Posts Tagged ‘skiing’

The season hasn’t even begun yet and have an eyeful of this pre-season snow…

Wow. Not bad. Leith Huffadine getting powder turns on Treble Cone’s famous summit slopes this morning.

With 35cm already on the upper mountain and sub zero temperatures providing perfect snowmaking conditions, opening day on 24 June is looking good! To keep up to date on the latest conditions check out the web cam at the new www.treblecone.com

You might be wondering whether it’s worth going all the way out to New Zealand to ski. Why bother? But, if you love ski-ing and you’re not into beach holidays, then why not? It’s a great place, great ski-ing, many world class events are now held there during the winter months, famous names and faces can be seen on the slopes getting ready for the northern hemisphere season and…. well read on and see for yourselves what’s on offer.

The New Zealand ski season generally runs from June through to late October. Conditions permitting, the major commercial ski areas usually begin opening in early June, with the smaller ski areas opening in late June or early July.

June and July are still comparatively mild months, but getting colder and can offer some good powder skiing. August is the peak month in which to ski, and September and October offer a variety of skiing, from spring ski-ing conditions to wintery powder – depending on the weather.

In a good season Whakapapa will open at Christmas (because of its higher altitude) for summer skiing, while some other areas open for mountain biking.

Commercial New Zealand ski areas, such as The Remarkables or Coronet Peak, all have their own distinct character. Most offer world class facilities including snowmaking, state-of-the-art snow grooming, and comprehensive base and dining facilities.

The smaller resorts  – like Temple Basin or Mt Cheeseman – are often run by a group of enthusiasts and have simple facilities such as rope tow or T-bar lifts, generally no snow grooming, but good day lodges and often a more social atmosphere.

Snowboarding in New Zealand is a popular winter activity. All New Zealand ski areas cater for snowboarding to some extent (in some cases better than skiers) and you’ll find good riding at them all.

Ohau in the central South Island, and Wanaka – near Queenstown – are both known as top snowboarding areas. In Wanaka, Cardrona is one of the most popular snowboarding fields, with a number of pipes and parks specifically for boarders of all levels. Across the valley, Snow Park has purpose-built facilities.

And being New Zealand, once there why not try your hand at any one of the extreme pastimes that they have to offer?

You’re spoilt for choice….

A week or so later and we’ve decided to see if the snow is any better in the Hautes Alpes so have shot up the autoroute to Annecy and headed for the hills above that beautiful town.

And, oh yes, it’s pretty cool up here. Snow everywhere and fresh snow falling – couldn’t be better. The first day out we were skiing in a thick covering of snow and about 30 cms of fresh powder on all pistes, off-piste was waist high. It has been decided that a ‘Dick of the Day’ award would be given to the most spectacular faller and since there were face plants going on left right and centre it has been a difficult choice though the first award was given to Grant for losing his skis not once, but twice in deep powder… the second time took at least 30 minutes to locate the left hand one and was accompanied with much digging!

The award comes with the onerous task of having to wear a spectacularly stupid hat all the following day and to be the butt of all tricks….

But back to where we are skiing…

We’re in a small area called Chinaillon about half an hour above Annecy and a part of the Le Grand Bornand ski area: one resort, two centres, one mountain range with more than 220 kms of pisted slopes. Mont Blanc is visual in the background.

The towns of Chinaillon, Le Grand Bornand, La Clusaz, St. Jean de Sixt and Manigod are all linked, if not by pistes then by an extremely efficient bus service. Megeve is just down the road.

Chinaillon is a lovely not-too-big resort at the top end of this lot.

Le Grand Bornand is at the heart of Annecy’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

9 high-level skiers will wear the Grand Bornand colours for the World Cup and Winter Olympics in Vancouver this year.

The 2011 and 2013 Biathlon World Cup will be held here too.

It is not a resort to be sneezed at – and to add to the attractions the Maroly snowpark ranks amongst the best in France (giantjackisajedi).

and at Le Grand Bornand: (Realisateurfilm)

Along with the more traditional skiing and snowboarding, there are 60kms of marked-out and maintained trails for cross-country skiing with numerous further trails for snowshoeing and hiking. La Bornandine is an elite cross-country skiing freestyle semi-marathon or marathon that has been held here since 1986. It is a lively event with a limit of 400 participants and will be held this year on 7th February.

Nobody’s forgotten – the facilities for tiny tots is excellent with a creche, a snow garden where the tinies are introduced to skiing and a leisure club open to 4 – 12 year olds at the summit of the Le Rosay cable-car line.

The season ends this year with the 60th Challenge des Moniteurs from the 18th – 24th April. This is the second time that this event has been held in the Le Grand Bornand resort. 2,500 ski montors, the best of the French team, will meet at Le Grand Bornand for a week of fierce, but fun, competition with alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, boardercross, skier cross, telemark skiing, hiking trail and freestyle events. The challenge will also be the opportunity to celebrate the members of the French team and in particular the Grand Bornand eventers back from the Vancouver Olympics.

Enough now, time to join the others out on the slopes – and it’s snowing again…

This jewel is actually a live volcano so thats kind of different but it does not diminish from the fun – this single cone rising out of the Oregon desert provides some exceptional snowboarding conditions and with daily adult tickets priced from $69 to $49, depending on the weather, snow and visibility, the mountain provides a great day out.

