Richard Amacker's Winning Line at the Swatch Freeride World Tour Courmayeur Mont-Blanc 2012

Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc has been an amazing host to the Swatch Freeride World Tour. In an incredibly competitive Men's ski competition, Richard Amacker from Le Valais in Switzerland was the last rider down and chose an original line in the riders left hand side of the face. The 23 year old then quickly put on a demonstration of world-class Freeriding. Always in complete control his jumps were longer and cleaner than his rivals and deservedly took away the main prize. A clearly very happy Amacker said: "I had a great day. The snow was good, I took a lot of air on my jumps and landed all three really cleanly".

Sam Smoothy's Winning Line at the Swatch Freeride World Tour Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2012

Winning a men's ski contest on the Swatch Freeride World Tour deserves a place on the list of "hardest things to do in sport". Sam Smoothy from New Zealand who has battled through qualifiers and injuries over the last few seasons proved that persistence always pays off and hit the top rung of the podium for the first time. In second place was one of the tour's most consistent performers Reine Barkered from Sweden and in third, tour newcomer Oakley White Allen from the USA who following his second place finish in Revelstoke will go to the top of men's ski rankings. Smoothy chose the lookers left line taken by a number of riders and looked to be fighting for a place on the podium with his control and fluidity in the upper face. Then he took a slightly different angle into the final section and dropped an absolute beauty of a cliff - longer, cleaner, sweeter than his rivals. Smoothy was almost speechless afterwards: "Winning here in the home of Freeriding, it doesn't get better, it's amazing".

Best of the Swatch Freeride World Tour Courmayeur Mont-Blanc 2012

Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc has been an amazing host to the Swatch Freeride World Tour.
In an incredibly competitive Men's ski competition, Richard Amacker from Le Valais in Switzerland was the last rider down and chose an original line in the riders left hand side of the face. The 23 year old then quickly put on a demonstration of world-class Freeriding. Always in complete control his jumps were longer and cleaner than his rivals and deservedly took away the main prize. A clearly very happy Amacker said: "I had a great day. The snow was good, I took a lot of air on my jumps and landed all three really cleanly".
In the Men's snowboard, Backstrom the American just gets better and better. Taking a line on the extreme riders right, Backstrom patiently worked the upper face as he transitioned into his first drop of the day which he executed with a silky smoothness. He then glided his way across the face to a steep and rocky section where he dropped no less than three cliffs in quick succession. Backstrom has that something that only the very best athletes have - he makes it look easy. Backstrom said: "I'm very happy, the conditions were great for high-speed airs. I rode my preferred line, I stayed fast and fluid".

Best of the Swatch Freeride World Tour Chamonix Mont-Blanc 2012

The Men's snowboard contest saw local Chamonix rider Douds Charlet take first place followed by tour newcomer Ralph Backstrom from the USA and another French rider Aurelien Routens in third. Rock solid in Revelstoke, Douds was again on the top of his game taking a creative line on the extreme lookers right of the face. He was smooth and clean throughout, a text book Freeride lesson for any youngsters with world tour ambitions. "It's great to win at home in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. I threw a front side 360 at the top and dropped four cliffs overall. I tried to stay fast and clean and I think I achieved that".
Winning a men's ski contest on the Swatch Freeride World Tour deserves a place on the list of "hardest things to do in sport". Sam Smoothy from New Zealand who has battled through qualifiers and injuries over the last few seasons proved that persistence always pays off and hit the top rung of the podium for the first time. In second place was one of the tour's most consistent performers Reine Barkered from Sweden and in third, tour newcomer Oakley White Allen from the USA who following his second place finish in Revelstoke will go to the top of men's ski rankings. Smoothy chose the lookers left line taken by a number of riders and looked to be fighting for a place on the podium with his control and fluidity in the upper face. Then he took a slightly different angle into the final section and dropped an absolute beauty of a cliff - longer, cleaner, sweeter than his rivals. Smoothy was almost speechless afterwards: "Winning here in the home of Freeriding, it doesn't get better, it's amazing".
When it comes to Freeride locations, Chamonix Mont-Blanc has few rivals, so it's no surprise that the Freeride World Tour was back for a third year in 2012. As home to the stunning Mont-Blanc, Chamonix is arguably the world's most renowned alpine resort. Host of the first ever official Winter Olympics in 1924, skiers and snowboarders come from all over the world to take on its vast range of steep "couloirs".

Wins for Amacker and Backstrom in Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc

Richard Amacker won the men's ski contest and Ralph Backstrom won the men's snowboard contest here today on the Mont-Fortin in an absolutely stunning Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc, Italy.
In an incredibly competitive men's ski competition, Amacker from Le Valais in Switzerland was the last rider down and chose an original line in the riders left hand side of the face. The 23 year old then quickly put on a demonstration of world-class Freeriding. Always in complete control his jumps were longer and cleaner than his rivals and deservedly took away the main prize. A clearly very happy Amacker said: "I had a great day. The snow was good, I took a lot of air on my jumps and landed all three really cleanly".
Sam Smoothy from New Zealand continued his outstanding early season form with second place. Sam dropped in very aggressively, powered over two cliffs and blistered his way to the finish. Making it a great day for Switzerland, Samuel Anthamatten took third place. Samuel's technical ability is clear for all to see but he's also been working on some tricks during the off-season. Samuel first brought the hammer down on a massive cliff in the super steep and technical central part of the face then rounded off his run with a brilliant back flip. Samuel who's had an off-colour first part of the season said: "I'm really satisfied with my run. I wanted to do more jumps but overall it went well and I'm very happy with my landing off the back-flip".
In the men's snowboard, Backstrom the American just gets better and better. Taking a line on the extreme riders right, Backstrom patiently worked the upper face as he transitioned into his first drop of the day which he executed with a silky smoothness. He then glided his way across the face to a steep and rocky section where he dropped no less than three cliffs in quick succession. Backstrom has that something that only the very best athletes have - he makes it look easy. Backstrom said: "I'm very happy, the conditions were great for high-speed airs. I rode my preferred line, I stayed fast and fluid".
In second place was the 27 year old Austrian Max Zipser who chose the most popular line of the day on the right hand side. Max quite simply got the job done; clean, fast, fluid and controlled. A beaming Max said: "What a great day with great snow. I hit my line exactly as I wanted, took some nice jumps. I really felt in control and comfortable up there". Rounding off the podium was Douds Charlet from France who continued his early season run of podium finishes.
Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc has been an amazing host to the Swatch Freeride World Tour but the show must go on. Next stop: Røldal in Norway (February 25-March 2) for the fourth event of the 2012 season.

