SaiBei- China

Locate at 1500-2150 meter It opened since 1996 Intermediate and Advance Ski Run: 800 meter long, 50 meter wide, 15 degree Beginner Run: 2800 meter long (it is the longest beginner run at China), 8-10 meter wide. Is the biggest snow in the world: 16.8 meter tall x 5 meter (top body diameter) x 15 meter (bottom body diameter) Ski season: Nov to Mar (50 cm deep snow per ski season plus artificial snow on top)
Photo: Annual Ice Festival

Saibei

Monday Afternoon Edition

Sun Peaks -Canada

Date: Monday February 13, 2006 Time: 6am New Snow: 2cm/ 1in Mountain Base: 170cm / 67in Village: - 3C/ 26F Mid Mountain: - 7C/19 F Top: - 9C/ 16F Sky: Cloudy Runs Open: 117/117
Today’s Forecast: Mainly cloudy with a few flurries becoming isolated in the afternoon. Accumulation near 2 centimetres. High near minus 4 in the morning then cooling to minus 9 by late in the day. Winds northwest 25 to 30 km/h.
Extended Outlook: An Arctic airmass will give very cold temperatures and mainly clear skies to the Resort Wednesday and Thursday
Sun Peaks

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Lake Louise Big Mountain Challenge
The 4th Annual Smith Optics Lake Louise Big Mountain Challenge will take place at Lake Louise Mountain Resort February 22-26, bringing together top freeskiers from across Canada and the United States. The competition is four days of extreme skiing and mental endurance. Contestants will ride their chosen line with as much style and control they can deliver and will be judged in five categories: line, control, fluidity, technique and aggressiveness. Additional points are provided to skiers who choose a more difficult line. Spectators will have the opportunity to enjoy the event by viewing some of the best freeskiing on the continent. The competition will take place on the Ultimate Steeps of the “Powder Bowls” at Lake Louise Mountain Resort. The Powder Bowls is the biggest bowl skiing area in the Rockies, offering diverse terrain and unbeatable snow. The event schedule is as follows:
Wednesday February 22: Registration, bib pick-up and venue inspection Thursday February 23: Qualifying Run (all competitors)
Friday February 24: Semi Finals
Saturday February 25: Finals
Sunday February 26: Weather day
Registration is $75 without lift tickets, and $175 with lift tickets. All participants much be at least 18 years of age to register, and may do so at www.skircr.com/freeski.
Resorts of the Canadian Rockies Inc. (RCR) Resorts of the Canadian Rockies

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Aleyska Resort
We are re-open today after being closed the last few days. The ski hotline phone is now working again.
Chair 6 and the Tram are both starting out closed and both should open up later this afternoon. We will start out with Chairs 3, 4, 7 and the ponies open at 10:30am.
In the last 24 hours we have received no new snow at the base, no new snow at midway and 20" at the top. In the last 7 days we received 28" at the base, 98" at midway and 130" at the top.
Currently we have cloudy skies and it is snowing from Von's Corner to the top of the mountain. It is 36 degrees at the base and 30 degrees at the top. The winds are 5-15 mph. For current conditions and more information Alyeska Resort

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USSA NEWS
KILDOW RECOVERING AFTER DOWNHILL CRASH SAN SICARIO, Italy (Feb. 13) - American skier Lindsey Kildow (Vail, CO) is recovering at CTO (Centro Traumatologico Ospedauero, Center for Trauma Treatment) Hospital in Torino following a crash during Olympic Downhill training Monday.
Dr. Ed Ryan, Medical Director, U.S. Olympic Committee: “The x-rays are normal. The decision now is how long she stays in the hospital. There’s also a question about whether she banged her head. She is complaining of back pain, but that’s normal. We will evaluate further and monitor her condition.”
Both Ryan and Dr. Bill Sterrett, an Olympic Team physician for the Ski Team, were on hand at CTO Hospital in Torino. Jesse Hunt, U.S. Alpine Program Director, who was in the section where the accident occurred: “Lindsey caught an edge coming into a jump and then she fell off the jump. The accident occurred because her legs split on landing.” USSA ski & Snowbaord Teams

