"Endless Winter Snow"

4.18.2008

Snow Alert - Lake Louise Canada , White Pass Steven's Pass Washington

Photo: Dave's collection, Mt Hood Meadows www.skihood.com
Don't miss Laurel Cyn from the lip of the Atomic bowl ridge, nice n' steep

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FIS- Speed Ski
Speed Skiing season finals underway in Verbier (SUI)

The finals in Speed Skiing, the only FIS World Cup circuit of the2007/08 season still in progress, are underway at Verbier (SUI). The ski run of the Mont-Fort there is as important to this discipline as the Streif in Kitzbühel is for Alpine Skiing, or Monaco for Formula 1: one of the most spectacular events of the season for the world's fastest skiers.

Unfortunately the second event scheduled in Sweden in early April had to be cancelled. Then, the following weekend, a lack of snow forced the rescheduling of the events planned for Cervinia (ITA) to Verbier yet still under the control of the Cervinia OC, which clearly demonstrates the high degree of cooperation on the Speed Skiing circuit.

As the finals are about to begin, on the top of the ranking for the Ladies events, Sanna Tidstrand (SWE) is just holding off Karine Debuchet (FRA), who has come back to the circuit after a number of years away. Sanna has been consistently stronger, but Karine is nearer her home territory, so all is left to play for. Of course, Tracey Sach's (USA) absence through knee injury also opens the competition.

In the men's event, the Origone brothers (ITA) are all-powerful, and Ivan has not only beaten his elder brother in every event, but has won every event outright! Short of a major calamity, Ivan looks set for the title, with Simone on the 2nd step. In 3rd place, Philippe May (SUI) is most likely, although in front of his home crowd, he might pull out the stops to take a higher place for the individual races, even if the overall globe is just out of his reach.

Finally, there is a keen competition among the downhill class skiers, with Marc Poncin (GBR) 15 points ahead of Jimmy Montes (FRA). Because of the lower points available to racers in this class, it is difficult for Jimmy to pull up, but he should be assured of the prize as the best-placed junior racer.

Erich Demetz, the ski and tourism pioneer, celebrated his 70th birthday on 10th April, 2008. A native of Val Gardena/Gröden (ITA), he has held several different official roles on local, national and international levels over the last four decades. Erich Demetz was a member of the FIS Council for 19 years and Vice President of the Italian Winter Sports Association (FISI) for 22 years. Furthermore, he has served as Chairman of the FIS Sub-Committee for Alpine World Cup since 1986.
visit www.fis-ski.com

Special Thanks To Traci Max for her continued speed skiing competition updates and pictures from her personal collection

Photo: Traci Max on the track at Cervina Italy well in excess of 100 m.p.h.
Tracie has been speed skiing for 7 years and is ranked number one in the world.
visit her site
www.quickchick.com

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Lake Louise

Yes this is todays Pow alert
www.skilouise.com

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PARK CITY MOUNTAIN RESORT ANNOUNCES NEW LIFT AND $10.5 MILLION IN IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE 2008-09 WINTER SEASON

Park City, Utah – Park City Mountain Resort today announced $10.5 million in improvements for the 2008-09 winter season including a new high-speed chair lift, terrain enhancements and renovation of the Mid-Mountain Lodge.

“Our goal is to have more of our guests explore the diverse terrain that our mountain has to offer,” said Peter Curtis, president and general manager of Park City Mountain Resort. “We’ve accomplished this with our groomed Signature Runs, Mountainzone trail maps, personal mountain planner and terrain enhancements, which began with Motherlode Meadows. The $10.5 million in improvements takes us one step further to providing the best downhill experience for our guests.”

Park City Mountain Resort’s new high-speed quad chair lift, Crescent lift, replacing and realigning the existing Ski Team lift, will begin near the base of the Resort and extend to Crescent Ridge (also known as Ski Team Ridge). The new chair lift will significantly increase accessibility out of the base area as well as to the front-side runs, which are some of the Resort’s best advanced terrain. The new lift takes guests almost twice as far as the Ski Team lift and in less time. In addition, the new lift will provide access to a majority of the Resort and direct access to lifts including Silverlode, Bonanza, King Con, PayDay, Town, Pioneer and McConkey’s.

To complement the new lift, the Resort is making terrain enhancements to improve the skiing/riding experience on the mountain including a new run and expanded snowmaking. In addition, Park City Mountain Resort will assume operations for Mid-Mountain Lodge in the 2008-09 season. The Resort will renovate the Mid-Mountain Lodge to further develop on-mountain dining.

