J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Chemmy Alcott - No more public funds.

In a bitter twist in the strange ebbs and flows of public funding, British competitive snow and ice sports see an increase of approximately £3.8m this month but that total includes a £620,000 cut in the budget for our elite boarders and skiers – which represents all of their former public funding in fact, while sliding-on-ice sports see a £4.5 million increase in funding.
The previously announced cuts by UK Sport which administers lottery funds for elite athletes which come in to force this month sees the £372,000 public funding for skiing and the £248,000 budget for snowboarding go completely.
Women's bobsleigh will get half a million pounds additional funding to £2.4m; short-track skating £1.8m to £2.8m; skeleton's 1.3m more to a new total of £3.4m and curling's £900,000 more to now receive £2.1m.

Two wine tour partipants (probably)

Many ski region are also wine regions and some make the extra effort to ring these two activities together.
One such is Italy's Alta Badia which on the 20th of March, will be taking the very best of their wines up to 2000m for a tasting, accompanied by local bread and cheese, all carrying the trademark 'Quality Südtirol' in an event organised by the tourist board
"A favourable climate, fertile soil and the passion of the wine growers themselves are what give South Tyrolean wines their excellent quality." said a spokesperson for the area.
Four mountain huts will each be assigned a wine-producing area: Isarco Valley, Merano-Adige Valley-Val Venosta, Bolzano, and Bassa Atesina-Oltradige.
Former members of the Italian national Alpine Ski team, Kristian Ghedina, Much Mair, Kurt Ladstätter and Werner Perathoner, all sponsored by BMW, will accompany skiers from one hut to another, and they will also be sampling the excellent South Tyrolean wines.
Tickets for the wine tasting are €15.00 each and may be obtained from the four participating huts.
If you take part, "Be careful when skiing." warned the spokesperson.

Les Gets Golf Course

If you're arriving in Les Gets this weekend, what better way to end your first day on the slopes on the Portes du Soleil than a quick round of après-ski snow golf?
Street golfing started in the 90's in Germany and then started appearing in other European countries and in America. Les Gets gives it a new twist by playing on snowy streets from 5:30pm on Sunday, March 6th. It's the second time the contest has been staged.
Regular golf rules apply and golfers will to play in the centre of town and on a snowy golf course on a six hole golf course. There are two players per team, each team starts at different holes and there's the chance for beginners to take an introductory course.
What makes it an even more original competition is that it will take place in the evening with hollow golf balls which means they move slightly more slowly and the 'greens' will be lit up. Hot soup will be serving hot soup after the game.
"This winter competition is a fun way for golfers to discover a new way of playing." said a statement from the Association du Golf des Gets. For more info and to register email info@golf-lesgets.cominfoi

Squaw Valley USA

Squaw Valley has had an incredible amount of snowfall over the past few weeks, reporting another three feet in the past 48 hours. It has been one of the snowiest places on earth this winter, thamks in part to the La Nina effect.
Now the resort has laid on several additional attractions to make the most of all the snow.
Squaw Valley has greatly expanded their night skiing with improved lighting in the Riviera terrain park and halfpipe so anyone can have fun on the groomed stuff for longer, but at no extra cost, as access is free with any lift ticket, you don't need to buy an extra night skiing pass.
"It's a rad decision by Squaw. It totally expands the terrain. Now people will be able to hit Squaw's halfpipe and epic features well into the night—it's going to be awesome." said snowboarder Conor Toumarkine.
Skiers and riders can hit the slopes from 9am to 9pm on weekends (9am to 7pm midweek) and enjoy other High Camp night activities such as ice skating at the Olympic Ice Pavilion or dining at one of the upper mountain restaurants.
The second option is to take a snowshoe hike through the deep powder under the full moon in March or April.
The Tahoe Adventure Company (www.tahoeadventurecompany.com) will bring along easy-to-use snowshoes and take you hiking through the brisk mountain air of Lake Tahoe's pristine forests on 19th March or 15th April 2010.
The knowledgeable guides will explain local astronomy, natural history and general history of the, as well as fascinating facts about our moon. Snacks and hot drinks are provided too within the cost of $65 per person.

Chemmy Alcott

If you ever want to meet some of the world's best skiers, past and present, in the flesh, then the Verbier High Five on 2nd April is the event to aim for.
The weekend event mixes top class ski racing with plenty of partying. Verbier High Five begins in the resort's Place Centrale at 6pm on Friday 1st April, with an Opening Party and the presentation of the racers. Participation in the races is open to all and registration is now open at www.verbierhighfivebycarlsberg.com. The best of the amateur racers will make up pro-am teams for the Parallel Slalom.
At 10am on Saturday 2nd, five races are planned (Giant Slalom, "Speedtrap" downhill, Skier-cross, the Carlsberg Triathlon and the concluding Parallel Slalom).
Didier Cuche, who won his 4th Kitzbühel Downhill Gold medal as well as a silver in the World Championship downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, will be there, along with the likes of Didier Défago, ex champion Luc Alphand and injured British number one Chemmy Alcott who'll be there as an ambassador.
"Didier holds this festive event very dear to his heart, because he loves its friendly and competitive spirit and the close contact he can have with his fans." said the event's organisers.
Throughout, the public will have the chance to be near the stars and following the racing and prize-giving there's a party to be held at Pub Montfort, where the Pros party with their fans. And, to conclude the Verbier High Five by Carlsberg, the Pros will join Verbier's annual Charity Dinner, for the benefit of "Right To Play".

