Snow Alert - Snowbird, Big Sky, Vail, Tahoe Basin,Killington

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Sugar Bowl
Saturday & Sunday April 21/22 for the last bitter sweet turns of the season. That's right we're pulling the proverbial plug, but not without one last blast! Join us this coming weekend as we give the 06-07 season one final salute with live music from the Benny's and Lisa Phenix, tons of great prizes and a few sweet last turns. With the fresh snow from last weekend and more falling right now, the mountain is in great shape; the party on the Judah deck will be one you don't want to miss. So ring out the season in style at Sugar Bowl this weekend!


www.sugarbowl.com

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Heavenly Valley
We're expecting a little of everything this last week: sunny and spring, fast and firm, fun and forgiving, snowy and wintery. Whatever you're looking for, we've got the conditions for you! Conditions are great, so get your last turns in this season! www.skiheavenly.com part of Vail resort Family


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Snowbird
Continuing the tradition of the longest ski and snowboard season in Utah, Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort officials announced today the resort will remain open daily through Sunday, May 13 and then weekends thereafter, conditions permitting. A fast-moving low pressure system delivered more than 14 inches of snow Wednesday night which brought the mid-mountain base to 87 inches.
“The calendar says spring but it continues to feel like winter at Snowbird,” said Snowbird President Bob Bonar . “The skiing and riding is still great and we want to share this with our guests.” Snowbird will offer the Tram, Peruvian Express and Tunnel, Chickadee, Wilbere, Little Cloud, Gadzoom and Mineral Basin Express chairlifts through Sunday, April 29. Lift hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
From April 30 through May 6, the Tram, Little Cloud, Mineral Basin Express, Wilbere and Gadzoom chairlifts will operate daily and lift tickets are $49/day. During this time, Mineral Basin Express will operate in the morning and close in the afternoon while Little Cloud will be closed in the morning and open in the afternoon. Lift hours will be 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Tram and Little Cloud will operate May 7-13, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and tickets are $49/day. After May 14, the Tram and Little Cloud will operate Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, as conditions permit. Snowbird’s late-season skiing and snowboarding is not for beginners. Only advanced terrain is available from the Little Cloud and Mineral Basin Express chairlifts.
Live music will entertain skiers and riders on the Snowbird Center Plaza Deck every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through April. www.snowbird.com


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Killington
EPIC! Really that is the only word to discribe the spring skiing and riding conditions with sunshine, warm temperatures and soft snow here at Killington - the "King of Spring!"

We're grooming up 42 trails for Friday with five lifts spinning, including the Needle'e Eye quad!

Killington will feature More Advanced and Most Advanced terrain only! No beginner terrain is open. Snowshed Slope is open for Hotel/Condo ski-back only - no lift or bus service.

Heading into the weekend, breakout the sun screen and lather up because the weather looks EPIC with sunny skis and temperatures in the 50s and 60s! Don't forget on Saturday Pond Skimming returns and will take place on Lower Highline so you can sit back on the K-1 Deck and enjoy the sunshine and all the action!

Break out the one-piece for Retro Day Saturday. Show up in your neon colored best this Saturday! Bring out those 80's pink goggles and lime colored gloves. It's time to ski in that hot starter jacket, or sport the ole' one piece for the crowds! Still have those K2 SLC 210's or Olin Mark IVs? Yes, it's unofficially RETRO DAY at Killington!
www.killington.com

