"Endless Winter Snow"

2.20.2009

Snow Alert - Jackson Hole, Michigan & Great Lake region
Avalanche Warnings -

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Aiguille du Midi - Chamonix-Mont-Blanc / Saturday 21st of February at 11:30

www.outdoorgames.fr

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White Pass - Wa

Conditions: Clear. Calm wind at 0 - 10 mph. Temperature: 20 base / 20 summit www.skiwhitepass.com

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Zermatt - Switzerland
Zermatt - The village without cars Zermatt, at the foot of the majestic Matterhorn, is a world without cars. Electric-cars and horse-drawn sleighs and carriages are the only transport allowed.
Come to car-free Zermatt - the perfect Alpine resort for rest and relaxation.

The four largest cable car companies and winter sports regions in Switzerland – Zermatt, Engadin St. Moritz, Davos Klosters and Jungfraubahnen – have joined forces and are promoting the ChilloutRiding initiative: a new approach in which conscious relaxation and awareness of nature are important. The experience of skiing and snowboarding should be coupled with enjoyment and fun. Zermatt Bergbahnen AG is releasing a total of four pistes for ChilloutRiding: two in the “Sunegga paradise” area (easy run and standard), one in the Gornergrat area (Rotenboden) as well as the Kuhbodmen piste in the Matterhorn glacier paradise. The aim, according to CEO Christen Baumann, is to ignite a shift in attitude with this positive campaign. Baumann continues: “Families in particular want to be able ride such slopes.”

General Information:
5500 Inhabitants
Ski-bus (solar-electric)
Taxis
Carriage rides
5 Doctors, 2 Dentists
3 Pharmacies
Emergency Service, Avalanche Rescue Service
Heliport Zermatt: 4 helicopters
3 Churches (kath., ref., angl.)
Matterhorn Museum
Exhibition galleries
... and a few bars ( Granpi's )

www.zermatt.ch

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Panorama
Panorama Mountain Village, BC – From March 13th to 15th, freestyle riders are invited to compete in the first annual Showoff Freestyle Weekend to showcase their skills, win great prizes, and experience the biggest and best terrain parks in the Kootenay Rockies.

Presented by Coca-Cola, Calgary 97.7 FM, Kokanee, Rip Curl, Syndicate Snowboards, and Showcase Snowboards, the Showoff Freestyle Weekend features four separate events:
Syndicate Rail Jam: skiers and snowboarders of all ages are invited to compete in a jam format in front of the daylodge, proving their skills on a rail/box feature. Little Showoff Slopestyle: skiers and snowboarders 11 and under are invited to demonstrate their freestyle skills on a variety of rails, boxes, and table top jumps in the Small-Medium Terrain Park. Showoff Big Air: skiers and snowboarders will compete for best trick on an extra-large table top jump at the base of the Showoff Terrain Park . This competition is by invite only. Showoff Slopestyle: skiers and snowboarders 12 and over will display their best tricks on table top jumps, boxes, and rails, down the entire length of the Showoff Terrain Park .

The Showoff Freestyle Weekend will be enjoyed by both freestyle riders and spectators alike. All events can be easily viewed from the base of the mountain; however, spectators are encouraged to ride the Mile One Quad on Sunday for the best views of the Showoff Slopestyle.
2009 Showoff Freestyle Weekend Event Schedule
Friday, March 13th
7:00pm Syndicate Rail Jam in front of the Great Hall Deck

Saturday, March 14th
1:00pm Little Showoff Slopestyle in the Small-Medium Terrain Park
5:00pm Showoff Big Air in the Showoff Terrain Park

Sunday, March 15th
1:00pm Showoff Slopestyle in the Showoff Terrain Park

With a selection of features that range in magnitude and style, Panorama’s terrain parks accommodate freestyle riders of all abilities. Running the entire length of Showoff, directly under the Mile One Quad, the main terrain park has 14 jumps, including a large step up and a butter box. Alongside the jumps, the Showoff Terrain Park features a number of rails and boxes, including a 32ft Roller Coaster to Kicker Box, a 34ft 12/10/12 Flat Down Flat Box, a 34 ft 12/10/12 Down Flat Down Box, a 36ft 10/16/10 Battleship Box, and a C-Box.

For novice riders, the Small-Medium Terrain Park is the perfect place to learn. It has three small jumps and six small rails, all of which are set up with those new to freestyle riding in mind. Located on Hoggsflats, it’s away from the chairlift and is open on weekends for night skiing, which means even more time to practice. Those interested in participating in one or all events are invited to visit the website to register.

