November 15, 2007

Alpine Adventures Ski and Snow News

European Resort Newswire

Kitzbuehel’s Earliest Ever Opening, Six Weeks Ahead of Schedule
Kitzbuehel opened Friday, November 2nd, the earliest opening in the resort’s history and six weeks earlier than planned.

With over 80cm (32 inches) of fresh snow the Panoramabahn Kitzbueheler Alpen and the Resterkogel chairlift are were the first to take winter sports fans up the mountain. More lifts will open over the next few weeks.

The early opening is great news for the famous Tyrolean resort which is often cited as one of the likely first victims of climate change because of its relatively low altitude. Despite extensive snow making the resort had operational difficulties last season with limited natural snowfall and temperatures too warm for snowmaking at the start of the season leading to the cancellation of the famous Hahnenkamn downhill.

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Cortina Hopes To Move Over Border
Cortina has announced plans to move across the regional border.

Cortina d'Ampezzo, a top Italian resort, announced it would like to move over the regional border from the province of Veneto, where it is now, to neighboring Trentino-Alto Adige.

The resort’s inhabitants have voted overwhelmingly to change regions to Alto Adige, which has more autonomy, more government money, and lower taxes than Veneto.

The process to move Cortina is now underway, but is unlikely to happen quickly, as Veneto’s leaders already have announced they have no desire to see the ski resort leave.

Now it’s even faster and easier to get to Zermatt from Zuerich
Zurich-Zermatt in less than 200 minutes: the new Loetschberg Base Tunnel (34.6 km/ 21.6 miles), which links the cantons of Berne and Valais (between Frutigen and Raron) will be complete in December 2007. The tunnel will reduce the Zuerich-Zermatt drive time from 4:24 to 3:16 hours! (Basel-Zermatt from 4:24 to 3:15 h; Berne-Zermatt from 3:18 to 2:08 h)

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