J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Tickets go on sale this Thursday 11 October for a new Eurostar (www.eurostar.com) weekly ski service to the Swiss Alps this winter.

The new rail service , created through a partnership with the international high-speed train service, "TGV Lyria, is a flashback to the days before air travel became feasible for the masses 40 years ago, but will be a lot faster than the original ski trains 50 – 80 years ago.

The new weekly ski service will carry ski and snowboarding enthusiasts from St Pancras International and Ashford International to the heart of the Swiss Alps and the Valais region with an easy connection at Lille Europe in France.
Resorts including; Verbier, Zermatt, Saas Fee and Gstaad will be served on the new route from Saturday 22 December until Saturday 13 April 2013.

From Lille the "TGV Lyria" service will take passengers to the Swiss stations of Aigle, Martigny, Visp and Brig for quick onward transfers to their ski resorts. For added convenience, Eurostar and TGV Lyria will allow ski passengers to carry on-board an extra item of luggage in addition to the normal luggage allowance - such as a pair of skis or a snowboard - at no extra cost.

"Our research shows ski customers are seeking a more civilised way to reach their resorts by travelling by high-speed rail from London to the heart of the Swiss Alps. Our direct ski services to the French Alps have grown in popularity year on year and we expect this new service to the Swiss Alps to have similar appeal," said Nick Mercer, Commercial Director for Eurostar.

Return fares start from £189. Travellers can indulge themselves on their way to and from the slopes by travelling Standard Premier with fares from just £299 return, where they will enjoy more spacious seating as well as light meals and drinks served at their seat.

Eurostar's direct ski services to the heart of the French Alps are also open for sale. The direct day and night services carry ski and snowboarding enthusiasts direct to the popular French ski towns of Moûtiers, Aime-La-Plagne* and Bourg St Maurice, with return fares starting from £149. The 2012/2013 seasonal ski services will run from 22 December (day services) and 21 December (night services) until 13 April 2013.

Italy's Alta Badia region in the spectacular scenery of the Dolomites, a UNESCO world heritage site has built a reputation over recent years for the great cuisine served both in its hotels and restaurants as well as on the ski slopes. This reputation is centred on a group of Michelin starred chefs working in the area and known collectively as the DoloMitici.

The latest idea for the coming winter is 'Slope Food'. This is to be a very special version of the famous finger food or street food, this array of tempting treats which will be created by a group of culinary experts, including Michelin-starred Italian chefs to up-and-coming young stars, in twelve locations on the slopes of Alta Badia throughout winter.

Each chef will create Slope Food for their chosen location, including the DoloMitici and many others including chefs from around Europe. Norbert Niederkofler, of St Hubertus restaurant, which boasts two Michelin stars, will play host at the Bioch Refuge. Arturo Spicocchi, of the Michelin-starred La Stüa de Michil, will create for I Tablá refuge, and Fabio Cucchelli, of the Michelin-starred La Siriola, will be at the Ciampai Refuge for the first time.

As these tasty creations are designed to accompany aperitifs, the wine pairing is very important and the snacks will be served with the finest wines from South Tyrol, suggested by the chefs themselves together with the best sommeliers from South Tyrol.

The 3 Valleys, the world's largest ski area, which already has more than 2,00 snow cannons pointing at a third of its 600km of slopes, has been spending more on snowmaking over the spring and summer ready for this winter.

Last autumn, alas, it was too warm in November for Val Thorens' mighty snow making arsenal to work and it had to postpone opening for a few days, but hopefully this autumn it will be colder sooner.

In the 3 Valleys the minimum altitude level for skiing is 1300 metres and the maximum 3230 metres, and 85% of the ski area is located above 1800 metres. There are 25 accessible summits, 10 of which are in excess of 2500 metres.

There's new artificial snow cover on Les Creux run (installation of 46 snowmaking machines) and on the Cospillot run (installation of 12 snowmaking machines) in Courchevel.

Above Méribel there's skiing back to La Chaudanne via the Bourbon Busset run which has been made more accessible to skiers of all levels, particularly around the area where it meets the bottom of the Mauduit run and there's a new blue run from Le Bettex to Les Menuires to improve access to the Preyerand area and improvements to the Walibi Gliss fun zone there.

There's also been a reshaping la Martre blue run, making it easier for beginners and intermediate skiers to ski back from the bottom of the Méribel Valley (connections to Les Menuires and Val Thorens).

