Ski & snow news

Skiinfo reports that after a few weeks of warmer weather and minimal new snow across the northern hemisphere, resorts on both sides of north America and across western Europe have reported big snowfalls in the past few days, there’s also new snow in the southern hemisphere.
France has seen increasingly large snow accumulations over the past four days. Over the weekend there were more than 30 powder alarms across the country with resorts receiving at least 20cm (8 inches) of new powder. Among these, six resorts (Les Menuires, Morillon, Saint Martin de Belleville, Sainte Foy Tarentaise, Samöens, and Valfrejus) received 40cm (16 inches) of snow, while another six (Orelle ,Val Thorens, La Clusaz, Val d'Isère , Le Grand Bornand , Manigod and Alpe d'Huez ) got 30cm (a foot) on Sunday alone. Fifty low-lying French ski resorts have already closed their doors for the season, but there are still many ski resorts open in France and the snow depth is good for the end of season. Chamonix has the greatest snow depth with 396cm (13.2 feet) and Les Arcs has seen the most snow in the past seven days with 70cm (2.3 feet). Avoriaz has had 65cm (2.2 feet) and Sainte Foy Tarentaise, Samöens and Morillon 60cm each. The snowfall is expected to continue for the next week at least up to Easter.
Italy has seen a succession of weather fronts passing through its ski regions, especially in the north and these are set to continue for at least the next week. A new phase will begin on March 31st and is expected to last until April 5th, with snow down to 1000m in the Alps and the northern Apennines. In the past week Cervinia has reported 80cm (2.6 feet) of new snow and Madesimo 70cm (2.3 feet) with Plan de Corones/Kronplatz in the Dolomites 60cm (two feet). The Marmolada glacier above Arabba has the most snow lying with 5.2m (17.3 feet), the Presena glacier above Passo Tonale has four metres (13.3 feet).
There have been big snowfalls too in parts of Switzerland where Andermatt has reported a metre (3.3 feet) of new snow in the past week, more than almost any other resort anywhere. There have been powder alarms this morning in Arosa and Leysin.
Austria hasn’t missed out either with the Kleinwalsertal area reporting the biggest snow accumulation in the country of the last seven days with 50cm (20 inches) of new snow. The 3,029m high Kitzsteinhorn glacier above Zell am See-Kaprun is now enjoying its snow sure spring skiing season, but is already planning ahead for its summer season. All those who are looking for a freestyle challenge have to drop in at Mellow Park. The snow park boasts three different areas which are all located at an altitude of above 2,500 metres which is a guarantee for natural snow. The resort will stage its ‘Winter final’ weekend from April 30 to May 2nd to also kick off the glacier snow season. The three day event brings free tests of the new 2010/11 season ski and boards, a pipe session, glacier disco, live music and more. Other activities to try include a helmet cam-test, free waxing of your gear, appearances with autograph sessions from ski world cup stars and live bands. There will be apres ski parties with Dj each day at the valley station and an evening party at Kaprun Castle on the Saturday night, May 1. In July the area’s Ice Arena opens its gates on 3rd July giving more summer sliding options to young and old guests alike, including snow slides, an ice bar and even an ice beach to literally ‘chill out’ on.
The snow is still falling in Scandinavia too. In the northern parts of Sweden Nalovardo reports 22cm (9 inches) the last week and Ramundberget the same. The snow coverage is still looking good although warm temperatures have been dominating the last week. Riksgränsen has the most snow in the country with 142cm (just under five feet).
There’s been new snow in Scotland with resorts reporting up to 20cm (8 inches) of new snow in the run up to Easter.
Most of the top Spanish ski resorts have reported powder snow. Baqueira has a 155cm (five foot) base and 105km of runs open, Formigal (picture attached) up to 220cm (7.3 feet) and 124 km. Most areas will close after Easter and by April 18th with the two exceptions of Masella and Sierra Nevada which will close on May 2nd. Sierra Nevada is still offering the best conditions for the next few weeks and half price ski passes (20,50 €, starting April 19th) with five metres of spring snow giving visitors the chance to enjoy spring snow then a seaside evening in nearby Almuñecar.