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US SNOWBOARD NEWS
Juliann Fritz, ussa.org U.S. Snowboarding Dominates 2007 PARK CITY, Utah (April 19) - U.S. Snowboarding continued to roll in 2007 as pros Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO), Steve Fisher (Breckenridge, CO), Tommy Czeschin (Mammoth Lakes, CA), Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT) and Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, CA) nailed podium after podium across the globe. "Overall, it was a great year," said U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach Peter Foley, who has been at the helm since the program originated in 1994. "We're seeing consistent progress from all the groups. The world competition keeps getting stronger, but so de we."
Another banner year for Bleiler Bleiler picked up from her Olympic halfpipe silver medal in Torino with a win at the season opening World Cup, sharing the top of the podium with fellow Team rider Scotty Lago (Seabrook, NH) on Thanksgiving Day in Saas Fee, Switzerland. She then went on to podium at two Chevrolet U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix events and took second at both the X Games and US Open. Bleiler also won the State Farm U.S. Snowboard Cup in Lake Placid, NY for the second straight year, winning both World Cup events she entered. Fisher led a men's podium sweep in Lake Placid with Czeschin and Elijah Teter (South Lake Tahoe, CA) filling the other two slots. "The '07 season for the halfpipe Team saw great success for our veteran riders as well as some solid results from our rookie team," said halfpipe Head Coach Mike Jankowski. "We had a blast riding the 22-foot pipes at events like the Tamarack Grand Prix. The future looks bright for the Team from the young riders on up to the veterans, 2010 is in our sights and we are trying to stay ahead of the game on our way there."
Jacobellis repeat world champion In SBX, Jacobellis dominated again, clinching her second consecutive World Championship victory en route to the World Cup title with back-to-back wins at the U.S. Snowboard Cup in Lake Placid. She also won silver at the X Games for her career fourth medal at X (three SBX wins from '03-'05) as Joanie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA) won gold passing Jacobellis at the finish. Also at X, Holland defended his title after taking bronze at the World Championships. He closed the season with a World Cup podium run of back-to-back second place finishes in 72 hours at Lake Placid that nearly nabbed him the World Cup title. Olympic champion Seth Wescott (Carrabassett Valley, ME) would also medal at Worlds with silver, but was sidelined for the season after suffering a broken forearm at the World Cup opener, which began a month late due to unseasonable weather in Europe.
"It was a super fun year for the SBX riders," added Foley. "We saw good results out of the top-level guys, but even more exciting was the results we saw from the new kids." Dishing out those results were Callan Chythlook-Sifsof (Girdwood, AK) and Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI), who took national bragging rights with victories at the VISA U.S. Snowboardcross Championships at Tamarack, ID. Both also notched their first World Cup podiums this season with Chythlook-Sifsof finishing third at the World Cup opener in Japan while Baumgartner capped his season with a second at World Cup Finals. Additionally, 15-year-old junior Brooke Shaw (Bantam, CT) won both halfpipe and SBX titles on the Revolution Tour, then closed the season with a bronze medal finish in SBX at Junior Worlds.
Alpine digs deep
Olympic riders Michelle Gorgone (Sudbury, MA) and Tyler Jewell (also Sudbury) produced top 10s this season with Jewell posting a career best World Cup finish with a parallel giant slalom sixth on the 2006 Olympic hill in Bardonecchia, Italy. Jewell was also sixth in PGS at the World Championships in Arosa, Switzerland, where Stacia Hookom (Edwards, CO) posted her best worlds finish with fifth before retiring from competitive riding after 12 years and seven World Championships with U.S. Snowboarding. In total, U.S. riders loaded the finals 23 times with Justin Reiter (Steamboat Springs, CO) making the top-16 eight times. In a sport where experience counts, U.S. Snowboarding piled in the start gates this season with multiple riders gaining World Cup starts including Lindsay Lloyd (Centerville, UT), who would take the PGS title at U.S. championships. Also winning U.S. titles were Gorgone, who took the parallel slalom crown and Chris Klug (Aspen, CO), who reclaimed both PGS and PAL titles from Reiter.
"It was a great season for U.S. Snowboarding. We have a strong mix of veterans and rookie riders in all our programs who are constantly pushing the level higher. We also have a super dedicated group of coaches who continue to drive the programs forward," said U.S. Snowboarding Program Director Jeremy Forster. U.S. Snowboarding is set to be back on snow in early May for a halfpipe and SBX training camp at Oregon's Mt. Hood Meadows.
-- www.ussnowboarding.com

