The U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame held induction ceremonies on August 12. Three ski girls were welcomed in the class of 2009.
Andrea Mead Lawrence, a three-time Olympian, was inducted posthumously. Gold medalist Picabo Street was unable to attend for good reason. She gave birth to a baby boy the night before the ceremonies. Street joined the event via television cameras. Twelve-time gold medalist on the mono ski, Sarah Will , was inducted for her Paralympic success.
The New Tram at Jackson Hole opens today. If you are lucky enough to be in that part of Wyoming, the resort has a full weekend of promotions and events planned.
A Gondola tower collapsed today in British Columbia. Fortunately,there were no serious injuries.
The media outlets covered it pretty well, so rather than me restating the facts, here are the links to stories from:
A major Olympic announcement was made this past week. I am not talking about Beijing 2008. There are many announcements and quite a few falling records in Beijing. I am referring to Vancouver 2010. The event schedule has been unveiled.
You can check it out here: Olympic Schedules
So plan your calendar for 2010. Figure out how to haul your skis to Vancouver and see it in person. Plan your schedule to veg out watching the events on the tube or online. Plan your Olympic theme party and watch it with friends. You know which days are all about skiing. Block off those days, you're busy.
It was pointed out to me, that in my posting on resort improvements this summer, I missed a key part of Whistler's expansion. I wrote about their multi-year improvement plan and snow making expansion in preparation for the 2010 Olympics.
What I did not write about, is an impressive lift Whistler is installing this summer. In my defense, Whistler strangely posted the announcement the chair that is opening in 6 months near the bottom of their "what's new page". It was separated from the 2008 items, sandwiched between improvements for 2006 and 2007.
The Peak to Peak Gondola is slated to open in December, 2008. It will link the peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb and claim the title, "the longest free-span lift in the world."
A trendy, contemporary resort has set a record for skier visits. The ski area is in a bustling downtown, surrounded by desert, where winter temperatures may bottom out at fifty degrees Fahrenheit. This unlikely location for snow sports is where Ski Dubai celebrated its two millionth visitor in May, 2008.
Ski Dubai is a full-fledged winter resort with alpine skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing and tubing. It is all indoors. Step inside the complex, escaping 100+ degree temperatures. Instead of chains and snow tires, an escalator transports you to the field of man-made snow. Don't worry if you didn't pack a winter jacket to visit the desert. Ski Dubai includes ski jackets and ski "trousers" in the equipment rental package.
Who would've thought ski girls could visit the United Arab Emirates to carve turns on a fresh corduroy? Intrigued to plan a trip? Check out Ski Dubai.
2007-2008 was a good year for much of the ski industry. When the ski industry has a good year, dollars are reinvested in mountain improvements. Areas aim to increase snow making and add trails and facilities, all in an effort to compete for your skier visits next year.
Here are the top 15 resorts in the country (as rated in the October, 2007 edition of Ski Magazine) and their respective plans for metamorphosis over the summer.
Expansion plans are according to the ski area's own web sites, or Ski Area Management. Resorts marked with an asterisk (*) are behind the times. Their web sites list improvements for the 2007-2008 season, with 2008-2009 yet to be posted.
1) Deer Valley, UT*
2) Vail, CO*
3) Whistler, BC - With an eye on hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, Whistler is in the midst of a multi-year improvement plan. Project completion will encompass $17.6 million in snow making improvements.
4) Aspen, CO*
5) Snowmass, CO - Replacement of the Sheer Bliss Double Chair with a Leitner-Poma high speed quad boasts a $7 million price tag.
6) Park City, UT - Crescent Ridge will be accessed next winter by a detachable lift. Terrain and snowmaking enhancements, renovation of the Mid-Mountain Lodge and purchases of renewable energy credits round improvement costs up to $10.5 million.
7) Breckenridge, CO - Lift tickets go high tech next year. Radio Frequency will scan your tickets, for more convenient lift line mobility in 2008-2009.