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TETER WINS GOLD, BLEILER SILVER IN HALFPIPE Clark 4th, Hight 6th in Italy
BARDONECCHIA, Italy (Feb. 13) - U.S. Snowboarding continued to rack up Olympic medals Monday as Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT) won gold and Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO) took silver in Women's Halfpipe. Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow, VT) was just off the podium in fourth and Elena Hight (Zephyr Cove, NV) was sixth.
Following Teter and Bleiler was Norwegian Kjersti Buaas, who took bronze.
Teter's gold medal run went like this: frontside 540 melon, method air, frontside 900 stalefish, indy air, frontside 360 with a frontside grab and a switch Cab 540 stalefish.
"Dropping in, I was more nervous than I've ever been at a contest before," said Hight. "Once you're snowboarding, it's what we do every day, so it (the nervousness) kind of goes away."
Since halfpipe debuted as a medal sport at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, U.S. women have won four of nine possible medals in the event as Shannon Dunn won bronze in '98.
Yesterday, the U.S. men dominated the pipe as Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) took gold and Danny Kass (Hamburg, NJ) won his second consecutive Olympic silver. In '02, Ross Powers, Kass and JJ Thomas swept the medals in Utah, while Powers won bronze in '98.
Overall, U.S. riders have won 10 of a possible 18 Olympic medals in halfpipe.
"This was snowboarding at its highest level," said Keene. "It was unbelievable."
XX OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES
Bardonecchia, ITA - Feb. 13
Women's Halfpipe

1. Hannah Teter, Belmont, Vt.
2. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, Colo.
3. Kjersti Buaas, Norway
4. Kelly Clark, Mt. Snow, Vt.
5. Torah Jane Bright, Australia
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6. Elena Hight, Zephyr Cove, Nev.

More USSA NEws

SWENSON 40th IN MEN'S 30km PURSUIT PRAGELATO, Italy (Feb. 12) - Three-time Olympian Carl Swenson (Park City, UT) was the top U.S. finisher in 40th in Sunday's Cross Country 30km Pursuit.
Russian Eugeni Dementiev won the race and the gold medal with a time of 1:17:00.8. Taking the silver was Norwegian Frode Estil (1:17:01.4) and Italy's Pietro Piller Cottrer won bronze (1:17:01.7).
Swenson finished the course in 1:21:08.0, 4:07.2 behind Dementiev. Andrew Johnson (Greensboro, VT) was 43rd (1:21:16.8), James Southam (Anchorage, AK) was just behind in 44th (1:22:05.8) and Lars Flora (Anchorage, AK) was 49th (1:22:31.2).
“It was tough, I would have liked to have been up with the lead pack but I think I can build on this and move up as the week goes on," said Swenson. "I’m really looking at the 50k at the end of the Olympics.”
The Pursuit consists of two races in one. Competitors ski the first 15km in classic style. Midway through, they change equipment and complete the remaining 15km in freestyle. The tough course was the cause of several crashes

Jumping News ,br> AMERICANS MISS CUT IN SKI JUMPING
PRAGELATO, Italy (Feb. 12) -- U.S. Olympic ski jumpers Alan Alborn (Anchorage) and Clint Jones (Steamboat Springs, CO) made it to the finals but missed the top-30 cut after the first round. Alborn jumped 92.0 meters to finish 40th, while Jones went 88.0 meters to end up 47th. Dmitry Valliliev of Russia went 104.5 to lead the first round. Defending champion Simon Amman of Switzerland also missed the cut.


U.S. STARTERS FOR TUESDAY OLYMPIC EVENTS Cross Country Team Sprints: Chris Cook (Rhinelander, WI) Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK) Wendy Wagner (Park City, UT)
Men's Alpine Combined: Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) Scott Macartney (Redmond, WA) Steven Nyman (Orem, UT)

For complete results and technical reference: FIS SKI
and US Ski & Snowboard Teams

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Panorama
Congratulations to Panorama's Christina Lustenberger who will represent Canada at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. Christina skied to 10th place in a World Cup Giant Slalom in Germany, on February 4th, while competing with the Canadian Alpine Ski Team. We wish Christina the best of luck!
Experience Panorama's best snow of the season, with the Powder Package. You'll stay three nights in slopeside accommodation, Weekender package starts at $169.00 per person ,...all programs & packages.Rates subject to change/cancellation without notice.All facilities/programs subject to seasonality details,...
Panorama

Dubai
The facility is the third largest indoor slope in the world, which is a 22,500 square metre space holding over 6,000 tonnes of snow and can accommodate around 1,500 people. With the United States, China and Japan already well-known for their large energy appetites, an unlikely region is beginning to grab the market's attention with the increasing clip at which it burns petroleum.
(AP Photo/ Victor Romero)

Morning Edition
Snow alert for Alyeska
Snow alert for Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire & New York, getin some DEEP !
SPF Alert for California; unseasonal Spring like temps

