Grandvalira kick-starts the season this Saturday 1st of December

Sector Grau Roig. Grandvalira kick-starts the season this Saturday 1st of December with the partial opening of the Pas de la Casa and Grau Roig sectors.Photo: Grandvalira.

Grandvalira is kick-starting the ski season tomorrow Saturday 1st December with the partial opening of Pas de la Casa and Grau Roig.  The Snow Domain plans to open two of its six sectors this weekend, at a special price of €30

Those who have a Grandvalira season ski pass with Ordino Arcalís supplement can access the Ordino ski resort from Thursday 29 November onwards

Grandvalira is kick-starting the 2018-2019 season on Saturday 1 December with the partial opening of the Pas de la Casa and Grau Roig sectors, which have connecting slopes. The Soldeu, El Tarter and Encamp sectors are expected to open on 5 December, weather conditions permitting.

Sector Pas de la Casa. Grandvalira kick-starts the season this Saturday 1st of December with the partial opening of the Pas de la Casa and Grau Roig sectors.
Sector Pas de la Casa. Grandvalira kick-starts the season this Saturday 1st of December with the partial opening of the Pas de la Casa and Grau Roig sectors.

The snow production network has been in operation almost constantly, while the ground teams are working hard against the clock to ensure the provision of snow conditions that meet the quality and safety standards for skiing and snowboarding.

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My Voucher Codes ranking of the Best European Ski Resorts 2018

Les 3 Vallées in France. What Will Happen to the English Consumers of the French Mountains after March 29?

My Voucher Codes put together a ranking of the best European ski resorts 2018   sorting the 55 largest ski resorts in Europe from bigger to smaller, with the things that matter the most of most skiers – from the variety of slopes to the price of the six-day ski pass.

Their verdict is that if you are a thrill seeker, you should head to Les 4 Vallées where you can get over 100 km of back runs. On the other hand, if you are a beginner, the 312 km of Les 3 Vallées will suit any first timer.

Les Portes du Soleil, the second area in the ranking of My Voucher Codes. My Voucher Codes ranking of the Best European Ski Resorts 2018.
Les Portes du Soleil, the second area in the ranking of My Voucher Codes. My Voucher Codes ranking of the Best European Ski Resorts 2018.

The top 10 resorts ranked are:

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A new Leitner-Poma empty gondola cabin from Copper Mountain Crashes to the Ground.

Copper Mountain photo. A new Leitner-Poma empty gondola cabin from Copper Mountain Crashes to the Ground.

An empty gondola fell off American Eagle new lift from manufacturer Leitner-Poma. No one was injured in a test-run incident, the lift will still open in Copper Mountain this Saturday.

A new Leitner Poma empty gondola cabin has crashed to the ground in Copper Mountain on Monday. Nobody was injured in this incident. The lift is scheduled to open Saturday, it was announced by the Summit County ski resort.

A new Leitner-Poma empty gondola cabin from Copper Mountain Crashes to the Ground.
A new Leitner-Poma empty gondola cabin from Copper Mountain Crashes to the Ground.

This incident happened at 11 AM, just after the gondola took off from the American Eagle base terminal. The lift was not open to the public as this happened during a testing procedure.

Leitner-Poma, the construction contractor, has reviewed the lift and concluded that it was not damaged. Copper Mountain is working closely with Leitner-Poma and the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board to ensure that the American Eagle lift will operate safely and reliably.

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Peak Resorts Completes Acquisition of Snow Time

Roundtop Mountain Resort in a blue sky day. Peak Resorts Completes Acquisition of Snow Time.

Peak Resorts completes the acquisition of Snow Time. It adds three popular Pennsylvania resorts to growing Northeast portfolio

Snow Time Season Pass Upgrade Results Demonstrate the Strong Appeal of the Unlimited Peak Pass

Tubing down the slopes. Peak Resorts Completes Acquisition of Snow Time. Peak Resorts photo.
Tubing down the slopes. Peak Resorts Completes Acquisition of Snow Time. Peak Resorts photo.

Peak Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKIS) (“Peak” or the “Company”), a leading owner and operator of high-quality, individually branded U.S. ski resorts, announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Snow Time, Inc. (“Snow Time”). Pursuant to the terms of the transaction, Peak Resorts paid approximately $70 million in cash consideration to Snow Time and issued approximately 1.18 million shares of its common stock to Snow Time’s shareholders at a price of $5.07 per share, for total consideration of approximately $76.0 million. Financing for the cash portion of the purchase price consists of: a $50 million, two-year senior secured term loan from CAP 1 LLC, which will accrue interest at an annual rate of 6.95% and carry no prepayment penalty; and $20 million in proceeds from the sale of 20,000 shares of Series A cumulative convertible preferred stock and issuance of accompanying warrants to CAP 1 LLC pursuant to an existing securities purchase agreement.

