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Skiing News - April 2009
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Monday, 27 April 2009Whistler Blackcomb, B.C., has been named North America's favorite ski resort by visitors of OnTheSnow.com, the oldest and most visited snow sports portal.
The Web site, which attracts a Nielsen-audited 1.2 million unique monthly visitors during the winter, gave it's visitors the opportunity to write reviews of all resorts in North America.
Visitors then ranked them in fi ve categories: Overall Favorite, Best Nightlife, Most Family-Friendly, Best Downhill Terrain, and Best Terrain Park. More then 7,500 reviews were submitted from September 2007 until April 2008.
Whistler-Blackcomb received perfect scores in the overall favorite and downhill terrain categories and was near perfect for it's nightlife. The ratings were based on readers' average rankings, number of reviews, and specific comments made in OnTheSnow.com over the winter season.
"User generated content is one of the most powerful and effective ways Web visitors have to communicate with each other," said Mountain News Corp. President and Publisher Rob Brown, whose company publishes OnTheSnow.com. "Skiers and snowboarders are relying on the word of their peers when they make resort choices. We believe the importance of reader advisories will continue to grow each year and these annual awards provide a peek into their thinking."
Snowmass, Colo. was named North America's most family-friendly resort and Angel Fire, N.M. won for having the best terrain park.
Squaw Valley USA, Calif. was named favorite overall on a regional level for the Far West, along with Schweitzer, Idaho for the Pacific Northwest; Snowmass, Colo. for the Rockies; Ski Brule, Mich. for the Midwest; Sunday River, Maine for the Northeast; and Wintergreen, Va. for the Mid Atlantic.
North American Ski Resort Winners:
North America's Favorite Resort: Whistler-Blackcomb, B.C.
North America's Best Downhill Terrain: Whistler-Blackcomb, B.C.
North America's Best Nightlife: Whistler-Blackcomb, B.C.
North America's Most Family Friendly: Snowmass, CO
North America's Best Terrain Park: Angel Fire, NM
Regional Ski Resort Winners:
Pacific Northwest:
Favorite: Schweitzer, Idaho
Nightlife: Schweitzer, Idaho
Family: 49 Degrees North, Wash.
Downhill Terrain: Mt. Baker, Wash.
Terrain Park: Mt. Bachelor, Ore.
Far West:
Favorite: Squaw Valley., Calif.
Nightlife: Mammoth Mt., Calif.
Family: Snow Valley, Calif.
Downhill Terrain: Kirkwood, Calif.
Terrain Park: Bear Mt., Calif.
Rocky Mountains:
Favorite: Snowmass, Colo.
Nightlife: Deer Valley, Utah
Family: Grand Targhee, Wyo.
Downhill Terrain: Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Terrain Park: Telluride, Colo.
Midwest:
Favorite: Ski Brule, Mich.
Nightlife: Shanty Creek, Mich.
Family: Chestnut, Ill.
Downhill Terrain: Shanty Creek, Mich.
Terrain Park: Perfect North Slopes, Ind.
Northeast:
Favorite: Sunday River, Maine
Nightlife: Whiteface, N.Y.
Family: Smugglers' Notch, Vt.
Downhill Terrain: Gore Mt., N.Y.
Terrain Park: Loon Mt., N.H.
Mid-Atlantic/Southeast:
Favorite: Wintergreen, Va.
Nightlife: Wisp, Md.
Family: Bryce Mt., N.C.
Downhill Terrain: Blue Knob, Pa.
Terrain Park: Hidden Valley, Pa.
OnTheSnow.com is the web's most visited snow report web site with a Nielsen audited 1.2 million monthly unique visitors. OnTheSnow offers the ski report, resort reviews, web cams, and skiing deals for virtually every ski resort in the world. Please click for a full version of the OnTheSnow Visitors Choice Awards. There are 13 International Editions of OnTheSnow in seven languages.
For more details on this news, please visit www.prlog.org.