More Snow In The Alps And Substantial Falls In The US At Last

The heavy snowfall in the Alps won’t let up it seems and several big name resorts including Chamonix and St Anton have added a metre or more of fresh snow in the past 7 days.
The good news is that Western North America is gaining lost ground on its slow start – in terms of snowfall – to 2011-12 with heavy snowfall in parts of California at last, the biggest accumulations up to 1.8m (six feet) at Lake Tahoe. Elsewhere the snow is in excellent condition in Western Canada as it has been all winter.
The news is not entirely good. Although most of the Alps have had good snowfalls the headline grabbing figures are mostly at northern, high altitude resorts and some lower regions could do with more. There’s been little fresh snow in the Pyrenees this month although snow depths from earlier falls and snowmaking are still in place.
There has been more heavy snow over the past few days in Austria. All roads in to Lech Zuers were closed when another 30cm+ of snow fell but the main streets opened again later the same day. In the last seven days St Anton in Arlberg reported 125cm of new snow while SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser – Brixental had 120cm and Solden 86 cm. There were 45 powderalarms for 20cm (8 nches) or more new snow in Austria on Tuesday. There’s now over five metres of snow in St Anton at Arlberg, which has the deepest snow depth in the country, and in Europe, followed by neighbouring Lech Zuers. The Zugspitzplatt has 400cm. It’s likely to remain snowy and cold over the next few days with high avalanche risk at many resorts.
There’s been fresh heavy snowfall in France over the past week, particularly last weekend in the Northern Alps when a metre of snow fell on resorts including Arêches Beaufort (a ski resort known for its off-piste) and Les Houches (which will host the Alpine World Cup Skiing men from 3rd to 5th February). Snow depths in the slopes in the Chamonix valley now vary between 2m at the base and 4m60 up top. More generally, the snowfall figures were between 50 and 70cm in the Savoie and Haute-Savoie and around 20/30 cm in the department of Isere. The other mountain areas were not so lucky with 20cm at Pelvoux and Superdevoluy (in the Southern Alps), 15cm at Gerardmer and Lac Blanc (the Vosges), and 5 small cm at Chalmazel (Massif Central) and Formigueres (Pyrenees). There’s no change, therefore, the Northern Alps reinforced their "supremacy" and remains the snowiest in France (460 cm in Chamonix, La Rosiere 385 cm, 350 cm in Alpe d'Huez). Although not all benefited from the recent snowfall, the ski resorts of Hautes-Alpes, however, offer very good conditions (150cm at Les Orres and Montgenevre, Serre Chevalier 145 cm). Some light snow is expected in the next few days but no more heavy falls for a while.
Italian ski areas have been further building their base depths over the past seven days with Courmayeur adding 40cm and Cervinia 50cm of new snow while Livigno has a foot (30cm).
The small ski area of San Domenico di Varzo currently has the country’s deepest snow with 320cm followed by the Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale in the Dolomites with 2.7m (nine feet) and Cervinia with 2.6m (just under nine feet!).
Switzerland has been seeing lots of fresh snow in the past few days – once again, building on already big base depths. Yesterday there were a dozen Swiss powder alarms with resorts reporting at least 20cm of new snow in 34 hours; yesterday there have been more with falls of up to 50cm including 30cm for Gstaad and Grindelwald. The best Swiss snow depth can be found in Engelberg with 460cm, Laax has 400cm and Saas Fee 360cm (12 feet). In the last seven days there’s been 138cm at Crans Montana, 130cm at Laax and 115cm in Lötschental.
Snow bases remain reasonable to good at most areas in the Pyrenees but there has not been much fresh snow in January so a top up would be useful. Resorts in Andorra and Spain report 60-150cm bases. In France there’s 130cm in Piau Engaly, Peyragudes 90cm and 70cm in Saint Lary but conditions remain satisfactory even if a snowfall of about 20 to 30 cm would be welcome at bottom of ski areas where the snow is still sometimes limited.
Most resorts in Scandinavia are in good shape with good snow cover. Røldal in Norway is claiming the deepest snow in the region with 340cm (11.3 feet) while Voss has 290cm (nearly 10 feet).
Conditions are looking much better in Scotland than a week ago following a week of snowfall at most areas. However the situation remains changeable as it has all winter with freeze-thaw patterns and the seemingly endless arrival of strong o gale force winds every few days.
On the west Coast Glencoe is largely open and Nevis range has more than 500m of skiable vertical but strong winds and warming temperatures are making snow on the upper mountain softer and wetter and runs on the lower mountain are likely to be thin and narrow. For beginners and novices the Alpha lift is running to Tower 2 for the artificial slope and patches of snow on the trainer tow. Back Corrie has been off piste and not patrolled. On the east most runs at The Lecht are complete. Cairngorm can not quite yet offer top-to-bottom skiing but the route from the Top Station to the mid station is now complete again and offering great snow sports. The bottom zig is still a bit sketchy, with the best route for lower abilities being from the mid zig to the Gunbarrel. Glenshee has a 300m vertical and recent snow has improved the runs with good skiing/boarding to be had on those that are open. Cairnwell and the Butcharts Tows are complete with fresh snow on a hard packed base. Other runs are thin in places.
Western Canada continues to report great conditions and there seems to be no end to the snowfall with Kicking horse in BC reporting another foot (30cm) today already. Fellow BC resort Revelstoke has now achieved a 209cm (7 foot) base with 40cm of snowfall over the weekend and a total of 68cm in the last seven days. The resort says it`s still snowing heavily down to the base with a big snowfall in the forecast for tonight plus more snow on the way this weekend
After a weird two month snow droughtin the USA, the first real storms of winter have already left a big impression on California's Mammoth Mountain and Lake Tahoe ski areas.
Snow started flying on Friday and as of 8am Monday morning, Mammoth had picked up four feet / 1.3m of snow and more is expected over the next couple of days. In Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort has received two to three feet / 1m of snow since last week and is expecting additional snow over the next few days, and in Northstar California at the top of the summit four feet / 1.3m of snow has fallen in the last week. Other resorts around Tahoe also reported big accumulations with Squaw Valley and Alpine meadows claiming up to 1.8m (six feet) fell.
At over 10,000 feet / 3,000m, Heavenly is Lake Tahoe's highest resort and they are currently operating 24 of 30 lifts, accessing 30 trails and more than 19 miles of terrain, and anticipate being able to open more terrain soon. In Northstar, they have 15 lifts open and 57 trails open. In both resorts, the natural snow has added nicely to the existing machine-made coverage, making for excellent conditions. The much needed powder will allow Mammoth to open all lifts and terrain by the end of this week.