8) Beaver Creek, CO - Snow making expansion continues as part of a 5-year plan.
9) Steamboat, CO*
10) Sun Valley, ID - A new gondola whisks skier and riders up Bald Mountain, where the Roundhouse Restaurant is undergoing a face-lift. A new clubhouse for golfers and nordic skiers opens in the fall of 2008.
11) Keystone, CO - The River Run Gondola is all new this year, accommodating 8 passengers per car.
12) Mammoth, CA* - I'll give them a break for not posting summer upgrades yet. They are still serving up skiing through Memorial Day.
13) Telluride, CO - Revelation Bowl is preparing to open, offering expansive new terrain options for advanced skiers. Backcountry enthusiasts will also have greater access. The area will be served by a fixed grip quad chair. Heli-skiing will also reach new points on the mountain.
14) Copper, CO - Plans are still under review in Summit County before work can be finalized.
15) Jackson Hole, WY - Check out the new aerial tram. Have you ever seen a lift installed? I've watched helicopters lower lift towers in to concrete forms in the ground. It is quite impressive! Jackson Hole lets you follow the tram developments all summer and fall on tramformation.com
A Ski Girl reader sent me a link to an article explaining her local ski resort, Bristol Mountain, joined a coalition of resorts opposing the expansion of Belleayre Mountain in New York State. "Why would one resort oppose another resort's growth," she asked?
The question puzzled me. I considered that Belleayre and Bristol both draw primarily day travelers, guests who are within a few hour drive and can make a round trip in one day comfortably. The two ski areas are about 250 miles apart and may draw some, but probably not many of the same visitors. So what's the issue?
The opposition is grounded in the nature of Belleayre's funding. It owned and operated by New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation. Expansion of Belleayre includes a $6.5 purchase of the neighboring Highmount Ski Area. I've found articles referencing the expansion ranging from a $.6.5 million to a $14 million project.
Privately held resorts say they can not compete with state funding of competing properties. New York State also operates Gore and Whiteface Mountains under the Regional Economic Development Authority.
As a skier, I enjoyed the slopes of Gore Mountain this past season. Because Gore is on park land I don't know that the land could be operated as a ski resort if it weren't for the State. I appreciate it is there. I personally know a family that visits Belleayre, because their low-cost ski promotions make it affordable for a family to ski once or twice a year. I don't see the harm in some inexpensive ski days for locals.
The resorts opposing Belleayre's expansion aren't opposing the mere existence of these resorts. You don't find them objecting to the handful of not-for-profit resorts in the country which aim to make skiing affordable. Therefore, I have to think they would not be opposed to low-budget areas that help introduce more people to snow sports at lower cost. The difference here, is the budget.
My answer to our Ski Girl Reader of why the opposition? Competing resorts feel New York has crossed a line. The state is no longer simply providing residents recreational access to enjoy protected land. The Green County Coalition for Economic Development's stance is that the state is expending millions and millions of tax payer dollars to directly compete with private business. They claims the state funding is unfair rivalry with private businesses fighting to maintain budget and stay in operation.
Not everyone opposes the investment in Belleayre. A coalition has also been formed to support and fight for the continued development. Supporters see the resort as a gem in the community and expansion as a boost to the local economy.
To reference sites and articles on different sides of the issue visit:
Support the compromise
The Coalition for Belleayre
The Greene County Coalition for Economic Equality
The Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park
2008 is off to a very tragic start. This year has been marred by two fatalities in professional skiing.
Last weekend, John Nicoletta lost his life while competing in the Freeskiing World Championships. Earlier this year, Billy Poole died while skiing for a Warren Miller Entertainment film. This was the first death in the nearly 60 years of Miller's ski film empire.
These men were seasoned athletes, some of the world's best skiers. They pushed skiing to the limits, far beyond anything the average skier will ever attempt.
