ASPEN SNOWMASS, Colo.—Nov. 9, 2018— Aspen Mountain will open for daily operations Saturday, Nov. 17, five days prior to the resort’s scheduled opening date.
Snowmaking operations began Nov. 1 and have continued at a steady pace throughout the last week due to cold temperatures at night. Alongside snowmaking, recent storm cycles have delivered up to 20 inches of new snow on Aspen Snowmass pushing the snowpack above average.
Aspen Mountain to Open Early, Saturday, Nov. 17. Photo: Aspen Skiing Company.
“With above average snowpack and cold temperatures we have been hard at work preparing the mountain and we are excited to open early for the community and our visitors,” says Katie Ertl, senior vice president of mountain operations. “Opening early is always a great way to kick-off the highly anticipated ski and snowboard season.”
Emma, the World’s First Digital Mountain Assistant, Kicks Off the 2018-19 Winter Season in Beta at Keystone Ski Resort
– Emma, a first generation technology, offers guests real-time information on everything from snow conditions and parking to rentals and personal performance stats
– Designed to get smarter the more she interacts with guests, Emma is launching first at Keystone to take advantage of the early ski season
– To interact with Emma, guests at Keystone can text her at 77477
Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) announced yesterday that Emma, the world’s first digital mountain assistant, has begun her inaugural winter season, launching in beta at Keystone Ski Resort in Colorado, which opened ahead of schedule this week. Emma is using the early season to better understand how guests ask questions while at the resort and will launch at eight additional ski resorts later this season: Vail, Beaver Creek and Breckenridge in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in Tahoe; and Whistler Blackcomb in Canada.
Through simple text messaging, Emma (your Epic Mountain Assistant) offers guests real-time information on everything from snow conditions, parking and personal performance stats to recommendations on rentals, lessons and dining options. This first generation technology uses artificial intelligence (AI) through natural language processing (NLP) to answer questions, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through short message service (SMS) text. As Emma interacts with guests, she will get smarter, expanding her knowledge base and insight throughout the season.
Emma, the World’s First Digital Mountain Assistant, Kicks Off the 2018-19 Winter Season in Beta at Keystone Ski Resort (PRNewsfoto/Vail Resorts, Inc.)
“We are excited for Emma to launch in beta at Keystone. The earlier Emma can interact with guests on a variety of topics, the faster she will learn and adjust to guest preferences,” said Kirsten Lynch, chief marketing officer for Vail Resorts. “Emma is the world’s first digital mountain assistant and continues a decade of pioneering technological firsts from Vail Resorts to enhance the guest experience.”
Val di Fassa is opening its lifts on December 6th. The strong wave of bad weather that hit, in recent days Val di Fassa has not compromised the start of the ski season that as scheduled, will kick off in early December.
After the heavy rains and gusts of winds that have lashed the territory between the nights of the 29th and 30th October, which caused crashes of trees and some landslides, there were no major damage done to the ski lifts and slopes of Val di Fassa, and all is back to normal.
Gruppo del Sella view from Pian de Frataces. Photo APT Val di Fassa. Val di Fassa is ready and opening its lifts on December 6th.
To reassure all ski and snowboard fanatics, in a note published on November 5th by Daniele Dezulian, president of Val di Fassa and Carezza cableway assembly, he states that “Bad weather caused limited damage to infrastructure. These problems can be restored in time to allow the regular start of the ski season, scheduled for December 6th. The damage was caused by the fall of trees due to strong winds, as documented by various newspapers and news services. Water, on the other hand, has compromised some stretches of forest roads, preventing vehicular access in some high-altitude areas, where restoration work is still under way.”
Important Pet Travel Scheme Update for Eurotunnel’s passengers: thought that this might interest to those going to the mountains, whatever time of the year from the UK with their furry pals.
Eurotunnel has sent a DEFRA’s update on the Pet Travel Scheme if there is a ‘no deal’ Brexit.
This week DEFRA announced their recommendation that pet owners planning to travel immediately after 29th March 2019 contact their vet at least four months in advance of travel to check what they need to do.
Driving to the Mountains. Pet Travel Scheme. Eurotunnel. Picture Unsplash: Randy Fath
For example, if you are travelling on 30th March 2019 the recommendation is that you visit your vet as soon as possible, and before the end of November 2018 at the latest.