Friday, 24 April 2009The Alleghenies (www.TheAlleghenies.com) announces the grand opening of the Allegrippis Trail System on Saturday, May 9, 2009. Working in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and the International Mountain Bicycling Association's (IMBA) Trail Solutions, the Friends of Raystown Lake (FORL) and other trail contracting firms have built more than 30 miles of single track at Raystown La ke.
The Allegrippis stacked loop trail system is open to all users including hikers, trail runners, nature observers and even cross country skiers and snowshoers in the winter. Also, mountain bikers will be drawn to the trail design features that include a great flow, as well as a choice of multiple route options.
Overall, the trail system, with a total of 23 trails, is oriented much like a ski resort with a range of difficulty from green defined as "easiest" or family-friendly to blue designated as "moderate" providing more challenges including roots and rocks to black defined as "most difficult" including great elevation changes, longer distances and more trail obstacles. This is one of IMBA's single biggest trail system builds ever -- for trail mileage and the number of trails. It's considered a model trail system by IMBA and there is future consideration to become an IMBA Ride Center.
"When the project started, it was a 'build it and they will come' proposition. Now there's a bike shop in town, and the Raystown Mountain Bike Association, which didn't exist 18 months ago, has more than 30 active members," said Frank Maguire IMBA Mid-Atlantic Region Director. "Interest in the Allegrippis is already spreading beyond the regional level. This is going to have a huge impact on the economy in the area."
"To date, more than 100 volunteers have donated more than 2,300 volunteer hours toward the construction and maintenance of the Allegrippis Trail System," said Ron Rabena, President FORL. "The end result is a unique trail system that will benefit the region and community for years to come, including an additional estimated $1.2 million in annual revenue into Huntingdon County."
For more details on this news, please visit pr-usa.net.
Thursday, 23 April 2009Slovakia's High Tatras Mountains are expecting a record snowfall this year – with just 10 centimetres needed to beat the record of 4.29 metres set in March 1939. This is great news for investors with property in Slovakia (http://www.propertyfrontiers.com/International-Real-Esta ...) renting out resort property to winter sports fans.
The slopes have already had 4.1 metres of snow – t hat's about 13 feet – and skiing is expected to continue until the end of April. That means Slovakia property investors have had a bumper six-month ski season stretching from November to April.
Lower slopes will probably close – but those over 1,500 metres will still have plenty of snow to the end of the month, according to forecasters. The long season has been a great boost for tourism as Slovakia's borders with Germany, Poland and Austria are only a short drive to the High Tatras, allowing weekend breaks as well as longer holidays.
The country has invested several million Euros in improving tourist infrastructure for winter sports, with many new slopes, ski lifts and other facilities opening over the past few months. To encourage late skiers, the resorts are now offering discount passes.. Slovakia's tourist chiefs are popping the champagne to celebrate the success of their first season with new infrastructure.
Budget flights from the UK direct to Poprad or Kosice make getting to the slopes easy, and the capital Bratislava, is a four-hour train ride away for a different day out. UK tour operators Regent Holidays and Vamos Travel have already added the High Tatras to brochures. Industry gossip is Thomson, First Choice and Crystal are considering including Slovakia in their next brochures.
Mountain Paradise already offers all-year round holidays to Slovakia – golf and hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter.
High Tatras property is looking good for Slovakia property investment (http://www.propertyfrontiers.com/International-Real-Esta ...) investors as the area is developed for tourism. A typical upmarket development offering an anticipated 15% annual growth and 5-6% yields is Silver Resort, (http://www.propertyfrontiers.com/International-Real-Esta ...) on the edge of the High Tatras. Set high on a hill, the resorts gives wonderful views of the surrounding mountains that make up this UNESCO world heritage site and national park.
Offering studio to three bed roomed apartments and villas, investors can buy in to this Slovakia property (http://www.propertyfrontiers.com/International-Real-Estate/Country/Slovakia.aspx) from £12,699 plus purchase costs with an 80% loan-to-value mortgage. This resort has something for everyone. It's 15 minutes drive from Poprad Airport, five minutes drive from ski lifts and only a few miles from an 18-hole golf course.