Swatch Freeride World Tour: Super Smoothy in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

Winning a men's ski contest on the Swatch Freeride World Tour deserves a place on the list of "hardest things to do in sport". Sam Smoothy from New Zealand who has battled through qualifiers and injuries over the last few seasons proved that persistence always pays off and hit the top rung of the podium for the first time. In second place was one of the tour's most consistent performers Reine Barkered from Sweden and in third, tour newcomer Oakley White Allen from the USA who following his second place finish in Revelstoke will go to the top of men's ski rankings. Smoothy chose the lookers left line taken by a number of riders and looked to be fighting for a place on the podium with his control and fluidity in the upper face. Then he took a slightly different angle into the final section and dropped an absolute beauty of a cliff - longer, cleaner, sweeter than his rivals. Smoothy was almost speechless afterwards: "Winning here in the home of Freeriding, it doesn't get better, it's amazing".
The men's snowboard contest saw local Chamonix rider Douds Charlet take first place followed by tour newcomer Ralph Backstrom from the USA and another French rider Aurelien Routens in third. Rock solid in Revelstoke, Douds was again on the top of his game taking a creative line on the extreme lookers right of the face. He was smooth and clean throughout, a text book Freeride lesson for any youngsters with world tour ambitions. "It's great to win at home in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. I threw a front side 360 at the top and dropped four cliffs overall. I tried to stay fast and clean and I think I achieved that".
American Jackie Paaso who delighted everyone with one of her trademark cliff jumps in the lower part of the face took first place in the women's ski . Behind Jackie in second was Angel Collinson also from the USA and who seems to podium at every tour stop. In third, making it a great day for New Zealand riders, was Janina Kuzma. After her win, Jacky said: "I chose a line that suited my style and everything went to plan with two airs high in the face and another towards the end. I'm really looking forward to the next contest in Norway".
The women's snowboard contest was won by US rider Maria Debari: "I was not expecting to win at all although I did ride my chosen line". In second was French rider Margot Rozies who has started the season in great form and in third was another American rider Shannan Yates.
The Swatch Freeride World Tour now moves on to Italy with a quick transit to Courmayeur-Mont-Blanc for the third men's ski and snowboard contest of the season.

Sam Smoothy Winning Line:

OnTheSnow Acquires Skiinfo

Mountain News Corporation, publisher of OnTheSnow, the world's most visited snow sports online and mobile platform, is expanding its reach with the acquisition of Skiinfo, Europe’s most visited snow sports website.
This acquisition will increase Mountain News Corporation's reach in key European ski markets and creates a total audience of more than 23 million unique visitors per year. The combined companies will operate in 14 languages and 20 countries.
Established in 1996 in Oslo, Norway as a snow reporting website, Skiinfo.com expanded over the years adding offices in Germany, France, Italy and Slovakia, and has become the top ranked source for snow reports and snow sports information in Europe with an audience of 11 million unique users in 2011.
"This acquisition allows us to combine the dominant snow sports leader in North America with the leader in Europe to create the first ever, truly global snow sports media platform", said Chad Dyer, global managing director of Mountain News Corporation. "With a combined 23 million unique visits per year, we will be able to offer advertisers access to skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts around the world -- one of the most coveted demographics in media. The combined companies also will be able to offer skiers and riders the most comprehensive global snow sports content and most robust worldwide snow reports".
According to Dyer, with the combination of OnTheSnow and Skiinfo's snow reports, the new company will provide snow reports to more than 1,500 worldwide websites and international media companies, and will provide advertisers with an expanded reach and capabilities to reach skiers on a global scale.
The acquisition remains subject to certain conditions and is expected to close on February 1st, 2012.
Mountain News Corporation (MNC), a subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN), is the publisher of OnTheSnow & the Ski Report mobile applications. MNC, is also a top provider of snow reports to more than 1,500 web sites throughout the world, including approximately 400 news media websites. In addition to its snow reports and website, OnTheSnow.com publishes and delivers a weekly e-mail newsletter to its database of more than 300,000 subscribers worldwide. MNC also operates MountainGetaway.com, the year-round headquarters for information regarding popular mountain resort communities and regions in the summer months.