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WHISTLER, BC, April 17, 2007 – Whistler Blackcomb will move into the construction phase of the Peak to Peak Gondola project this May. “The Peak to Peak Gondola construction project will be the largest of its kind in North America,” said Doug Forseth, Senior VP of Operations at Whistler Blackcomb, “yet it will occupy the smallest ecological foot print of any project we’ve done yet on the mountain. The estimated 2.5 hectare foot print will require a significant logistical command of our existing resources for transportation and construction.” “We are committed to working with Whistler Blackcomb in minimizing the ecological impact,” said Stefan Huter, Doppelmayr Project Manager, “We have engineered the project to limit construction activity to the terminals and tower locations only.” WHISTLER, BC, April 17, 2007 – Whistler Blackcomb will move into the construction phase of the Peak to Peak Gondola project this May. “The Peak to Peak Gondola construction project will be the largest of its kind in North America,” said Doug Forseth, Senior VP of Operations at Whistler Blackcomb, “yet it will occupy the smallest ecological foot print of any project we’ve done yet on the mountain. The estimated 2.5 hectare foot print will require a significant logistical command of our existing resources for transportation and construction.” “We are committed to working with Whistler Blackcomb in minimizing the ecological impact,” said Stefan Huter, Doppelmayr Project Manager, “We have engineered the project to limit construction activity to the terminals and tower locations only.” ESTIMATED WHISTLER, BC, April 17, 2007 – Whistler Blackcomb will move into the construction phase of the Peak to Peak Gondola project this May. “The Peak to Peak Gondola construction project will be the largest of its kind in North America,” said Doug Forseth, Senior VP of Operations at Whistler Blackcomb, “yet it will occupy the smallest ecological foot print of any project we’ve done yet on the mountain. The estimated 2.5 hectare foot print will require a significant logistical command of our existing resources for transportation and construction.” “We are committed to working with Whistler Blackcomb in minimizing the ecological impact,” said Stefan Huter, Doppelmayr Project Manager, “We have engineered the project to limit construction activity to the terminals and tower locations only.” ESTIMATED -December 2008 Grand opening

LIFT MANUFACTURER Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group, Wolfurt, Austria (www.doppelmayr.com)
GONDOLA TYPE Doppelmayr 3S
TOTAL DISTANCE 4.4 kilometres / 2.73 miles
LENGTH OF FREE SPAN 3.024 kilometres / 1.88 miles (between two towers furthest apart)
HIGHEST POINT 415 metres / 1,361 feet over Fitzsimmons Creek
GLASS BOTTOM CABINS Two
NUMBER OF CABINS 28
NUMBER OF TOWERS 4 (two on Blackcomb and two on Whistler)
HEIGHT OF TOWERS 35-65 metres / 115-213 feet
STATIONARY TRACK ROPES 56mm diameter for the two ropes that the cabins ride upon
LENGTH OF TRACK ROPES 4,600 metres HAUL ROPE 48mm diameter for the rope that pulls the cabins along track ropes
TOTAL HAUL ROPE LENGTH 8,850 metres

CAPACITY: CROSSING TIME 11 minutes SPEED 7.5 metres / 24.6 feet per second
DEPARTURE FREQUENCY One cabin every 49 seconds
CABIN CAPACITY 28 passenger
TOTAL CAPACITY 4,100 people per hour (2,050 per hour one way)



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Red Envelope



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NIKITA ICELAND PARK PROJECT 2007 CANCELLED www.icelandparkproject.com

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Valle Nevado
FIS World Cup in Snow-covered Valley We have the excellent news to tell them that Snow-covered Valley will be again host of the Glass of the World of Snowboard. The competition will be made during the month of September and we will count on the participation of the best exhibitors of the world of this sport. We waited for your visit and that benefits of this great event. "Latitude 42 North Air Assault" During the first weekend of March was made in Hunter Mountain Ski Resort in New York, the event Latitude 42 North Air Assault supported by Telemet.

www.Vallenevado.com


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Snow New Zealand

The Lindauer Queenstown Winter Festival is just around the corner and we really want you to come along and be part of it. The Festival is how we herald the arrival of winter and trust us - the stage is set for one BIG celebration. 10 days, over 60 events and over 50 bands, comedians and entertainers all in Queenstown - Australasia's Ultimate Winter Paradise.
You can check out the full programme of events, they've got some great early bird specials on tickets and we've even put together some great travel packages to help you get here. It's the Ultimate Winter Party - And its sooner than you think! There's so much on this year's programme, so grab a cup of coffee and click here to have a good look around their website
www.snow.co.nz


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Mammoth Mountain
plenty to celebrate as a beautiful morning and afternoon should give way to snow showers dropping some fresh powder on the Mountain this evening and into tomorrow. Currently at Main Lodge the temperature is 19 degrees with mostly clear skies and moderate winds. By mid-day, we may see some clouds roll in and temperatures should get into the 30's.

We have a 2 to 5 foot base of packed powder and machine groomed snow on top of a layer of hard pack. Snow conditions vary around the Mountain so please ski and ride with caution. All lifts should be in operation today except for Chairs 7, 9, 20, 25, and 26. Lifts are wind and weather permitting so be sure to check for updates.

Don't forget to renew your MVP Pass before the end of the month! Mammoth Gold Passes at half price are selling out as well, don't end up paying full price.
www.mammothmountain.com