News

News - This month marks the end for funding for competitive skiing

March is a sad month for Britain’s ski and snowboarding elite athletes as it marks the end of their public funding. Previously Britain’s competitive skiing program received £372,000, not a huge amount to start with, now it has been cut to nothing. The same has been done to snowboarding with their original funding of £248,000 also being reduced to zero. By contrast the ice sports of skeleton, curling, short-track speed skating and women’s bobsleigh will all benefit from extra funding. Women's bobsleigh receives an increase of £500,000 in their support to £2.4m, up from £1.9m and short-track skating see an increase in their support of £1.8m to £2.8m. Only time will tell if skiing and snowboarding will ever get their funding back. For the future of the sport, we can only hope it does.

News - Snow in the City

Could London be the next city following the likes of Dubai to have a snow resort available all year round? If artificial ski slope creator, Acer Snowmec (responsible for projects such as The Snow Centre Hemel Hempstead and Ski Dubai) has anything to do with it, the answer is yes!

Acer Snowmec has announced that it has submitted an expression of interest to the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) for the Snow in the City mixed-use development.

If the project proposal is successful, the resort will include downhill slopes, a park with kickers rails and an Olympic size superpipe. In addition, there are plans for cross country skiing areas, curling, luge, skeleton, ice skating and bobsleigh!

Malcolm Clulow, ASL Developments chair and Acer Snowmec managing director, said: "The anticipated footfall to the indoor snow resort alone could be well in excess of a million visitations a year. Snow in the City certainly delivers on the Olympic Legacy Promises, breathing new life into the community."

Exciting stuff, we shall see how things develop - making winter sports more accessible to the masses can only be a good thing!

News - BRITS Is Back!

The BRITS is back between 20-27 March in Laax, Switzerland.

If you fancy seeing the best of British showing their ski and snowboard talent then this is the event to be at.

By day see the boys and girls slaying rails, hammering the half pipe and destroying kickers in one of the 4 snowparks or 2 half pipes and by night rip it up to headliners Pendulum, band of the moment The Correspondants or an '80's Chalet Party. All booked and ready to rock you and the resort! This is apres as it should be - huge!

For 7 days and 7 nights, Laax is the place to be! Rub shoulders with Britain's best riders and hey you never know maybe you'll even be brave enough to compete yourself!

If you fancy a week of pure exhilaration, then get in touch with Skitracer.com! and let us find you some amazing accommodation for the week (not that we expect you'll be spending that much time there!).

News - The Killers Playing Ischgl Closing Party!

Ischgl have done it again...managed to get hold of an amazing act to close the season on the 30 April. Before we have seen the likes of Elton John, Rihanna, Kylie and Alicia Keys, but The Killers are altogether more exciting and far more up the street of many snow and mountain lover and all you need to get in is a valid lift pass for that day. Ischgl is famous for its nightlife and this party will be no different, rock and roll has never looked so tempting! Bear in mind that many tour operators will have closed their winter operations by this time, so let Skitracer.com with their expertise find you the perfect option to enjoy this amazing event. We search the market so you don't have to.

News - Fuller Flying the British Flag at TTR O'Neill Evolution

The TTR O’Neill Evolution 2011 wrapped up on Saturday in Davos and flying the flag for the UK was Aimee Fuller. The 19-year-old from County Down got her highest score yet in a 6-star TTR event, coming 5th in the Slopestyle finals. Her solid runs, including smooth backside 3s and a 50-50 gap to nose slide over the up-flat-down rail, showed great promise and went down well with the judges and commentators. Tweeting after the event, Fuller said she was “stoooked” (sic). The USA’s Jamie Anderson took the women’s slopestyle title with a backside 540 mute to a switch frontside boardslide-to-backside boardslide while in the men’s slopestyle event Sebastien Toutant won the finals with a Cab double cork 1260 to a backside boardside. The halfpipe finals the previous day saw Iouri Podladtchikov settle for second, beaten by Davos local Christian Haller with a backside 540, frontside 1080, Cab 1080 and a frontside 900. Another local, 16-year-old Jan Scherrer came out of nowhere and made the crowds go wild with a run that earnt him third place. Kelly Clark from the USA dominated the women’s halfpipe, taking first place with plenty of amplitude and a stylish frontside indy, backside 540, frontside 720 and a Cab 720. There’s no rest for the riders however, as the Burton European Open is taking place this week, just around the corner from Davos in Laax. With both slopestyle and halfpipe events and a 6-star TTR rating, it’s a further chance for highly sought-after TTR World Champion points -bring it on!

Source: Metrosnow.co.uk Photo credit: O'Neill/Philippruggli.ch