NZsnowboard.com

31st August 2007

God Gave Rock n? Roll To Whistler

The legendary rock band Kiss will play in Whistler this September in a rare, outdoor appearance on Vancouver?s own Olympic mountain. This incredible concert will be the first of three extravagant weekends at Whistler starring big-name international artists.

Kiss is one of the world?s biggest rock bands having played more than 3,500 concerts in front of 78 million fans around the world.

The world famous rockers will transform the entire Resort Community of Whistler as they take their extraordinary show to the slopes of Blackcomb Mountain at the Coca-Cola Tube Park on Saturday, September 15th in a unique one-time outdoor concert event.

?I am not talking about smooching kids, I am talking about Kiss, one of the most influential rock and roll bands of all time. Playing the Coca-Cola Tube Park people! YEESSSSSSSSS! God, I love my job.? commented Michelle Leroux, Public Relations & Communications Manager at Whistler Blackcomb.

Kiss invented stadium rock with their sci-fi Kabuki costumes, outrageous theatrics and, of course, their trademark make-up. In their extensive world tours Kiss have cultivated the most loyal fan-base in music known as The Kiss Army. The stunning showmanship this band brings to the stage is overshadowed each time by their huge body of music. Destroyer, Rock and Roll All Night, Love Gun and Alive became the soundtracks for and entire generation of fans. Kiss have sold 80+ million records throughout their career, and have earned more than 55 gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards since receiving their first gold record for Kiss Alive! in 1975.

Kiss rocked 800 million viewers at Super Bowl XXXIII, breathed fire into the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics and welcomed the New Year in Times Square for four consecutive years. Now they are ready to rock Whistler.

www.bigmountainconcerts.com / www.whistler.com / www.secureticket.org



More Major Ski Resort Construction Imminent in Bulgaria

Ski resort construction in Bulgaria remains buoyant, despite some signs of a slow down in the international purchasing of holiday property from Western Europe that has helped fuel rapid expansion over the past five years.

The latest developments also look likely to be subject to more stringent planning and environmental control following increasing protests from environmental groups over some developments they claim have been built illegally infringing on national parkland and world heritage sites.

The new developments are set to begin within the next six weeks on Rila Mountain, Bulgaria's highest peak and close to the country?s capital, Sofia.

The first new resort, currently titled ?Panichishte-Ezerata-Kaboul?envisages expansion of existing facilities from around 1000 to 8000 guest beds with Bulgarian and Russian investment of up to 500 Million Euros by 2015. Rila Sport, the main company behind the development, says all accommodation building will be outside the Rila National Park, although it is not clear if lifts and runs will be within the park. Development is reported to have been elayed for a year due to location disagreements with Rila National Park management.

Work on a second, long delayed project, Super Borovets is expected to begin on October 8th 2007 with a nine kilometre (6 mile) long gondola lift connecting the Samokov and Markudzhitsite areas. More lifts and runs will take the area total up to nearly 100 km (63 miles) of piste. Again the company behind the development, reports their project would not enter in to national park land.

Last month Bulgarian environmental activists made a conga line 200 meters long marching through Sofia's pedestrian area with a list of demands including protection of the Rila national park, where they said a planned ski piste would encroach on the park's territory. A Bulgarian court ruled in June that the park did not have clearly defined borders.

The Bulgarian Environment Minister has reportedly said that he will personally supervise the Rila developments to ensure they do not damage national park land.



New Quad For Cortina

Italy?s most stylish resort, Cortina d?Ampezzo, has announced a new high speed quad chairlift, ?Taiarezze-Malon,? with a capacity of 1,200 people per hour will replace the old double chairlift ?Taiarezze-Fedo? nthis winter.

?Rather than the creation of new ski runs, more attention has been put towards the constant improvement of the already existing lift facilities, with more safety and comfort, better and safer slopes and smoother connections that do not require you to take off your skis.? Said a spokesman for the Dolomiti Superski of which Cortina is a part.

90% of the area?s 1200km (750 miles) of runs are now covered by the artificial snow making.



Mt Ruapehu Reports Biggest Day Ever

Saturday August 25th was the biggest day in the history of Mt Ruapehu in New Zealand with a massive 12,500 skier visits. The previous largest day was the same Saturday in 2005 with 10,900 skier visits.

The resort?s Turoa sector had its biggest day ever with just over 6,000 skier visits, surpassing it?s previous best of 5,300 in 2005. The new six seater high speed High Noon Express chairlift really performed well ?eating? queues and giving people more time on the snow.

Mt Ruapehu Marketing Manager, Mike Smith said a fine forecast and great conditions was the perfect mix. ?We?ve had great weather all week and cold clear conditions keeping the snow in great condition and allowing for some good snowmaking as well.?

The last two weeks of July and first two of August saw a spell of miserable weather where the sun barely shone. ?We were getting some good snowfalls but were pretty sun deprived, so its been great for customers and staff alike to enjoy some fine weather,? Smith said.

Skier visits for the week to Sunday 26th will exceed 45,000 which is by far the biggest of the 2007 season. ?Ruapehu really comes into its own from now on with spring being the best time for skiing and riding. The forecasters are calling for a more settled spring so hopefully we?ll be able to enjoy heaps more great times on the snow this season,? says Mike Smith.

Whakapapa believes it has the biggest snow base in the country with 205cm and Turoa second on 165cm. Both Ski Areas will stay open until at least the end of October.



More Night Skiing in S?ll

S?ll in the Skiwelt, Austria and the Tyrol?s largest lift-linked ski area, will double its existing night skiing area this winter.

The existing three kilometre (two mile) long floodlighting system that covers the valley run in S?ll is being extended to cover three more runs in Hochs?ll.

The Salvenmoos - Keat - and Hexen6er runs will be floodlit for the first time next winter.

www.skiwelt.at



Two New High-Speed Quads for 60th Anniversary Winter at Whitefish

A $7.5 million chairlift expansion with two new Doppelmayr high speed quad chairlifts is underway at Whitefish Mountain Resort ahead of the resort?s 60th season this winter.

In the summer of 1935, Whitefish, Montana volunteers built the first cabin on the slopes of Big Mountain at the headwaters of Hellroaring Creek and engineered a short rope tow. Officially founded for organized skiing by Winter Sports, Inc. (WSI) in 1947 with the opening of a T-bar lift, the Whitefish resort has expanded over the years to 10 regularly operating lifts across 3000 acres and is now one of the largest destination ski resorts in the US.

First of the two lifts being upgraded are Big Mountain Chair 1, the main lift to Big Mountain?s summit. The original Chair 1 was a fixed-grip double chair constructed in 1960 and was replaced in 1989 by the current high-speed quad, previously called the Glacier Chaser. The other upgrade is Swift Creek Chair 2, previously a fixed-grip double chair, is being extended, re-aligned, and replaced with a high-speed quad.

Mike Jenson, a native of Whitefish, lifelong skier, and member of the WSI Board for the past 15 years said, ?The mountain infrastructure was in need of repair. We are fortunate to have a new group of investors like Bill Foley who live in the area, ski the mountain, and were willing and able to make this large commitment to a quality ski experience. The new investors in the mountain made this multi-million dollar lift upgrade possible.?

In addition to chair lift upgrades, snow groomers have also been replaced at a cost of over $240,000. The resort is also tripling its snowmaking capacities for the Fishbowl Terrain Park and Superpipe.

Big Mountain first opened for skiing on December 14th, 1947. Lift tickets were two dollars and 6900 skiers enjoyed the mountain that first winter. This season, conditions permitting, Whitefish Mountain Resort is scheduled to operate from December 8th through to April 6th.

www.skiwhitefish.com



New Lift and Run at Hafjell in Norway

Hafjell near the Norwegian Olympic centre of Lillehammer, has announced more upgrades for 2007-8 following the installation of the resort?s first gondola last winter.

?Several changes and improvements are planned and the gondola has opened up a multitude of opportunities.? said a resort spokesperson.

The Bue?slift is a new T-bar from the top of the gondola to Bue?sen. This lift will serve a new family slope in relatively easy terrain. Bue?sen will be the focal area for further development in Hafjell.

There?ll be more equipment for snow making with the slopes on the upper mountain and the family area at the base to be equipped with more and better snow guns. This means early season opening and better conditions all through the winter.

20 cabins will be added to the new gondola thus increasing capacity from 1800 to 2376 persons per hour. There?ll also be better lift capacity on the family run as the Knerten lift will be extended and moved north towards Peppes Pizza.

Finally the Children`s Area at the base will be developed with a new snow and ski park for the resort?s smallest ski guests.

www.hafjell.no



New SunKid Conveyor Lift Is Highest in Europe

A new SunKid conveyor lift is the highest the company has installed to date. The Austrian resort of Kaprun installed the lift on its year round ski area on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier.

Lift company management decided to create the Eisarena snow leisure park at 3,000m above sea level. The area offers guests the chance to peep inside an igloo, chill out on a deckchair on the snow beach, sit at the wheel of a full-size piste basher or simply relax with a cooling drink at the ice bar.

However, the undoubted highlight is the 50 metre-long snow-sliding park in the middle of the glacier. It was decided to install a SunKid Wonder Carpet to bring guests back to the top of the slope. The conveyor is simple, modern and comfortable and makes using the sliding park even more fun!

One of the fundamental requirements of any lift installed on glacial terrain is the ability to adapt to the constantly shifting ice contours. For this reason, it was decided to use the tried and tested SunKid chain technology which adapts perfectly to concave and convex terrain with a gradient of up to 25%. The facility also boasts a maximum transport capacity of 2,000 guests an hour, making it able to cope with major events in the Kitzsteinhorn Eisarena.

This expansion of the summer ski area on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier is just the latest in a long list of innovations in the area. Since opening in 1965, the region has been the site of a number of innovations. For example, Kaprun is still home to the tallest cable car pylon in the world at a staggering 113.6 m; the area was also the very first in the world to install a live camera in the ski area.

www.kitzsteinhorn.at / www.sunkid.at



Two US Olympians Triumph at Australian Open Halfpipe Finals

On Saturday, August 25, The Garnier Fructis Australian Open 2007 concluded at Perisher Blue ski resort in Australia with the men?s and women?s semifinal and final halfpipe competitions taking place. US Olympians Kelly Clark and Andy Finch both rode away with top honours and $5000 in this year?s second event of the Burton Global Open Series.

The warm day made for challenging pipe conditions, causing course officials to revise the schedule and combine the semifinal and final competitions. The field of 16 female and 40 male semifinalists each took two runs, the top 8 women and 16 men were then given one additional run. Final results were based on the best run of the three.

Kelly Clark?s first run of the day impressed the judges with huge amplitude and clean rotations. Clark, a 2002 Olympic Gold Medalist, started out with a huge frontside air that was followed by an equally large method. She then spun a frontside 540, which was followed by a backside mute grab, after that a frontside 720 and she ended with a Cab 360. Her score for that run held off the competition for the remainder of semis and finals, as Kelly took first place in the women?s halfpipe. ?The pipe was challenging,? said Clark, the current TTR ranking leader. ?But, I knew what I wanted to do and landed my tricks on my first run. I was stoked to win, for sure.?

Andy Finch was equally pleased with his second run, which landed him first place in the men?s halfpipe competition. Finch, an Olympian in the 2006 Games, began his run with an enormous Heave-Ho, followed by a front 1080, into a Cab 720, to a backside Alley-oop 360, and finished with an Alley-oop Rodeo 360. Finch was so secure with his run that he utilized his last drop for a victory lap of straight airs. ?It felt good to win, but it felt even better to do those straight airs,? said Finch. ?I had a great day, being out here with the boys was a blast. I?m super psyched right now!?

On Friday, August 24, the slopestyle semifinal and finals took place. For much of the day, fellow DC team riders, Torstein Horgmo and Chas Guldemond battled it out head to head. But edging out Horgmo with his last run of the day was Guldemond who started things off with a Cab 270 on 270 off the rail, followed by a frontside boardslide 270, Cab 540 melon, backside rodeo 540 on the step-up to a Cab 900 nose grab, finishing off with a monstrous backside 1260 nosegrab. ?We?re good buddies, but the battle will continue,? said Guldemond of Horgmo. ?I was fired up [that I won] that?s for sure.?

In the women?s event, 17 year-old Jamie Anderson won first place with a run that began with a boardslide on the rail, tailslide on the box, then spun a frontside 360 on the first hit, followed by a backside 180, into a Cab 540 melon grab, and finished with a frontside 180. ?I felt like I was riding better in practice, but I still stuck all my landings during the competition,? said Anderson. ?I was surprised but happy that I won. It?s great!?

With the Australian Open finished, it?s on to the inaugural Canadian Open, taking place from December 3-9 at CODA?s Canada Olympic Park. Currently, Mason Aguirre (USA) and Elizabeth Beerman (USA) are in the lead for the $100,000 Burton Global Open Series Championship title.

www.opensnowboarding.com