Glacier Views

Six-pack and more for Big White

2006-05-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

Big White is building a new 6 person express chair that will improve the resort's uphill capacity to 28,000 riders/hour. Run upgrades, summer grooming, a new "Magic Carpit" lift, and a new 70 million gallon water reservoir are also in the works this summer.

Grandi and Forsyth back next season

2006-05-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

World Cup veterans Thomas Grandi and Allison Forsyth will be returning for another go-round next season.

Doug Coombs

2006-04-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

Skiing legend, R.I.P.

A memorial fund to help his wife and child has been set up here.

Whistler expansion

2006-03-31T14:20:00.000-08:00

Whistler Mountain plans to add a new high speed chair, the Piccolo Express in time for the 2006/2007 winter season. The new lift will provide access to 1,000 acres of awesome terrain in the Flute and Piccolo area.

Sun Peaks to expand

2006-03-20T16:26:00.000-08:00

A new quad chair and expanded terrain are in the works for next year at Sun Peaks.

3x for Grandi

2006-03-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

Third 3rd place finish in a row for Grandi!

Record skier visits in Colorado

2006-03-14T12:49:00.000-08:00

2005/06 is shaping up to be yet another record year for skier visits. Colorado is on track to top 12 million skier visits.

A record 5.2 million visitors hit the slopes from Jan 1. through Feb. 28, a 5 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Colorado Ski Country USA, the trade group for 25 of the state's ski resorts. In the first part of the season, the group reported a record 3.1 million visits.

Also of note:

While an individual skier visit typically brings in average revenue of about $70 [U.S.], that figure generally is about three times higher for a so-called destination skier, according to RRC Associates, a ski-industry research firm in Boulder.

Those skiers spend more money than local skiers because they stay overnight, shop in stores and eat more meals in restaurants. They are also more likely to take ski lessons and rent equipment.

In all, skiers contribute about $2.5 billion a year to Colorado's economy, according to Colorado Ski Country USA research.

B.C., despite having similar population numbers to Colorado, and despite the fact that its resorts are easier to access than Colorado's, gets about half the skier visits that Colorado gets. This is almost exclusively due to the fact that Colorado has significantly more destination ski resorts with which to attract long-haul skiers.

Big improvements to New Zealand ski resort

2006-03-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

New Zealand's Mt. Ruapehu ski resort has announced that it will spend NZ$30 million over the next two years into upgrading the mountain’s facilities. The resort plans to add two 6-seat high speed express chairlifts and one 4-seat high speed express chairlift.

Thomas 3rd, Michael 4th

2006-03-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Thomas Grandi and Michael Janyk who finished third and fourth in a World Cup slalom in Japan today. This is Grandi's third World Cup medal of the year.

UPDATE: Another third place finish for Grandi!

Ski video editing contest

2006-03-07T00:31:00.000-08:00

Check out Red Bull's Ski video editing contest.

[via First Tracks!! Online]

South Korea: the widening demographics of skiing

2006-03-07T00:28:00.000-08:00

Why is the World Cup in South Korea? See this earlier post on the widening demographics of skiing and South Korea's new ski resort plans.

Ski racing recap

2006-03-07T00:24:00.000-08:00

Lots of action in the past week. Remember Kelly Vanderbeek? She finished fourth in the Olympic Super G. Well, she did it again at a World Cup race in Norway, but this time she was only 1/100th of a second behind first place AND third place... How's that possible? A three-way tie for first by Michaela Dorfmeister, Lindsey Kildow and Nadia Styger. Amazing.

On the men's side, a World Cup GS was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Saturday. Italians Davide Simoncelli (first ever win) and Max Blardone were 1-2, followed by Aksel Lund Svindel of Norway. Banff's Thomas Grandi was a relatively close (2/10ths of a second) sixth. Another GS held on Sunday saw American Ted Ligety win his first World Cup race. Kalle Palander of Finland and Italy's David Simoncelli tied for second. What's with all these World Cup ties?! Grandi was seventh.

Meanwhile, Stefan Guay (Erik's younger brother) won the Junior World Championships GS at Mont-Sainte-Anne Quebec on Monday. Canada's alpine future is looking good!

Annual skier visits in perspective

2006-03-06T23:58:00.000-08:00

While we're on the subject of snowdomes, here's an old post of mine that points out the fact that Marc Girardelli's tiny snowdome in Germany generates 700,000 skier vists/year, or about the same number of skier visits that are projected for Jumbo Glacier Resort at buildout.

What is remarkable is that his tiny indoor ski dome saw 700,000 skier visits a year - that'’s roughly the same amount of skier visits expected for Jumbo Glacier Resort (JGR) at buildout, after twenty years.

Both are year-round operations. 700,000 skier visits on a year-round basis equals roughly 2,000 skier visits/day. As a comparison, major resorts such as Whistler Blackcomb see 20,000-30,000 skier visits on a busy day. There are resorts in Europe that see up 100,000 skier visits on a busy day.