At Val Thorens the Plein Sud run has been widened as much as possible and 15 new silent snow making machines have been installed at the foot of the resort to provide easier access to Val Thorens' ski area.

Ischgl (ischgl.com)have announced their Festival Opening Week details from 23 November 2012.

The famous Austrian party town makes a big deal of its opening – in late November, and closing, in early May, by bringing in pop and rock stars to play free concerts for ticket holders. Stars to perform have included Rihanna, Kylie, Katy Perry and Elton (twice).

It's all designed to highlight just how snowsure Ischgl is.

That was a challenge a year ago during the ultra warm autumn 2011, but Ischgl spent a reputed €1m on snowmaking and opened on time, while Europe's highest resort, Val Thorens, had to postpone their planned November opening.

So this year the highlight of the Festival Opening Week is the Top of the Mountain Opening Concert on 1 December 2012, featuring the veteran German band The Scorpions, who with 47 years of history, are the most successful German rock band ever.

"When they play their hits such as "The spirit of Rock will never die" and "Wind of Change," not only the audience will fall into a euphoric-emotional winter mood, but the Scorpions themselves, too." Said a statement from the organisers.

The Scorpions gig will be the culmination of four concerts featuring international acts played in the evenings while in the daytime Ischgl aims to open 238km of slopes at altitudes with guaranteed snow and skiing over the border to Swiss Samnaun.

A recent partnership between Alpine Meadows in California and Snow Park Technologies means skiers and riders can look forward to continued terrain park improvements and what the Tahoe resort describes as, "an enhanced park experience" throughout the winter season. Snow Park Technologies is renowned in the terrain park business with 15 years of experience designing parks for major resorts and events nationwide including the Winter X Games.

Snow Park Technologies will expand the medium and large parks, which combined parks offer an entire mile-long park run, the longest in the Tahoe region.

Also brand new this year, there will be a beginner progression park on Subway where lessons will be available. Guests eating out on the sundeck can enjoy the view of skiers and riders testing out their skills at a new base area jib arena. New jibs will be added this season, including four new beginner boxes, two intermediate boxes and four new snowmaking pipe jibs, increasing the park's fleet to more than 60 jib features.

Austria's Skiwelt (skiwelt.at) has announced a €9.3m s[pend on upgrades for the coming winter.

The country's largest fully lift-linked area with 280km of piste is spending on upgrading lifts, new terrain parks, a floodlit toboggan run and better grooming and snow making.

Three new 'Fun Slopes' are being created at Hochsöll for freeriders on boards or skis. These have a combined surface area of over five hectares and 40 kickers and rails of all degrees of difficulty from beginner to expert. Beginners will have their own Funslope at the Salvenmoospiste, and there will be a beginners and medium level run at the Rinnerabfahrt.

For evening fun the 4.5km-long Astberg toboggan run in Ellmau/Going will get its own snow-making system and flood lighting.

Another improvement will be the Stöckl chairlift in Söll which is being completely renovated with new child safety features added.

All good comments...

More old drag lifts are being removed than built, usually two or three replaced by one chairlift. Usual resort answer to the environmental argument is the modern chair has fewer support towers, uses less energy etc than lifts it replaces. Right about horse drawn lifts though - Megeve just announced that's there big idea to link two sectors this winter. Alta Badia already have one. There are tens of thousands of drag lifts so they're not going anywhere soon... True about drags on glaciers and also in many wind prone locations. Engelberg made a big thing about getting a chairlift across a glacier only by finding a few fixed rock islands in the ice to anchor the towers on.

You rarely hear of new T Bar drag lifts being installed anywhere. Indeed at one point the lifts were so unpopular that a plan (later abandoned apparently) to remove them all from Austria was unveiled in the 1990s.

But Bretton Woods in New Hampshire, USA is installing a brand new Doppelmayr T-Bar as part of its expansion in to the Mount Stickney area for the 2012/13 season. There's also a new warming cabin with a wood stove, allowing skiers to get the chill out before their next run.

Drag lifts and particularly rare in North America and T Bars especially so but the resort says it wants to create a step back to a traditional New England skiing experience in the new area which includes 30 acres of gladed tree skiing. This will feature steep drop offs and a cliff area thrill-seekers at Bretton Woods.

For the less adventurous, many of the glades are being manicured in the Bretton Woods fashion so they will be skiable even in lean snow years.

With the addition of the surface lift, skiers and riders can now spend hours doing laps in the trees without having to return to the main base area. www.brettonwoods.com