Mount St. Elias Film Presentation at Torello's Film Festival

From November 13th to 22nd Torelló will host the 27th Edition of the Caixa Sabadell Mountain Film Festival. The Film Festival is one of the most important meetings of this kind in Spain and one of the best in the world with thousands of spectators gathering in Torelló each year.

Mount St. Elias (directed by Gerald Salmina)
Torelló, November 17th, 21:00

Story Line: A dramatic and awe-inspiring feature documentary following three of the world’s greatest ski mountaineers (Two Austrian Axel Naglich and Peter Ressmann and American Jon Jonhston) to the Mount St. Elias in their attempt to realize the longest ski descent of the world. Far away from the civilized world, Mount St. Elias is located in south-eastern Alaska bordering the Yukon Territory. The Canadian side is part of Kluane National Park, while the U.S. side of the mountain is located within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Mount Saint Elias is notable for being the highest peak in the world so close to tidewater.

Back-Story: After a first failed attempt in May, Austrian skiers from Kitzbühel, Axel Naglich and Peter Ressmann, have become the first to ski down Mount St. Elias (5,489 meters) in Alaska on a run of about 20 kilometres, the longest ski descent ever.
The mountain known as "The Man Eater", one of the peaks of the St. Elias Mountains on the Yukon border -the highest coastal range in the world- is a spectacular snow-covered pyramid renowned for its dangerous icy and massive vertical relief, 50 to 60 degrees on upper slopes. A glacial stream runs all the way from the top of Mount St. Elias down into Icy Bay in the Gulf of Alaska.
In 2002, two experienced ski mountaineers, Aaron Martin and Reid Sanders, died attempting the ski descent and their remains are under the ice on a slope near the summit.
On August 9th the team left the base camp on the Haydon Shoulder (3,000 meters) at midnight and climbed, through a loose rock face in the dark to avoid rock fall, to advanced camp (4,300 meters). Next day they left the advanced camp at 7:30 a.m. ascended to the high camp at 4,700 meters preparing the final push. On August 11th Axel Naglich and Peter Ressmann reached the summit at 12:50 p.m. and then, after a 10 minutes rest, began their descent down an unexplored line to avoid the avalanche-prone slope they had ascended. It took the pair less than two hours to ski to high camp, break down camp and continue the ski down to 4,300 meters where they camped. On August 12th the pair left their camp at 2 a.m., repelling down the treacherous rock face before dawn. They arrived back at Haydon Shoulder by noon and within hours had been picked up by the Super Cub airplane, who shuttled them back to Ultima Thule Lodge.
Axel Naglich (39), an architect and extreme skier from Kitzbühel, was already the first to ski down new extreme routes on Mount Cook in New Zealand three years ago and Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus, Europe’s highest mountain, four years ago. He has won the "24 Hours of Aspen" three times and has taken part in both the Red Bull Snowthrill in Chamonix and the X Games twice.
Peter Ressmann, ski guide and ski school owner, has skied China’s 7,500-meter Muztagh Ata as well as the Himalayan giant, 8,125-meter Nanga Parbat. He joined Axel Naglich on two attempts to descend Mount Cook’s as-yet-unskied Caroline face and in 2006 successfully summited and skied 8,047-meter Broad Peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range.

Breckenridge Legalizes Pot

Breckenridge voters overwhelmingly approved a measure to make it legal to possess 1 ounce or less of marijuana, as the issue received 71 percent support in Tuesday’s election. As a result, effective Jan. 1, people 21 and older in Breckenridge will be able to legally possess small amounts of marijuana. While possession remains illegal under state law, Breckenridge police chief Rick Holman said his department will "still have the ability to exercise discretion", according to the Summit Daily News. In the past, the chief has said that pursuit of pot smokers was not a major priority. The vote, supporters say, will further encourage local law enforcement to leave average recreational pot smokers alone.
Currently, the petty, non-jailable offense under town code carries a maximum $100 fine. In 2008, Breckenridge Police Department ticketed 10 people under the town marijuana possession law, according to BPD ticket statistics.
In 2005, Denver became the first major city to decriminalize possession of less than an ounce of marijuana after voters approved legislation similar to that in Breckenridge.
The decriminalization won't change laws prohibiting smoking in public, use by minors or driving under the influence.