Finally, as part of its environmental commitment, Park City Mountain Resort is offsetting 100 percent of its power consumption from renewable energy sources beginning in June 2008. This purchase of 13.9 million kWh of renewable energy credits (RECs) will avoid nearly 19 million pounds of CO2 emissions annually, which is equal to removing 1,853 passenger vehicles from the road or powering 1,100 average American homes for a year. For more information,
visit Park City's web site or
www.saveoursnow.net.

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Kirkwood

photo:Kirkwood
Kirkwood is still boasting a base depth of over 100 inches and the spring corn cycle is in full effect! The coverage on Kirkwood's legendary upper mountain terrain via Chair 10 "The Wall" and Chair 6 "Cornice Express" is phenomenal! Carve some turns on our freshly laid corduroy carpet and discover why Kirkwood sets the standard for High Angle Grooming in the Tahoe region. Kirkwood is offering a free lift ticket to passholders from any California or Nevada resort to showcase the resort's incredible spring conditions and plans for two new lifts next season. Simply present a valid 2007/08 season pass (employee passes not eligible) and ID to our ticket office and receive one complimentary lift ticket valid the date of issue.
www.kirkwood.com

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Chamoinix - France
Excellent snow conditions and fine sunny weather !
Significant avalanche risk off-piste 3/5 on the European Scale.
33 km of cross country pistes open.

The Ski Areas Chamonix's skiing extends over 3 main areas : Brévent/Flégère, offering south-facing slopes and exceptional views of the Mont-Blanc chain, the Grands Montets, high altitude north-facing slopes which dominate the village of Argentière and the Balme area, wide open slopes at the top of the Chamonix valley, bordering on Switzerland. The sister resort of les Houches lies at the opposite end of the valley and is accessible with the Mont-Blanc Unlimited ski pass

Aiguille du midi cable car
To the Top !
From the centre of Chamonix at 1035 m, the Aiguille du Midi cablecar carries you to 3842 m into the realm of high moutain peaks. A unique 360 degree panorama of the Mont-Blanc chain

• Off-piste skiing :
Vallée Blanche is a high mountain itinerary route on glacial terrain which is neither marked nor patrolled : it is strongly recommended to be accompagnied by a Mountain guide. For further information please contact the Office de Haute Montagne and consult their Vallée Blanche web page

Office de Tourisme
Chamonix Mont-Blanc
85, place du Triangle de l'Amitié
BP 25
F-74400 Chamonix Mont-Blanc
Tel +33 450 53 00 24
Fax +33 450 53 58 90
info@chamonix.com
www.chamonix.com

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Les Arcs - France
The Vanoise Express cable car , not be in service

The Paradiski ski domain is made up of the two immense ski areas of La Plagne and Les Arcs, open until April 26th 2008.

If the 200kms of runs in Les Arcs aren’t enough for you?
With Paradiski, experience an additional 134 runs covering the areas of Peisey-Vallandry and La Plagne and ski one of the largest linked ski domains in the world!

It’s for both beginner and expert skiers! A ski area that lives up to your expectations

3 ski resorts, 20 destinations
3250m - 1200m
2 fully equipped glaciers
3 summits above an altitude of 3000m
425 kms of runs
170 hectares of artificial snow (470 canons)
239 runs of all levels
Overall vertical drop of 53 290m
158 kms of cross-country runs
5 snowparks, 3 boardercross, 1 half-pipe
1 bobsleigh run, 1 ice climbing area, 1 speed skiing run

www.lesarcs.com
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Bacardi

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OPEN THIS WEEKEND
*** CALIF
Alpine Meadows
Heavenly Valley
Kirkwood
Mammoth Mountain
Squaw Valley

photo: Granite Chief at Squaw Valley - Direct ,Summit and Christmas Tree chutes, up top

Purchase Squaw Valley Lift Tickets & Lessons

OREGON

Mt Hood Meadows
Mt Hood Meadows
Timberline Lodge

WASHINGTON
Stevens Pass
White Pass

CANADA
Whistler
Lake Louise

COLORADO
Aspen
Loveland
Silverton

UTAH
Alta
Snowbird

... on the east coast
Killington
Stowe
Jay Peak

This is the final Weekend for Sun Valley Idaho