Jackson Hole
Mountain Festival returns to Teton Village for a Labor Day weekend (9/1 – 9/4) full of fun-filled events the whole family can enjoy. Celebrating Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s 40th birthday, this year’s Summer Festival will feature tons of live music, interactive art, plenty of tasty food, an outdoor movie showing, the Teton Village Fishing Derby, and more! Skiers and boarders won’t want to miss the weekend-long Ski & Snowboard sale, where Teton Village retailers will be slashing prices for unbeatable deals on new gear (it’s never too early to get ready for winter!).
Speaking of winter, big things are in the works here at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. After forty years of legendary service, the Aerial Tram will be closing this fall, on October 1st. Upper portions of Rendezvous Mountain will remain accessible this winter via the NEW East Ridge Double Chair, which will carry skiers and boarders to the top of Rendezvous through December 2008, when a NEW AERIAL TRAM is scheduled to open! Built by Doppelmayr/CTEC, the new tram will carry 100 passengers from the base in Teton Village to the summit of Rendezvous Mountain, a vertical rise of 4,139’ – the longest continuous vertical rise of any ski lift in North America!
With the new East Ridge Chair, the New Bridger Restaurant (scheduled to open Christmas 2006), and a new 100-passenger tram in the near future, the legend continues! Now is the time to buy your 2006/2007 season passes - from a 10-day pass to an unlimited pass good for 128 days of amazing skiing and riding, there are options for everyone. All passes purchased in August and September are significantly discounted… don’t wait any longer!
Photo Jackson Hole Marketing
40th AnniversaryThis winter also marks the 40th anniversary of skiing and snowboarding at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort! With discounted lift tickets in December, the 2nd Annual Winter Mountain Festival in March/April, and maybe even a repeat of last season's 500+ inch snowfall, we'll be celebrating the Mountain Resort's 40th birthday all winter long! Check out our 40th anniversary website for history, photos, and much more!
In addition to construction of the East Ridge Chair, JHMR is adding capacity to the Bridger Gondola and Thunder Chair. The Bridger Gondola will have 18 more cabins and Thunder Chair will have 16 more chairs added. From the base, the Gondola will now offer an uphill capacity of 2400 skiers per hour (vs. 1800 previously), which will mean faster access from the base to the upper mountain this year.
JHMR Tram replacement plans continue on track for a summer 2006 decision. Recent discussions will have RFP's being sent to two lift manufacturers. Lifts being bid are either a replacement Aerial Tramway or a bi-cable Gondola. From research it appears (subject to financing either public or private) that construction could be limited to just two summer seasons with an opening in winter 2008/09.
Jackson Hole
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Tahoe Mountain Sports
Cardrona
Cardrona is Open
Todays Weather:
Light SW wind. Cloudy skies with visibility variable at times. Cool temps currently -3 degrees.
Snow Conditions: Excellent conditions for skiing and riding for all ability levels! All trails groomed and packed overnight and are in good condition for the day ahead.
Snow Depth Upper:
1.2 M
Snow Depth Lower:
40cm
Photos:Cardrona Resort Marketing
Events
Cardrona Uni Snow Games 28 Aug - 1 Sep Official University Games with Uni Sport NZ. Humorous, fun, and social event with some serious racing for uni students in their mid term break. Included are ski and snowboard GS, Slalom, boarder/skier X, slopestyle, and half pipe. Wanaka social progamme apre ski.
Blue Hogs 4-5 Sep Police Snowboard race event for the boys and girls in blue.
Cardrona Games 7-10 Sep High Profile, Fun, and Entertaining.
This includes ski and snowboard superpipe, ski and snowboard rail jam and big air (“slopestyle”), skier/boarder X aka Gravity X (a snow version of the BMX track), snowmobile big air, FMX (motorcycle) big air, and a pull in (skiers and riders pulled in by rope attached to a snowmobile to a wall ride or jump).
Combined with NZ bands playing on opening and closing day in the courtyard and DJs playing during events and on other days, this is one heck of a fun week for all.
K and J Cup Finals 15-18 Sep Part of the Ski Race NZ series for younger skiers.
Cardrona Junior Games 19-23 Sep Cardrona National Race Week featuring school and junior teams from all around NZ competing in ski and snowboard Dual GS, Skier/Boarder X, and Slopestyle
For more info & details
Cardrona
From Patrick Throne Snow365.com
Fortum Ski Tunnel
It is Sweden’s first and the world´s longest ski tunnel with the only indoor biathlon arena in the world.
The first stage has a length of 1,3 km and continues outdoors with a further 700m of ‘cool track’ – sauitable for outdoor snow making. The tunnel is eight metres wide and four metres high with two tracks for classical skiing and two for skating. The tunnel follows the natural topography and projects halfway above the ground surface.
Fortum Ski Tunnel Torsby also has an arena facility with the world’s only indoor biathlon shooting range. A centre for physiological testing and research will be established in connection to the tunnel.
The tunnel will be open for skiing from May to December. Snowmaking will operate at a temperature of 0º to -3º C.
The tunnel is owned by the municipal company Fritid i Nordvärmland AB and the arena is owned by the local business corporation Team Torsby.
The completed market survey that has been done among Vasalopp skiers, elite skiers and other groups shows that the tunnel has a potential of 40.000 – 50.000 skiing-days/year.
At the start/finish area the tunnel has a width of 16m. along a 100m.finish-run from the south. Parallel to the start/finish area, a biathlon shooting range has been created. The tunnel is partly embedded in the ground, which is excavated to a depth of 3m. The tunnel sections are then positioned and the earth masses are refilled against the construction. The resulting form resembles a natural ridge.
The tunnel itself is built with cast concrete arches, formed like a half-circle with an inner diameter of 8m and an inner height of 4m. Wall thickness has been calculated at 15cm. The constant cold inside the tunnel will create a permafrost-like condition in the tunnel floor. This can be regulated with the installation of heating coils or by a thermal transfer process.
Cold can be produced via air, via ground or a combination of the two. The tunnel is divided into eight sections with a separate cooling machinery for each part. Great effort is taken to ensure precision regarding humidity control and ventilation.
Surveillance cameras are positioned: two in the south-loop and one in the center part, overlooking the start/finish area and shooting range. These cameras have the function of web-cameras. Speakers are placed with regular intervals throughout the facility, for music, information and announcements. All surveillance and control is done from the centre. Lighting is considered very important for the overall experience and great effort has been taken to meet these requirements.
www.fortumskitunneltorsby.se
Patrick Throne Snow365.com makes regular contributions to Endless Winter
and has had articles published in Conde Nast traveler
Snow 365
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Bacardi