Powder Alarms Across The Alps As More Resorts Open Early

Skiinfo is issuing dozens of powder alarms as heavy snow is falling across the Alps. More than 25 alarms have been issued in the past 24 hours for top resorts in Switzerland, Austria, France and Italy. The falls in the Alps follow heavy snow in Scandinavia at the weekend with resorts like Beitostølen in Norway, which is already open, adding 46cm (18 inches) in the past seven days. Anyone can register their favourite resorts at Skiinfo to receive free email alerts when heavy snow falls there.
In Italy Val Gardena is one of the big winners at present reporting 80cm (nearly three feet) of new snow, 40cm (16 inches) of it in the past 24 hours, however it is not due to officially open until the end of the month. Bormio however has opened, for weekend skiing, joining the glacier ski areas of Cervinia (now open daily after weekend opening in October), Passo Stelvio and Val Senales. Many other ski resorts in the dolomites received up to 50cm (20 inches) of new snow, Cortina reported 45cm (18 inches).
The new snow has also reached France where it is especially welcome as the country’s glaciers did not receive so much snow as the central and eastern Alps in October. Tignes is the only area currently open in the country, as it has been since September, and it is reporting 25cm (10 inches) of new snow on the Grand Motte at present.
Austria, which currently has the most ski areas open in Europe but worldwide is about to be overtaken by the US for the first time since last winter (and possibly in Europe by Norway), is again doing well for fresh snow after being the biggest beneficiary of the heavy October snow a few weeks ago. "Yesterday we had 25 cm of powder on the Austrian glaciers in Hintertux and Pitztal and 20cm in Mölltal. The Stubaier glacier had 30 cm of fresh snow on Monday. In Austria Dachstein Gletscher (90cm), Hauser-Kaibling-Ski amade (50cm), Hintertuxer Gletscher (150cm), Kaunertaler Gletscher (124cm), Kitzsteinhorn - Kaprun (102cm), Mölltaler Gletscher (160cm), Pitztaler Gletscher and Stubaier Gletscher (100cm) are open", said Pascal Bovee of Skiinfo’s Austrian office.
There’s been fresh snow in Switzerland too with the Engadin region around St Moritz reporting about a foot of new snow. This may cause problems for the Snowboard World Cup events currently being staged on Saas Fee’s glacier, attracting competitors from 25 nations, where strong winds have closed the slopes today, after 40cm (15 inches) of new snow has fallen. The Engadin, Diablerets and Zermatt glaciers are also currently open (weather permitting) in Switzerland. Verbier has announced that it will probably open this weekend, a final decision is due at 5pm tomorrow (Thursday 5th November)
In Germany the Zugspitz glacier is now open for snowsports.
After the heavy snowfalls in Scandinavia at the weekend more snow is now being reported with 22cm of fresh just reported by Hemsedal in Norway in perfect timing for its opening day this weekend. There are now expected to be more than a dozen ski areas open in Norway and a good selection in Sweden and Finland too opening this weekend.
In Canada the large snowfalls at the end of last week added up to more than 70cm (28 inches) at Sun Peaks in British Columbia, and it has announced it will open a week early as a result. "This is the earliest we have seen conditions like this and so to take advantage of this gift, we are going to move the planned opening day up to November 14", said Jamie Tattersfield, Mountain Operations Manager at Sun Peaks. "We aim to open as many lifts and runs as possible". The Sun Peaks Slopes Department has been working diligently to pack all of the fresh snow down, and snow making efforts are continuing to build up the base on OSV, where the Austrian National Ski Team will