Snowfall Returns To USA After A Calm Week In The Alps

After the huge snowfalls of the first 10 days of January conditions have been much calmer in the Alps over the past week. The USA, where key states have been needing snow, have seen the first substantial falls for over a month in Colorado, Utah and new England though.
Heavy snow, possibly disruptive in places is expected in the next few days however with Western North America and France/Switzerland expected to get the biggest falls – potentially huge 1m+ accumulations – although most other areas will see fresh snow too.
Big falls have already been reported in the past 72 hours with parts of Hokkaido in Japan, already known as one of the snowiest places on earth, managing to clock up their greatest ever 48 hour accumulations and Western Canada – which has had a great snowy season so far anyway, seeing more big falls of up to 75cm in 24 hours. Some resorts there have now received around 6m/20 feet of snow so far this winter.
Conditions have calmed down in Austria after the huge snowfalls in the first week of January led to road closures and cut off resorts by road and rail. During the last week some resorts got up to 40cm fresh snow however keeping slopes in good shape. Obertauern and Zauchensee report 40cm for the last seven day while Fieberbrunn, Zillertal and St Johann in Tirol got 20cm each. Thanks to all the early January snow there are still huge snow depths in Austrian ski resorts. The deepest can be found in St Anton at Arlberg with 440cm (nearly 15 feet). Zugspitzplatt Ehrwald has 370cm and Lech Zurs at Arlberg has 350cm. There are ten other resorts with a snow depth over three meters (ten feet). Other Austrian news is that the Fun Park in Solden has opened for this season but the off piste avalanche risk is high at several resorts, including Mayrhofen (degree 4 of 5). Towards the end of the week it will be getting warmer in Austria and the snowline will rise to above 1000m. Fresh snowfalls are expected for Saturday afternoon.
For the second consecutive week, French ski resorts are enjoying sunny days and temperatures become colder. This lull has allowed stations to overcome the chaotic situation encountered earlier this year (caused by heavy snow). Everything is now back to normal and the ski conditions are still outstanding on the northern Alps (over three metres/10 feet of snow at the top of Chamonix’s slopes), excellent in the Southern Alps (150cm/five feet in Montgenevre and Les Orres), very good over the Pyrenees (150cm/five feet in Piau Engaly), satisfying in the Jura (60cm/two feet Jura Mountains), but just average in the Massif Central (10 to 60cm) and the Vosges (30 to 60cm depending on the stations). The last significant snowfall occurred more than 10 days ago now but the lull could be only short-lived as the forecast is for a return to snowy weather from Wednesday night with new snowfall continuing through the weekend. All mountain areas should benefit these snowfall (and this is a good news) but the biggest falls are, once again, expected for the northern Alps. The forecasts need to be finalised but could again exceed a metre of new snow in some ski resorts (La Clusaz, Avoriaz ...). "Let it be said, the snow is back in France!" says Skiinfo France’s Stéphane Giraud.
In common with the rest of Europe, there’s been little or no new snowfall in Italy in the past week. However base depths are very healthy. In most areas after the previous large accumulations. The deepest, just, is at Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the West of the country with 2.8m (over nine feet), with Arabba in the Dolomites on the Eastern side only 2cm (less than an inch) behind at 278cm.
The past few days have been sunny in Switzerland. Skiers and boarders benefitted from the big falls a week ago. Snow depths are excellent and skiers are enjoying the good conditions at the moment. On Thursday and Friday new snowfall is expected, especially in the northern Alps. The best snow depth can be found in Lungern-Schönbüel with 450 cm, followed by Engelberg with 385cm and Gstaad Glacier 3000 with 380 cm. However despite the great snow condition the ice is too thin at St Moritz where the 28th Polo World Cup on Snow 2012 on the resort’s famous frozen lake cannot go ahead for the first time in the tournament’s 28-year history.
Conditions remain good across most of the Pyrenees although there’s been little fresh snowfall in the past week. Baqueira – Beret in Spain has the deepest snow base at up to 160cm, followed by Piau Engaly on the French side with 150cm. Vallnord in Andorra in the centre is in third place with 140cm and Cauterets, back in France, has a 130cm base.
It’s snowy in Scandinavia with Strandafjellet in Norway receiving some of the biggest snowfalls in the world over the past 7 days with 80cm. Most of the regions larger resorts are now sitting on healthy base depths with Roldal on top with 290cm (nearly 10 feet).
Western Canada’s excellent season continues and has even moved up a gear with Fernie in British Columbia reporting 75cm (30 inches) of new snow in the past 24 hours on an already healthy base. It’s a similar story across the province: "After an incredible snowfall over the past weekend with close to 50cm of snow falling in 48hrs, Revelstoke Mountain Resort boasts amazing snow conditions nearing a 200cm base and 550cm of snowfall to date", said a resort statement. A heavy snow cycle is forecast to return this weekend with great skiing temperatures throughout the week. Recent snowfalls have developed the lower mountain, with runs below Mid-Mountain Lodge officially opening at Revelstopke for the first time yesterday. Skiers and snowboarders can now enjoy the Most Vertical in North America with 5620’ vertical feet of skiing fun!
Western US is bracing for a dramatic change to its lacklustre winter 2011-12 with big snowfalls and temperatures up to 20 degrees below average as new fronts move in to the region, severe weather warnings are in place. If this all happens as predicted it should, once the extreme weather has moved on, transform the ski areas in California that have been suffering since early December from warm weather and little or no natural snow. Conditions have already picked up in the major ski states of Utah and particularly Colorado which issued powder alarms for over 8 inches (20cm) of fresh snow and in some cases as much as a foot (30cm) in 24 hours over Monday/Tuesday this week. Beneficiaries included Vail and Beaver Creek. The snow has been good all season in some parts of the US and Alaska, Washington State and Wyoming in the North West of the country have also been reporting more heavy snow as they have for most of the winter. Eaglecrest in Alaska has the country’s deepest snow at 376cm (12.5 feet) while Mt Baker in Washington State, the famed snowiest-resort-in-the-world is not far behind with 368cm. Conditions have picked up a great deal in recent weeks on the East Coast too, although snowfall there at the end of last week has now eased, many resorts, particularly in Vermont, benefitted from several feet of snow.

Ice On Tour: Over 100 winners to gather in Saas-Fee

In 2012 Ice On Tour, including the 13th Ice Climbing World Cup to take place in Saas-Fee, will once again provide both spectators and contestants with thrilling competition and wild parties until next Saturday.
This January the renowned ice-climbing competitions will draw athletes and fans from all over the world. This year, the organisers are again expecting over 100 professional climbers to compete in the Lead and Speed disciplines. The athletes will travel from all over Europe, as well as from Azerbaijan, Iran and Korea. Also expected are lots of Russian climbers, who always dominate the Speed events and who regularly achieve top rankings in the Lead events, too. As an Ice Climbing World Cup event is taking place in France for the first time this season (February, Champagny en Vanoise), we will probably see a greater number of French athletes getting involved in the sport, too. Participants from a total of over 20 countries are expected to show off their skills on the 40-metre-high ice wall located deep in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park.
After last year’s changeover in the Swiss ice climbing scene, when young talent like Aufdenblatten, Feller and co. slipped in to take the places of the old guard leaving the scene, it will be interesting to see how the Swiss fare among this year’s strong and diverse field of competitors.
The organisers have found a great solution for all those who are not able to travel to the heart of the action in 2012. They can follow all the exciting ice climbing action in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park via a live video stream. The link to the live stream will only be active during the events and is posted on the official Ice Climbing World Cup website.

Program for the next days:

• 18.01.: Ice Night-Time Ski-Touring Race (Swiss Cup), Saas-Fee


• 20.01.: Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup, European & Swiss Masters, Saas-Fee Ice Climbing Party


• 21.01.: Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup, European & Swiss Masters, Saas-Fee
  Ice Climbing Party

Ice on Tour: A week of action, sport and parties

From 14 to 21 January 2012, ice-climbing and ski-touring freaks from across the globe will once again flock to Saas-Fee. Again "Ice on Tour" will take place in the glacier village, a week-long
programme of action-packed sporting events and legendary iceclimbing parties in the multi-storey car park.
This January the renowned ice-climbing competitions will draw athletes and fans from all over the world. The decision to create an exciting events programme to accompany the Ice Climbing World Cup was made in 2010 – and it has proved to be a very good idea. In 2012 Ice On Tour, including the 13th Ice Climbing World Cup to take place in Saas-Fee, will once again provide both spectators and contestants with thrilling competition and wild parties right through from Saturday to Saturday.
This year’s Ice on Tour week kicks off with the SAC Swiss Ice Climbing Youth Swiss Masters in Saas-Grund. Climbers will compete in two categories (U22 and U18) in the disciplines Lead and Speed climbing. Everyone is welcome to join in, although a certain degree of ice-climbing experience is recommended.
There will also be musical entertainment and a bar serving drinks and light snacks to ensure the event has a party atmosphere.
Exciting night-time ski-touring races will take place on the Wednesday, when around 150 athletes will compete in three different disciplines. All races will start and finish on the village square in Saas-Fee. The "Race" discipline is aimed at those looking for a real sporting challenge; the "Fun" discipline will appeal to those who take the Olympic approach and believe it’s the taking part that counts; while in the "Kids" category keen youngsters can take on their own special course equipped with snowshoes. Before, during and after the races, spectators can enjoy hot drinks, Swiss raclette and "Icespaghetti" on the village square.
Registration for the Ice Climbing World Cup takes place on the Thursday and, in accordance with tradition, all participating athletes are invited to come and gather their strength at a big pasta party.
The action starts in earnest on the Friday and Saturday, when the spectacular ice-climbing competitions get underway on the 30-metre ice wall in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park – with up to 3,000 spectators. Afterwards, if previous years are anything to go by, there’ll be no time for resting as the hugely popular ice climbing parties are known to continue until morning!B
Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup; European and Swiss Masters
The ice-climbing competitions in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park are a great opportunity to see top Swiss and international athletes in action and to experience the party spirit of the ice-climbing scene. The competitions take place in a distinctive, one-of-a-kind location: Saas-Fee’s ten-storey car park.
With its spiral access ramp, this indoor venue provides spectators with shelter from the elements and an ideal vantage point to watch the action. Each year some 3,000 spectators get close enough to the climbers to see almost every detail of their ice axes and gripping fingers. Deep down at the bottom is the party zone where guests can let their hair down, hit the dance floor and celebrate the climber’s amazing performances. To make sure no one misses out on any of the sensational action on the ice wall, the climbs are also shown on various large and small screens throughout the venue.
The disciplines: Lead and Speed
In Lead climbing, competitors have to master a long, difficult and unfamiliar route in a given amount of time. Routes can be anything up to 35 metres in height. Besides the ice wall itself, climbers must contend with obstacles such as overhangs, hanging ice blocks and tricky rock sections. Ice climbers consider this discipline the ultimate challenge. The winner is the competitor who covers the greatest distance in the allotted time. One way of measuring
this is by counting the number of carabiners that the climbers manage to clip the rope through.
As its name suggests, the competition’s second discipline is all about speed. As soon as the starting barrier falls, the competitors leap onto the 15-metre vertical wall of ice and scramble to the top at a breath-taking pace – just like Spiderman! Top athletes can complete the course in an incredible 13 seconds. In 2012 this discipline will be run in parallel for the first time.
A legendary party atmosphere
When night falls, the ice-climbing parties get going in Saas-Fee’s multi-storey car park, ten floors below ground level at the foot of the competition ice wall. These parties have become the stuff of legend for the spectacular performances given by the pros that attend. Ice-climbing holds are fixed to the ceiling of the party zone especially for these shows. As the party gets later and crazier, more and more climbers start lining up for another opportunity to show off their prowess. Dangling upside down, they make their way across this unique course, once again reminding us of Spiderman. The spectators, who prefer to keep their feet firmly on the ground, look on in incredulity as the climbers appear to stick to the ceiling like glue. Alongside the main party zone, which pumps out the latest chart and club hits, the Bacardi Bar offers the ultimate après-ski party atmosphere. For those who need to come down a little, the heated food tent with its wide variety of cuisine is a great alternative – as is the tavern, which serves a selection of fine
Valais wines.

