J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

davidsa2 - I know that some resorts (within reach of Innsbruck I think) were looking into providing a free transfer (by minibus I assume) service this coming winter; deals likely to be announced/advertised over the next month or so... so keep an eye out 8)

surflondon wrote:we've been approached by a fair few travel websites asking if we know of any skiers who have spent time in Flaine.

So rather than direct them to the knowledge contributed by our community, or adding to it yourself, you thought you'd drop by and see what you could lift for your own site(s)? :roll:

That seems pretty clueless for a "specialist online PR agency". :evil:

New High Speed, High Altitude Cable Car For Monterosa

The new lift will link Passo dei Salati to the Indren Glacier high in the Italian Monterosa ski area.

The Doppelmayr built lift will ascend from 2960m and travel just over 1.5km (just under a mile) in just under five minutes to reach the glacier at 3275m.

The two cabins will travel at up to 10 metres per second and carry up to 60 standing passengers each, a maximum of 740 people per hour with 2 cabins for 60 standing people each.

Only one support tower is required between the two stations and the operators are looking at using a photovoltaic solar energy source to partly or fully power the lift, although that has not been confirmed yet.

Unusually in the modern era, the lift will follow a new route, never traced before by a lift and will cross the border from the Aosta Valley to the Piedmont side of the skiing area.
"Passo dei Salati, the historical watershed between Aosta Valley and Piedmont, and the 'flagship' of the Monterosa Ski skiing area for its inter-regional skis-on link, will become the launch pad towards the Gotha of the free ride tracks in Monte Rosa." said a MonteRosa SpA company spokesman.

Construction of the new lift has taken three years, with construction work begun in June 2006. It has been a complex project, in part because of the extreme conditions at this altitude leading to sudden changes in the weather at all times of year.

The new lift has cost more than 17 million Euros to construct, and with a further 15 million Euros spend on a funicular railway down the valley, it looks like MonteRosa is the biggest spender in Europe's mountains for the coming winter.
Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc

A fire broke out last week beneath the Planpraz gondola high above Chamonix, leading to the evacuation of 200 people on the lift and in the area.

The lift carries about 3,000 passengers per day in summer and it is thought one of these threw a lit cigarette butt from one of the gondolas cabins, which caused the fire between the tenth and eleventh support towers, close to the lift's top station at Brévent (1900m).

The fire grew rapidly with flames reaching more than 5m reported to lick around the cabins moving over the brush wood fire until the cabins were safely stored in the lift station.

Initial attempts to fight the blaze by the Chamonix fire brigade from the ground were thwarted by strong winds and toxic fumes so Chamonix's CMBH helicopter was called it. It made 38 water dumping trips over the fire, collecting 900 litres of water each time from the Champraz lake.

This rapid action stopped the fire from getting worse and after two hours it was brought under control and firemen spent the afternoon damping down the area.

One cabin was damaged by the fire but there were no injuries. The Mont Blanc Lift Company provided seven 4x4 vehicles to get people who had gone up in the gondola in the morning back down the mountain .

The lift was inspected later in the day and the cables declared safe so that the lift could resume operations. The fire was the second this summer beneath the same lift, although the earlier fire had been less severe.

"The risk of fire on our facilities or under the lift cables constitutes is always a danger and a situation we dread," said a Mont Blanc Lift Company statement, "Considering the practical difficulties in accessing our sites, we remind all our customers that there is an absolute ban on smoking in the cabins and in the lift stations."

Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc

Tony_H wrote:Yeah man

Tony, do pay attention. We have established that bandit is a ski-babe and not a ski-dude.

I'm sure we'll have a few freebie tickets passed our way (which we'll set some really, really hard competition for...), but probably not until much closer to the date(s).

A weekday would be better for me.

bandit wrote:if nice Mr Admin sir, gets us some hugely discounted tickets

... hehe ... oh good, so that nice Mr Admin Sir (sir with a capital S if you don't mind, Ma'am) can expect good behaviour until November then? 8)

Dave Mac wrote:Sorry Admin, I will, I promise you bring this round to a snow theme...

Dave, that's terrible... when you said you were getting a new fur hat for this season, I didn't think you were going to grow one! :shock: