Environment
Friday, 06 October, 2006
Swiss propose American style heliskiing
Heli-skiing, the practice of dropping skiers on top of high mountain summits with a helicopter, has long since been banned in France. Fans of the sport have had to sneak over the border with Switzerland or Italy to get their fix. Much to the chagrin of French environmentalists their pilots often drop skiers on, or sometimes just over, the border with France.
• (1) Comments • Read More... •
Wednesday, 20 September, 2006
Ski resort of Céüse threatens closure
Céüse, for a long time known as the ski resort of Gap, is on the brink of closure today. Last night the staff were told that this tiny ski resort of just 35 km of runs would not reopen this winter. The reason, a dispute between the new operator and the communities of Sigoyer and Pelleautier over water resources.
Snow making at the heart of the dispute
• (6) Comments • Read More... •
Sunday, 10 September, 2006
Divide and conquer?
Snowboarders are not well catered for when it comes to reaching the backcountry. The most popular choice is to climb on snowshoes or even mini skis with the board lashed to the back of the rucksack. A heavy rucksack is not ideal aid for carving fluid lines in deep powder. Back in the mid-90s Voilé had the idea of cutting a snowboard in half to use it as mini skis for climbing. The two halves would then clip together for the descent. The split board was born.
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Tuesday, 05 September, 2006
Les Arcs doubles snow making
York Neige is completing a project that will double the snow making capacity at les Arcs for the start of the 2006/7 season. The aim is to be ready for the cold weather in November to enable the resort to build a good artificial base for the winter. York is currently installing 4500 meters of snowmaking on runs in Arc 1600 and 1800 and a further 4800 meters at Arc 2000.
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Thursday, 24 August, 2006
Permit system to climb Mont-Blanc?
The mayor of Saint-Gervais, Jean-Marc Peillex, has called for a permit system to be established for Mont-Blanc. Speaking as part of his initiative “La Montagne A l’Etat Pur – The mountain in its purest form”. M.Peillex said that Mont-Blanc has far too many climbers and this brings with it ecological and safety concerns. He called on the government and other concerned parties to study some way of regulating the number of visitors as happens in other countries.
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Wednesday, 07 June, 2006
Sainte-Foy doubles size of ski domain
The opening of the Marquises chair will double the area of pistes in the youngest of the Tarentaise’s ski resorts but the project has not met with universal approval. Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise has planned 15 million € of investment over the next few years including a new area of ski runs under the Camp Filluel to the west of resort but environmental and local pressure groups have described this as “a very risky bet at the expense of the local environment”.
Vallon du Clou
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Monday, 27 March, 2006
Crap Shoot for Andorran Ski Mountaineers
Andorra would no doubt prefer the press to focus on its Grandvalira domain linking the ski areas of le Pas-de-la-Casa, Grau Roig, Soldeu, El Tarter and Canillo, its luxury hotels and its ultramodern high-speed chair lifts but the Shanghai of the Pyrenees shares another problem with the oriental boom-town, serious water degradation. Or rather in Andorra’s case it shares its problem with its neighbours France and Spain much to their annoyance.
Pas-de-la-Casa and the Ariège below
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Friday, 24 March, 2006
Savoie Dries Out
With the recent snow and rain it is hard to believe that the Savoie is currently in its third year of drought. The residents of Saint-Gervais close to Mont-Blanc have been told to reduce their water consumption and both Megève and le Grand Bornand faced restrictions in 2005. In February les Arcs had to be supplied with bottled water for a week after the supplies became contaminated.
Could this be the future for the Alps?
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Tuesday, 24 January, 2006
Max heads for the slopes
Max the migrating Swiss stork is heading for the ski slopes a full week earlier this year. Max normally spends spring and summer near Fribourg in Switzerland where he raises his chicks. In the autumn he heads for warmer climbs, in North Africa. When he was young Max liked to hang around in the souks of Morocco until the end of March but each year he has been returning home a little bit earlier.
• (0) Comments • Read More... •
Monday, 05 December, 2005
Unconventional Wisdom
Conventional wisdom dictates that early season you should go high, probably somewhere with a glacier, what the tour operators would call “guaranteed snow”. Does this really stand up to facts? Once again two high altitude resorts: Val Thorens and Val d’Isère, have had to put back their openings. What greeted visitors to Valtho when it finally opened on the 24th of November was a vision dubbed as “skiing circa 2020”. A ribbon of artificial snow snaking down between brown slopes. Someone suggested that they consider a roof over the pistes to protect them from sunlight, a sort of Snowdome in the mountains. Fortunately salvation came a day later in the form of 10cm of fresh snow which at least made the mountains look all white.
Les Sept Laux last week
• (3) Comments • Read More... •
Members
Log-inRegister
About PisteHors
Advertise
F.A.Q.
Updates
Comments
Trip Reports
Ski Search
Hiking
Last 12 Issues
Atom
MyYahooNews Categories
Recent Forum Posts
broken megarides - 17/05/2008 09:10 amMay 2008 Snow Conditions - 13/05/2008 10:48 pm
Review. Gecko Skins from MP Sports. - 30/04/2008 10:55 am
Patrol of the Belledonne - 30/04/2008 12:18 am
Lubner and Whittier, Alaskan Terrain Report - 29/04/2008 09:53 pm
Stats
Total Entries: 817Total Comments: 876
Total Members: 2316