Program 2012
14.01.: SAC Ice Climbing Youth Swiss Masters, Saas-Grund
18.01.: Ice Night-Time Ski-Touring Race (Swiss Cup), Saas-Fee
20.01.: Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup, European & Swiss Masters, Saas-Fee Ice Climbing Party
21.01.: Bächli Ice Climbing World Cup, European & Swiss Masters, Saas-Fee Ice Climbing Party

North Americans Dominate the Swatch Freeride and Freeskiing World Tour Revelstoke 2012

In a growing collaboration between the Swatch Freeride World Tour, the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding which brought together one of the strongest rider fields ever assembled, North Americans dominated both the ski and snowboard competitions. With its vast ski and snowboard options, warm hospitality and consistent annual snowfall, few destinations in North America can rival Revelstoke - all the signs point to Revelstoke becoming a mainstay on the Freeride World Tour.
Ski Contest - Results
On what could become an iconic competition face on the Freeride World Tour, the North Americans swept the podium in both men's and women's ski competitions.
A perfect bluebird day in deep pow on the giant Mac Daddy face in the heart of the Revelstoke back country - it was a classic big mountain Freeride competition. Leading after day 1, Canadian Kye Petersen tightened his grip on the field with an effortless looking ride on this steep and highly exposed venue. Clean, crisp and balanced throughout Kye's run had a ominous ring to it. If he maintains this level, the 21-year old Canadian is clearly going to be very difficult to beat this year. Kye remarked: "I just wanted to get to the bottom and stay on my feet. This is the best a competition can be, with the best skiers from North America and Europe, I’m excited to come out on top". Second place went to US rider Oakley White Allen who impressed the judges with his super fluid line. With a giant smile on his face White-Allen stated: "I followed my same approach from day one and that was to ski a line that is fun to ski, I think that comes out in your body language so that’s what I did today". Rounding out the top three was Drew Tabke who weaved his way across the technical face jumping and stomping almost non-stop in the lower section.
French riders Adrien Coirier and Jeremy Prevost just missed out on the podium finishing 4th and 5th respectively. Germany's Basti Hannemann continued his good early season form with another solid performance finishing in 9th position. Other leading European contenders Aurelien Ducroz and Samuel Anthamatten both crashed out attempting huge drops.
In the women's contest Angel Collinson proved again what a truly world class performer she is. Absolutely rock solid on the highly exposed top section of the face, balanced and fluid in the technical sections she finished her run with a fully stomped cliff. Freeride World Tour runner-up in 2011, Angel has already put her marker firmly in the snow for 2012. "My day was already made when I woke up to bluebird skies this morning. I was really excited to ski that awesome face with tons of options and I felt I had a strong run today,” said Collinson. In second place was Crystal Wright who hit one of the biggest drops of the day for the ladies and completing the US 1,2 3 was comeback kid Jesse McMillan who straight-lined the bottom section.
Germany's Pia Widmesser was Europe's top placed female rider in 5th position and looks set for a strong season.
Presented to the winners were Howitzer Shell trophies, courtesy of Swatch. These awards represent shells used in avalanche control work-necessary to ski a venue like the “Mac Daddy”.
Snowboard Contest - Results
The "Mackenzie Face" played host to the world’s best big mountain snowboarders in a one-run winner takes all contest.
American Ralph Backstrom earned the highest score of the day, with a 92.67 out of a possible 100 points. On the notoriously challenging "Mac Face", Backstrom was aggressive from the outset, starting with a very technical entrance and finishing with a solid double cliff drop. Backstrom said: "I stayed on my feet, I went really fast, pretty fluid, I kind of white-roomed myself once or twice. My line had some nice features. I am really stoked – we had really good snow".
In second place was Jonathan "Douds" Charlet from Chamonix. The French snowboarder stomped three cliffs with his fast and fluid style, earning a score of 91.67. After his run Douds said: "I am very happy. I changed my line at the last moment, popped a big cliff on the right, it was much bigger than I thought, nice landing – really good powder". Rounding out the Men’s podium was US rider Blair Habenicht with a score of 90.00.
Of the six women invited to compete, Maria DeBari topped the talented field with a score of 80.67; twenty-five points ahead of the next competitor. Honing her skills on Mt. Baker’s big mountain lines, DeBari chose a smart line, allowing her to ride fast and flawlessly down the steep face. Maria explained: "I rode that skier’s right panel up against the cliff because it looked like the coolest thing when I was looking at it".
Finishing second was France's Margot Rozies "I was really nervous up there, because I was the first to drop in and it is my first Freeride World Tour Competition. The snow was really sluffy and I had to wait a bit before I could jump, but it was really exciting and I had a great run". In third place was American Shannan Yates, with a score of 43.33.
The Swatch Freeride World Tour now moves on to the Freeride Mecca of Chamonix Mont-Blanc for the weekend of 21-22 January. With heavy early season snowfalls in Europe and the Mont Blanc as a back-drop the scene is well and truly set for another great competition.

