|
| Latest
wintersports news |
|
North Americans Up With the Best In World Cup Sprint Qualification -Tuesday 07 March 2006
Today's freestyle sprint race in Borlange, Sweden is underway, with several strong performances from North American skiers in the prelim which bode well for the subsequent elimination heats that will determine the actual final results.
Canadian youngsters Devon Kershaw and Chandra Crawford (recent Olympic Gold Medalist) posted the fourth fastest and second fastest prelim times in the men's and women's heats respectively. Kershaw finished barely more than 1 second behind the fastest men's qualifier Vassili Rotchev of Russia, with two Norwegians squeeking in ahead in second and third, while Crawford was only bettered by current overall World Cup leader Marit Bjoergen of Norway.
Also placing in the top 30 and advancing to the heats are Canadians Sara Renner (10th fastest prelim time) and Beckie Scott (18th). For the US, Kikkan Randall posted a time good enough for 14th and will be duking it out with the best as she did in the Olympics where she managed 9th overall. Andrew Newell is the lone US male representative to advance, qualifying in 12th between Tor Arne Hetland and France's Roddy Daragon who made the Olympic final. US skiers Torin Koos and Chris Cook were both less than 1 second from qualifying.
|
|
 |
|
Weekly weather update -Tuesday 28 February 2006
Some fresh snow over the weekend has helped to top up the European conditions. The week ahead looks promising too, with more snow forecast. The slopes have been refreshed this weekend in Austria with some nice fresh snow. There is good piste skiing in France after a dusting of snow in some areas, topping up the pistes. More fresh snow has fallen over the weekend in Italy too. Some fresh snow has also fallen in Switzerland refreshing the slopes. It will be a powder day at Oppdal in Norway today and more snow is forecast throughout the week in most Norwegian resorts. There is great news for Sweden as snow is forecast throughout the week. The snow arrived at most of the German resorts over the weekend and more is expected this week too. There Bulgarian skiing is still really strong and has improved with some snow fall at the start of the weekend. There has been further snow over the weekend in Andorra, topping up the excellent on-piste conditions. The Scottish skiing has also improved with more snow over the weekend at most resorts, and more predicted this week. Fresh snow in the eastern United States is accompanied by wind and low temperatures, whilst in the west the sun is shining and temperatures are mild. There is even more powder skiing in Canada with the fresh snow from the weekend. It?s going to be windy, cold and cloudy for the next few days on the eastern seaboard of the USA. In the west it is forecast to cloud over tomorrow or Wednesday bringing more fresh snow. The sunshine is predicted to return on Thursday.
|
|
|
|
Whistlers Whitney and Walker shine in Nakiska -Thursday 08 December 2005
The season opener Entry Level FIS races wrapped up Saturday after three days of icy cold racing at Nakiska Ski Resort, 90 km west of Calgary in the Kananaskis corridor. State of the art snow-making equipment ensured excellent conditions under mostly clear skies and the racers enjoyed plenty of hill space and short lift lines as they arrived before the mountain had opened to the public. They kicked off with Giant Slalom on Thursday, switching to Slalom for Friday and Saturday.
BC’s Victoria Whitney of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club got her season off to a fine start with a Bronze medal in Slalom and two more top-10 results in GS and Slalom. It looks like all that summer and fall training as an invitee with the BC Alpine FIS B2B Development group is paying off for Toria! Also from BC and the Whistler Mountain Ski Club is veteran racer Rachel Walker, who took home Gold in both Slalom races.
|
|
|
|
Sprints Dash for Cash on Tuesday Night at Silver Star -Sunday 04 December 2005
Come on up for the most energized Nordic event in North America this year: Silver Stars Night Sprints Dash for Cash. Olympic and World Cup Nordic racers from 23 nations will be skate sprinting madly around a 650 metre course at the centre of Silver Star Mountain Resort, with $10,000 in cash up for grabs! Join in the massive street party with music, lights, fireworks, food vendors in the village, and watch the action on the giant 17' Jumbotron!