be training next month. Mountain Operations says the snow making will likely move to the Terrain and Tube Parks in the next couple of weeks. The final decision on what lifts and runs will be open will made on Monday, November 9. In Alberta, Banff’s local slopes at Mount Norquay have already opened, last Saturday October 31st, the first in the west of the country, "It’s great to be skiing in October", said Dan Markham, of Ski Banff-Lake Louise-Sunshine. "It was a really fun way to celebrate Halloween. We’re excited to be open already, and there’ll be more terrain available this weekend". Lake Louise Ski Area aims to be the next to open, this Friday November 6, with preparations well underway to again host the first, and Canada’s only, stop on the World Cup circuit. The Men’s races will take place on November 28 to 29, and the Women’s races on December 4 to 6. Calgary’s closest ski area and the Olympic venue in 1988, Nakiska is due to open on Saturday, including its new quad. In preparation for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, Nakiska Ski Area will host race teams in-training from all over the world including the Canadian squad. The famous Mapmaker run at Nakiska will be the workout platform for Croatia's Men, France's, Switzerland’s and Monaco’s Men’s and Women’s teams, Germany's, Norway's, Italy’s, Croatia’s and Slovenia’s Men’s teams and Sweden's lonely Women’s team...
Sunshine Village will tentatively open on Wednesday next week, November 11, with the newly renovated Sunshine Mountain Lodge opening 30 new eco-luxurious rooms shortly after. The multimillion dollar wing replacement has not only added luxury to the Lodge, but also lowered the resort’s carbon footprint. Marmot Basin to the north also plans to open on Wednesday November 11th, the earliest opening date ever for the ski area located in Jasper National Park. Six lifts will be open on the first day of the season including the Eagle Express Quad Chair, Paradise Triple Chair, School House T-bar, Eagle Ridge Chairlift, the Magic Carpet and the new Canadian Rockies Express. A combination of natural and manmade snow has given the area a solid base with good snow coverage throughout the mountain. Marmot Basin will open with 38 runs on the 11th with more runs expected to open soon thereafter. The runs will include terrain in the lower area, upper mountain and the Eagle Ridge area. With above average snow coverage Marmot Basin will open the new Canadian Rockies Express, the longest high speed quad chairlift in the Canadian Rockies. From the ski area base, the Canadian Rockies Express travels 2.3 km (1.5 miles), whisking skiers and boarders 596 vertical metres (1,955 ft) up to the mountain top in less than eight minutes. The lift is the largest chairlift development in North America this season.
More resorts have opened or are about to open in Western USA thanks to heavy snow in some states including Colorado, and cold weather for snowmaking in places like California, where Mountain High has opened. Keystone Resort in Colorado announced it will open earlier than planned, on November 5, thanks to fresh snow on the mountain and a spate of cold temperatures that provided ideal conditions for Keystone's talented snowmaking team. The resort plans to open tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 5 with top-to-bottom skiing and ideal snow surface conditions. Keystone will also open with two jumps and more than 20 features from its A51 Terrain Park, the No. 2 ranked park in North America by Transworld Snowboarding Magazine. Copper Mountain (picture attached) is among others opening early joining Arapahoe basin and Loveland which have been open since November.
In the southern hemisphere only Mt Ruapehu’s Turoa ski area in New Zealand is still open, with a 225cm (7.5 foot) base.