A Big Contest Day One for North American Riders in Revelstoke

With snow falling and a fully loaded rider field, the scene was set for a highly competitive first day of the 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour. The North Bowl in Revelstoke Mountain Resort, BC, Canada provided the world's best riders with their first major challenge of the season.
Much was expected from the North Americans and they didn't disappoint. In the men's skiing Canadian Kye Petersen leads going into Sunday's Final with Americans Drew Tabke and Oakley-White-Allen just in behind. Petersen at just 21 years old is already a Freeride icon. He started with a double-cliff, skied fast and aggressively through the open bowl area and landed two huge 360's towards the end of his run. "I had a solid run, I landed everything and I hit the line I wanted to hit, I added a few little things at the bottom and pulled it off. I felt good about it", said Kye.
European riders struggled to shine with only Germany's Sebastian Hannemann (video attached) in the top ten: "I jumped a big double, probably the biggest double I have ever jumped. The landing was not totally clean but I didn’t crash and I am happy with my run", explained Basti.
Reigning Freeride World Champion Aurelien Ducroz sits back in 20th place. The top 25 men quality for Sunday's Final.
The story was similar for the women, a North American one, two, three. Going into Sunday's final on top will be American Ashley Maxfield with Canadian Nicole Derksen in 2nd place and Angel Collinson third. An elated Ashley said: "On my run I chose a line I have been eyeing the last few days. When I sent it off the first drop I went bigger than I thought but as soon as I landed on the second pillow I knew it was easy from there on out. I had so much fun skiing the fresh snow and when I went off my last air I just thought have fun. It was one of my favourite competition runs I have ever had".
Leading European riders Eva Walkner and Lorraine Huber both fell effectively taking them of contention.
The 2012 Swatch Freeride and Freeskiing World Tour at Revelstoke Mountain Resort continues Saturday with Snowboarders from The Swatch Freeride World Tour and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding, competing on Mac Face for a one-run final. The Final day of the Swatch Freeskiing and Freeride World Tour is currently scheduled for Sunday, January 8.

Yet Another Huge Snowfalls In The Alps, More Coming

After a largely sunny Christmas week in the Alps, another spate of huge snowfalls occurred over New Years Eve and New Years Day with some resorts receiving a metre of fresh snow during the 48 hour period. Snowfall has slowed a little now but resorts are still reporting 20-30cm falls across Europe and bigger falls are expected again towards the end of the week.
This is clearly good news for snow depths for the rest of the season with many areas that had next to no snow this time a month ago now reporting base depths at the average they’d normally be at around mid-February in an average year, if such a thing exists.
In the short term however the abundant snow has caused operational problems with slopes closed due to high avalanche danger and ski resort access made difficult with snow and ice on roads.
Elsewhere in Europe there has been more heavy snow in parts of Scandinavia and Scotland’s five ski areas have re-opened following fresh snowfall after earlier snow had thawed away in double digit temperatures over Christmas.
In the USA conditions remain ‘challenging’ on both east and west coasts with limited snow and warm temperatures making snowmaking difficult, but colder weather has arrived in the East at least now improving things.
There have been good snowfalls across Austria. In Nassfeld Hermagor around 40cm was reported on Tuesday morning and all slopes are open in the resort. There were good snowfalls too in Silvretta Montafon (20cm) and Gargellen (15cm). The best Snow depth can be found at St Anton with 305cm where 255km of slopes are open. Snowfalls of up to 95cm (three feet) in total over the past week have been reported in Austrian ski resorts including at Silvretta Montafon 95cm, Zillertal 85cm, St. Anton 78cm, Sölden 71cm, Serfaus Fiss Ladis 65cm and Lech Zurs 55cm. Avalanche risk is high at the moment in Berwang, on the Pitztal Glacier and at Rifflsee.
The last week of 2011 was marked by heavy snowfall in the French Alps. In the past seven days it has, for example dropped 111cm (nearly four feet) of fresh snow at La Plagne, 100cm (3.3 feet) at Les Carroz and 92cm (three feet) at Le Grand Bornand. Snowfall has continued today (Wednesday 4 January) with 20cm reported by many resorts including Avoriaz and Val d’Isere. The snow depth measured at the top of the runs have already reached the kinds of levels they’re at by mid-February with 350cm (12 feet) at the top of the ski resort of Chamonix, 300 cm at the top of La Rosiere, 280 cm at the top of the slopes of La Clusaz ...
These heavy snowfall have also temporarily disrupted access to some ski resorts with roads closed to allow for avalanche control that threatened safety. However, the good snow news was somewhat disturbed by a sharp increase of temperatures and even a few drops of rain Saturday and Monday. This warmer weather was not enough to endanger the snow conditions in the Alps but is still quite disturbing for low-altitude ski resorts of Les Vosges, where there’s only 40cm of snow at the top of slopes and 15 small cm at the bottom of ski areas. The end of week should be accompanied by still more new snowfall on the northern Alps, but by rain showers on Jura, Vosges and Massif Central. The Southern Alps and the Pyrenees should remain stable weather. In Italy slopes are looking largely good with up to 70cm of snow reported in the past week, and 50cm at Courmayeur. Powder alarms of 20-25cm of new snow have been reported today in the Dolomites at Alta Badia and Brixen. Snow has fallen across the region above 900m above sea level for the second night in a row.
There have been more good snowfalls of over a metre during the last seven days in many Swiss ski resorts. Laax reports 140cm for the last week, Andermatt 120cm and Gstaad 110cm. However all slopes at Gstaad Glacier 3000 are reported to be closed at the moment due to the conditions but ready to re-open as soon as these improve. "As soon as the conditions are good enough we will (re)open the lifts and slopes. The snow conditions are good and we do our best to prepare further slopes. We already primed the slopes at the glacier and at Martisberg as good as possible", said a resort spokesperson. Snow depths have passed three metres (ten feet) in Lötschental 356cm, Engelberg 347cm, and Saas Fee (picture attached) 340cm.
Still more new snow is forecast in the next few days and it is expected to get very windy (winter storm) on Thursday with the snowline falling down to 600 metres.
Conditions remain good in most areas of the Pyrenees following healthy December snowfalls bringing bases depths up to a maximum of 1.8m (sis feet). Spain’s Baqueira–Beret reported 20cm of new snow overnight yesterday.
The powder alarms have kept arriving from resorts in Scandinavia and two resorts – Roldal and Voss in Norway, have reported q1.2m (four feet) of snow in the past seven days.
Bad weather in the UK has brought fresh snow to Scotland’s ski slopes and all five centres are open again, although strong winds continue to cause operational disruption. On the West coast at Nevis Range recent snowfall has greatly improved conditions with lots of fresh snow in deep drifts. A statement from Glencoe said, "Conditions on the mountain are much improved and we expect when the wind dies down to have most runs and lifts open". On the east Cairngorm above Aviemore is opening and at Glenshee the ongoing snow is filling in the runs - some of which are now complete with good cover of pisted fresh snow and there are ample nursery areas. The Lecht is also looking very white although the access road was closed on both sides yesterday and the hill was stormbound.
Western Canada continues to enjoy a great season in Alberta and British Columbia. "RED Mountain isn't short on the fluffy stuff heading into 2012. We've received some consistent snowfall - there has been new snow 7 out of the last 11 days", said a resort statement. "Our forecast calls for many more snow days in the next two weeks and all of our chairs are turning, Granite and Red are fully open, and we have 88/88 shred-able runs available on 100-percent natural snow". It’s a similar story at other resorts in the region, which is good news for the Freeride World Tour getting underway with Revelstoke where snow depths have reached 4.6m according to the organisers. Overall BC resorts are in the best shape of any part of North America right now.
US destination resorts in the West of the country are continuing to face some of the most challenging conditions for more than a decade with limited natural snow and weather too warm for snowmaking. Lake Tahoe in California is reported to be particularly hard hit. Conditions are reported to be picking up in New England and in other East Coasty areas however which had faced similar conditions but is now benefitting from a cold front bringing fresh snow and temperatures cold enough to fire up the huge snowmaking arsenal deployed there.
The best conditions in US are to be found in the North-Westerly states of Alaska and Washington.