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All Aboard !
Stevens Pass, Washington
From the steeps of 7th Heaven to the untracked glades of Corona Bowl. Countless adventures await; you make the decisions on the conditions and your ability, and the mountain provides all the variables and challenges that keep life interesting.
OPEN BOUNDARIES YES !
Northwest's premier resorts offering 10 lifts, over 1,125 acres of skiable terrain, 37 primary runs DEEP YES
a total of over 470" of snow a year - Thank You!
Stevens Pass

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USSA News Bureau
SUMMARIES
Bahrke 10th, Vogtli 11th, Roark 18th in Moguls
Lodwick 8th, Demong 15th in NH Gundersen

DownHill Results
Men's downhill
1. Antoine Deneriaz (FRA) 1:48.80, 2. Michael Walchhofer (AUT) 1:49.52, 3. Bruno Kernen (SUI) 1:49.82, 4. Kjetil-Andre Aamodt (NOR) 1:49.88, 5. Bode Miller (USA) 1:49.93, 6. Hermann Maier (AUT) 1:50.00, 7. Marco Buechel (LIE) 1:50.04, 8. Fritz Strobl (AUT) 1:50.12, 9. Patrick Staudacher (ITA) 1:50.29, 10. Daron Rahlves (USA) 1:50.33, 11. Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin (FRA) 1:50.35, 12. Tobias Gruenenfelder (SUI) 1:50.44, 13. Manuel Osborne-Paradis (CAN) 1:50.45, 14. Lasse Kjus (NOR) 1:50.64, 15. Scott Macartney (USA) 1:50.68, 16. Francois Bourque (CAN) 1:50.70, 17. Ambrosi Hoffmann (SUI) 1:50.72, 18. Kurt Sulzenbacher (ITA) 1:50.84, 19. Steven Nyman (USA) 1:50.88, 19. Peter Fill (ITA) 1:50.88, 21. Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR) 1:50.90, 22. Klaus Kroell (AUT) 1:50.91, 23. Kristian Ghedina (ITA) 1:50.98, 24. Yannick Bertrand (FRA) 1:51.37, 25. Finlay Mickel (GBR) 1:51.48, 26. Didier Defago (SUI) 1:51.51, 27. John Kucera (CAN) 1:51.55, 28. Andrej Jerman (SLO) 1:51.70, 29. Bjarne Solbakken (NOR) 1:51.72, 30. Pavel Chestakov (RUS) 1:51.93, 31. Andrej Sporn (SLO) 1:52.17, 32. Craig Branch (AUS) 1:52.55, 33. Patrik Jaerbyn (SWE) 1:52.87, 34. Petr Zahrobsky (CZE) 1:52.90, 35. Claudio Sprecher (LIE) 1:53.34, 36. Borek Zakouril (CZE) 1:54.07, 37. Roger Cruickshank (GBR) 1:54.65, 38. Alexandr Horoshilov (RUS) 1:54.70, 39. Alex Antor (AND) 1:55.01, 40. Konstantin Sats (RUS) 1:55.03, 41. Mikael Gayme (CHI) 1:55.73, 42. Maui Gayme (CHI) 1:56.10, 43. Nikolai Hentsch (BRA) 1:56.58, 44. Michal Kalwa (POL) 1:56.81, 45. Jaroslav Babusiak (SVK) 1:57.45, 46. Renars Dorss (LAT) 1:57.54, 47. Nikolay Skriabin (UKR) 1:57.56, 48. Sindri M. Palsson (ISL) 1:57.69, 49. Jorge Mandru (CHI) 1:58.77, 50. Roger Vidosa (AND) 1:59.24, 51. Andrei Drygin (TJK) 1:59.41, 52. Alexander Heath (RSA) 1:59.79, 53. Florentin Daniel Nicolae (ROM) 2:00.93, Ondrej Bank (CZE) Abandon
Olympic Org XX OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES Bardonecchia, ITA - Feb. 12, 2006 Men's Halfpipe
BARDONECCHIA, Italy (Feb. 12) -
Shaun White

(Carlsbad, CA) added another title to his lengthy resume as he won gold in the Olympic Halfpipe contest Sunday in Bardonecchia. Danny Kass (Hamburg, NJ) won his second straight Olympic silver. White's gold and Kass' silver were the first medals of the Torino Olympics for the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding. White pretty much locked up the victory in his first of two runs in the finals as he posted a score of 46.8. Kass' 44.0 in his second run earned him the silver, while Finn Markku Koski took bronze with a score of 41.5 in his first run. Mason Aguirre (Mammoth Lakes, CA) was just off the podium in fourth (40.3), while Andy Finch (Fresno, CA) could not regain momentum after decking out in his first run and ended up in 12th (24.7). 1. Shaun White, Carlsbad, Calif., 46.8 2. Danny Kass, Hamburg, N.J., 44.0 3. Markku Koski, Finland, 41.5 4. Mason Aguirre, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 40.3 5. Antti Autti, Finland, 39.1 -- 12. Andy Finch, Fresno, Calif., 24.7 For complete results:
FIS