It is so easy to watch skiers of this caliber on a screen and think because they ski at this level, they know how to escape danger. There are risks in any sport and definitely risks in skiing.
To see two people lose their lives so young is sad. I didn't know either of them. But to watch them ski, I am sure they loved every minute of life.
You can go online to donate to the Billy Poole Memorial Fund.
Sunday River, Maine, announced in March they will build a $7 million Chondola. A what? Chondola. This hybrid lift, also known as a telemix, is half detachable chairlift, half gondola. Chairs and gonodola cars are interspersed on the same cable, utilizing the one set of lift towers. Skiers can go through the chair line, or the gondola line. The concept for these lifts, first launched in Europe is to allow advanced, intermediate and beginner skiers to be comfortable on lifts accessing terrain in one general area, while utilizing a single lift system.
In a press release, Sunday River described the benefits of the lift as follows:
“The location of the Chondola will serve to improve a wide range of Sunday River experiences. The Resort’s primary beginner terrain will see a decrease in advanced and intermediate skier traffic as the majority of resort guests are transported elsewhere via the Chondola. The trip to the summit of North Peak will be accomplished in one lift ride rather than two allowing faster access to Sunday River’s entire breadth of terrain. The option of open air or enclosed transport will be appealing on warm or cold days. Summer and event guests will be able to reach the Peak Lodge in one lift ride and inclement weather via gondola cabins.”
Hats off to Sunday River for making a major investment in the resort and for serious effort in planning skier traffic patterns for all levels of abilities. However, I still can’t quite grasp the benefits. Is riding a chairlift really that challenging that beginners must be whisked into cabins? Are there that many warm windless days in Maine, when skiers would object to being inside a Gondola car? I guess I need to see one in action to understand what the hype is all about. Then again, the first time I heard a magic carpet desribed, I couldn't picture why they would make such a difference. That technology has made a world of differernce for beginners and for everyone who teaches beginners.
Taos Ski Valley, NM, opened their slopes to snowboarders this week. Reports say thousands of snowboarders descended the slopes in celebration. This leaves only two major ski areas in the United States that do not allow snowboarding, Mad River Glen in Vermont and Alta in Utah. I use the term major, because I know offhand of one area in New York consisting of three slopes that remained closed to snowboarders in the 2007-2008 ski season. There may be others.
I am not anti-snowboarding. I have tried snowboarding. I have no issue with friends who have tried it and switched to “the dark side,” trading in their skis for a board. In many ways the snowboarding industry has rescued the ski industry, bringing a whole new group of customers to spend their dollars at ski resorts. I am definitively a ski girl. I prefer skiing. Let’s leave it at that.
For skiers who have not visited Alta or Mad River Glen, I encourage you to give a trip there some thought. Not because there are no snowboard parks or rails. Not because your friends who snowboard can’t go with you. Go there to see and experience the snow. A ski resort that does not allow snowboarding is a different skiing experience. If you like ungroomed terrain and off-piste trails, you will find the slopes at Alta and Mad River very different from anywhere else.
Skis and snowboards carve differently. They push the snow around on the hill differently. Skis moving in a rhythm down ungroomed terrain create an elongated “s” shaped pattern. Repeated skiing down the same pattern creates a series of moguls. Snowboarding can have the same effect, but it has a different shape, with a different arc and wider areas where the snow is “skied off.” When snowboarders slide down the fall line, they push a lot of snow, clearing wide paths.
If you could conduct an experiment to show the difference, you could take two identical, ungroomed trails. Send only skiers down one. Send half skiers and half snowboarders down another. The resulting terrain will be very different. Does this make snowboarding bad? No. It just means allowing snowboarding makes the terrain different. If you are a true ski enthusiast and you like the ungroomed terrain, take a trip back to skiing’s past. Head to Mad River Glen or Alta to see what the slopes were like before skis, snowboards, ski blades and now in some areas ski bike share the hills. Feel the terrain and enjoy. It’s well worth the trip.