Winter X Games Tignes 2012

ESPN and CANAL + Events will collaborate to host and televise the third iteration of Winter X Games Tignes from March 14-16 at Tignes Ski and Snowboard resort in the French Alps. Winter X Games Tignes 2012 will welcome 150 world-class athletes competing in Snowboard and Skiing events. There will be eight different competitions for men and women over three days, including Ski SuperPipe, Snowboard SuperPipe, Ski Slopestyle, Snowboard Slopestyle as well as Snowmobile demonstrations. Winter X Games Tignes will bring together ESPN's world class X Games franchise with France's leading pay TV broadcaster and the local expertise of Tignes Resort.
In the US, the Winter X Games are an institution, seen by top sportsmen and women as the big one, the high point of the season. It's a colossal event, with some 54 million television viewers tuning in last year to watch a spellbinding show, broadcast in over 140 countries, from Israel to Australia, and from Africa to Asia. The annual Winter X Games is the premier winter action sports event in the world, featuring athletes from across the globe competing in three sports: Ski, Snowboard and Snowmobile. All Winter X Games competitions take place in Aspen-Snowmass, Colorado (USA), at the resort’s Buttermilk Mountain.Winter X Games Europe is a joint venture between ESPN and CANAL+. ESPN launched the first Winter X Games in 1997, two years after creating X Games in Rhode Island. Now, 15 years later, the winter event that united an entire generation is leaving American shores for the first time and choosing as its French partner and general coordinator of the new event, CANAL+ Events, to launch the Winter X Games Europe. CANAL+ Events, the CANAL+ Group's sports marketing and events subsidiary, and ESPN have set themselves the target of ensuring the European edition is as big as its American equivalent within three years.

The Swatch Freeride World Tour 2012 starts this week in Revelstoke, Canada

The 2012 Swatch Freeride World Tour starts this week in Revelstoke Mountain Resort, BC, Canada. With 15 feet (4.65 metres) of snow already on the ground, the world's best Freeskiers and Snowboarders, as well as fans, are in for a real treat.
Revelstoke Mountain Resort boasts North America's greatest vertical at 1,713 metres (5,620 ft). The resort also offers 3,121 acres of fall line skiing, high alpine bowls, 13 areas of graded terrain and phenomenal groomed terrain. Revelstoke Mountain Resort is also the only resort world-wide to offer lift, cat, heli and backcountry skiing from one village base.
This season's first event marks another landmark in the rapidly evolving relationship between the Swatch Freeride World Tour, the North American-based Subaru Freeskiing World Tour and The North Face Masters of Snowboarding. With leading athletes from all three tours present, The Swatch Freeride and Freeskiing World Tour 2012 in Revelstoke is bringing together the largest group of world-class riders ever assembled in one place.
"It’s really exciting that with swift and around-the-clock efforts from Mountain Sports International, Swatch Freeride World Tour, and Revelstoke Mountain Resort, the best big mountain skiers and snowboarders will drop into the remote town of Revelstoke to compete head-to-head on its rugged terrain", said MSI Event Director Bryan Barlow. "With the ample, well-bonded snowpack, new venue lineup, and stacked roster, it truly is the recipe for a next level big mountain event!".
From the Swatch Freeride World Tour, the 2011 men's ski champion from France Aurélien Ducroz, Swiss runner-up Samuel Anthamatten and Sweden's Reine Barkered are expected to be strong contenders. From the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour, current leader Guerlain Chicherit and American Josh Daiek are strong podium candidates.
The women’s freeski event sees the return of Angel Collinson from the US who in 2011 won the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour and finished second on the Freeride World Tour. Currently leading the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour after a first place finish in Las Leñas is Jackson Hole’s Crystal Wright.
2011 Freeride World Tour snowboard runner-up Flo Orley from Austria will start as one of the favorites in the men's snowboard competition and French/Swiss 2011 Freeride World Tour snowboard Champion Anne-Flore Marxer on the women's side.