Thanks to kprincipe who gave us the insights below on Mt Bachelor:

‘…………a low-ski area which receives light and dry snow Mt. Bachelor is not like any other summit. It is part of the Cascade mountain range which rises from Oregon’s high desert and is visible for miles. The mountain is an active volcano, having numerous steam vents around the runs, which guarantees a new experience while vacationing during the winter.

Mt. Bachelor offers a venue for snow which is lighter and drier than that of any other mountain. It is located in the eastern side of the Cascades, and has become one of the most popular destinations for western snowboarders and skiers. Its guests are drawn to the dependable amount of snowpack offered, clean, dry air, average day-time winter temperature which is usually 25 degrees, and snowboarding and skiing season from early November to July.

Mt. Bachelor ski resort has developed into the modern needs of guests such as electronic ticketing, great ski school, and high speed quad chairs. It promises to deliver to cutting edge industry trends by complementing the environment with the needs of snowboarders and skiers around the world. Check out Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor and have a great Snowboarding experience!’

Here are the mountain’s vital statictics:

Top: 9,065 feet

Base: 6,300 feet

Vertical Drop: 3,365 feet

Acres of Terrain: 3,683 acres accessible by lift, with 1,600 acres groomed daily

Number of Runs: 71 runs

Maximum Run Length: 1.5 miles

Average Annual Snowbase: 150-200 inches

Average Annual Snowfall: 370 inches

Lift Facilities
7 Express Quads – Including the ALL NEW Pine Marten Express
3 Triple Chairlifts
1 Wonder Carpet
2 Tubing Lifts

Alpine Terrain Rating
15% Green-Novice
25% Blue-Intermediate
35% Black-Advanced
25% Double Black-Expert

Cross-Country
More than a dozen trails
56 kilometers machine-groomed and track-set nightly

Cross-Country Terrain Rating
5% Green-Beginner
69% Blue-Intermediate
26% Black-Expert

The video below comes from ranchorelaxo2007 these dudes had some fun in very difficult conditions.

As always it is best to check on coditions before you go and the following link will give you the conditions on the mountain today

http://www.mtbachelor.com/winter/index.html

As can be seen in the video below from MTB97701 you can often get great weather – wow that looks fun, get on down there!

The sort of silly things we’ll hopefully be doing in a few days or so… with thanks to danigga544 for the fun video…

The Japanese national team have set up a BAGJUMP in Cardrona, New Zealand which is allowing valuable training for themselves, the German, Canadian, American and Kiwi snowboarders in the run-up to the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games in 2010.

“It’s a good opportunity to get the feeling on the take-off, get control in the air and being confident to land on my feet every time!“ Stefan Gimpl, pro-snowboarder.

This 15m x 15m multi-chambered airbag is giving riders the opportunity to practice new freestyle moves and double tricks. It is a revolutionary way to push the limits of extreme sports.

The BAGJUMP is the most cool invention ever and is not restricted to snowboarders. It can be used for  snowboard, ski, freeclimb, mountainbike, BMX, freefall, slackline, parcour, skateboard BigAir, SMX and pretty well anything else you can think of.

Imagine – instead of anticipating every bone in your body being smashed or at least bruised when trying to master a new trick – with the BAGJUMP you can practice ever more impossible tricks because you know that your landing will be on a soft absorbing cloud!

It allows jumps up to 50 meters (164ft) and off-center landings and it even has an adjustable landing softness. It looks such fun!

The material is strong and very resiliant – witness this video with BMXs using the BAGJUMP

“… being able to try new tricks for big air contests with the assurance of the BAGJUMP I’m more concentrated on my take off and airtime” Georg Engel, pro-biker

Thank you to Bagjump for the videos.

Because of the high-tech design, developed by pro-snowboarders and stuntmen, there is no way you can break through the bag onto the ground or bounce  off it like on a trampoline.

As well as being a training aid it is also a fun-device for all freestyle orientated athletes of ANY skill level and for this reason resorts, sports centres and campus’ around the world are beginning to invest in them.

Air bag training is the wave of the future for high level action sports athletes attempting to raise the standard in a controlled environment and national teams from around the world are lining up to get training on air bags in an effort to prepare for the Olympics.

Cardrona, on New Zealand’s South Island and an hour’s drive from Queenstown, has one of the very few halfpipe’s open at this time of year… and the world’s best snowboarders and skiers are taking advantage of it as they train in the lead up to Vancouver 2010.

It has had the most epic season with record amounts of snow, record number of visitors and Olympic Medalist Shaun White (USA) making history in the pipe and establishng its position as one of the top favourite resorts for winter extreme sports.

Cardrona was coming to the end of its season when they were approached by national teams from all over the world looking for a training facility during October.  They were happy to oblige and retained the services of John Melville, Cardrona’s Parks & Pipes manager. The pipe camp began on the 5^th October and will continue through to the 24^th October.

Shaun White (USA) flew back to New Zealand specifically for the first week of the private Pre-Olympic Pipe Camp and was grateful for the training opportunity. “I had a great time, it’s awesome to be able to rely on a mountain to have great terrain during the summer time when there’s no snow in the U.S,” he said.

The Japanese national team is bringing in a 900kg inflatable stunt bag this week (the Bag Jump) and with the support of the park crew will build this into the snow to practice double cork and spin combinations that are the emerging standard in competitions.

Although there is still 135cm on the upper slopes and 65cm on the lower ones, this resort is now officially closed for the season.

Enjoy this  video (caryv1) from the 5 Star Burton New Zealand Open at Cardrona Alpine Resort, New Zealand in August 2009… the video ends with some bold and adventurous spirits pushing the boundaries of what one can do with a snowboard…