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Vail opens Legendary Back Bowls

Tom Cohen Photo. Vail Resorts. Vail opens Legendary Back Bowls.

Vail to open Legendary Back Bowls. Resort Opens Portions of Sun Up and Sun Down Bowls

Vail Mountain has opened its legendary Back Bowls, providing access to portions of Sun Up and Sun Down bowls via High Noon Express (#5) and Sun Up Express (#9). Vail is now offering 2,166 acres of skiable terrain, with more anticipated to open this week.

Tom Cohen Photo. Vail Resorts. Vail opens Legendary Back Bowls.
Tom Cohen Photo. Vail Resorts. Vail opens Legendary Back Bowls.

This marks the third time in the last decade that the Back Bowls have opened this early. In 2014, the Back Bowls opened on Nov. 26, in time for Thanksgiving, and in 2010, portions of the Back Bowls opened on Nov. 24. The earliest the Back Bowls have opened this century was on Nov. 16, 2002.

“We are excited to open a portion of the Back Bowls this early in the season and are thankful that we were able to provide that legendary experience for our Thanksgiving holiday guests,” said Doug Lovell, Vail chief operating officer. “Vail has had a strong start to the season, with a foot of snow in the last 48 hours and almost six feet of snow this season. We are definitely experiencing mid-winter conditions.”

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The MUST-READ Guide to Lech

Lech Zürs Tourism - Arlberg. Photo by Sepp Mallaun. Will we ski this December?

Your MUST-READ guide to Lech am Arlberg

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

Lech is one of these famous resorts in the world that should be in your bucket list. A typical Austrian Alpine village, in the end of the road (at least in winter), at first you arrive, and you think there is a road through it, but you need to see what is on each side of the road. The town is small, as the local law does not allow it to expand- which is great as you feel in a quaint town. Lots of dotted houses and hotels are around the main road and into the sides, pretty much all are near the lifts. The furthest in the valley are around 600 meters from the lifts, but there are free buses to go back and forth.

The Omeshorn towering the picture perfect town of Lech - Lech Zürs am Arlberg by night by Felder- Lech Zürs Tourismus. Must-Read Guide to Lech.
The Omeshorn towering the picture perfect town of Lech – Lech Zürs am Arlberg by night by Felder- Lech Zürs Tourismus. Must-Read Guide to Lech.

Buses also connect you hourly with St Christoph and St Anton. But you can also access them via the Flexenbahn gondola since the season before last. The Flexenbahn links Zürs and Stuben/Rauz. Skiers and boarders can go anywhere in the Arlberg on skis and snowboards. The ride takes 6 minutes with panoramic vistas from the gondolas, to the Klostertal valley and St Christoph. The addition of the Flexenbhan made the Arlberg the largest ski carousel in Austria and one of the 5 largest ski areas in the world. On top of the Flexenbahn, three other cableways have started operations on the winter of 2016/17 – the Trittkopf cableways I, II and the Aldonabhan cableway II have cemented the Arlberg as a bucket list destination.

Getting there:

You can easily get to Lech from the main airports in central Europe, such as Zürich (196 km) in Switzerland, Munich (248 km) and Friedrichshafen (128 km) in Germany, Innsbruck (120 km) and Salzburg (294 km) in Austria.

You can take the train from these airports and go to Langen am Arlberg train station, which is 15 km from Lech (if coming from Zürich or Friedrichshafen) and take a taxi from there or the local bus – check the times, the buses runs once an hour or every two hours, depending the time of the year.

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Sierra Nevada opens this Saturday 24th November, one week earlier than stipulated.

Sierra Nevada opens this Saturday 24th November, one week earlier than stipulated. Photo: Sierra Nevada.

Sierra Nevada, the renown ski resort of Andalucia, Spain, is opening early its ski season this coming Saturday, one week in advance to its programmed opening date.

Sierra Nevada is having the best conditions in its history for its opening with 9 lifts and 43.5 km of trails in the áreas of Borreguiles, Veleta, Loma de Dílar and Rio.

The ski resort and mountain of Sierra Nevada will open its 2018/19 ski season one week prior to its announced opening date and it will do so with the biggest skiable terrain in the history of the ski resort.

The area will open more terrain in the following dates, but now Sierra Nevada will open with 53 trails for all type of skiers with a vertical drop of 1.100 meters.

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Resort Industry Veterans get together to acquire Idaho’s Tamarack Resort.

Tamarack Resort. Resort Industry Veterans get together to acquire Idaho’s Tamarack Resort.