Vail Resorts Offers 'Free Skis & Boards Package'

Vail Resorts announces several innovative programs, from ski and ride school to dining, equipment rentals to season passes, designed to offer great values for skiers and riders all season long.
Last season, Vail Resorts provided a $50 credit on baggage fees for skis and snowboards and this year the Company is going one better. Guests can leave their skis and snowboards at home, avoiding Baggage fees on airlines, because rentals are free with this package. The Free Skis & Boards package features lift tickets and a free ski and snowboard sports rental package per person for up to seven days at the retail locations of Vail Sports, Beaver Creek Sports, Breckenridge Sports, Keystone Sports and Heavenly Sports, as well as lodging in a Vail Resorts property or third-party lodging sponsor at Heavenly.
The package must be purchased by Dec. 1, 2009, and is not valid from Dec. 28, 2009-Jan. 4, 2010, and Jan. 15-18, 2010. It is based on a two-night minimum stay.
Vail Resorts is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resort properties of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone mountain resorts in Colorado and the Heavenly Ski Resort in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada. The Company's ski resorts had 6.2 million skier visits during the 2007/2008 ski season, or approximately 10.2% of United States skier visits, and an approximate 7.6% share of the North American market's skier visits.

Heavy Snow in North America, More In The Alps, 30+ Resorts Now Open

Skiinfo is reporting heavy snow in western Canada and a week of fresh snowfalls in many northern hemisphere ski areas including Colorado, parts of the Alps and Japan.
With Kitzbuhel’s earliest ever opening at the weekend, following the Planai above Schladming the week before that, as well as seven glaciers areas to choose from, Austria continues to offer the biggest choice of skiing in the Alps. The heavy snowfall there last week has set up some great conditions with most areas reporting a 90-150cm (3-5 foot) base. The other ski centres to choose from include Dachstein, Hintertux, Molltal, Kitzsteinhorn (Kaprun), Pitztal, Solden, Stubai, Tux).
In Switzerland the latest ski area to open is Glacier 3000 above les Diablerets near Gstaad. Currently the Dôme ski lift and the snow park are open where there are several lines of a different level with tables, rails as well as boxes ready for use. The area joins the Engelberg, Saas Fee and Zermatt glaciers which are all already open.
Exciting news from Italy too as Bormio has announced it will open early from this weekend, Halloween, too and the country has reported some of the best new snow this week, Livigno, not yet open, noting more than 30cm of fresh snow accumulated. Bormio will run a cable car and a high speed chair serving 18km of slopes between 2,500m and 3,000m altitude. It joins Cervinia (20cm) which will now be open daily after weekend opening through October, and still open summer ski areas Passo Stelvio and Val Senales.
In France les 2 Alpes is open this week for its new festival week, but will close again on Monday for four weeks until opening for the winter on November 28th. It has 20m of snow, a little more than Tignes, the other French resorts that has now been open for six weeks this season but is currently suffering from a snow shortage and needs more.
In the Pyrenees there are no areas open yet but the first heavy snowfalls have been reported. Formigal (picture attached) in Spain has reported the first snow of the season on their ski mountain’s slopes. The 5cm dusting at Spain’s largest resort is a good sign for the coming season and forecasters are predicting a further 15cm tonight. The Pyrenees received some of the best snow in decades at many resorts last winter, and it all began in Autumn last year, so the region is hoping for a repeat of winter 08-09.
There are more than a dozen ski areas currently open in Northern Europe. Sweden currently has five ski areas to ski or board - Funäsdalen, Kåbdalis, Tänndalen, Tärnaby and Hemavan. Tänndalen is the only area that is open daily. The country’s biggest resort, Sälen, is waiting for colder temperatures along with all other resorts. One that is standing by is Åre as under the right conditions, temp, humidity, etc, Åre can produce a 50cm snow layer on its main down hill slope in just 150 hours. However Sweden needs colder temps to open new areas and the weather forecast don't look so promising for the rest of the week.
In Norway skiers have six different ski resorts to choose from the upcoming weekend. Gaustablikk and Bjorli opened already at 17th of October, and Gålå has announced their season starts this weekend. A ski season that starts in mid October is early, even in cold Norway, and this means that the first winter ski resort opened before the last summer ski resort closed (Galdhøpiggen Summer ski resort closed on 25th October). Kvitfjell, Trysil, Hafjell, Geilo, Kongsberg and Uvdal all aim to open on November 7th.
Several areas are also open in Finland, including the first to open there, Ruka.
In Western Canada the Canada Olympic Park near Calgary in Alberta is already open and resorts across Alberta and British Columbia have been reporting heavy snow falls ahead of planned opening dates in the next few weeks. The first due to open is Mount Norquay at Banff, which plans to open at weekends from this Saturday, Halloween weekend, onwards. Other resorts in the region including Nakiska and Marmot Basin, both of which have new quad chairlifts, as well as Sunshine mountain will open within the next few weeks. Resorts in British Columbia have been reporting heavy snow in recent days. "Sun Peaks Sports Director Alain Brunelle tested the powder up at Sun Peaks this morning. The last couple of days have brought 40cm of snow, bringing the base at Sun Peaks to 70cm. More storms are on the way, with snow expected Wednesday night, Thursday, and Saturday this week", resort spokeswoman Melanie Simmons told Skiinfo. Fernie and Marmot Basin have also reported big snowfalls.
In the east of the Country Mont Saint Sauveur in Quebec was the first to open, thanks in part to an expanded snowmaking system, but has since had to close again because of warmer weather.
South of the border resorts in US, Colorado and Utah are amongst those announcing fresh snow. In the case of Loveland, Colorado, which has already been open for three weeks, that means more new terrain has opened as a "Halloween treat" for its guests. Its neighbours, Copper and Keystone plan to open within weeks. Arapahoe Basin remains open although there’s no beginner terrain at the moment. Anothere two inches (5cm) of snow has fallen there is the past 24 hours and there’s an 18 inch (45cm) base mid mountain). Three runs including Ramrod are now open along! Visit the High Divide Terrain Park with 5 features. On the east Coast Sunday River in Maine remains open with the resort’s full vertical skiable with two weeks of the season clocked up so far.
In the southern Hemisphere New Zealand’s Mt Ruapehu is about to open its ‘Snovember’ opening schedule. Turoa reports a base toll at over 2.4m (8 feet) so it’s anyone’s guess how long it can stay open, but the current plan is for another few weeks at least. The centre has re-opened for Christmas in recent years and more snow is expected in the next few days.