New Indoor ski resort in UK

2006-03-06T23:52:00.000-08:00

Europe's largest indoor ski hill will be built in Sheffield, England. "Snow Mountain" will be a 300 metre-long, 70-metre vertical drop indoor ski area. This compares well to Ski Dubai, the world's largest indoor ski dome, with its 400 metre runs and 60 metre vertical drop. "Snow Mountain" is described as an "£80m alpine-style wonderland" that will attract more than one million visitors per year. To put things in perspective, Jumbo Glacier Resort, at buildout, is expected to attract 700,000 visitors per year.

Snowdomes, or indoor ski areas, are a growing phenomenon that is a testament to the increasing demand for skiing. In addition to the above mentioned Ski Dubai, snowdomes are operational in Spain, New Zealand, The Netherlands, and Germany.

Europa Cup ski racing has even taken place indoors.

UPDATE: Here's someone's home video of a visit to Ski Dubai:

Having a good time at Panorama

2006-03-02T23:37:00.000-08:00

[via www.actionflight.com]

Alpine skiing web game

2006-03-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

A kinda lame timewaster.

Aussies in Nikseko, Japan

2006-03-02T23:27:00.001-08:00

Here's an Australian perspective on skiing in Nikesko, Japan. It's interesting to see what looks to be a significant Australian influence in Japan:

Niseko, about 100 kilometres from Sapporo, is divided into three distinct areas: Grand Hirafu, Higashiyama and An'nupuri. A fourth, Hanazono, is being developed as part of Grand Hirafu and funded largely by Australian dollars.

There is no doubt that Australian property agents who have set up offices here, such as Niseko Real Estate and Hokkaido Tracks, are making their mark in this town.

Aussies, of course, have left their fun-loving mark on many BC resorts, particularly in the Okanagan.

Aspen goes 100 percent green

2006-03-02T23:20:00.000-08:00

The Aspen Skiing Company is offsetting 100 percent of its electricity use...

Aspen Skiing Company, operator of four Colorado ski mountains and two hotels, has made a landmark purchase of renewable energy certificates from wind farms to offset 100 percent of its electricity use. The purchase, the largest in the history of the U.S. ski industry, places the company's facilities among the top performers in the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership.

Jean-Christophe Lafaille, 1965-2006

2006-02-27T23:03:00.000-08:00

The amazing story of French mountaineering great Jean-Christophe Lafaille, who passed away while attempting a solo winter climb of 8,000m+ Mt. Makalu. Here's his Le Monde obituary.

[via The Mountain World]

Mustang Powder

2006-02-27T17:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a short but sweet review of the Mustang Powder cat-skiing operation northwest of Revelstoke by Ski Canada's George Koch.

Verbier extreme skiing comp

2006-02-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

The Verbier Ride 2006, one of the world's biggest freeride competitions is now completed. You can read a summary of the event here. Video of the Big Mountain Super finals is here.

Simard 5th in GS

2006-02-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

Genevieve Simard finished fifth in the Olympic GS while Brigitte Acton had a career-best 11th in tough conditions. Invermere's young sensation, Christina Lustenberger, unfortunately DNF'd in the first run.

The race was won by American Julia Mancuso. It was her first career win at the senior level. Finland's Tanja Poutianen was second and Sweden's Anna Ottosson came in third.

Red Resort renames ski runs for local legends

2006-02-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

Red Resort will be renaming 2 of its runs to honour local legends Rino DeBiasio and Booty "The Old Trapper" Griffiths.

UPDATE: Red is also host mountain for this year's BC Winter Games which began today. Best of luck to all our young athletes!

Congratulations

2006-02-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

OK, this is not skiing related, but a hearty congratulations to Invermere's Christine Keshen who won the Olympic bronze today as a member of Shannon Kleibrink's curling team.

Inside the world of ski-techs

2006-02-22T12:26:00.000-08:00

An interesting article in today's New York Times describing the life and techniques of World Cup ski technicians.

An excerpt:

Once he chooses the skis, a serviceman could take 90 minutes to sharpen their steel edges, a job measured in half-degree increments. Next comes the choice of wax. The top manufacturers make as many as 25 varieties for various conditions, ski types and racing styles. They can be mixed together using a special hot iron, making hundreds of options.

"You might take five hours with the waxing," said Hans Wohlfahrter, Ligety's serviceman. "You start layering in various types and combinations of waxes. I would probably start on Thursday for a Saturday race."

Sophisticated fluorocarbon waxes and powders, which can cost up to $200 for a vial the size of a shot glass, are usually added last, with care.

Check out this sidebar feature "A Racer's Skis, From Factory to Slopes" as well.