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During the Olympic Games in Vancouver in February, millions lived, and contributed to, the passion of the Games via the IOC’s social media platforms. The IOC has significantly expanded its use of social media and other online communications tools to engage younger audiences, promote Olympic values and share the magic of the Games with the largest possible audience.
The IOC’s Facebook page has attracted over 1.5 million fans and generated nearly 200 million impressions since its launch in January. Providing behind-the-scenes updates from athletes and teams - Lindsey Vonn, Shawn White and Justin Kripps are just some of the athletes featured – the Facebook page also enables fans to share their Olympic experiences. The Olympic photo contest saw almost 4,000 photos submitted by fans, ranging from superb sports competition imagery to more personal Olympic experience shots like the family pet dog wearing the Vancouver red mittens. Fans were given the opportunity to win free tickets to see Olympic events, cheer for their favourite athletes or even "play" Olympic sports. The Official Vancouver 2010 Video Game received over five million plays. Platforms such as Facebook are also proving to be effective ways to reach out to younger audiences that are perhaps more difficult to reach through traditional media - over 60% of the Facebook fans are under the age of 24.
The lead-up to the Games in Vancouver also saw the IOC present on YouTube, with its interactive The Best of Us challenge. This allowed members of the general public to compete against Olympic athletes in a series of fun and playful challenges. Olympic athletes such as Michael Phelps, Lindsey Vonn and Jenny Owens created unique challenges which attracted over three million views. Prizes were awarded - including a trip to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games for the best challenges that were posted.
Flickr is also being used to share the strong moments of the Games through Olympic imagery. More than 11,000 Olympic photos, taken by over 600 photographers, are shared with the general public on this image hosting website. During the Vancouver Games, the IOC following on Twitter doubled to over 12,000.

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Freeriding’s roots stem from extreme skiing, a term coined in the 1970’s to describe "skiing steep slopes in wild terrain". The first freeriding competition was the "World Extreme Skiing Championships" in Alaska in 1991. This event led snowboarders to organise their own competition in Alaska the following year which in due course led to the creation of the legendary "King of the Hill". These events inspired a number of freeride competitions around the world, most notably, the Xtreme Verbier which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year and is now considered within the freeriding community as the most prestigious of all. Until the creation of the Freeride World Tour in 2007, the joint participation of skiers and snowboarders already existed at some events but their co-habitation in a professional tour was new. The concept very quickly gained traction and after just two full seasons the Freeride World Tour (FWT) is already recognized by riders, the ski industry and the media as the pinnacle of the sport. The four-stop Freeride World Tour (Sochi, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Squaw Valley and Verbier) is supported by 18 Freeride World Qualifier events around the world.
Nicolas Hale-Woods, Founder and Organiser of the "Xtreme" in Verbier and the Freeride World Tour: "The sport has evolved way beyond what we imagined back in 1996 and we feel that performances will continue to progress. Even though the riders compete to win the underlying freeride spirit remains with riders sharing ideas and spending considerable time together. Our goal is to preserve that unique spirit and simultaneously grow the Freeride World Tour together with riders and the involved ski resorts. In this respect, we are working on the expansion of the tour in 2011 so that more young riders can enter the qualifier events in North America, Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. Our goal for 2011 is also to add two more events at the FWT level. With freeriding now a leading trend in the snow industry, in many respects we feel like we've just begun - the best is yet to come".
Jean-Pierre Diernaz, General Manager of Nissan’s Marketing Communications in Europe: "As co-founder of the Freeride World Tour, Nissan has been involved in this adventure from the beginning, and we are proud to have seen it grow into a world class sporting event. As part of Nissan’s goal to create ‘fantastic’ content to nourish the brand’s Nissan Sports Adventure platform, the tour and our partnership with Eurosport – to create the ‘Freeride Spirit’ show - has provided key consumer touch points. The 2010 season has been extremely intense, with spectacular performances by freeriding legends as well as new athletes who have been discovered at each of the contests. We are happy to celebrate with the new Tour champions crowned today at the 15th anniversary of the Nissan Xtreme by Swatch". Nissan’s Sports Adventure (NSA) programme was created three years ago with the aim to support and promote adventure sports and an active outdoor lifestyle. The 2010 programme includes the Freeride World Tour, the Freeride World Qualifiers, the Nissan Outdoor Games festival as well as the European team of Nissan athletes.
Peter Mager, Vice President Communication Swatch International: "Since its foundation in 1983, Swatch has always been involved in action sports. There have certainly been a lot of historical moments, but the show today, with an amazing end of the Freeride World Tour 2010, is one of the biggest highlights ever. On behalf of Swatch management, we are really happy to be a partner of the event and the Tour".

