Alpine Adventures Ski and Snow News

European Resort Newswire

Europe’s Resorts Begin To Open As Snow Comes Early
The Alps, which have seen snow every month through the summer, are currently receiving excellent pre-season falls which has led to the first resort openings for 2007-8 and great snow conditions at the already-open year-round glacier resorts.

The Ski Club of Great Britain reports that in Austria snow depths at glacier areas currently stand at Hintertux (26 inches/65cm), Stubai Glacier (24 inches/60cm), Sölden (16 inches/40cm), Dachstein Glacier (12 feet/350cm) and Molltal Glacier (5.3 feet/160cm).

Solden will host its 10th FIS Ski Opening event next weekend, significant because last year it was one of the first that had to be cancelled due to warm weather early in the European season.

In Northern Finland, which also suffered unusually warm early season temperatures a year ago, the resort of Ruka has opened its first ski slopes of the season and other resorts plan to open this week.

Gstaad’s Glacier Snowpark Opening Soon
Glacier 3000 between Gstaad and Diablerets opened its snowpark on Saturday, 13th October.

A number of events are planned from November on, starting off with Battle On The Glacier 3000: The Opening on Saturday, 3rd November from 10am to midnight.

This snowboard contest will mark the official opening of the season with 1000CHF up as prize money for each category (men and women, under 16s and over 16s).

There’ll be a party atmosphere in the park during the day with Dj cH!co on the mix and MC Jay from the Redbull Railstorm. There’ll be a Skate Demo with the Antiz Skateboard crew and after party with DJ cH!co from London back at the chalet Budokan, Les Diablerets that evening.

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Tignes Opens This Month For Winter 07-08 Season
With fresh snow across the Alps, the leading French glacier resort of Tignes opened its long 2007-8 on 29th September.

The resort expects to open with 130 hectares of terrain on the permanent ice, with 20 km (13 miles) of piste and 750m (2,400ft) of vertical drop.

The resort’s snowpark (750m by 250m) is the place for freestylers to hang out, with bumps and jumps for everyone and a cool zone. As well as being a top playground for snowsports experts, the soft summer snow is also ideal for beginners.

The glacier is also accessible to pedestrians, who can visit the Ice Grotto and see the glacier and surrounding peaks (Grande Casse, Grande Sassière, Mont Pourri, the Mont Blanc range, etc.).

Megève First Tourist Office In France To Win ISO 14001 Eco Award
egève Tourism has become the first French Tourist Office to be awarded the ISO 14001 international certification.

It is the second ‘ski related’ business in France to receive the award, following the SEVABEL lift company which last year received the certification, an upgrade from its previous holding of a 9001 certificate. SEVABEL runs the ski area at St Martin de Belleville and Les Menuires.

The other holders of ISO 14001 certification in skiing are Aspen, Jackson Hole, Sun Peaks and Lech’s lift companies.

Megève’s tourist office operations have been reorganised to be more involved in environmental matters, more economically sound and to have the least possible impact on the environment.

“This is a great step forward for tourism in mountain regions and marks the beginning of a great adventure. However the “battle fields” are vast and there is no limit to our imagination. We have a lot of ideas and projects. There is so much, not only to think aboutbut also to do…for many years to come.” said a tourist office spokesperson.

“For two years now we have been working on implementing a responsible environmental approach in the framework of our tourism business. This approach involves the development of a different leisure consumption model, meaning greater involvement and awareness of visitors so they can become a responsible participant and citizen. Such a person is no longer content with meaningless leisure activities but becomes involved in an active and learning experience related to the environment visited. Responsible tourism cannot be developed without the involvement of our local partners, and we work with them so they can develop an offer which meets expectations of our visitors who are sensitive to the protection of our environment.”

The tourist office has launched a website just on environmental issues at: www.megeve-environnement.com

The new site has a vast amount of information in English and French and encourages anyone with ideas to submit them,

“For us this site is a tool for transparency and communication where anyone can express themselves and give their opinion of this approach. All comments and ideas are welcome!”

"If we all still want to ski in Megeve in 50 years from now, there is only one path to follow: "one world, one way"." said Beth Williams of Hotel le Gai Soleil.

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Bansko Goes Wireless, Adds More Shops
Bulgarian resort Bansko has begun work on a five million Euro retail development, Mall Bansko. The new shopping mall is being built at the lower station of the gondola lift and Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena.

The Mall Bansko will contain everything under one roof ranging from bank services, to specialized sports equipment and fine restaurants and bars.

In a separate development, Nexcom Bulgaria, an interdependent telecom services provider, has announced the launch of a newly established WiMAX service in Bansko.

The resort therefore becomes the first Bulgarian town where the internet can be accessed from any point within the town. The service will now be extended towards the villages of Razlog, Dobrinishte and Banya with the ultimate aim to covering the entire Valley of upper Mesta River with a wireless network.

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