A group of Resort Industry Veterans are to get together to acquire Idaho’s Tamarack Resort. Tamarack Resort Holdings to invest immediately to complete Village Plaza.

Tamarack Resort Holdings (“TRH”), a partnership of investors and managers with decades of development and operations experience at premier resort properties across North America, has entered into an agreement to purchase all of the Tamarack Resort operations and key assets in Donnelly, Idaho.

The announcement follows the State Board of Land Commissioners’ approval this morning to transfer the state lands lease to TRH for continued mountain operations. TRH is purchasing all key assets necessary to operate the resort now and accommodate future expansion plans, including property on mountain, ski lifts and operations equipment, lodge amenities, lodging operations, the telecommunications utility, declarant rights, lake front equipment, sewer and water bonds, a portion of the golf course and the unfinished Village Plaza.

Resort Industry Veterans get together to acquire Idaho’s Tamarack Resort.
Resort Industry Veterans get together to acquire Idaho’s Tamarack Resort.

TRH is also purchasing other private real estate assets and parcels and is taking over the lease to operate The Arling Center event venue. The transactions will close Nov. 30, 2018. “We have been evaluating and working on this agreement for nearly two years to truly understand the history and complexities of the resort. The partnership strongly believes Tamarack has a tremendous opportunity to thrive as a four-season destination of choice for Idahoans and visitors from across North America,” said TRH President Jon Reveal. “Our team looks forward to proving our commitment to Tamarack, Valley County residents, Idahoans and all our guests through investment, completion of unfinished projects and improved resort amenities and offerings.”

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Ski World Cup: Saalbach is in the Starting Gates!

Audi FIS Ski World Cup Saalbach. Ski World Cup: Saalbach is in the Starting Gates. Copyright: © nill.at; GEPA Pictures - Daniel Goetzhaber; Christian Wöckinger.

Ski World Cup in Saalbach – now in the Starting Gates!

Information on tickets, press accreditation and program

On 20th of December the world elite of giant slalom will be competing at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in Saalbach Hinterglemm. Information about tickets, press accreditations and the program can be found here. Tip: True ski fans will have race action for three days, as on 21st and 22nd of December the FIS European Cup Speed races will also be held at the Zwölferkogel in Hinterglemm!

Saalbach Audi FIS Ski World Cup. Ski World Cup: Saalbach is in the Starting Gates.
Saalbach Audi FIS Ski World Cup. Ski World Cup: Saalbach is in the Starting Gates.
Copyright: © saalbach.com, Tina Roos

Tickets

Tickets are available from € 12,00 online via oeticket.com. The tickets of the canceled Ski World Cup in Sölden are also valid in Saalbach.

Secure your “pole position” for the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in Saalbach with your personal VIP ticket. Enjoy culinary delights, fine wines and a wide selection of other beverages throughout the day in the VIP tent in the finish area. First class caterers will provide regional food in a stylish setting. Feel the emotions of the world’s elite of ski sports up close on the VIP grandstand in the finish area and enjoy a clear view of the finish slope of the race track. Price € 360,00 (including all taxes). VIP tickets are available online at saalbach.com/skiweltcup.

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Snowmass Opens Thanksgiving Day with 570 Acres of Terrain

Snowmass Opens Thanksgiving Day with 570 Acres of Terrain. Photo: Aspen Skiing Company.

Snowmass will open Thanksgiving Day  for daily operations on 20 trails across 570 acres of terrain Thursday, Nov. 22.

Open terrain will include The Big Burn, Max Park, Powerline Glades, Sneaky’s Glades, Lunch line, Upper Scooper and Lower Hals to the bottom of Village Express. Elk Camp chair will provide access to Bull Run, Grey Wolf, Sandy Park, Bear Bottom, Gunner’s View and the Elk Camp Meadows Beginner area. Terrain will be accessed by the following chairlifts: Village Express, Sam’s Knob, Big Burn, Elk Camp Gondola, Elk Camp Lift, Meadows Lift, Sky Cab, Meadows Carpet and Treehouse Carpet.

Snowmass Tamarack. Snowmass Opens Thanksgiving Day with 570 Acres of Terrain. Photo: Aspen Skiing Company.
Snowmass Tamarack. Snowmass Opens Thanksgiving Day with 570 Acres of Terrain. Photo: Aspen Skiing Company.

“With over 500 acres of terrain open we are bound to have a great holiday weekend on the hill,” says Katie Ertl, senior vice president of mountain operations. “And with more snow in the forecast for opening day and later this week we will continue to open more terrain as conditions improve.”

Elk Camp restaurant and Sam’s Smokehouse will be open for the season, and Up 4 Pizza will be open Thursday, Nov. 22-Sunday, Nov. 25 until daily operations begin Dec. 6.

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