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Skiinfo reports that it’s been milder in the Alps since the weekend with little new snowfall, however a new cold front is due to move in from tomorrow with 15-30cm (6-12 inches) forecast to fall.
In France it has generally been a good winter to date with three major snowfall periods to date in mid-December right in time for the start of the season, then in early January and during the school holidays in mid-February with frequent snowfalls across the country. "Winter 2009-2010 is positioning itself as one of snowiest in the last thirty years. The snowfalls have been substantial and regular during this winter", said Virginie Bernat of Skiinfo France. "Most French resorts are still open, the ski season is not over!". During the past week La Plagne and Chamonix reported the most new snow with 15-16cm (6 inches) each, La Clusaz had 8cm (3.5 inches). Chamonix Mont-Blanc has the most snow lying with 400cm (13.3 feet), La Grave la Meije is second with 300cm (10 feet), La Rosière 1850 has 285cm (9.5 feet), Alpe d'Huez 275cm (9.2 feet) and Montgenèvre 240cm (8 feet).
It’s been a dry week in Italy where the snowfall forecast for last weekend in the North of Italy failed to arrive. Arabba and the Marmolada glacier has the country’s deepest snow still with 540cm (18 feet) on upper slopes – they must be using a very long stick to measure it. The Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale, which will most likely stay open for several more months, has four metres (13.3 feet) and Sella Nevea on the Slovenian border 320cm (10.6 feet).
In Switzerland it may be warmer now but it’s been a cold winter with temperatures one degree below a long-term average in the Central Plateau and biggest snowfalls in the Southern Alps. Top snow depths this week are Engelberg with 270cm (nine feet), Lötschental with 256cm (8.5 feet) and Saas Fee with 222 cm (7.3 feet). There were some small snowfalls in Switzerland in the last seven days with Gstaad reporting 10cm (four inches) of new snow in a week.
The biggest snowfalls in Austria were reported from the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser. Ski resorts there – like Brixen or Going – typically received 30cm (a foot) in seven days. Brixental has a metre of snow on upper slopes and half a metre in the valley. The ski resorts with the top snow depths are still the glaciers: Mölltaler Gletscher 380cm (12.7 feet), Hintertuxer Gletscher 305cm (10.2 feet), Dachstein-Gletscher 290cm (9.7 feet).
In Germany a blanket of snow had covered some parts of the country for a period of more than two months this winter. For the ski resorts it has been a good season, though and it’s not over yet. The Zugspitze still reports up to 250cm (8.3 feet) of snow on its slopes and 110cm (3.7 feet) in Garmisch. The resort got 21cm (8.5 inches) of new snow in the last seven days. Another leading ski area, Oberstdorf - Nebelhorn has a snow depth of 180cm (6 feet).
In Spain, with Easter Holidays just round the corner ski resorts are preparing themselves for the last big days of the season. Most of them are going to close after Easter, only a few will remain open after April 18th (probably Sierra Nevada and Masella). Baqueira Beret has up to 175cm (six feet) of snow and 110km of piste open while Formigal has 240cm (8 feet) and 111 km of piste to enjoy.
It’s been much warmer in northern Europe. In Scotland this has meant some rain and there have also been gale force winds which closed Cairngorm and Glencoe earlier this week. Snow has thawed but all five centres are still open with two-three feet (60-90cm) of snow on upper slopes at most. The Scottish school Easter holidays start this weekend.
Despite warm weather across virtually all of Sweden there has been some new snow in both Ramundberget (15cm/6 inches) and Åre 12cm (4 inches) during the last week. Skiing conditions are looking great for the upcoming Easter holidays with 18 Swedish ski resorts reporting a snow depth of 85cm (three feet) or more. Riksgränsen has the moist at the moment with 148cm (five feet).
Norway has seen more snow with three powder alarms issued in the past few days for snowfalls of 20cm (eight inches) or more in 24 hours. Malselv reported 25cm (10 inches) on Monday, Voss had 20cm on Saturday.
After the return to cold weather a week ago in Eastern Europe, the temperatures have yoyo-ed back to "very mild" and the snow has melted away to reveal bare patches on lower slopes at Bulgaria’s resorts and even higher slopes are getting slushy too.
Across the Atlantic cities on the East Coast of North America saw snowfall once again at the start of the week but warmer weather meant not much of this translated in to snow on the slopes. However conditions are supposed to be turning colder this weekend and larger resorts like Sunday River in Maine have around 120 slopes still open. In the West there’s been fresh snow in Wyoming overnight with Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole both reporting 125-18cm (6-7 inches) of fresh powder. Vancouver’s Olympic training venue of Mt Washington in Western Canada reports the deepest snow in the world at the moment with 584cm (19.5 feet).