Snowbombing

Winter 2010-11 only just seems to have started and already we're looking to 'end of season events.'
Well not quite, but there do some to be more music themed events and festivals coming up over the next two months than ever before as resorts continue the process of offering more than just skiing and boarding.
As the days get longer, après ski can be enjoyed on the terraces later in to the afternoon and evening, so it only makes sense to sit out and enjoy a little music in the mountains.
First up is the Big Snow Festival in Arinsal, Andorra, back for its second year. Running from 13th – 20th March confirmed acts include Westwood, Fern Cotton and Scott Mills.
For some slightly more laid back tunes the place to head is The Little World Festival in Meribel which is happening at almost the same time in the French resort (13th – 18th March). Organised by local band The Feeling it too is on its second outing, with friends and relatives of the band including Squeeze and Sophie Ellis Bextor starring in more than 30 concerts around the resort. A wrist band gets you access to all and there's also a free-of-charge big gig on the slopes.
The sounds get more laid-back still at the Avoriaz Jazz festival from the 18th – 25th of the month which has been around a little longer, as this is its fourth year. There are more than 40 gigs to enjoy with up and coming stars performing in restaurants and in concert venues through the resort.
Moving in to April and the Brits in Laax, Switzerland has been a leading event for many years mixing world class competition with full-on party nights.
Back in Avoriaz, France the new Festival de Concert Sauvages from the 2nd to the 9th will see 20 'secret gigs' staged at on-mountain locations around the vast area of 650km of piste inter-connected resorts. Registered festi-goers receive a text message shortly before each concert telling them where to get to. So far the line-up are all up-and0-coming French acts but we're promised some 'international stars.'
Two days later Snowbombing gets underway, running from 4 – 9 April, in the Austrian resort of Mayrhofen. Top acts including The Prodigy, Fat Boy Slim, Pendulum and Example (fresh from The Big Snow Festival) will be on a variety of stages.
If none of the above take your fancy then look out for a big end of season bash at Chamonix, Val d'isere, Zermatt Unplugged and many more.
The last big show will however most likely be the annual biggy, The Top of the Mountain Concert in Ischgl, Austria. Previously starring Kylie, Tina Turner, Peter Gabriel and Elton John this year's event is on April 30th and stars The Killers. Admission is free to lift pass holders.

Bansko

Bansko, which is currently staging a leg of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup has announced plans to nearly triple the size of its ski area with a €100m investment adding 200km of piste to the area's existing 130km.
The plans involve bringing in the adjoining villages of Razlog and Dobrinishte which currently have small rudimentary ski areas to create by far the largest ski area East of the Alps.
Green campaigners loosely formed in a n umbrella group called the "For the Nature" coalition say the development will impact on the Pirin National Park that all three villages sit on the edge of. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which already has some ski area development on it which green campaigners say is illegal as it is.
Previous proposals to develop in the UNESCO World Heritage sites and other sensitive areas in Bulgaria, often by companies not based in Bulgaria, have led to clashes with UNESCO, the WWF and EC.
Bulgarian ministers have not rejected the proposals outright but suggest Bansko could do more to diversify its business model in to more of a year round operation.

Greg Hill

A Canadian back country skier has set a new record for walking up mountains, then skiing down them. Revelstoke-based ski mountaineer Greg Hill has completed his quest to climb and ski 2,000,000 vertical feet (609,600 metres) within a calendar year with two days to spare.
Hill, sponsored by leading skiwear manufacturer Arc'teryx's had previously set a record from hiking up and skiing down 1,000,000 vertical feet in 2004/2005.
"Drawing on my previous experience, I was able to hone my training schedule in order to plan a 2,000,000 vertical foot year." Said Hill who said that although people might think hiking up was the toughest part, actually 'breaking trail' – which means ploughing a way through fresh powder was often as bi a part of the challenge.
Hill did much of his climbing and skiing in the rugged Selkirk Mountains in and around his Columbia Valley home, but also went on a four-month trip to South America in order to log enough vertical to reach his goal.
The achievement looked like it might be missed with one month to go and limited easy season snow at Revelstoke, with Hill needing to average 8,000 vertical feet (2,000 vertical metres) per day when daylight hours were also short.
"Those final days featured some serious trail breaking, but also really great powder skiing," Hill says. "I carried two high-power Petzl Ultra headlamps which enabled me to push on and do one or two more laps at the very end of the day. My touring buddies and I really enjoyed skiing deep powder with the headlamp; it really adds another dimension to backcountry skiing," Hill says.
Along the way, he tested several new Arc'teryx products including the award-winning Alpha SV glove, and a super lightweight and breathable Gore-tex® Active Shell jacket.
"Over the past year, I skied in a huge variety of conditions. Thanks to the technical properties of the Arc'teryx clothing I used, weather was never a limiting factor." said Hill in a reference to his sponsors.
Hill broke the two-million feet mark in cold, clear, powdery conditions, accompanied by friends and family on the mountain slopes of nearby Glacier National Park.
He drank champagne after his altimeter watch turned over 2,000,000 vertical feet, then descended into a powdery cloud.
"So often the only stories we hear about backcountry skiing in the mainstream media are negative ones that deal with avalanches, rescues, and deaths. I think that by skiing two million vertical feet – much of it solo – I can show that with the proper knowledge and equipment, people can safely enjoy the mountains in the winter. I'm gratified that people from all over the world have posted comments on my blog and that even non-skiers are inspired by my goal setting and achievement."