End of segregated skiing in Iran
The BBC has reported that segregated skiing in Iran may now be a thing of the past. The country, which boasts over a dozen ski areas including some of the world’s highest—with excellent snow records if rather antiquated lifts in some cases—used to insist that male and female skiers use different slopes. The ski areas also insisted women completely cover their bodies—not always a problem when skiing, of course.
However, on a recent visit to the country’s leading resort, Dizin, BBC Correspondent Andrew North reported seeing couples wearing the latest fashions and using the slopes together. Some women were snowboarding. North reported that signs at the base of the lifts requested that males and females queue separately for tickets and that men not look at female skiers to whom they were not related.
The ski slopes of Iran were closed completely for a five-year period following the 1979 revolution, with winter sports seen as unacceptably decadent by the hard-line regime at the time. Today, the country’s new government, in power since 1997, has allowed major foreign investment to improve existing ski resorts and build new ones to bring in foreigners.
Engelberg open year-round
The Swiss resort Engelberg joins the elite group of ski areas that are open year-round this summer with the resort’s new six seater chair accessing the glacier skiing on Titlis.
The skiing on the Titlis glacier is then accessed by the Rotair cable car, which rotates a full 360 degrees during it’s ascent.
The maximum vertical drop on the glacier is about 960 feet, somewhat less than the 6,400-foot descent possible in the winter from the same point.
Summer skiers arriving at the top of the Titlis cable car may have to pose for a prolonged period for photographs and video for numerous Japanese and Korean tourists who arrive at the 10,000-foot (3,020 meter) peak to experience the Rotair ride and enjoy high altitude karaoke, which is often offered in an auditorium in the top station.
Another obstacle to overcome may be the desire to bungee jump out of the cable car on the way up, which is also offered.
Six-seater chair opened in Russia
Russia has a new Premier and a new six-seater chairlift in the South Urals. Located at the Zavyalikha ski center near the city of Trekhgorny this is believed to be the first six seater in a country where it’s notoriously difficult to get accurate information.
The new lift serves just one new trail that has been cut through the forest around it, but additional trails are to be prepared for the upcoming 2000-2001 season. The center also operates a small Doppelmayr T-bar.
Expansion plans also include a new airport 20 minutes from the slope, which would put the slope within three hours of Moscow’s army of skiers. A four-star hotel is also reportedly under construction, along with a second T-bar lift. The resort also plans on acquiring snowmaking and new Pisten Bullys to groom the slopes—all unusually good facilities by Russian standards.
A second South Ural ski center, Abzakovo (http://www.mgn.ru/~abzakovo), has announced that it will be installing a 6,560-foot-long double chair for next season, adding to its existing tally of four drag lifts. The area is one of the first in the region to offer magnetic swipe-card lift tickets, another rarity in Russia. The South Urals appear to be positioning themselves as the major winter sports destination area for the domestic market within Russia.
War between French ski school and instructors with British qualifications intensifies
The continuing battle between the French ski school and the tour operator, Ski Cocktail, which employs British ski teachers to teach British clients in France, has reached new lows.
Ski Cocktail’s managing director, Jean Yves Lapeyrere claims that Ski Cocktail instructors and staff have been verbally abused on and off the slopes by French ski school employees, their meeting-point signs stolen and the locks to their Méribel office filled with Super Glue. Lapeyrere’s belief is that the French attitude runs contrary to equal employment rights enshrined in European law.
The French argument is that non-French instructors do not have the same level of technical expertise as French instructors. According to French Ski Instructor Jean-Marc Simon, the European Commission has established regulations concerning ski instructors and allowed France to control qualifications of foreign ski instructors because of security matters.
The whole affair has resulted in arrests both on and off the slopes. Lapeyrere was held in prison for 20 hours before being released and, reportedly, British instructors teaching children were arrested on the slopes. The battle ended up in court and in early March a preliminary hearing found against Ski Cocktail, which is now planning an appeal.
New resort village at Falls Creek
In Australia, there are a host of new developments this season including a new base village at Falls Creek, Victoria— a ski area boasting 100 trails and 20 lifts. Dubbed Frueauf Village, the development will open its first stage in May 2000, which includes “the most chic bar/café to be built in the Australian Alps” and a state-of-the-art digital cinema.
Situated on the site of the old Snowhaven Lodge, the $8 million Frueauf Village development consists of nine different sites, offering luxury chalets, studio apartments, one-, two-and three-bedroom apartments and penthouses. There is also the option to build your own chalet at Frueauf Village, following guidelines that will foster a sense of uniformity, but not at the expense of individuality.