DEFRA have advised that customers will still be able to travel with their pet to Europe after Britain leaves the EU, however they may need to take some additional steps to allow their pet/s to travel in a ‘no deal’ scenario.
With Kids4free, kids get the chance to ski and snowboard for free for 6 days in Switzerland. In total 44 winter sports resorts support this initiative. From 7 November, adults can enter a competition on Myswitzerland.com for a child up to 12 years. Winners can use the 6-day ski pass within the winter season 2018/19. The closing date to enter is 2 December 2018.
Kids4Free: get the kids on the slopes
In collaboration with the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland Tourism conducted a winter tourism analysis and identified ten opportunities in which to develop the season. One of them being that the family holiday has an influence on whether kids ski in the future. The aim of Kids4free is to get families excited for winter sports holidays in Switzerland and is an initiative of Switzerland Tourism and the Swiss mountain railways and cable ways.
Switzerland. get natural. Skiing fun for the whole family in the ski resort of Meiringen-Hasliberg in the Bernese Oberland. Above the sea of fog in brilliant winter sunshine, the area provides an opportunity for various winter sports activities. Switzerland is giving away 12,770 ski passes for kids. Copyright by: Switzerland Tourism – By-Line: swiss-image.ch/Christian Perret
How to enter
The competition can be entered via MySwitzerland.com/kids4free. Until 2 December an adult can enter on behalf of one child up to 12 years of age. The winners will be informed by 7 December and can use the 6-day ski pass at any time during the 18/19 winter season, starting 22 December 2018.
Snow-Camp is Skiworld’s official charity and where possible, Skiworld aims to raise as much funding for this fantastic charity so they can continue engaging inner-city young people through snowsports. Skiworld have supported Snow-Camp through:
Online & over the phone booking journey donations
Staff fundraising
Auction donations
Potential overseas work placements for Snow-Camp graduates for 2019/2020
UK apprentice placements
Snow-Camp work directly with youth projects and service providers to find 13-21 year olds that have faced some extremely tough challenges in their lives. Many have been victims, or affected by, gang crime and are potentially at risk of taking a more negative path in life.
Snow-Camp 15th anniversary ball. Skiworld help Snow-Camp raise a massive £50,000. Photo: Snow-Camp-Skiworld.
For Snow-Camp’s 15-year anniversary ball on Thursday 4th October 2018, Skiworld provided an all-inclusive 7-night ski holiday to St. Anton or Lech for 2 people, including return flights, transfers, full area lift passes and ski carriage. Snow-Camp raised a massive £50,000 on the night.
The US SKI TEAM is arriving to the skiarea Alpe Cimbra in Trentino. The words “Mountain of the Champions” used to refer to Alpe Cimbra couldn’t be more appropriate.
It is official; Alpe Cimbra ski area – Folgaria, Lavarone – is the new training centre of the male US SKI TEAM for the next 4 years. Theslopes Salizzona and Agonistica, the most technical of the ski area, will turn into their training centre.
Alpe Cimbra will be the training grounds of the US Ski Team for the next four years. Photo Ted Ligety. Salizzona piste.
The decision of the US Ski team is no coincidence. In the last couple of years, many World Cup teams trained here. The technical features of these slopes coupled with the optimal conditions of the terrain resulting from the professional grooming techniques of the ski lift company led to spread the popularity of the ski area as one the best destination for training purposes. Michael Rech, the President of the tourist office Alpe Cimbra, underlines that “hosting significant skiing international events – like the European Cup races and the Alpe Cimbra Fis Children Cup (former Mickey Mouse Trophy) – and hosting the training of important World Cup ski teams like – Italy, Austria and Sweden – has improved our awareness about what the destination needs to offer to the top athletes. In this sense our efficiency has increased.
The IKON Pass Valid for 2019 Winter Season at Valle Nevado
DENVER, CO, November 5, 2018 – Ikon Pass, the new standard in season passes, announces Valle Nevado in Chile as its newest partner, now offering access to nearly 77,000 acres at 37 premier mountain destinations across the planet. The Ikon Pass is available for purchase at www.ikonpass.com and through select travel partners.
In addition to access to winter 2018/2019 at 35 destinations in North America and Japan, Valle Nevado joins Australia’s Thredbo to offer Ikon Pass holders skiing and riding during the Southern Hemisphere’s 2019 winter season. Ikon Pass holders will have seven-day access to Valle Nevado on the Ikon Pass with no blackout dates, and five-day access on the Ikon Base Pass, also with no blackout dates. Valle Nevado’s 2019 winter season will run from June to September.
