Gotthard Tailbacks: Alpine San Bernardino tunnel closure causes major holiday traffic disruption.
Traffic queues of up to 28 kilometres were reported at the northern entrance to the Gotthard tunnel on Saturday, owing to a long weekend and the closure of another major Alpine road tunnel because of a fire.
San Bernardino tunnel at the east of Switzerland was closed due to a fire, which brought massive queues at the Gotthard tunnel this past weekend. GOTTHARD TAILBACKS: San Bernardino Alpine tunnel closure causes major holiday traffic disruption.
Saturday has seen the longest tailbacks at the Gotthard tunnel since Pentecost 1999, entailing waits of some five-hours.
As well as being a holiday weekend, the San Bernadino tunnel in southeast Switzerland was closed on Friday afternoon after a German tourist bus caught fire in the tunnel, leaving two people with minor injuries. It is expected to remain closed over this Pentecost weekend, since the tunnel needs to cool down and be checked for any infrastructure damage.
South American Ski Resorts: High Andes: Valle Nevado, Portillo and Las Leñas – Chile and Argentina
The ski season is about to start in the Southern Hemisphere – In this post I’ll focus on the South American Ski Resorts in the High Andes. Located in Chile and Argentina, all the resorts are in the Andes Mountains, home of the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere – the Aconcagua.
Las Leñas, the biggest terrain ski area in South America – if we count it’s off-piste. Host of the South American Ski and Snowboarding Extremes for many years, for a reason. Photo Las Leñas ski resort.South American Ski Resorts.
At the altitude of Buenos Aires and Santiago, going to the Andes, you have what is called the High Andes – high altitude resorts – what the Brits would called ‘snow sure resorts’ (even though there is nothing like that really in the world – I’ve had some seasons down under with no snow at all, but usually you do get a very good season). A snowstorm can last one week and bring 3 meters of powder snow.
Snow here is very light and dry – amazing really, and the Andes mountains bring you very dramatic landscapes – think Dolomites, with rugged peaks, but no trees – this is above tree-line county.
Boyne Resorts Acquires Six Mountain Resorts. Included in the transaction are Brighton Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City, Utah; Cypress Mountain in Vancouver, B.C.; Gatlinburg SkyLift in Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Loon Mountain Resort in New Hampshire; Sugarloaf and Sunday River Resort in Maine; and The Summit at Snoqualmie near Seattle, Washington.
Cypress Mountain near Vancouver. Photo: Cypress Mountain.
Boyne Resorts today announced closing of a purchase transaction with Ski Resort Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Oz Real Estate, to acquire six mountain resorts and a scenic chairlift attraction previously leased by the resort company. Boyne Resorts has been the long-term operator of the seven newly acquired assets and also owns three resorts in northern Michigan and Big Sky Resort in Montana. As third largest based on skier visits, Boyne Resorts’ portfolio of mountain properties is the most geographically diverse among all North American ski resort companies.
Exhausted but happy participants departed South Lake Tahoe over the weekend after several intense days of buying, selling, learning, schmoozing and skiing at the 43rd Mountain Travel Symposium.
Trade Exchange Floor – Mountain Travel Symposium, Heavenly, South Lake Tahoe.
More than 1,100 participants representing 24 countries took part. Fresh snow and bright sunshine capped the week of events, and those who were there to do business said they had full schedules and lots of deals got done. Most also got in a few runs on the slopes of Heavenly Resort as well.
Virginie Koulibaly from Valais Matterhorn Region addresses with Nick Turnell and Pascal Prinz of Switzerland Tourism the invited tour operators for the Switzerland Tourism evening with raclette at Mountain Travel Symposium.
How to deal with high prone avalanche terrain – A talk with Coco Torres, former Mountain Manager in Las Leñas and now Operative Consultant for numerous ski resorts.
Jorge “Coco” Torres has left Las Leñas in the year 2010, having worked for several years as the Mountain Manager in charge of all the avalanches control operations, amongst all other mountain matters.
