California ski resorts are the big winner from a winter filled with rain and snow.

Big Bear resorts, flush with powder, have shut down their snow-making machines. In Lake Tahoe, with 4 feet of fresh snow from last weekend and 2 more feet expected this weekend, resorts are bracing for a rush of visitors this weekend and beyond.

Skiers have taken notice. "All this snow is an added bonus," said Norbert Knapp, 72. He and about 30 other members of the Grindelwald Ski Club from Pasadena will visit Lake Tahoe this weekend. "I've heard the skiing conditions are terrific," he said.

Lake Tahoe has seen 38 feet of snow since October, bringing a steady stream of snow revelers. "The city has been buzzing," said Pettit Gilwee, a spokeswoman for Lake Tahoe ski resorts.
source: www.latimes.com

Hidden Valley, in the Estes Park region, opened officially in 1955, but many local skiers used the area before lifts were installed. Hidden Valley was run by Estes Park Recreation District and then purchased by the Park Service. The T-bars, one double chair and surface lifts were eventually sold to Vail Resorts.

Grant Ford, a lieutenant in the 10th, returned to Colorado after finishing college at Amherst and being captain of the ski team. He began competing, patrolling, officiating and organizing skiing and was president of the Southern Rocky Mountain Ski Association, director of the National Ski Association and patroller on the original Denver Metro Ski Patrol. He was very active in the development of both Hidden Valley and Loveland ski areas.

However, Hidden Valley's layout was awkward, and 70 percent of the terrain was rated “most difficult.” So the National Park Service removed a chairlift just five years old, and it closed in 1991 due to financial difficulties. Trails still exist, and many backcountry skiers enjoy skinning up the trails and skiing down, but no avalanche control work is done and there is no ski patrol.

Berthoud Pass
Starting in the mid-1930s, the road over Berthoud Pass was kept open in the winter, attracting local skiers. Beginning in 1937, the first lift was powered by a Ford engine donated from Denver and run by volunteers on weekends. Although debated, many maintain that Berthoud Pass was Colorado's first ski area.

With close proximity to Denver, Berthoud Pass enjoyed continued success after World War II from the beginning and catered to both expert skiers and family experiences. In addition to building the first double chair, the area was also the first to use a severely discounted and transferable season pass, as well as the first in Colorado to allow snowboarding on the slopes.

Dick Stillman grew up skiing in New York and served in Italy with the 10th Mountain Division. During a 30-year career with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, he established and maintained the High Alpine Avalanche Research Station at Berthoud Pass from 1950 to 1963. Stillman developed criteria for snow safety, created training materials, conducted courses, lectured and determined hazard and control techniques. As one of the top authorities on avalanche control in the U.S., his work at Berthoud Pass was essential to the industry.

In 1987, Berthoud Pass was sold to Timberline Mountain Inc., who renamed the area Timberline and expanded terrain. After being sold again in 1989, Berthoud Pass experienced chairlift and T-bar replacements, which allowed it to handle a larger number of skiers.

Financial troubles required the ski area to liquidate assets in the 1990s. The lodge burned down, the U.S. Forest Service prevented reopening. Berthoud Pass was closed in 2001 due to financial issues. Today, the top of the pass has a new warming hut and parking area. Due to the challenging terrain and great snow, the pass is now a destination for backcountry skiers.

With their expertise and drive, both Stillman and Ford helped these ski resorts rise after World War II and enjoy some success. Although these areas are not officially in place today, local enthusiasts can still enjoy the traces of these mountains impacted by 10th veterans.
source: www.vaildaily.com

Tour operators and Hotel owners have seen an improvement in numbers of tourists visiting the ski resorts of Bulgaria during this winter's season.

Figures out state that the main rise in the Bulgarian ski resorts were Russian holday makers with an increase of about 17% on previous statistics.

There have been an increased number of British bookings also made for this year before the winter ski season draws to an end in April.Proving that Bulgaria has an advantage over other European winter destinations with competitive costs for a skiing holiday.