Cheer for your favourite racers, including Canadian Olympic gold medalist Beckie Scott and World Championship bronze medalist Sara Renner. This is the very first opportunity for Okanagan spectators to see these World Cup and Olympic racers in action. The time trials will start at 2:00 pm, with the top 16 men and women advancing to the finals starting at 7:00 pm.
Free parking, free admisson, live entertainment, fireworks – it will be a celebration of cross country like no other. The apres-ski street party will be one to go down in history!! Come up, watch the action, and enjoy!
|
|
|
|
Ski Racing Canadian Edition Lake Louise -Saturday 03 December 2005
Media announced its plans in Lake Louise at the Winterstart World Cup events last weekend to launch Ski Racing Canadian Edition this winter. The new magazine — a partner magazine of Ski Racing — will journal the key stories surrounding Canada’s winter snowsports athletes, such as alpine World Cup standouts Erik Guay and Thomas Grandi, 2005 World Cup overall women’s moguls champion Jennifer Heil and cross-country Olympic medalist Beckie Scott. SR “Canadian Edition,” the largest winter competition magazine in Canada, aims to elevate the promotion of snowsports through in-depth coverage of competition nationally and abroad. “The interest level in the magazine is very high,” said Gordie Bowles of BK Media. “Everyone I spoke to in Lake Louise, from athletes and coaches to corporate sponsors and Alpine Canada partners, are quite excited. “We intend to deliver a top-notch magazine that will bring promotion of our Canadian athletes and their sports to a whole new level.” Members of all Canadian national sport households (alpine, cross-country, freestyle, disabled, nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboarding, speed skiing and telemark) will receive the first issue just before the Torino Olympic Winter Games.
|
|
|
|
Lake Louise ready for worldcup -Tuesday 29 November 2005
Canadian alpine speedsters took to the slick downhill piste on Whitehorn Mountain in beautiful Lake Louise, Friday for the 3rd and final downhill training run at the Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup. Mont-Tremblant’s Erik Guay turned in the best Canadian time for the third day in a row. Members of the BC Men's Team are gaining valuable experience forerunning the event! Open the links below to read quotes, highlights and results from the 3 days of training runs.
Race action continues Saturday at the Lake Louise Mountain Resort with the men’s long awaited downhill followed by the men’s super-G on Sunday. Friday's top 30 finishers will start in reverse top-30 order for Saturday's race.
|
|
|
|
Lund Svindal wins first Super-G -Monday 28 November 2005
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal has won the first Super-G of the mens World Cup season. A perfect start....
Svindal could only muster sixth place in the first downhill of the season in Lake Louise on Saturday.
But he fared better on Sunday, clocking a time of one minute 26.04 seconds.
"My skiing has been going very well for a long while." said Svindal. Two of the pre-race favourites, World Cup champion Bode Miller and Austria's Hermann Maier finished well down the order.
Miller was 18th after almost crashing halfway down the course, while Maier finished 21st having almost skied off course.
|
|
|
|
Big White opens the Ridge Rocket Express and Plaza Chairs -Monday 28 November 2005
The forecast says more snow coming our way for Tuesday! More runs are now open: Hummingbird, Easy Out, Highway 33, Squirrel, Rollercoaster and Kangaroo from the Upper Distributor, and early season skiing conditions on Serwa's, Paradise and Exhibition.
|
|
|
|
Worldwide weekend weather update -Friday 25 November 2005
Most of Europe can look forward to a big dump of snow this weekend in time for the winter opening of several more resorts. The snow of the past few days in Austria looks set to continue into early next week, and in France both in the Alps and Pyrenees, this snowfall brings an end to a sunny and snowless week. Switzerland and Italy will also benefit from the snow. The German resorts are still not open as yet. In Norway Trysil is now open following the recent snowfalls, the conditions in the resort will continue to improve with snow forecast throughout the weekend. More great news for Norway is the opening of Geilo tomorrow. The start of the season in Sweden has had a boost with the opening of Salen, they have 2 lifts open providing access to 5 slopes. Early winter skiing is still pretty good in many resorts in the States, with those in the east coast experiencing some new snow. Canadian resorts are also still enjoying the recent snow. Good news ion Canada as well as snow is forecast for the weekend and early into next week, with the most falling in Tremblant and Mont Sainte-Anne.
|
|
|
|
Vail Mountain Colorado suprises with early opening -Tuesday 22 November 2005
Vail Mountains 43rd season gets underway this Friday, Nov. 18 at 9 a.m. with some of the best snowfall in the resort's history. Vail has received nearly six feet of snow at the top of the mountain, which provides a strong base to open 11 lifts, 72 trails and 1,015 acres on opening day.