Ski production at Fischer now with 100% renewable energy

The Fischer Sports Group has generated the entire thermal energy for production and heating at the Ried location by a biomass plant since 2001. Ski production at the Mukachevo plant (UKR) has now also been changed over to renewable energy. This makes Fischer the first and only ski producer in the world to attach such great importance to environmental aspects.
Fischer has been committed to renewable energy from sustainable sources for many years. The latest investment is the doubling of the thermal energy generated from biomass at the ski production plant in Ukraine. The biomass plant for the generation of thermal energy went into operation just in time for the cold winter period and the opening of the skiing season. The Fischer plant now produces 5.5 MW of thermal energy. The Ukraine plant was built using state-of-the-art engineering and features the necessary filter systems. This represents a major contribution from Fischer towards achieving the Kyoto environmental objectives.
The Ukraine location currently has a workforce of 950 people producing a total of around 700,000 pairs of Alpine and cross country skis for the global market.
Fischer today ranks among the high-tech companies in the ski branch. Many top-level athletes place their trust in Fischer's yellow equipment and the experience that goes into it. Since 1976 almost half of the Olympic medals in the Alpine and Nordic disciplines have been won with Fischer skis. Supported by a successfully implemented reengineering process, the company has a sound financial structure and looks forward to the future with great optimism.

Snowcarbon website launched

A new website has launched with the aim of encouraging more people to travel by train to ski resorts. Snowcarbon is an independent website dedicated to helping skiers and snowboarders reach ski resorts by train from the UK.
The site which was founded by two respected national travel journalists, Daniel Elkan and Mark Hodson.
With a clean, simple design, the site features 30 resorts in Andorra, Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland, all of which can be conveniently, quickly and cheaply reached by train.
You can book your rail tickets on Snowcarbon. The booking forms on this site have been created for Snowcarbon by Eurostar, Rail Europe and Deutche Bahn to make it easier for you to book rail travel to ski destinations. When you click through from snowcarbon to make a booking, the enquiry and transaction takes place on the rail company's site, but snowcarbon receives a small commission.
Snowcarbon also features independent resort reviews written by leading ski journalists, as well as a sophisticated Resort Finder and unique email alerts that send users an email reminder on the day the lowest fares are available for their journey.
The site aims to encourage skiers and snowboarders to abandon increasingly stressful and expensive journeys by air in favour of the train. The environmental benefits are huge: the carbon footprint of a trip by plane to a ski resort is typically 10 times greater than the equivalent rail journey.
If more skiers chose the train, the environmental benefits would be significant. According to the Agence De l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie (a French government agency), 73% of a typical ski resort’s carbon footprint is made up by the journeys of tourists take to get there.
The rail journeys detailed are comfortable and stress-free. Couples, groups and families will love the space and freedom on board, and children under four travel for free on all UK and European trains. With vistas of lakes and mountains, the scenery is spectacular and by travelling overnight in a couchette, you can get two extra days on the slopes.
Many resorts have mainline railway stations – including St Moritz in Switzerland, St Anton in Austria and Chamonix in France – so the transfer from train to ski accommodation takes only a few minutes. Some resorts can be reached directly from London without a change of train, including Tignes, Meribel and Courchevel.
Surveys suggest that skiers and snowboarders are keen to take the train, but don’t have the necessary information or encouragement. A survey in 2005 by the Ski Club of Great Britain found that 68% of its members would prefer to travel to resorts by train.
A comparison of a door-to-door journey between London and Sauze d'Oulx, Italy, booked 5 weeks in advance, found the flight took 10 hours, rail travel 11 hours, 30 minutes. The flight costs £217 (including train to Gatwick, minibus transfer to resort, luggage charges), the train £178 (including private taxi transfer to resort, Metro fare in Paris). The carbon footprint for the flight was 96.8kg CO2, train 11.1kg CO2 (Car would be 227.1kg CO2 per car, by Eurotunnel).

