Glencoe ski site 'is world's snowiest'

The ski centre at Glencoe Mountain had the most new snow of any winter sports resort in the world on Wednesday, its operators have claimed.

Spokesman Andy Meldrum said data collected by the British Ski Club revealed the area experienced a fall of 80cm over 24 hours.

Heavy snowfalls were also experienced at other Scottish ski resorts.

Snow fell to a depth of 70cm at CairnGorm, 60cm at both The Lecht and Nevis Range, and 50cm at Glenshee. Mr Meldrum said: "We have had a colossal amount of snow. At car park level we've probably got a metre of snow. "The amount of snow on the mountain is absolutely epic." Mr Meldrum added: "We must have a metre and a half of snow up there."

Glencoe came out ahead of the Sugarbush and Mount Snow resorts in the USA which had 76cm of new snow on Wednesday.

Quarter or Bristish skiers still drunk from the night before when they hit the slopes

Almost a quarter of skiers are unknowingly taking to the slopes still drunk from the night before, a survey today shows.

As many as 23 percent of British winter sports enthusiasts have seven units of alcohol still in their blood stream when starting a morning's skiing, the poll by More Than travel insurance found. This is the equivalent of being almost twice over the legal drink-drive limit, with morning skiers in this condition not likely to come down to the four-unit mark until at least 11am.

The poll of 1,072 skiers and snowboarders also showed that 74 percent reckoned drinking heavily the night before did not affect their skiing ability the next day. As many as 45 percent planned to drink every night during a winter sports' trip, while 31 percent wrongly believed their insurance would not be affected if they cause a serious accident on the slopes having drunk heavily the night before.

More Than spokesman Pete Markey said: 'The findings of the research are extremely concerning. 'Brits abroad have a reputation for drinking to excess but throw a high-speed downhill sport into the mix and you have a very nasty combination. 'Drink-driving is severely frowned upon and drink-skiing should be too. It can be just as dangerous.'

'Weather has not been our friend,' ski officials admit

Olympic officials are insisting that forecasts of days of rain and fog won't put a damper on the Games, although they admit there could be delays and postponements.

"Weather has not been our friend and it's continuing to challenge us," said Cathy Priestner Allinger, 2010's head of sport, Thursday.

First it was Cypress Mountain, where 9,000 cubic metres of snow had to be trucked in as rain drowned the courses.

This week it was fog at Whistler, which forced the postponement Wednesday of the men's downhill training runs. Priestner Allinger said that although the men's training runs went ahead Thursday, the women's training runs had to be postponed because of fog.

"It's raining on Cypress and there's a lot of fog," said Priestner Allinger. "We're continuing to protect the field of play as much as we can."

She said visibility was a more current problem on Cypress.

"Today, visibility is 100 to 400 metres," she said. "We need 250 metres on the moguls to be able to execute the races."

Despite the weather forecast, which calls for more rain and warm temperatures for the next five days, she said she was looking forward to the men's downhill race on Saturday.

"As it sits today, we're counting on running that race," she said.

She said the International Ski Federation will make the decision whether to delay or postpone races based on conditions.

Once a decision has been made, Olympic officials work with FIS, the broadcasters, and Environment Canada to work out when to try to reschedule the race, along with Olympic transportation and ticketing officials.

She warned that sometimes spectators won't learn of delays until they get to the venue.

"It's our No. 1 priority to get the event off the day it's scheduled," she added.

John Furlong, 2010 CEO, said he couldn't remember a Winter Games that didn't face weather challenges and delays.

"Hopefully we won't have too many but I don't think it's reasonable to think that, in 16 days, there won't be some things that have to be moved," he said.

Bluffers Guide to the Events

Having trouble picking your slalom from your Super G? Your luge from your skeleton? Your freestyle moguls from your Nordic Combined? Then here's our handy guide to what you'll be watching in the next couple of weeks. SKIING There are five skiing disciplines. Downhill does exactly what it says on the tin. Fast, steep, slick and with no margin for error, it is top to bottom against the clock.

Slalom is a short course race through a series of up to 75 gates, with quick turns making agility essential.

Giant slalom is similar but longer with fewer gates and longer, smoother turns while Super-G combines downhill and giant slalom.

The combined event has one downhill run and two slalom runs, all in one day.

Ski jumping comes in three events - the normal hill, large hill and team events.

Cross country skiing is on the flat (and sometimes a bit uphill) and takes place over courses from 1.5km to 15km to 50km.

Freestyle skiing has three events. Aerials involves being catapulted from ramps up to 50 feet in the air and performing acrobatics. Moguls is a speed race over a course of bumps, while skicross is like motocross on snow with speed, jumps and tricks all required. SNOWBOARDING Snowboarding halfpipe involves a series of spectacular leaps with unintelligible names, such as '1080 double cork'. Snowboard cross looks like BMX on snow, while snowboard parallel slalom is a head-to-head race between two riders. ICE DANCING Ice dancing, figure skating and ice hockey are well known to British viewers, as is bobsleigh, which comes in two and four-person events. CURLING A little like bowls on ice. It is better known to us since Rhona Martin's team's gold for Great Britain in 2002. LUGE/SKELETON Luge and skeleton have become two of the most exciting events to watch. Both are a bit like bobsleigh. Luge involves hurtling down the track at 85mph, feet first, flat on your back on a fibreglass pod shaped to your body.

Skeleton is even more madcap as competitors go head first on a glorified tea tray half the length of a body. Neither luge or skeleton offers any margin for error.

Biathlon Biathlon is incredibly gruelling. Cross country skiing with a gun on your back gets the heart pumping and contestants then have to stop on each lap to shoot at five targets, sometimes lying down, sometimes standing.

Nordic combined starts with a ski jump before going on to a cross country race. SPEED SKATING Speed skating has two disciplines. Short track is manic, with skaters battling each other over an oval course the size of an ice hockey rink.

The longer track has races up to 10km in a twoperson head-to-head, leaving the thighs burning and the lungs bursting.

Brit lad crushed by snowman

A BRITISH toddler stopped breathing after he was crushed by a giant snowman at a luxury ski resort in Austria.

Three-year-old Louis Kindal's parents watched in horror as the youngster was engulfed by the 10ft high snowman. The youngster was placed in a coma after being flown to hospital in nearby Innsbruck with his mum, Michelle, from Chorleywood, Herts, by air ambulance. His desperate dad Yves Kindal, 31, told how he clawed at the snow with his bare hands to pull his son free at the Leutasch ski resort in the Tyrol.

He said: "I ran over straight away and my only thought was to get my son out as soon as possible. "But the snow was like concrete. I was ripping and tearing at the snow and my hands were bleeding but I didn't care." He added: "By the time I pulled him out from under the snowman he had turned blue and was no longer breathing. We had to perform artificial respiration to get him breathing again."

This morning hospital medics said Louis was out of danger and has now been moved from intensive care to a normal children's ward. He said: "We are used to responding quickly here to winter sports accidents. Rapid transport of the patient and fast treatment have ensured a quick recovery. "The child is now out of danger and we anticipate he will soon be able to leave the ward."

The family had arrived in the resort from the UK only minutes earlier and were waiting outside their hotel when the accident happened. A local artist had constructed the snowman for a resort festival and today police launched an inquiry into why it collapsed.

Cops are consulting prosecutors over possible criminal charges. Inspector Johannes Adentung said: "A report is being prepared for prosecutors who will decide how to proceed. "There were a number of other snow sculptures in the area and in order to ensure the safety of the public these have now been dismantled."