"On Friday Vail opens with some of the best snow conditions we've ever seen," said Bill Jensen, Vail's chief operating officer. "Skiers and riders should be ecstatic to take advantage of the exceptional early season snowfall which also has allowed us to lift the Thanksgiving pass restrictions on Vail Mountain next week."
|
|
|
|
Austrian National Ski Team in Sun Peaks -Tuesday 22 November 2005
There is excitement in the air at Sun Peaks this week! The Austrian National Mens Ski Team is in our beautiful province taking advantage of the ideal training conditions offered at Sun Peaks Resort and the Nancy Greene International Race Centre. This will be the North American training site for the Austrian men and women’s teams for the next 5 years in late November and early December. The Austrian women's team arrives next week!
|
|
|
|
Silver Star Mountain Resort announces opening today -Friday 18 November 2005
The wait is OVER! With weekend storms adding significantly to the already impressive early season snowpack, Silver Star Mountain Resort opens today for the 2005-2006 ski season at 8:30am.
As of 6:00am on Friday, November 18, Silver Star is reporting a snow base of 78 centimetres (30 inches), with temperatures well below freezing.
The Environment Canada forecast calls for below-freezing temperatures and snow flurries for the next five days. Guests are reminded that these are early-season conditions – hidden and unmarked obstacles may be present. Ski safely, and please do not wander off ungroomed runs.
Silver Star Mountain Resort’s Nordic Centre is open and currently boasts the best Nordic conditions in North America, with over sixty kilometres of trails now open to the public! Two major events that you’ll want to mark on your calendar are the Annual Turkey Trot Loppet on November 26, and the Silver Star Night Sprints Dash for Cash on December 6 which will feature Olympic and World Cup athletes.
|
|
|
|
Crossmax International in Soelden is delayed -Tuesday 15 November 2005
The SAAB Salomon Crossmax Series Event in Soelden will take place at a date later on. The series were planned on the 24th und 25th of November 2005. For now the event is rescheduled for the 7th and 8th December 2005.
However the conditions on the Tiefenbachgletscher are excellent the track isn’t prepared as planned. Due to this reason the X-Games Qualifier is planned for a date later on.
|
|
|
|
Europacup in Finland cancelled -Tuesday 15 November 2005
The women Europacup in Levi und Pyhae, Finland, are cancelled. This was announced by the international ski federation (FIS). The Europacup was planned in Levi the 19th and 20th of November and in Pyhae the 22th and 23th of November. Due to the ongoing warm weather conditions the quality of the snow is very poor. In Finland temperatures in October and November are the highest in the past 50 years.
|
|
|
|
Bode Miller speeds again -Monday 14 November 2005
Last year Bode Miller became the first American man in 22 years to win the overall World Cup title. Bode Miller was clocked again last month now speeding at 83 m.p.h. in a 40-m.p.h. zone, police said.
The New Hampshire skier pleaded not guilty to the violation. Cpl. Bruce McKay said there was videotape to show Miller was speeding. He was convicted Friday and fined $250 US.
"We hope Bode will keep his speed to the slopes," McKay said.
|
|
|
|
European weather outlook -Monday 14 November 2005
The temperature is still staying around zero degrees in the Austrian glacier resorts. This is good news as the cloud over the glacier resorts is predicted to bring more snow as we move into next week. France is also expecting snow with light snow fall predicted for Tignes over the weekend and into next week. Italy has snow predicted throughout the country over the next 5 days, let's hope this comes true. A similar situation in Switzerland next week with snow forecast.
|
|
|
|
Whistler Blackbomb season start 2005 -Saturday 12 November 2005
Perhaps no other mountain resort in the world can boast the sheer magnitude and scope of improvements that Whistler Blackcomb B.C. Canada has delivered over the past 40 years. And as we celebrate our anniversaries in the upcoming 2005/06 season, we're keeping up the tradition!