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France Guide
The 2006 FranceGuide travel planner hits stands this month. Its pages are filled with tips on unique ways to explore the country, interviews with American and French figures who hold France close to their heart, France's role as a romantic backdrop for American cinema, and much more. Visit www.franceguide.com/us to order your free copy. Head to Paris for next to nothing! Check out Gate 1 Travel's four-night package to Paris, starting at just $399!!! Package Inclusions: * Roundtrip airfare NYC-Paris including all fuel surcharges * Four nights in a tourist-class hotel * Breakfast daily * Hotel
Details
France Guide

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Valais Tourism - Swiss
Winter events from mid February to the end of April :
26.02.06 The Gommerlauf in Goms
03.03.-12.03.06 The "Caprices Festival", a music festival in Crans-Montana
03.03.-11.06.06 The "Camille Claudel and Rodin" exhibition at the Fondation P. Gianadda in Martigny
04.03.-05.03.06 The Swiss Telemark championships in Thyon/Les Collons
12.03.06 The international dog sled race in Champex-Lac
17.03.-19.03.06 The O'Neill Xtreme Snowboard Contest in Verbier
19.03.06 8. The "8th Birken Trophy", a fun competition for all and any way of "sliding down the slope" in Bürchen
31.03.-02.04.06 The Allalin open downhill races in Saas-Fee
27.04.-29.04.06 The "Patrouille des Glaciers" Zermatt-Verbier

Matterhorn state

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MT HooD SUMMER CAMPS
Well, after a nearly record number of precipitation days, we’re having a couple of blue bird days to evaluate the snowpack. This year, predictions are not necessary; we simply have enough snow to last through the summer and well into the fall. We are taking sign-ups for all of our sessions. The top five towers of the Palmer Chairlift are nearly buried. In fact, to open in the spring, Timberline will have to dig out the chair pathway to the top terminal! We’ll keep our fingers crossed and keep you posted on chair burial.
Here’s a direct link to our camp sign-up page:
MT HOOD SUMMER CAMPS Ski makers hope for lift from China

PARIS The world's biggest ski makers have seen the future, and it begins at places like the Nanshan Ski Resort in China, where the snow is artifical and each of the 12 runs lasts less than a minute.
Nanshan and China's 204 other ski areas may become the new El Dorado for Quiksilver, owner of Skis Rossignol, and Amer Sports, whose brands include Atomic and Salomon. Sales of ski gear have stalled in Europe and the United States.
"China has all the ingredients: mountains, snow, people and economic enrichment," said Jean-François Gautier, president of Skis Rossignol, which is based in Voiron, France. "It would be a big mistake not to be there."
The opening of the Winter Olympics on Friday in Turin may give China its first skiing gold medals, helping Quiksilver and its competitors to lure more of the country's 1.3 billion people to the slopes. Skis Rossignol's local agent last month sponsored the 2006 Youth Cup slalom competition near Beijing to pique interest in the sport.
The number of Chinese who went skiing last year rose to three million from 300,000 in 2000 as economic growth created a middle class with money to spend on leisure.
The Harbin Yabuli Ski Resort, China's biggest, is 120 kilometers, or 75 miles, from Harbin, which is a two-hour flight from Shanghai. Opened in 1996 for the third Asian Winter Games, its highest peak is 1,000 meters, or 3,200 feet, compared with 350 meters at Nanshan. "They ski on hills and the only real mountains are difficult to get to," said Eric Guilpart, marketing director at the Compagnie des Alpes, Europe's largest manager of ski areas, including the Chamonix resorts, in France. "It's not the sort of quality we look for."
Most of the world's seven largest ski makers, all based in Europe, have closed factories in France and Austria and moved production to countries like Romania to cut costs. They have not opened factories in China because the bulk of their customers and raw materials are in Europe, Hotter said.
There are signs that sporting goods stores and resorts in China are ready to invest in new equipment to replace the second-hand gear from European and Japanese resorts they often rent out.
After a decade of prospecting in China, Richard Prothet, head of exports for Skis Rossignol, said he got his first big order, for 1,300 pairs of skis, last year from a rental company at Beijing Ski Dome, an indoor ski mountain.
Sales to individuals may follow. Mao Fei, a 27-year-old software engineer from Beijing, said he planned to buy his own snowboard - if he managed to find his balance.
The complete story ,.... Rob Delaney reported from Beijing Bloomberg News

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