(c) Formigal

In the Pyrenees there are no areas open yet but the first heavy snowfalls have been reported. Formigal in Spain has reported the first snow of the season on their ski mountain’s slopes. The 5cm dusting at Spain’s largest resort is a good sign for the coming season and forecasters are predicting a further 15cm tonight. The Pyrenees received some of the best snow in decades at many resorts last winter, and it all began in Autumn last year, so the region is hoping for a repeat of winter 08-09.

Source: www.skiinfo.co.uk

If you want to ride all day and party all night this season there’s only one place to do it - at the Big Snow Festival in Andorra. New for this year, it promises a week of mayhem and music in the mountains, and we’re chuffed to be involved. Read on for how to get your dancing shoes on in the snow…

Tickets - Packages now on sale!
From 14 to 21 March 2010 The Big Snow Festival hits Andorra’s premier ski resort, Arinsal. Offering a week-long rollercoaster of skiing and snowboarding in one of Europe’s coolest resorts, combined with top music acts and pumping beats, it’s the must-attend festival this winter and tickets are now on sale.

Launched by the organisers of the sell-out UK music event, The Big Reunion, The Big Snow Festival offers top music talent from world-renowned promoters including Judge Jules and Kissdafunk. Amazing headline acts will be announced later this year. It’s an action packed week of music, snow sports and the best après to hit the slopes yet.

Arinsal - Riding for everyone
Arinsal is in the Vallnord ski area and has an altitude of 2560m, ensuring snowy peaks throughout the season. From gentle, open pistes for complete rookies to huge powder bowls and tree-lined runs for experts, the area boasts sensational skiing and boarding landscapes for all levels. It has 40,000 square metres of freestyle terrain, with a half-pipe, rails, kickers, boxes and a designated chill-out space.

For complete novices or for those wanting some top tips to improve their snow skills, Vallnord offers an excellent ski and snowboard school, with English speaking instructors.

Ian Kaye, Event Organiser at The Big Snow Festival, said: “By bringing together a mix of the biggest DJs, promoters and live acts and dropping them slap bang in the middle of one of Europe’s top snow resorts, The Big Snow Festival means booking this year’s winter holiday just got much, much easier.”

Big Snow FestivalArinsal lies in the heart of the Pyrenees, is nestled between France and Spain and is connected to neighbouring Pal. Just three and a half hours from Barcelona and Toulouse Airport, the resort is easy to reach.

To book festival tickets, visit www.thebigsnowfestival.com and QUOTE : BSF01 when making bookings to enjoy a £50 deposit ONLY!!! or call 07939592732 for more information. For those who want to tailor their trip, tickets with various flight, accommodation and wristband options can be purchased. Big Snow Packages are also available, which include return flights, transfers, accommodation and all events from just £399.

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=155030216217&ref=mf
Website: www.thebigsnowfestival.com

Vail Resorts have unveiled a new program for the 2009-2010 ski season tailored to give guests a whole new way to explore the mountain with an expert guide at the company’s five resorts of Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail in Colorado and Heavenly in California.

Skiers and riders will gain insider’s knowledge of each resort and receive tips to improve their skiing and riding throughout the day. The program is geared towards intermediate and expert level skiers and riders who are looking for more adventure with the locals’ view of the mountain and less of an instruction and class setting of a standard ski school class. The cost will be comparable to a ski school group lesson.

Guests will be teamed in small groups with other like-minded ski or ride enthusiasts who want to get the most out of their day. The group will receive special access to move to the front of the lift lines, go places they might not see on your own, enjoy the best terrain and conditions available, and pick up tips and technical information along the way from the Vail Resorts expert guides from its world class Ski & Ride Schools.

“Skiers and Riders are always looking for the inside information about our resorts and we wanted to create a program that provides our guests with an enhanced understanding of each of our resorts without a rigid ski school class structure,” said, Rob Katz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vail Resorts.

The groups will meet from 9:15am until 3pm at Vail’s Colorado resorts and start and end 15 minutes later at Heavenly.

Source: www.snow.com

It was rumoured a few months ago, but now it’s been confirmed that Oxford Airport will be running daily flights to Geneva. These initially will be available between 19th December 2009 until 13th March 2010. Flights will leave Oxford at 12.20 and 14.05 every day for Geneva.

Full story: http://ski-concierge.com/blog/new-daily-ski-flights-from-oxford-airport-to-geneva/

Cold temperatures and natural snowfall have arrived earlier than expected in Colorado, USA allowing Loveland Ski Area, one of the world’s highest altitude resorts, to officially kick-off snowmaking for the 2009-2010 ski season.

“Our Trail Maintenance department has been busy preparing the hill, and have started beautifully with all the necessary conditions to start blowing snow.  The weather forecast for the next few days looks very favorable for snowmaking,” said Eric Johnstone, Loveland’s Snowmaking and Trail Maintenance Manager.

Loveland Ski Area has started making snow on the Catwalk, Mambo, and Homerun for Opening Day 2009. These trails form a top-to-bottom run of 1,000 vertical feet (330m).

“Everyone at Loveland is just very excited to start the new ski season. The temperatures look good right now, the equipment is in place, and the crew is fired-up to make snow.  We got together this morning and decided that today was the day.” said Bob Magrino, Director of Mountain Operations.

Snowmaking updates are available at www.skiloveland.com/snowmaking. The site is updated continuously with pictures and reports of our snowmaking progress.

Loveland usually opens in the first half of October, but other resorts in the state which won’t open until closer to Thanksgiving in late November have also reported fresh snow for the start of autumn.

At Steamboat Ski Area the first snow of the season was reported just below the top of Christie Peak at about 8,000 feet with between a trace to half an inch as you moved up from the top of the gondola up to the summit of Mt. Werner. The Steamboat Ski Area opens for the 2009/10 season in two months on November 25, 2009.

North America’s only ‘near-year-round’ snowfield is scheduled to re-open at Timberline, Oregon this weekend after a few week’s annual maintenance closure.

www.skiloveland.com

An  annual study of business reported by Switzerland’s ski lift operators has revealed that the country enjoyed its best winter for five years last season.

“In spite of the global economic turmoil it was the early arrival of reliable snow conditions, coupled with favorable weather at weekends and holidays throughout the winter season that did it.” Said report author Laurant Vanat.

Confirming winter 2008/09 as the best in the last five years for Switzerland, the Report recorded  a rise in attendance at Swiss resorts of 2.2% compared to the previous season, and of 7.3% compared to the average of the last four seasons.

Resorts reported a total of 29.3 million skier-days and business turnover was up overall by 1.9%, to 862 million Swiss Francs.

Davos-Klosters was again the most popular resort in the country in terms of skier-days and in fact the top 13 places in the table remain unchanged from last winter.