Ski & snow news

The official opening of Dolomiti Mountain Resort in the Chinese province of Hebei, 218 kilometers north of Beijing was taken place.

The ski area near Chongli is the first in China to bear the “made in South Tyrol” label. The resort has been created by a partnership between the Italian Leitner ski lift company, the Marzola brothers (the sons of Gianni Marzola, founder of the world-famous Dolomiti Superski ski area) and the government of Hebei Province where the resort is located.

The colorful Chinese opening celebrations were preceded on the evening before by a formal reception, at which a friendship agreement was signed between the provincial authority of Bozen in Italy and the municipal authority of Zhangjiakou as the administrative center of the district in which Dolomiti Mountain Resort is located.

The official opening provided a fine opportunity to celebrate completion of the first stage of the development project which comprises a detachable six-passenger high-speed chairlift with wind-protection cover, five ski trails with over 280,000 square meters of slopes complete with snowmaking, a fun park, a beginner’s slope and a base lodge with a rental store, ski school and restaurant.

The next resort development phases involve the construction of six more lifts, 17 kilometers (11 miles) of trails with snowmaking throughout, hotels for 4,000 visitors, condos and holiday bungalows, a shopping center and various leisure facilities.

“Today we are celebrating a first and important step on the road to complete implementation of a project that will bring significant growth to the area in the years to come. We are committed to handling the project in co-operation with the local residents in line with the same motto that we observe in South Tyrol, “Good money with a good conscience!” That is a principle that we respect wherever we go, and we will observe it here in Chongli as an expression of our commitment to social responsibility,” said Michael Seeber, CEO at LEITNER, in his speech to more than a thousand visitors.

The Chinese government officials spoke of the importance of the project in developing a tourist industry in the region and for the regional economy as a whole.
Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc

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Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Wyoming has become a Founding Reporter of “The Climate Registry” (climateregistry.org) by being among the first to join the organization.

The Climate Registry is a non-profit organization established to measure and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in a common, accurate and transparent manner consistent across industry sectors and borders.

Thirty-nine U.S. states, six Canadian provinces, three Native American tribes, two Mexican states and the District of Columbia are the founders of the organization.

“Grand Targhee Resort has demonstrated exemplary environmental leadership by courageously stepping forward to support The Climate Registry in its preliminary stages. We are deeply grateful for their integral support in helping to address the challenge of climate change,” said Gina McCarthy, Chair of The Climate Registry.

Grand Targhee Resort is the first in the US ski industry to voluntarily commit to measure, independently verify, and publicly report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on an annual basis utilizing The Climate Registry General Reporting Protocol. The protocol is based on the internationally recognized GHG measurement standards of the World Resources Institute and World Business Council on Sustainability.

“Once we complete our inventory, we’ll better understand what our true environmental impacts are and can then identify the greatest opportunities to reduce those impacts. It is important to us that our emissions are accurately reported and the process is transparent and third-party verified,” said Christina Thomure, Director of Sustainable Operations.

The Climate Registry was incorporated March 2007 in Washington, DC, The Climate Registry provides accurate and transparent measurement of GHG emissions and ensures consistency of measurement metrics across industry sectors and borders. The Climate Registry accounting infrastructure supports both voluntary and regulatory programs.
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Quiksilver has announced that it has received a binding offer from Chartreuse & Mont Blanc to buy the Rossignol Group for 100 million euros ($147.2 million). The group includes the Rossignol, Dynastar, Look and Lange, now known as “brands.” Quiksilver paid $560.8 million ((today 378 million Euros) for Rossignol three years ago.

Chartreuse & Mont Blanc also has a non-voting minority interest by Jarden Corp, the parent company of K2 and Volkl and is run by a former chief executive officer of Rossignol.
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The Scandinavian obsession with saunas has reached new heights in the Lappish ski resort of Ylläs where the world’s first ever sauna gondola will open this winter.

The gondola – wood clad inside and out – travels up to the top station at 718m, where there is a main sauna at the top of Ylläs Fell, which can be rented for private use. From here you can leave your belongings and rent the sauna gondola from 7-9pm and experience the most unique sauna ever! The sauna gondola can take 4 people at a time, for up to 12 people during a two hour session. Take it in turns with two rounds each, whilst friends relax in the main sauna at the top station.
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Skiers and snowboarders at Chill Factore, the indoor snow centre near Manchester, are to get an exclusive chance to try out next season’s top-flight demonstration kit before it hits the shops.

