FIS news
Spring Coordination Group in Val d’Isère: Getting ready for 2009

The spring Coordination Group meeting for the 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in d’Isère (FRA) took place on Wednesday, 3rd May. With the resort enjoying outstanding spring conditions, skiers were still enjoying the final days of the season under bright blue skies when representatives from the Local Organizing Committee, the French Ski Association, EBU and FIS convened in the Congress Centre. Led by President of the Supervisory Board, Jean-Claude Killy, and Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Mayor Bernard Catelan, the on-going work, plans and visions were presented to the group.
The main subjects that were addressed included the imminent construction of the resort’s new sports center that will be located at the foot of the slopes and that will serve as the main building for the media and competition services during the championships. In the coming months, the program for the test events will be foremost on the agenda, together with the preparation of the initial draft of the championship competition schedule.
Plans are also being drawn up to create an outstanding spectator experience. Specifically, the Organizing Committee is devising plans to enable the spectators to visit the competitions free of charge in order to create a real festival atmosphere during the championships in Val d’Isère.


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From Snow365.com / Patrick Thorne
Big White To Build Canada's Longest Six-Person Chairlift
Big White Ski Resort in Canada will install the new Snow Ghost Express for next winter. The state-of-the-art $7m six-passenger chairlift will be constructed at the base of the popular Ridge area. The Snow Ghost Express will be the longest six-passenger chair in Canada at 6190 feet, (1862 metres) long, and will whisk skiers and riders to the top in just under six minutes. Situated parallel to the current Ridge Rocket Express, the Snow Ghost will service Big White's most popular runs and terrain. The two lifts combined will generate an uphill capacity of 5,400 skiers per hour (ten passengers every seven seconds) and increases the hourly lift capacity to an impressive 28,000 riders per hour. Big White boasts the second-highest skier visits in BC and the third-highest in Canada.
The lift is named after the legendary snow covered trees that Big White is famous for in its alpine region. The Leinter-Poma lift will be built using a local Kelowna contractor. "This is the best equipment in the world at this time," commented Resort President, Peter Schumann.
Construction of the Snow Ghost Express commenced on April 18th, 2006, a day after the resort closed for the season. Big White

snow365

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Starting today Austrian Air

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