Price of skiing stays the same in Aspen!!

ASPEN — The Aspen Skiing Co. is holding the line on the prices of its two most popular ski passes and it is resurrecting the two-day-per-week pass, which had been eliminated prior to last season, the company announced Monday.

The Premier Pass — which offers unrestricted access to all four Skico ski areas with no blackout dates — costs $1,099 for members of local chambers of commerce in 2010-11. The price is $1,499 for individuals who aren't chamber members. Both prices are the same as last season.

In all cases, season passes are cheapest when purchased before a Sept. 24 “super early deadline.” Prices go up Sept. 24 and again on Nov. 12.

“The message there is buy your passes before Sept. 24,” said Skico spokesman Jeff Hanle. About 80 percent of season pass buyers heed the advice and purchase before the first deadline, he said.

The Flex Pass prices, good for one day of skiing or riding per week, sells for $699 for chamber members and $819 for non-members, if purchased before Sept. 24. Those prices are also the same as the prior season. Extra days can be added for $49 per day.

The price of Premier Passes was dropped by $200 last season for chamber members and $270 for individuals, so the skiers and riders who hit the slopes most often are paying less than they have since the 2004-05 season.

Even without a price increase, the Skico's full-season pass remained the most expensive among Colorado resorts. Telluride charges $1,298 but customers can knock that down to $998 per person when four people team to buy passes. Steamboat's current price is $999 while Crested Butte is charging $949.

Vail Resorts, which is more vulnerable to competition for Front Range skiers, is charging $599 for an Epic Pass, which buys access to Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin as well as Heavenly in California.

Most other Colorado resorts raised their pass prices by a modest amount for the 2010-11 winter.

The Skico's decision to keep pass prices flat was partially an acknowledgment of the ongoing tough economic times, Hanle said, but there's also a philosophical statement involved.

‘Double Flex Pass' created

In addition to holding the prices the same as 2009-10 for the major passes, the Skico brought back an old favorite. The two-day-per-week pass is now dubbed the “Double Flex Pass.”

Among people who objected about pass options last season, the biggest complaint was about the loss of the two-day-per-week option. Critics said they could only hit the slopes twice per week, Hanle said. They didn't want to pay more for the Premier Pass because they knew they couldn't use all the days. But they also wanted more than a one-day-per-week pass.

The Double Flex sells for $949 for chamber members and $1,199 for non-members if purchased by Sept. 24.

When the two-day-per-week pass was last sold, in the 2008-09 season, the price was $919, so the increase was $30 over two seasons.

Two other passes that were eliminated last season won't be brought back this season. The seven-day Classic Pass remains buried, and no option will be offered for Aspen Highlands only.

A five-day Classic Pass is $259, up $10 from last season.

The Escape Pass offers a pay-as-you-go option. It is $319 if purchased by Dec. 17, then $49 per day it is used. The upfront cost is up $20 from last season.

The cost of the five-day Classic Pass is $259, up from $249 last season.

Article from www.aspentimes.com :)

Ski Helmets?...Useful?Uncomfortable?....What's your views?

Under promoted or over hyped? Useful? Uncomfortable? Another marketing con? Essential for safety? You could help a new study being conducted into people's attitudes and beliefs into wearing one.

It's being compiled by The University of Surrey.

It's findings will not give a definite view of whether wearing a helmet makes you safer, and if so by how much, but we reckon at PlanetSKI that it will make for some interesting reading.

It is about attitudes and beliefs.

Each question has a rating scale of 1-5 depending on how much you agree or disagree with the statement or question.

First it asks your level and how many weeks you have been skiing or snowboarding for.

Then it asks whether you think wearing a helmet is necessary, about social pressure to wear one and whether you believe it makes you ski or snowboard in a different way.

The vexed question of compulsion is also tackled in amongst many other questions and areas.

Compulsory for kidsCompulsory The researchers say it takes 20 minutes to complete.

Here at PlanetSKi we did it in under 10 minutes and would strongly recommend you contribute your thoughts to the debate.

The research is being done by Mary Ondrusz who is a regular competitor on the FIS Masters circuit and her husband, Tom, has coached many of the UK's leading young skiers at UK ski centres.

There is precious little accurate research into wearing a helmet and it should make a valuable contribution to the debate.

The survey is about attitudes and beliefs, rather than hard facts.

A recent Candian survey, conducted over 10 years, concluded that people are 33% safer with a helmet on, than without one.

It appeard in The Canadian Medical Association Journal.

At one end of the spectrum of views people are quite evangelical about wearing a helmet and, at the other end, some say they actually increase the risk of injury.

The most recent research in North America concluded that wearing a helmet does not increase the risk of neck injuries.

A handful of ski areas in North America are extending the level of compulsion and in California legislation is currently going through The Senate to make it compulsory for everyone under 18 year of age.

Some welcome this sort of law as it promotes safety, others fear the onward march of the nanny state.

In Europe children are made to wear a helmet in certain circumstances, but any form of widespread compulsion in Europe seems unlikely according to this story we wrote last season here on PlanetSKI.