Overall Plovdiv and Sofia have also seen an increase in flights for this years' winter season from Britain and Russia to back this information, plus added interest from visitors in neighbouring countries, keen to explore the benefits of Bulgaria and what's available on their doorstep.

This is positive news for the bulgarian tourist sector and proves it seems to have fared well in these hard hit economic times.This may have evolved from the money spent on advertising campaigns on T.V across Europe, promoting Bulgaria's diversity of tourism as the place to visit, from sea to ski, to its rural and cultural tourism.

The recent reports out on finding contenders for the develpment of some of Bulgaria's transport networks including the disused Ruse airport or possible Gorna Oryahovitza, plus railway stations and ferrys ports in Varna would obviously improve the tourism for the centre of the country.The Bulgarian Transport Ministry is in the process of looking for concessions in order to improve the infrastructure plans before 2015.

Constant problems with strikes and riots and the unreliability of transport networks in the neigbouring country of Greece may also have helped promote Bulgaria's tourism over the past few months too.

It is hoped that from the improvement during this winters season in Bulgaria, that the summer season on the Black sea coast will follow suit and have better results with a higher number of visitors than of previous years.

6th March 2011 - The number of deaths at ski resorts is on the rise across Europe, with overcrowding and a booze culture to blame, according to new research.

This season may have not been a vintage year for snow, but skiers have been indulging in plenty of Après-ski and that is the reason for the increase in fatalities, experts say.

Because the snow has not been as plentiful as it usually is, the pistes have been been overcrowded - and that, too, has been a major factor.

source: Researchers in Austria have determined that the number of deaths at ski resorts in their country is more than double last year's tally - and there are still two months of this season remaining.

Thirty skiers and snowboarders have lost their lives on slopes across Austria so far this winter.

The Austrian Committee for Alpine Safety said the 30 people were killed in the country’s mountains since November 2010.

The province of Salzburg recorded the most fatalities (13) ahead of Tyrol (12) which is Austria’s largest winter sport area.

The current death toll is more than twice as high as last season’s number of skiing fatalities (14).

The same number of deaths was recorded in the 2008/2009 season and there were 11 fatalities in the winter of 2007/2008 and 18 in the 2006/2007 season.

Further, between 56,000 and 60,000 people have to be hospitalised after skiing and snowboarding injuries in the Austrian Alps every year.

Experts say that excessive speed and skiing under the influence of alcohol were the dominating cause of crashes.

These figures were mirrored in Italy, where in 2008/2009 there were 22 deaths and last year there were 49.

This information will come as little surprise as the MailOnline has reported a number of British deaths in the Alps this winter.
Dead Brits: Edward De Nunzio (left) and James Whalley (right) have died on the slopes this winter

Only last week trainee ski instructor Edward De Nunzio, 18, died instantly after dropping 16ft from an icy roof in Courchevel - he had been trying to jump from one chalet roof to another after a night out.

Earlier in February a 14-year-old boy was left in a coma when he suffered a horrific accident on a ski lift in a resort near Chatel.

Dangerously strong winds have partly closed ski resorts in northern Finland, much to the disappointment of holidaymakers. On Thursday 29 slopes out of 45 in the popular ski resort of Levi, in Kittilä, were closed.

source: The unusually strong winds – over 30 m/s in places - could not come at a more inconvenient time for Lapland’s ski resorts. At peak holiday season most of the slopes at Levi were closed for a whole day on Thursday as it was not safe to operate all of the resort's gondola lifts. At Pyhä half of all lifts were not operating on Thursday.

"Wind is rarely so strong that it swings our gondola lifts like today," says Tarja Nikkinen, Head of Marketing at Levi Ski Resort.

Holidaymakers can only rue their bad luck as ski resorts do not refund unused lift passes due to weather conditions.

The Meteorological Institute says conditions for skiing are expected to improve by Saturday as the winds ease off.