One of the maps of the off-piste of Las Leñas showcasing its couloirs, which are also coincide avalanche corridors. Las Leñas is a high prone avalanche area. How to deal with high prone avalanche terrain. A talk with Coco Torres, formerly of Las Leñas, Argentina.
I’ve contacted him as I’ve always found fascinating how Las Leñas took control of their avalanches. Every time there was a storm at Las Leñas, which could last a whole week, we went on hearing bombing all day and all night. I know that Las Leñas is a high prone avalanche terrain.
Skiing in La Thuile- Soft Pastels, Pan Pastels, Pastel Pencils and Charcoal on La Carte Pastel. 60 x 80 cm. In my shop!
Skiing in Europe, I cannot say I have heard too many bombs at all, so this prompted me to start putting together a couple of stories that will come out on the next months, on how the avalanches are prevented or controlled in different countries of the world.
Coco told me that he left Las Leñas (Mendoza, Argentina) in the year 2010, and since then he has been working as a consultant in mountain projects and developments. He is going to tell me the process used in Las Leñas at least until he left the valley.
The newly launched IKON season pass from the Alterra Mountain Company has its lowest available rate until May 1st. On that date, rates will increase by USD 100.
Sportpass Top4 goes into the second season. Adelboden-Lenk, Gstaad, the Jungfrau Ski Region and Meiringen-Hasliberg have launched the Top4 Sportpass this winter. Following a successful launch with 36,200 sold subscriptions in advance sales, the offer will continue unchanged in the upcoming winter sports season 2018/2019.
In the fiercely contested winter sports market, the four largest Bernese ski resorts have decided on a common forward strategy and in autumn 2017 launched the new season subscription Top4. The winter sports pass with access to 666 km of piste was sold in advance for 666 francs. 36’200 times the subscription to the advance sale discount went over the counter, which clearly exceeded the target of 20’000. The responsible persons have decided to continue the offer after the successful premiere.
Top4 Ski Pass – Kleine Scheidegg Lauberhorn – Starthuesi – Photo by Jungfrau Ski Region.
Sierra Nevada has 70 km of open pistes until the end of the ski season, and is expecting to offer all their vertical drop for skiing until 6th May, which is the last day of the ski season.
Sierra Nevada has 70 km of open pistes until the end of this ski season. Borreguiles area.
This Saturday all entries to the downhill skiing in bathing suit are sold out.
Sierra Nevada ski área has maintained 70 km of skiable pistes on all its áreas (Veleta, Borreguiles, Laguna, Cauchiles, Rio and Loma Dílar) and all its vertical drop (1,200 meters) until the end of the ski season, if the meteorological previsions and snow conditions allow.
Sugar Bowl Resort, CA, Loveland Ski Area, CO, Castle Mountain Resort, AB Canada, and Ski Marmot Basin, AB Canada join the Powder Alliance for 2018-19
Castle Mountain Resort- Powder Alliance
The Powder Alliance has announced that Sugar Bowl Resort, CA, Loveland Ski Area, CO, Castle Mountain Resort, AB Canada, and Ski Marmot Basin, AB Canada have been added to its list of participating resorts for the 2018/19 winter. Now spanning 4 countries and 2 hemispheres, the Powder Alliance is one of the world’s most powerful reciprocal season pass programs offering top-tier pass holders three days at 19 premier winter destinations.
This past Sunday, three Spanish skiers have died, overtaken by an avalanche and two others where found alive in Fiescheralp, communicated the Swiss Police. This winter and spring were one of the most mortal ones due to avalanches.
Helicopter searching the Spaniards caught in an avalanche. Photo EFE
As per the press release from the Police Office of the Valais canton, of a group of five skiers, three people have died and other two have been found alive. “The first investigations point to the victims being from Spanish origin. The formal identification of the deceased is being taking place”, says the release.
The five people were part of a group that on Saturday started a ski touring trip in direction of the Fiescheralp station, in the Valais canton, near the Aletsch glacier. When they were at 2,450 meters of altitude, around 16.45 hours (14.45 GMT), an avalanche trapped the five skiers.
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