Hermann Maier on his Nagano crash

2006-02-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

NBC has posted excerpts from Hermann Maier's book, The Race of My Life. Here's his account of the famous Nagano crash:

My skis are pointing higher and higher up. Suddenly I realize, "Holy smoke, I'm looking down vertically! I am seeing everything upside down!" The flight seems endless to me at this point. By now, I realize that I am going to crash. Everything from here on out is a matter of damage control. Whatever you do, don't impact with your head! Like a ski jumper experiencing turbulence, I break up the flight in order to land earlier. I turn my head to the side as much as I can and blast into the Japanese snow with my shoulder and collarbone. A lightningfast thought: "I think my head got ripped off."

US and Canadian ski teams get smart body armour

2006-02-21T00:09:00.000-08:00

A UK company has developed a new lightweight material that hardens in less than a thousandth of a second, then instantly flexes again. The material, called d3o is being incorporated into the US and Canadian ski team suites by Spyder.

[via Gizmodo]

Do ski helmets measure up?

2006-02-20T23:40:00.000-08:00

PisteHors takes up the question...

Crowded ski slopes = more speed control

2006-02-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

As ski resorts such as Mt. Hood Meadows become more crowded, a greater emphasis is being placed on safety. I've posted previously on how ski resorts in Europe have started enacting speed limits and how the Swiss now have a new ski police that can levy significant fines.

Making turns in the Okanagan

2006-02-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

A Torontonian's perspective on skiing the Okanagan (well, Big White and Silver Star) in the Globe and Mail.

Fourth, and fourth again!

2006-02-20T13:05:00.000-08:00

Francois Bourque, who is only 21 years old, finished fourth in today's Olympic GS race. 23 year-old Kelly VanderBeek also finished fourth in the women's Olympic Super G today.

Bourque led after the first run on a course set by Canadian coach Dusan Grasic (who lives in Invermere) but wound up fourth following a conservative second run. Austria's Benjamin Raich won the race and France's Joel Chenal was a surprising 2nd. Third place went to Hermann Maier. Not bad company for Bourque, whose career-best was a third place at a World Cup G.S. in Val Gardena earlier this season.

Thomas Grandi finished 10th and Jean-Philippe Roy (who was 10th after the first run) didn't finish the second run. More on Bourque, Grandi and Roy here.

Kelly VanderBeek's strong result was a pleasant surprise as her previous career best was a 6th place finish at a World Cup Super G in Val D'Isere earlier this season. She finished only 3/100ths of a second off the podium behind Austrian great Michaela Dorfmeister, Croatian superstar Janica Kostelic and Austrian veteran Alexandra Meissnitzer. Emily Brydon of Fernie was 9th.

Guay fourth in Super G

2006-02-18T18:53:00.000-08:00

Eric Guay did well to finish fourth in today's Olympic Super G. He battled through an injury that forced him to miss the Olympic Downhill.

Guay was only one-tenth of second behind third place finisher Ambrosi Hoffmann of Switzerland (there's those Swiss again). Hermann Maier was second, while Norway's great veteran, Kjetil Andre Aamodt, took Gold.

Swiss Renaissance?

2006-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

2005 marked the worst year for the Swiss ski team since 1966. In fact, the team was declared to be "in crisis" in entering the Olympic games.

Well, after three alpine events, the Swiss have two medals and a couple of near misses:

Bruno Kernen won the bronze in the men's downhill (see video here);
Martina Schild won the silver medal in the women's downhill;
Daniel Albrecth was a close fourth (7/100ths of a second) in the Mens' combined, and
Nadia Styger was a relatively close fifth in the women's downhill.

If this is a "crisis", we'll take it!

UPDATE: Switzerland's Martina Schild, who is only 24, was a pleasant surprise for the Swiss team -- her previous career best was a 5th place finish at the St. Moritz World Cup downhill on January 21st. Also, her grandmother, Hedy Schlunegger, won the Olympic downhill gold medal at the 1948 St. Moritz games.

Golden sunset

2006-02-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

Austria's veteran, Michaela Dorfmeister, won the women's Olympic downhill at age 32. She's had a long and successful World Cup career, but has had limited success in past Olympics. Switzerland's Martina Schild won silver and Sweden's Anja Paerson won bronze.

Fernie's Emily Brydon was top Canadian at 20th. She wasn't happy with the result:

"What didn't happen today is I didn't perform to my ability and to my expectations and to what I know I can," she said, close to tears.

Here's a cool POV video of the Olympic downhill run from NBC.

Underway

2006-02-15T00:08:00.000-08:00

A weblog for a ski resort project that does not yet exist? Yes! Jumbo Glacier Resort is easily the most exciting ski resort project that Canada has seen in over a generation and this blog will provide a day-by-day account of its progress along with tidbits from the snowriding community and the ski and tourism industry.

The Jumbo Glacier Resort project is nearing the end of a fifteen, yes, fifteen (!) year long review process. This included nine years of review under B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Act. The project is now environmentally certified and is undergoing a final provincial Master Plan approval under B.C.'s Commercial Alpine Ski Policy (CASP).

You're welcome to hitch a ride along this memorable journey to what will be Canada's and North America's first and only true year-round high alpine glacier ski resort.