Showoff Freestyle Weekend Registration Information
The mail entry deadline is Saturday, March 7th
The fax entry deadline is Thursday, March 12th
On site registration will be accepted until one hour prior to scheduled event at Guest Services in Ski Tip Lodge
The entry cost for the Syndicate Rail Jam is $10/per person
The entry cost for the Little Showoff Slopestyle is $20/per person
The entry cost for the Showoff Slopestyle is $30/per person
The Showoff Big Air is by invite only. Interested competitors can contact Nancy Brush at 250-341-4131 or nbrush@intrawest.com
High resolution photos of the terrain park are available upon request.
Panorama Mountain Village, located in the Purcell Mountains , has one of the largest vertical descents in North America . Quad chairlifts give access to the summit and over 100 trails, including former Heli-Ski terrain in Taynton Bowl. Panorama is also home to Greywolf, ranked British Columbia ’s best golf course by Golf Digest. For more information, visit www.panoramaresort.com
www.panoramaresort.com

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Big Sky - Montana
There's a chance Big Sky could be getting a little more snow during the day, but even before this we've had so much good snow in the past couple of days that there is still some great skiing to be had on the mountain.
www.bigskyresort.com/

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US SKI TEAM NEWS
U.S. SKI TEAM'S LINDSEY VAN WINS FIRST WOMEN'S WORLD SKI JUMPING TITLE LIBEREC, Czech Republic (Feb. 20) - Lindsey Van (Park City, UT) stunned the field with a massive second jump Friday to become her sport's first world champion. Van, tied for fourth after the first jump, soared 97.5 meters to take a strong win over first round leader Ulrike Graessler of Germany to win the debut of women's ski jumping at the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Liberec.

KEY POINTS
- First women's World Championship
- Van came from behind after a poor trial round jump, then fourth after first competition round
- Her 97.5 meter second jump was longest of day by 3.5 meters

- Van is one of a strong group of women's jumpers from Park City, UT who have been pioneering their sport
- Only previous U.S. jumping medal was Anders Haugen, 1924, bronze in combined Olympics and World Championships

www.ussa.org

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THE GATEWAY TO MONTAFON ST. ANTON I. M. (650 m) lies at the entrance to the Montafon Valley and is popular with all holiday-makers. Here, within a radius of 2 – 6 km are all the requirements for an active winter holiday. The Skigebiet Golm ski area can be reached in approx 3 - 5 minutes free of charge and in comfort on the ski bus

In GARGELLEN (1,423 m), the highest resort in the Montafon Alpine SCENE, the meadows and slopes of the mountain landscape in winter come into their own for the second time. At that season, pistes, tours and snowshoe trails entice one to discover the surrounding country - free from stress and with much pleasure. Skiing down to one’s hotel door is quite normal here. Snow is guaranteed.

THE INSIDER’S TIP The two picture book resorts of GASCHURN and PARTENEN lie at 1,000 m and 1,050 m respectively at the top of the Montafon Valley. The surface area of the parish of Gaschurn is greater than Lichtenstein. From Gaschurn the Versettlabahn carries one right up to the Silvretta Nova ski area, by far the largest in Montafon. Due to constant modernisation and excellent piste preparation, Silvretta Nova ranks among the highest quality ski areas in Europe. Here the 26 ski runs and 114 km of prepared pistes offer the downhill skier and naturally also the snowboarder every conceivable option up to 2,300 m. For snowboarders, the ski area has something rather special to offer: One of the largest boarderparks in Europe, the Novapark, with numerous rails, kickers and a half-pipe run is in the Silvretta Nova - so nothing else stands in the way of large boarder events and a lot of tricks. The fully developed mountain cuisine with the modern and also authentic restaurants, sun terraces and snow bars offers everything that the heart of a winter sportsman could desire.

62 facilities covered by one regional ski pass:
4 Cable cars
10 Gondolas
1 Eight-seater chairlift (Bubble)
5 Six-seater chairlifts (Bubble)
6 Four-seater chairlifts
2 Three-seater chairlifts
10 Two-seater chairlifts
1 Single-seater chairlift
23 Drag, children’s and button lifts

Capacity: 92,270 pers./hr
Primary capacity of the lifts
16,095 (resorts - ski areas) pers./hr
222 km marked descents, of which:
110 km blue runs
80 km red runs
32 km black runs
32 km ski routes
4.5 km variants

Montafonerbahn railway Bludenz - Schruns
All ski buses in the Valley

www.montafon.at