For links to the survey and more on this story check out......http://www.planetski.eu/news/1892

NEW FIVE SEASONS!!!NOW IN & REDUCED

check out our new Outdoor Clothing section on our website...www.skiwear4less.com!!We have just recieved new five seasons outdoor stock and we are selling it at amazingly reduced prices!!!....check it out at...www.skiwear4less.com!!!! :)

Heather Mills Sets Her Sights on Sochi 2014!!

The former model, activist & charity campaigner has a new priority on her list, which is to compete in the next Winter Paralympic Games.

Heather Mills lost part of her left leg in a motorcycle incident in 1993. However, being the strong-willed person that she is, she has shown the world that being an amputee doesn't stop you from fulfilling your dreams. Mills proved this to us after taking part in TV shows Dancing with the Stars in 2007 and Dancing on Ice early 2010.

However, most recently Mills participated in Disability Snowsports UK's National Skiathon in May joining teams in Milton Keynes at the SNO!zone indoor real snow slope, having to complete 666 runs in six hours.

Reading from the Sunday Express' online article it was the experience that gave Heather Mills the inspiration to set her goals to joining in the Winter Paralympics in Sochi in 2014, where she would become a part of the Great Britain Paralympic Alpine Skiing Team.

"If I manage to compete, It would be phenomenal - very inspiring for all the kids that I counsel"

Express.co.uk, Heather Mills.

8 times Gold Winner Retires!

Lauren Woolstencroft, who has dominated the Paralympic ski events has announced her retirement from the sport after winning 5 gold medals in the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games. Over 3 different Winter Paralympic Games she has won 8 gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze, in events like the Slalom, Giant Slalom, Downhill, Super G and Super Combined., all of which Lauren won in 2010.

She started racing aged 14 and retires aged 28, born without legs below the knee and a left forearm she used prosthetics to achieve her amazing success, so having her last wins at home in Vancouver must have made it extra special.

Lauren has shown herself to be a fantastic competitor and a very determined one at that, her 5 gold medals are the most that any female athlete has ever won before in a single Winter Paralympic Games.

Snowboarders killed in avalanche

Relatives of ten people, most of them German snowboarders, who were killed by an avalanche in Russia's remote Kamchatka region at the weekend are expected to arrive at the scene of the accident today.

The ten died when the helicopter carrying them was hit by an avalanche after landing on a ski slope on Saturday. The alarm was raised after their helicopter disappeared from radio contact and a search operation was launched. The Mi-8 helicopter had been carrying 18 people, including 12 tourists from Germany and Belgium, on an extreme heli-ski trip, and had landed at the top of a slope. When rescuers arrived they found that the helicopter had been completely crushed by the avalanche and carried more than 200 metres down the slope. Two of the three crew members died, while one miraculously survived and was cut from the wreckage.

All the snowboarders had left the helicopter at the time of the avalanche – eight of them were killed, and one was seriously injured, while five were rescued unharmed. The local authorities said that the avalanche contained around 2 million cubic metres of snow, and was most likely set off by the snowboarders moving down the slope.

Kamchatka is a sparsely populated peninsula dotted with pristine lakes and active volcanoes in the Far East of Russia, thousands of miles and eight time zones away from Moscow. Every year it attracts a small number of Russian and foreign tourists seeking extreme adventure. It is perhaps the only place in the world where it is possible to ski down the edge of an active volcano while looking out over the ocean. Tourist companies based on the peninsula say they accept only extremely competent skiers and snowboarders .

Despite the fact that the peninsula is roughly twice the size of Britain, there are few populated points outside the capital, Petropavlovsk, and most transport around Kamchatka has to be done using an aging fleet of Mi-8 helicopters.

There were two teenagers on board the helicopter – a 13-year-old German boy and the 15-year-old grandson of the captain. The Russian boy died, while the German survived but lost his father to the accident. The bodies of the victims are expected to be transported to Moscow tomorrow.

April skiing continues at resorts

With a late season delivery of new snow, Brundage Mountain Resort near McCall now plans to be open for weekends at least through the end of April, with daily operations continuing through April 11.

Resort officials said that snow conditions and depths are the best they’ve been all season, with more snow since March 21 than fell in all of February.

“We’ve had a bunch lately, we got four more inches (Monday), enough to make us confident in announcing our first two bonus weekends,” Brundage Mountain Resort communication director April Russell said. “ And if we continue to get more snow than what we’ve seen, we’ll continue to extend our weekends beyond April if that’s possible.”

People can expect discounted prices on the bonus weekends, now set for April 17 and 18, and April 24 and 25.

“One of the things that makes the bonus weekends so exciting is regionally most of the ski resorts are closing, down so we have the chance to not only draw local skiers, but the diehard skiers from farther away who aren’t ready to quit,” Russell said.

According to the Web site for Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area, the resort plans to close on Sunday, with activities scheduled including a PBR ribbon hunt, spring kids’ scavenger hunt, and more. The resort on Tuesday reported a base snow depth of 71 inches, with 87 inches at the top.

At Sun Valley Resort, the 74th winter season will continue through April 18 on Bald Mountain, according to a recent press release. The final day for Seattle Ridge and The Bowls is set for Sunday.

Dollar Mountain operations concluded Easter Sunday.

Sun Valley reported 81 inches at the summit of Bald Mountain on Tuesday, with 23 inches at the base.