A lovely balcony to watch the Andes in the afternoon. Valle Nevado is now part of the IKON Pass. Photo: Valle Nevado.
Valle Nevado in Chile, located just 90 minutes from the Santiago International Airport, sits at 10,000 feet in the spectacular Andes Mountains, the second highest peaks in the world. It is South America’s foremost mountain destination, offering access to the largest amount of terrain and the most modern lift system on the continent.
“Valle Nevado is an ideal addition to the Ikon Pass community. Now Ikon Pass holders can extend their 2019 season by booking a trip to Chile for the legendary above-treeline terrain in the Andes that Valle Nevado serves up,” said Erik Forsell, Chief Marketing Officer of Alterra Mountain Company. “South America is full of passionate skiers and riders who can also now take advantage of an endless winter with the Ikon Pass as they hit the slopes of North America during the 2018/2019 winter season.”
Black Crows is a ski brand inspired by modern art, passing via urban culture. The logo was created by Yorgo Tloupas of Yorgo&Co, and is an association of chevrons,which remind us of our childhood drawings and symbolises the squadron of crows. Simple and geometric, it can be modified into infinity, creating a perspective close to illusion, within the line of optical art. Like this, black crows skis are recognisable to everybody.
The involvement of Yorgo&Co’s Paris design office and more particularly of its founder, Yorgo Tloupas, in the artistic direction of the brand, manifested the link between urban and skiing universes. This relationship is equally one of the foundations of the company, of having the willingness to surpass classic boundaries between the mountains and the town with a new approach to the mountains.
Black Crows CORVUS Skis- Photo: Black Crows. Spot on: Black Crows Skis – 2018-19 ski season.
Black crows is above all a story of friendship, that of evolving freeride skiers in Chamonix, Camille Jaccoux and Bruno Compagnet . These are two personalities coming from the free-skiing universe, both passionate about mountains and adventure. This passion was translated by their willingness to find skis adapted to their practice in the Mont-Blanc massif. Black Crows was born from this intention.
It started, firstly, with a ski, the corvus, created in 2006 and which went on sale in 2007. A ski with a length of 196cm and 105 at the waist, capable of accelerating without limits in the massifs great powder fields, but also which had the capacity to handle delicate passages encountered in the high mountains. This non-conformist ski was the catalyst for the morphologic evolution of freeride skis.
Alterra is expecting to sell 250,000 of the new IKON Pass while Vail Resorts stated that their sales of the EPIC Pass are up thanks mostly to the $99 military pass. This was the excerpt heard during the annual Governor’s Tourism Conference at the Talisa Hotel in Vail. The “Trends in ski” panel with Alterra’s Head of Sales Bob Stinchcomb, Vail Resorts marketing chief Kieran Cain and Powdr’s Jennifer Rudolph.
Lauren Berlamino, of Karsh Hagan, a marketing, design and tech company started the discussion with where the whole ski industry is in Colorado, noting the challenges of shorter seasons due to climate change and aging demographic. The opportunities to be had are the experiences beyond skiing and the leading the way in sustainability.
Powder Skiing in Back Bowls In Vail, CO. Photo: Vail Resorts. Alterra expects to sell 250,000 Ikon ski passes while Vail Resorts Epic Pass sales are up thanks to the $99 military pass.
One-fifth of skiers are 55 years or older, with some of the most avid participants are aged 70 and older. Skiers and snowboarders visits in the country have increased from 8.7 million in 1996-97 to 9.2 million in 2017-18. Berlamino states that this growth does not correlate with the overall population growth over the past years.
“It kind of sounds like we’re facing an uphill battle, but really Colorado is doing amazing in this industry,” she said. “I think nobody’s better positioned than our state to continue to ride this momentum and be successful amidst all this change that we’re seeing.”
Powder Skiing in Back Bowls In Vail, CO. Photo: Vail Resorts. Alterra expects to sell 250,000 Ikon ski passes while Vail Resorts Epic Pass sales are up thanks to the $99 military pass.
According to the National Ski Areas Association, Colorado’s share of overnight ski trips in the calendar year of 2017 was 21 percent, followed by California at 13.7 percent. Of the 53.2 million skier visits, that’s about 11 million visitors to Colorado.
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