St. Anton VIP Opening Prize

On Friday 27th November, St. Anton am Arlberg starts the ski season after 200 days of skiing abstinence.
With a celebratory programme and an unforgettable experience for one lucky winner, the season 2009/2010 kicks off. The winner of this VIP Opening Prize will exclusively open the season in St Anton am Arlberg, by drawing the coveted "First Line" in the skiing area. The lucky winner will exclusively take the Galzigbahn on the morning of the 27th November, champagne and canapés will be served and he or she will then carve the first turns down the untouched, virgin Kandahar piste accompanied by the St Anton ski legend, Karl Schranz. As soon as the season forerunner arrives back in the valley and completes the last turn of the downhill premiere, the ski enterprise will then be open for everyone.
The winner of the VIP Opening Weekend prize should consider who his best ski friends are because, as well as the "First Line", the prize includes three night’s accommodation for four persons in a 4-star hotel including half-board. In addition to this a two-day ski pass for all four, as well as lunch in the Galzig Verwallstube, the highest-altitude Gault Millau graded restaurant in Europe, are included. To make the journey to the resort and the long weekend more comfortable Audi will provide you a 4-wheel-drive car. By the way, everyone can be present at the draw for the winning ticket: simply check online on Tuesday, 27th October at 8.45 a.m. under www.stantonamarlberg.com.

Kitzbühel Opens

The 2009-10 skiing season began in Kitzbühel, in the region Pass Thurn - Resterkogel, on 24 October - earlier than ever before. The low temperatures combined with ultra-modern snow-making facilities and almost a metre of new snow mean that skiing is already possible in Kitzbühel, two months before Christmas.
It's the second year in a row the 80 year old ski area has broken it's earliest-opening record, opening two months earlier than usual.
The heavy snow fills skiers with enthusiasm and forms a good basis for this season. Although the geographical location of the Kitzbüheler Alpen means that snowfall is very heavy here every winter, skiing in October is nevertheless a first in the 80-year history of the Kitzbühel cable cars. From 24 October, Kitzbühel ski resort will be open at weekends and from 28 November, it will be open daily. All 7 of the ski resorts in the Kitzbüheler Alpen have received plenty of fresh snowfall already and are ideally equipped for the coming winter.
Kitzbuhel is often referred to as a ski area likely to suffer from global warming but it has produced figures showing snowfall averages have not declined and it keeps opening earlier each winter season.

FIS Alpine Ski Champions Cup (Moscow Parallel Slalom)

The FIS Alpine Ski Champions Cup in Parallel Slalom will take place in Moscow (RUS) on 21st November 2009. For the second consecutive year, the Russian Ski Association will host an Alpine Ski competition in the city of Moscow.
"After the highly successful First Edition on 2nd January 2009, we look forward to the 2nd FIS Alpine Ski Champions Cup. The event will now be held earlier in the season, on 21st November, which we believe is a great timing for promotional purposes. This year's competition is more focused on the slalom specialists and we are proud to welcome 11 of the top 14 male racers to Moscow", stated Günter Hujara, FIS Chief Race Director for Alpine men. "The Moscow event has developed an excellent standing in a short time. Only some leading all-round skiers have chosen to skip it to focus on preparation for the Olympic season and their heavy racing schedule with the men's FIS Alpine World Cup downhill and super-G taking place in Lake Louise (CAN) the following week. We will do our utmost to prepare excellent race conditions and hope for great weather for 21st November", added Hujara.
"The first ladies' Champions Cup promises to be an excellent event: led by last year's slalom World Cup winner, we will see a strong field and the athletes and coaches are all very excited. This is a great result despite the fact that there is a technical event the weekend before and after Moscow in the ladies' Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup", commented Atle Skaardal, FIS Chief Race Director for Alpine ladies. "The refined format, a one pole Parallel Slalom in a knock-out format, is bound to deliver a great show".
This year, the event will be held at the Moscow State Palace of Children's and Youth's Creativity. Located not far from the last event's venue (Moscow State University Square), the new ramp area will offer a wider range of facilities for all participants, from athletes, FIS officials, to guests and spectators. The new venue will be known as the Moscow Grand Ramp Arena. This year's ramp will be 60 meters high and 35 meters wide, with the total length of the slope about 200 meters.