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Kaj Zackrisson took victory, third win at the "Xtreme", after a tight struggle with french rider Aurélien Ducroz. "It was so tight between the first two riders Kaj and Aurélien. They skied more or less the same line but Kaj jumped one more cliff where Aurélien skied around. For the rest they both skied fast, fluid and stomped all the jumps in the extremely committed terrain, and taking the huge 'Gilles Voirol' cliff in the middle clean. Just amazing", said Seb Michaud, Judge Ski and injured FWT Rider.
"The Xtreme is my biggest goal every year. It means a lot to me. When I train in the autumn I think of this face and this competition. I am always very nervous before the contest and have a hard time sleeping the night before. This year it was even more difficult as I had a great run on Saturday and had to redo my performance. I was so focused for my first run (Saturday) and it was hard to switch on once again. My favourite riders of the day were Xavier de Le Rue, always pushing the limits but always with such control, Sverre Liliequist because he opened a new really committed line, and Aurélien Ducroz because he just skied an exceptional run", said Kaj.

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The breathtaking performance of Frenchman Xavier de Le Rue, took them to the first step of the 2010 Freeride World Tour podium. The win in Verbier gave enough points for Xavier de Le Rue to score top position in the men’s snowboard ranking 2010. For the third executive year, the unbeatable Frenchman was crowned World Champion.
"Xavier's run was the fastest of the day. He took an original line and jumped a huge cliff that has never been jumped before in the 15 years of the Xtreme! The jump was at least 10 metres in one of the steepest and most committed parts of the face. He negotiated it perfectly, and managed slough and speed impressively", said Head Judge Snowboard Berti Denervaud.
"I was here already 3-4 weeks ago and to inspect this line. When I came back last weekend I saw that it was in good condition. I knew it would be hairy but I felt confident. For me the most interesting aspect of the Freeride World Tour is that we inspect the faces really thoroughly. For days I concentrate on just one thing: my line, which never happens when filming or freeriding for myself. I manage to ride things I would never do otherwise. Everything in my run was meticulously planned – I knew there would be a lot of slough (surface snow sliding) as it was really steep so I needed a lot of speed and take the jump straight in the falline", said Xavier.

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After the men’s final competition was postponed Saturday, due to bad visibility, the world’s best freeride skiers and snowboarders once again took on the mythical 600 metre North face of the Bec des Rosses. In perfect conditions the 24 male riders put on the most spectacular show with the fastest and most committed edition of the 15 years of the "Xtreme". Several first descents were opened on the face. With this high level, the battle for first was extremely tight. The breathtaking performances of Swede Kaj Zackrisson, ski, and Frenchman Xavier de Le Rue, snowboard, took them to the first step of the podium.
The win in Verbier gave enough points for Xavier de Le Rue to score top position in the men’s snowboard ranking 2010. For the third executive year, the unbeatable Frenchman was crowned World Champion. Austrian Mitch Toelderer is vice Freeride World Champion 2010, and Matt Annetts (USA) took the third step of the podium.
French freestyle legend Candide Thovex can now claim to be part freeriding history. For his first season on the Freeride World Tour he has proved to be a consistent freeride competitor (3 podiums) with committed and influential skiing. Thovex’s impressive third place on his premiere run on the Bec des Rosses put him on top of the men’s ski ranking 2010. Swedes Kaj Zackrisson (2nd) and Henrik Windstedt (3rd) completed the podium.


The two male Freeride World Tour Champions were awarded with a Nissan Qashqai, and the winners today went home with $ 10 000 each from the total prize purse of $ 206 200 for the Freeride World Tour 2010.

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2010 marked the 15th year for the Xtreme competition in Verbier...
Since its inception in 1996 the "Xtreme" has been considered the most prestigious Freeride competition in the world. The "Xtreme" is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year -15 years of passionate freeriding and great sports performances on the mythical North Face of the Bec des Rosses, a dauntingly steep and frighteningly jagged 500m rock-face. In places, the Bec des Rosses presents 55 degrees of slope. In an upright position one can almost lean on the face with one’s elbow. With steep and narrow couloirs, high rock cliffs, changing snow and terrain, it demands technical skill, great physical conditioning and a connection with the mountain that only experience can bring.
The Nissan Xtreme by Swatch -Verbier is the final stage of the Freeride World Tour (FWT).

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Ane Enderud from Norway won the competition thus is Freeride World Tour Champion 2010.

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Shannan Yates won for her first time on the mythical North Face of the Bec des Rosses, a dauntingly steep and frighteningly jagged 500m rock-face!

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