General
Saturday, 06 October, 2007
Black Diamond Test Centre
Black Diamond will once again be running their test centre in the Edelweiss hotel at la Grave. La Grave, with its unique unpisted high mountain domain is considered one of the freeride capitals of the world and offers a superb open air test laboratory for Black Diamond gear. All the new 2008 mid-sized freeride skis and fatties (including the Havoc, Verdict, Zealot and the new Megawatts!) will be available with a choice of touring, alpine and telemark bindings. The center will also have the women specific Velvet and Joule skis. The BD range has been creating quite a buzz.
Black Diamond’s Test Center in la Grave
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Thursday, 27 September, 2007
Mondial du Ski and Snowboard 2007
The Mondial du Ski et Snowboard is the traditional springboard event for the new season. Held over the autumn half term holidays, from the 27th October to 5th November, the event gives skiers and snowboarders access to 110 hectares of skiing on the largest lift equipped glacier in Europe. With snow already falling on the mountains we may even get a repeat of 2003 when, as a bonus, it was possible to ski to the village in a meter of fresh powder.
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Saturday, 01 September, 2007
World’s longest ski vert
Where is the world’s biggest ski vertical? You might imagine Everest or perhaps somewhere amongst the high mountain of Peru. Two Austrian skiers from Kitzbühel, Axel Naglich et Peter Ressmann have just skied Mont Saint Elias, in Alaska. At 5489 meters altitude it is far from the highest mountain in the world, it is not even the highest summit in Alaska. That honour goes to 6193 meter Denali (Mt McKinley). However you can ski from the summit to sea level, over 5km of challenging vertical. Mount Everest can only muster 3,448 meters of lung busting descent to base camp.
Nice view
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Friday, 27 July, 2007
Quiksilver to dump Rossignol?
Marriages between stars often have the habit of being short lived, especially when there are cultural differences. When both parties are forced to issue a press release denying a split in the face of persistent rumours you can be almost sure there is something afoot. The marriage between the pretty young Australian-American Quiksilver (ZQK/NYSE) and the waning French beau, Rossignol looked difficult from the beginning. Commentators said that Quiksilver had paid too high a dowry and that the pair would have trouble deciding where to set up home.
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Tuesday, 24 July, 2007
Savoie ski resorts commit “ecological suicide”
Member of parliament for the Savoie and former minister, Herve Gaymard has accused ski areas in the Savoie of committing “ecological suicide”. Gaymard, former president of the ANENA (National Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanches), says that the valley has to “stop the headlong over development of ski resorts.” The battle is over water and the players include local farmers, permanent residents, ski resorts and the EDF, the Government run electric company. Along with other local representatives he has called “for a global approach to water management”. Already residents of some towns in the area have suffered from water shortages during the winter.
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Wednesday, 04 July, 2007
It’s not climate change, stupid!
The director of les 7 Laux has bit back at media reports that climate change caused the closure of Abondance and Céüze. In the case of Céüze, although lifts were silent ski tourers were able to climb to the top of the bowl until Easter. He sees the problem more as a poorly positioned and marketed product that hasn’t responded to changing clientelle.
The future: high altitude skiing accessed by telecabines
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Sunday, 01 July, 2007
Owning a French mountain property: a risky business
What liabilities, if any, are incumbent on the owner of a French property who is about to let it out or sell it? Thanks to a recent change to the wording of articles L. 125-5 and R. 125-23 to R. 125-27 of the environmental code, the tenant’s or buyer’s position has now been substantially improved thanks to the duty of information package ( ”information acquéreur locataire” ).
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Tuesday, 19 June, 2007
Val Thorens Tarps Glacier
Local ski instructor Philippe Martin summed up the problem “This map, it is 20 years old, you see all these areas marked as glaciers, come back this summer and you will see they are gone”. Val Thorens may be the highest ski resort in Europe but even its lofty summits and twinkling glaciers are suffering from the changing climate. The resort is fighting back. From the spring of 2008 the Savoie resort, on the edge of the Vanoise National Park, plans to cover part of its glacier with a giant tarpaulin.
Glaciers at Val Thorens, snow covered, but for how long?
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Monday, 14 May, 2007
Peasant Lore
Followers of PisteHors will know we are big fans of peasant lore. Consulting the Almanac Savoyard gives the following dictum…
Tels Quatre-Temps, Telles saisons.
Si les Quatre-Temps amènent le mauvais temps, il y en aura pour longtemps.
The Quatre-temps are four groups of three days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). For the spring they follow the Carême feast days, for the summer Pentecost, autumn the 14 of September and winter, the 13th of December. Anyone who followed the rule this year would have known that ski season would be warm and dry.
PisteHors webcam this afternoon
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Tuesday, 24 April, 2007
French ski resorts saved by artificial snow
Last year French turnover for French ski lifts passed the billion euro milestone for the first time. It is estimated that the industry as a whole (equipment, accommodation, après-ski, travel) is worth around 6 billion euros for the French economy. Those Halcyon days are but a dim memory as industry profits have suffered a meltdown after a winter of above average temperatures and bad press reports.
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