Top ski and snowboard brands will bring their 2008/09 collections to Chill Factore on the last Friday of each month. Freestyle features will be set up and all skiers and boarders on the main slope will be able to test the equipment free of charge.

Skiers will be able to test out gear from Movement, High Society Freeride, Amplid, Icelantic and VIST. Option, Wild Duck, Endeavour, Amplid and High Society will be available for snowboarders to demo throughout the evening.

The equipment will be set up from 3pm until the slope closes at 11pm. A subscription to Fall Line magazine is up for grabs for the person who tests the most equipment.
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Stephen Jordan, Head of Marketing for the new indoor Snow Centre under construction at Hemel Hempstead has recently announced a decision to award supply of all snow sports equipment to HEAD – confirming an agreement to be the first UK snow sports centre to use HEAD’s innovative BYS system for rented skis and boards.

‘The equipment meets all our requirements with regard to quality, technological specification across the full range and its ability to cope with the demands of constant multi-user hire,’ said Stephen. ‘But most important was the development of the BYS system which will significantly streamline the hire process, reducing the amount of time taken to set up each customer with appropriate skis and boots.’

The BYS (Black, Yellow and Silver) system, which is already proving successful at resorts in Europe, Canada and the US, reduces the amount of time taken to fit boots and skis – allowing customers the maximum amount of time on the slopes.

The system works with HEAD Ski Boots being available in just three fixed sole-lengths with the adjustment for individual foot sizes made inside the boot – which means the boots can fit perfectly into pre-adjusted bindings. The boots and skis are colour coded – black, yellow and silver – matching the base colour of the boot to the ski. The only additional setting is DIN adjustment to allow for the correct release setting.

To make things even more efficient all customer settings and details will be recorded so on subsequent visits individual snow ticket information will ensure that customers have the same boots, skis or board so they can get out on the snow even more quickly.

The HEAD Speed Disc Snowboard system works in a similar way to provide customers with a perfectly set board in less than a minute without the need for tools – regular to goofy happens in seconds!

Stephen said, ‘We’re delighted to be working with HEAD and in particular to be the first UK operator to offer our customers the benefit of the speedy and innovative system for fitting boots, skis and boards. Our aim is to allow visitors to the Snow Centre the maximum time on the slopes. Making the process of getting kitted out more efficient will help provide the best possible indoor snow experience.’

The Snow Centre at Hemel Hempstead is on target for opening to the public at the end of April 2009.
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The final go-ahead, or not, for the SnOasis indoor snow centre in Suffolk is expected to be delivered by Hazel Blears, the British government minister for communities and local government on September 17th. Ms Blears has already said she was minded to approve SnOasis, following a lengthy and acrimonious public enquiry, as long as environmental concerns were fully addressed by developers of the £300 million facility, Onslow Suffolk.

Experts working for Onslow Suffolk are also trying to convince Natural England that sufficient habitat is being provided for the great crested newts. The company has recently offered nine acres of extra land on the Great Blakenham site for the creation of new habitats as part of an existing mitigation area scheme on land bordering the development.

Godfrey Spanner, managing director of Onslow Suffolk told local media, “We have made great progress. It has always been part of Onslow’s mission statement to be as sustainable as possible. Recent concerns on carbon emissions and footprint have put further constraints on development of all types and we and our engineers have gone to extreme lengths to bring to us the very latest technologies available.

“Government guidelines at present are seeking 25per cent renewable energy targets by 2020. We shall be well ahead of those long term requirements in the next few months – at least, I am convinced, on a par with the Olympic Village where obviously government are concentrating these efforts.”

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The multi-billion dollar extreme makeover at Snowmass resort is ongoing and will deliver a new quad for skiers this coming season. Most of the money is going on a new base village, but there are on-mountain improvements too. A new, detachable high-speed quad, the Sheer Bliss chair, accesses 700 acres of some of [...]

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No doubt the early season competitions and increase changing patterns associated with climate change, are behind this decision to hold early season indoor world cup events indoors. The first event will be held at Snowworld at Landgraaf in Holland, the International Ski Federation (FIS) is expanding the number of events to be staged on indoor [...]

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Although the Beijing Olympics have now closed and attention switches to the coming World Alpine Ski Championships in Val d’Isere next winter and the 2010 Olympics the season after, China is still to host one more major international contest, and this time its snow sports.
The 24th edition of the World University Games, also known as [...]

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