Resort news round up
Monday August 10, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

Aosta, Italy.

A new funicular railway is being built in Italy’s Aosta Valley.

Although funicular railways used to be one of the original means for skiers to get uphill over a century ago new ones are built very rarely because of the high cost of construction.

The new lift replaces the old Frachey-Alpe Ciarcerio double chairlift in the Monterosa area, which had been operational for the past 30 years.

The new lift is funded from the public purse at a cost 12.3m euros.

It will allow for year round use, not just skiers, and is planned it will operate at night for romantic evenings too.

“We decided on installing this kind of lift due to the longevity of the lift itself and due to the large variety of people who can use it,” said a spokesperson from the Monterosa ski area.

The funicular will be equipped with two carriages that can each carry 110 people with an hourly capacity of 1500 people

La Plagne, France

La PlagneThe resort is cutting in half the amount of snow it needs for its pre-formed halfpipe, as well as re-thinking the ice needs of its Olympic bobsleigh run and the ice climbing tower at Champagny.

The half pipe has international competitions as well as providing a facility for amatuers.
 
It will now require 15,000 cubic metres of artificial snow to operate, rather than the 30,000 cubic metres needed previously.

The bobsleigh run, which opens from 12th December to 20th March, offers rides behind a professional driver in a competition bob sleigh, or in a slightly slower ‘bob raft’.

It now has a new refrigeration liquid, water treated with glycol, that has replaced ammonia. It means it will be open for longer in the season and the resort claims it will operate in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Meanwhile, the ice tower in Champagny le Haut will be moved next winter to the riverbank close to the campsite.

Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Every resort needs themLenzerheide will have more snow making facilities this coming winter

New snowmaking equipment has been installed this summer in the Scalottas, Danis and Stätz areas that the resort believes will makes these zones snow-reliable from the start of the season on December 5th.

Snow can now be created on 55km (35 miles) of the resort’s 155 kilometres (97 miles) of slopes as soon as it’s cold enough for the snowmaking system to operate.

Gastein, Austria.

The ski region will have a 24 hour ski race on the Graukogel mountain.

The race, on February 27th and 28th, is open to singles and teams as well as amateurs and experienced racers.

“At the Gasteiner 24 hour tour ski race it’s not just a matter of overcoming a particular course in the shortest time, but to win you need to clock up as many vertical metres as possible too,“ said a race organiser.

Courchevel, France.

The magnestick vestThe resort is installing a new 6-seater chairlift.

The new Roc Mugnier high-speed six-seat detachable chairlift will; replace two old chairlifts: Prameruel and Roc Mugnier.

The lift will be the sixth to incorporate Courchevel’s ‘magnestick’ system that has magnets in the back of chairlift to secure children who are wearing a special magnetic vest.

It’s quite a system and we reported on this technology on PlanetSKI last winter.

Seefeld, Austria.

Seefeld is opening a new biathlon centre this winter.

Biathlon sees cross country skiers racing with rifles strapped to their backs, then stopping at a target range every few kilometres to try to shoot five targets from a standing, or lying position.

The winner is rarely the fastest skier, but the skier who balances his speed with staying relaxed enough at the range to be able to hold the rifle steady and hit the targets.

The new facility at Seefeld will contain 10 of the most modern and newest shooting targets currently on the market.

The facility will be extended in Summer 2010 with the addition of a roller ski circuit.

For another development related to cross country skiing that we recently reported on at PlanetSKI see here as Germany open up its first ski tunnel.

Sestriere, Italy.

SestriereThe resort plays host to the Crystal Ski Fest.

Crystal is running a special ski festival next season.

The event, from 14th – 21st March, will see teams competing in a speed ski competition, a parallel slalom and a giant slalom.

Everyone from beginner to expert can benefit from race training from the British Ski Academy's own trainers and instructors from the British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI).

The event was previously known as the Crystal Ski Challenge.

Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

Davos-KlostersA new adventure park has been created for families and for people with disabilites. 

It's the first in The Alps to be accessible to physically and visually handicapped people and will be situated at the top station of the Madrisa aerial cableway.

With thanks to www.snow24.com

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