For those of you who ski and ride Whistler Blackcomb on a regular basis, you'll be thrilled to see some of the changes there are made to terrain this year. Moving thousands of cubic meters of materials around the mountains – taking material to create better fall lines through some zones, and adding that material to other sites to widen runs and gathering zones – is what our expert crews have spent the summer doing. When the mountains open, these improvements will help you navigate more efficiently and enjoyably through some of the more popular spots on the mountains.
For those of you who'll be visiting Whistler Blackcomb for the first time this winter, then enjoy! Blackbomb open daily November 11 2005 and Whistler will open November 24 2005.
|
|
|
|
Great skiing at Silver Star B.C. Canada -Friday 11 November 2005
There is enough snow that the groomers are having trouble keeping up. All of our trails are open and being groomed with the heavy groomers, something that doesn't usually happen till the end of november. Skiing is great!!! Check out the Main Street of Silver Star Mountain on the web cam at www.skisilverstar.com.
|
|
|
|
Ski Canada 2005 -Friday 11 November 2005
The skiing and boarding in Canada is having a real boost this week with Sunshine Village opening today, and Lake Louise due to open tomorrow. There is some fine soft snow on the trails with a good amount of snow across the resorts for this early in the season. The skiing at Whistler is also set to improve with 6 lifts open for skiing over the weekend on Blackcomb Mountain and 4 lifts open daily from next Monday. Sun Peaks is also scheduled to open on Wednesday 16th November. The snow is forecasted to keep falling throughout the majority if Canadian resorts which is excellent news.
|
|
|
|
Copper Mountain Heli Days -Friday 11 November 2005
Copper Mountain, Colorado, now offers a Heli Days Competition. You and three friends can register as a team to see how many days you can get in on the hill. For every day you get your boarding pass scanned – you will earn points. The more points earned – the more chances to win the trip. Finally win one of eight heli skiing days.
|
|
|
|
Lake Louise World Cup 2005 -Friday 11 November 2005
Lake Louise kicks off its newest season with one of the most exciting events of the year, the 2005 Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup. You will breathe the same fresh air as some of the worlds best ski racers from Alpine Canada, the US Ski Team, and the European National Ski Teams. The annual World Cup Mens and Womens Downhill and Super-G races will be held in Lake Louise from November 26 – December 4, 2005. The internationally televised event will officially open the 2006 World Cup season and will lead into the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
The World Cup Winterstart begins November 26 with the world’s best men competing in the World Cup Downhill, followed by the Men’s World Cup Super-G on November 27. On December 2nd and 3rd, women take the spotlight with the World Cup Downhill, followed by the Super-G on December 4.
|
|
|
|
Atomic will produce Salomon-Ski -Thursday 10 November 2005
As from the year 2007 Atomic wil start producing equipment for Salomon-Ski. Both Atomic and Salomon-Ski are owned by Amer (Finland).
|
|
|
|
Snow in Canada again -Thursday 10 November 2005
New snow in Canada next 3 days: Last Frontier Heliski, Whistler and Lake Louise report upcomming snow the next three days. Besides Lake Louise is reporting the coldest temperature of the Canadian ski areas. Expected temperatures are minus 8 Celcius and wind chill of minus 13 Celcius.
|
|
|
|
Winter Olympics 2006 -Wednesday 09 November 2005
There are now just one hundred days to go before the Winter Olympics for 2006 open in Turin, Italy. Although the actual event venues are now largely complete, work remains to be done on the infrastructure according to this report from Reuters.
One hundred days before the start of the 2006 Winter Olympics, building sites block the roads that criss-cross the mountains. Town squares are being dug up and empty concrete shells will soon become souvenir shops.
Turin’s organising committee, TOROC, proudly declare that construction of the Olympic venues — such as the ski jumps, bobsleigh track and cross-country loop — is finished.However, work remains to be done on infrastructure and, with winter closing in, there is little time left.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
