mayor Boris announced a major Olympic legacy indoor snow centre venue by the Westfield shopping mall in London and a Thai billionaire brewing tycoon announced a centre for Bangkok modelled on Ski dubai and accessed by a gondola across the Thai capital's main river reminiscent of the Emirites Airline over the Thames, Manchester's Chill Factore is up for sale and the operators of the Xscape centres in Milton Keynes and Castleford have been sold. In the spring the Otztal region which operates a modern centre in Germany withdrew their financial support, leading to its closure, although it does now plan to re-open for the winter with a revised management strategy.

Political instability in the Middle East and rising energy costs may not be seen as favourable factors in indoor snow centre development but so far the Middle Eastern projects are reported to be "unaffected" by the unrest and some centres have turned to renewable energy, notably a large centre in Germany which has covered its vast roof in solar panels.

Scottish ski area Glenshee have announced a charity day in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support this winter on 8th March 2014, which has been named Go Ski Macmillan.

Planned events on the slopes include a 'ski in style' competition and a 'whackiest dressed on the day' competition with prizes for the best.

Other fund raising events will include 'Sniff the Whisky Cask and Win!' to be held in the main café and there will also be a grand auction in the afternoon.

Glenshee Ski Centre will handle all cash donations during the day and will be taking cash and credit cards in aid of Macmillan during the Grand Auction. All funds raised will go to Macmillan Cancer Support.

If conditions are not good on the eighth, the event may be moved to Sunday the 9th or even the following weekend.

Any companies and individuals interested in supporting the event, including companies who cannot attend but who might like their banners displayed on the day or supply items to auction, should contact ronaldweir@btinternet.com

One of Britain's most eccentric pastimes took an unexpected twist as daredevils took part in the world's first Winter Cheese Rolling Championships on indoor snow at Chill Factore in Manchester.

A British tradition since the 15th Century which draws thousands to the village of Stilton, Chester and the infamous Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire every year, its latest evolution saw hoards of adrenaline junkies throw themselves down a 180m indoor ski slope in the hope of catching the 8lb wheel of Cheshire Cheese.

Unlike any other tournament witnessed before, this was the first time that the great British sport has ever been performed on snow. With the wheel reaching speeds of up to 40mph, contestants chased the cheese on skis or snowboards and grappled down the piste, in order to secure the title of the world's first Winter Cheese Rolling Champion.

After tussling with fellow competitors, David Chapman (33) from Blackpool was crowned champion and secured his name in British cheese rolling history. Along with the title, David also took home the illustrious trophy which tradition dictates is the wheel of Cheshire Cheese used during the competition.

The event was staged to mark the Ski & Snowboard Show's arrival in Greater Manchester this weekend (25 – 27 October).

"With the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics only a few months away, there's even more excitement about the 13/14 Ski season ahead, and one of the missions of the Ski and Snowboard Show is to make skiing just as much a British pastime as something as traditional as Cheese Rolling," said Ski & Snowboard Show Marketing Manager, Suzi Sibthorpe.

Skiers, snowboarders and cheese fans alike risked life and limb to compete in the inaugural tournament which organisers, rather optimistically, hope might one day become an official Winter Olympic sport.

Commentating on his heroic title, David Chapman said; "It feels awesome to have won. I've raced my mates plenty of times down the slopes before, but never after a wheel of cheese!"

Valmorel, the especially family-friendly resort in the French Alps is installing a new chairlift for this coming winter and as a result will add two new runs.

Speaking about the new quad chairlift, a resort spokesperson told J2SKI, "It is a new route and probably the last new lift route created in the Grand Domaine."

The Grand Domaine connects the slopes of Valmorel with neighbour Saint François Longchamp. Together the two areas have 150km of runs.

The two new slopes down from the new quad are a blue named Shogun and a red named Samouraï.

The new lift, called Soleil Rouge, is scheduled to open around Christmas. It will rise 451 vertical metres between 1819m and 2270m above sea level and is 1,346m long.

Avoriaz and the Portes du Soleil of which it is a part is promoting itself as the only resort in the French Alps to offer child pricing right up to age 15.

Most French resorts make children pay the full adult price from age 11, although many big areas offer family discounts when three or four family member buy the same kind of ticket together, which in some cases extends child discounts up to age 16 or even 18.

However Avoriaz, like other French resorts, does ask families to pay a high price for children, compared to most other countries from a young age – around 70% of the adult price. So a child as young as five will need to pay 178 Euros for a six day Portes du Soleil pass, most than the adult price at some smaller areas. The adult price for a six day Portes du Soleil pass is 237.50 Euros this coming winter.

