Alpine Winter Sports – Page 26 – Everything you need to know about skiing and other Alpine winter sports

03/05/201604/05/2016

Swiss Ski Season Review

Ski Club of GB
The Ski Club of Great Britain do an end of season review. Of the Swiss season they opined:

In recent years, a huge amount of investment has gone into snow making facilities in many resorts across Switzerland, an investment that paid off during the early part of the 2015/16 season. After the snow failed to fall, resorts such as Arosa and Verbier were able to operate virtually as normal thanks to huge quantities of man-made snow. After a long absence, the snow eventually returned, falling heaviest during the middle part of January, and setting up a plethora of powder days for riders. This continued throughout much of the second half of the season, with excellent riding conditions available across many regions right up until Easter.

Of other ski regions, West Coast USA, Canada, Scotland and, to an extent, Scandinavia, all had good seasons. Eastern Europe was particularly poor, and amongst most other European ski areas only high resorts such as Chamonix fared well.

30/04/201609/02/2019

Which runs have the most vertical drop?

Which ski runs have the most vertical drop? Red Bull posted an article identifying 6. I correctly guessed the top two – Vallée Blanche in Chamonix and Zermatt, both lift-served although the former is entirely off-piste. They rated Alpe d’Huez third and Revelstoke in Canada fourth, which is a resort I know nothing about.
ski the Matterhorn
However, more interesting is the fifth location in their list. Apparently Mount Elbrus in Russia has a new gondola going up to 3847m, higher even than Aiguille du Midi by about 2m. Mount Elbrus is apparently Europe’s highest peak at 5633m, somewhat higher than Mont Blanc, at a miserable 4809m, which normally takes the credit. Who knew?
Gulmarg Si Resort - the highest in the world
Rounding out the Red Bull list is Gulmarg ski Resort in India where the highest lift takes you up to an astonishing 3979m. Not sure about the vertical drop, although I think the bottom station is at about 2660m, and I hear it is a dry resort, but one for the list of 1000 ski resorts to visit before you die.

I reckon I might die before I tick that one off.

18/02/201601/04/2020

Ed Leigh to be winter sports ambassador for Verbier

Ed Leigh on Ski Sunday with co-presenter Graham Bell
Heavenly Publicity issued a press release this month announcing that Ed Leigh, best known as presenter of the BBC’s Ski Sunday TV programme, is to become Verbier‘s winter sports “ambassador”.

Ed has a much broader presence in broadcasting and media than just Ski Sunday, and is expected to extend Verbier’s media presence on Youtube and other internet channels selling things like pointsbet bonus bet. He has commentated on three Winter Olympics, edited Whitelines Snowboard Magazine and has worked extensively with Red Bull TV, the BBC and Channel 4.

The press release quotes Ed as saying: “Verbier’s central location makes it the perfect touch base in the Swiss Alps for snowboarding, skiing and resort culture. It has a reputation as arguably the best spot in Europe for freeriding and pushing the boundaries of snow sport in the winter months and I’m excited to bring all this together and add a new dimension to the sports on show at the resort through new digital media.”

The Director of Verbier Promotion SA, Pierre-Andre Gremaud, is quoted as saying: “Ed Leigh is a well-known figure in the UK and European winter sports communities and we’re proud to have him working with us. This appointment is exactly indicative of Verbier’s commitment to promoting and raising awareness of the world-class facilities and activities available at the resort across a range of media.”

10/02/2016

Pirmin Zurbriggen Switzerland’s Greatest Skier

When I was a younger skier, glued to the BBC’s BBC Ski Sunday for its dreadfully short season, the most successful ski racer of the time was Pirmin Zurbriggen, He seemed unstoppable and almost single-handed kept the Austrian challenge at bay. He retired at the peak of his career aged 27 to return to his roots in Saastal, in German-speaking Wallis/Valais.
Saastal
During his career he won he won four World Cup titles, an Olympic gold medal and 9 World Championship medals. Who knows what else he would have won if he had continued.

I know his family runs a hotel in his home town and rumour has it that if you stay there you have a chance to explore the local slopes with the great man. Anyway, the reason I bring him up is that there is an interview with him at Powder magazine, including some footage of him racing.