If you're lucky in this untamed mountain wilderness you can still see wolves and bears in the wild. Although nowadays, they are more likely to be stealing food from restaurant dustbins than hunting down stray tourists.
For more details on this news, please visit www.prlog.org.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009Sorel, a premium cold-weather boot manufacturer, is sponsoring the adrenaline-packed 14th annual TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival (TWSSF), April 17-26, 2009 in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
The 10-day and night festival is Canada's largest free outdoor concert series and the biggest snow festival in North America -- blending live music, fashion and multimedia arts, with elite skiing and snowboarding slopestyle events and big air competitions.
Sorel's new fashion-inspired boots will be featured throughout the festival: in the hands of winning athletes following the Orage Masters slopestyle and free-ski event on April 19th; strutting on the catwalk during the Fashion EXPOSED event on April 24th; keeping the emcee's feet warm on the main stage; on the feet of all TWSSF staff throughout Whistler Village; and in Sponsor Village where attendees can get a close look at Sorel's upcoming styles.
"The Sorel name has been synonymous with durable, cold-weather footwear for more than 45 years, and the brand is now offering a more fashionable look with the same utility," said Katherine Lane, Sorel's marketing manager. "We are thrilled to present our new stylish footwear at the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival. This event highlights Sorel's evolution into fashion while showcasing our rugged heritage on the mountain."
Combining cultural and snow sport events, TWSSF is the culminating championship event in a five-part snow series and attracts elite athletes and celebrities, making it an ideal opportunity to unveil some of Sorel's functional yet fashionable styles.
For live updates from TWSSF, follow @SorelFootwear on Twitter!
For more details on this news, please visit www.marketwire.com.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009Altitude Sports & Entertainment, the Denver- based regional sports network, has selected the Cisco® MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) and transcoding high-definition (HD) platform to enhance its regional sports programming delivery capability. Altitude Sports & Entertainment, the official television network of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Mammoth and Colorado Rapids sports te ams, will also use the Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) solution to broadcast entertainment and community programming from music to theatrical performances, as well as boxing, rodeo, auto racing, golf, skiing and extreme sports, and a series of outdoor and lifestyle shows. Altitude is among a growing number of forward-looking content providers that are evolving their network into a medianet, a network optimized for video and rich media that is scalable nationwide, while it streamlines operations and accelerates service velocity.
Facts:
* Altitude will use the Cisco solution to distribute a single MPEG-4 AVC HD video stream for reception by Cisco Advanced Receiver Transcoders, which convert the incoming video to MPEG-2 HD, MPEG-2 standard definition, or analog to protect affiliates' investments in the large installed base of MPEG-2 set-tops.
* A Cisco MPEG-4 AVC encoder will create a single MPEG-4 AVC HD video stream that requires up to 50 percent less bandwidth than a comparable MPEG-2 video stream, plus deliver DVB-S2 forward error correction and modulation for higher throughputs, improved satellite bandwidth use and more efficient content delivery.
* The Altitude television network originally launched in September 2004 using a Cisco PowerVu® standard-definition distribution system.
Supporting Quotes:
* "When you make a transition to advanced technology, you don't want to team with a newcomer," said Matthew Hutchings, chief operating officer for Altitude Sports & Entertainment television network. "Our past experience with Cisco plus its leadership in the MPEG-4 AVC encoding and transcoding marketplace helped us take an aggressive time-to-market approach and take advantage of the savings in capital and operating expenses with this new platform."
* "Video is driving a market transition for content providers and their affiliates," said Brian Morris, vice president, global business development, Digital Media Networks business unit for Cisco. "Cisco has industry-leading end-to-end video and networking solutions and is uniquely placed to help answer the challenges our customers face in this highly competitive and changing environment."
Supporting Resources:
* Cisco D9054 MPEG-4 AVC HD encoder
* Cisco award-winning D9858 Advanced Receiver Transcoder
For more details on this news, please visit pr-usa.net.
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