The Portes du Soleil has a number of resorts appealing to families including British families favourite Les Gets and Avoriaz which is car free and home to the new Aquariaz tropical mountain top water park.

Working out family ticket pricing continues to be a conundrum almost as complex as working out energy suppliers for British families.

Swiss resorts tend to have the most generous deals for kids with children free to age 8 – 10 at many resorts and then paying 50% or less of the adult price until age 16 or 18 at most resorts. The only problem is the strength of the Swiss Franc often makes the adult price and other in resort expenses very high.

Austrian and Italian resorts tend to be more generous on child pricing than French resorts, letting children ski free until 6 or 7 and offering greater discounts to a later age through childhood.

Behind the headline price figures many resorts offer low season deals for families, especially when they book accommodation direct. Going back to Avoriaz the resort is to offer a combined ski and Aquariaz tropical pool admission ticket from 29 March to 6 April 2014, priced at €156 for adults / €114 for children, around 35% less than the usual Portes du Soleil pass.

Then in the Easter holidays there's a free 6-day ski pass and Aquariaz pass for under 12s with every one week adult ski pass purchased at the time of booking accommodation. A family apartment for 4 people is priced from €462 for the week of 12 to 19 April.

Well the extra caffeine and chocolate should give you energy and everyone knows red wine is good for you. I presume the chips are to add to the slipperiness on the snow? So why aren't you on the team? Or ARE you??

With the World Cup downhill kicking off in the northern hemisphere at Solden this weekend at the start of the 2013-14 Olympic season, and the London ski show next week, top British skier Chemmy Alcott has been in the spotlight and the Ski Show's organiser asked her for top diet tips for a top skier.

Here's what Chemmy consumes:

7:45am: Big glass of water.
8:00am: A bowl of 'special' porridge sent over by a friend from Morgenstund in Germany by Jentschura (a specialist brand in alkaline body care and nutrition) to help alkaline my diet, topped with greek yoghurt, cinnamon, ground almonds, chia seeds and fresh fruit. A large coffee. A herb tea, also from Jentschura.
11:00am: Rice cakes with almond butter.
1:00pm: Salmon, brown rice and kale. And a green tea.
4:00pm: Maximuscle protein shake.
7:00pm: Ginger chicken stir-fry.

The Telegraph Ski and Snowboard Show sponsored by Monarch will take place from next Wednesday the 30th October to the 3rd November at Earls Court. (www.skiandsnowboard.co.uk/london).

Chemmy is expected to be popping by and visitors can claim one of 20,000 free lift passes to ski resorts and The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead with adult tickets booked in advance.

The lift passes available cover a selection of the world's leading ski and snowboard resorts, including Chamonix, Les 3 Vallées, Norway, Verbier, Aosta Valley, Serre Chevalier Vallée, Tirol and Sierra Nevada. Most are offering a free one day lift pass, with Les 3 Vallées offering 6 days skiing for the price of 4. The lift passes can be added to orders in the ticket booking process – one per adult ticket booked – and collected from the resorts' stand at the relevant show. Availability varies and London show and numbers are limited.

"It's the biggest lift pass giveaway we've done so far, and the standard of resorts involved this year is exceptional," said Damian Norman, Managing Director of VOS Media who organise the show, "As the country comes out of recession, holidays are back on the agenda for many families, but bank balances are still tight – So our mission is to help lower the cost of a typical snowsports trip. We really feel it will go a long way to making skiing and snowboarding more accessible for the British public."

The London show will feature ice rinks, ski slopes, tubing and curling and will have more than 250 stands from equipment manufacturers and ski resorts from around the world.

Kitzbuhel in the Austrian Tirol has announced yet another big spend on a new hi tec lift system for the coming winter as part of its annual "tens of millions of Euros" spend.

Taking its hourly uplift capacity through the 90,000 sph mark, the new €12m, 10 seat Wagstättbahn gondola in the Jochberg sector will open on 7th December 2013, complete with the now obligatory heated seating.

"The work to complete the new Wagtsättbahn are well on time and already on the home straight," said ac statement from lift company Bergbahnen Kitzbühel, "Already the cabins are in the base station at Jochberg.

"Kitzbühel now has 51 lifts and 170km of piste making it one of the largest cable car company in Austria. The number of T bars (now down to eight) continues to decrease as more 6-8 seat chairlifts as well as gondolas are added.