La Tania Snow Report

Top 5 Skiing Apps

There is a huge range of ski apps around. We recommend the the best apps if you're hitting the slopes this season.

Top 5 Best Skiing Apps

#1 Ski Europe - Offers some of the best ski maps for most European ski resorts.

#2 Ski Tracks - This clever app uses your phones GPS to track your runs. It tells you your max speed, distance, altitude and loads more.

#3 Action Shot - Action Shot lets you record any movement and turn it into a sequence shot. Just set how many photos per burst (2-9) and intervals to shoot (1s-250ms)

#4 SkiPhone If you hate having to take your ski gloves off to answer the phone this apps is for you. Simply shake your phone up and down to launch voice actions or answer/hang-up the call.

#5 Ski Club Snow Reports - This simple to use app lets you check the snow conditions at a glance in all of your favourite resorts. Data includes, snow depths, piste conditions and live web cams

by Rob Simon

Winter X Game 2013

On Thursday, ESPN announced the first wave of invited athletes for X Games Aspen 2013, which is taking place Jan. 24 to 27 in Aspen, Colo. The athlete invite list will continue to be updated as the event nears.

X Games Aspen 2013 is the official kick-off to the X Games global expansion -- a six-event schedule that will conclude in Los Angeles in August. In May, ESPN announced it would be expanding the X Games to Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil; Munich, Germany and Barcelona, Spain -- joining X Games Aspen, Los Angeles and Tignes taking the premier action sports event global.



ESPN will present X Games Aspen 2013 at Colorado's Buttermilk Mountain for the 11th consecutive year. Celebrating 17 years of the winter version of X Games, this year's competition will feature more than 150 athletes competing for medals and prize money in skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling. ESPN and ABC will combine to televise 20 hours of live X Games Aspen competition in high definition and on ESPN 3D.

The list of athletes invited to compete at X Games Aspen 2013 includes Bobby Brown, the first skier to win two gold medals in the same X Games in 2010, and Kelly Clark, the first female snowboarder to land a 1080 in competition and the first female to repeat gold in Snowboard SuperPipe. The list also includes Tucker Hibbert, the most decorated SnoCross racer in X Games history, who will be going for the first-ever six-peat at an X Games winter event, Mark McMorris, the first snowboarder to land the triple cork in competition and the gold medalist in Snowboard Slopestyle and Big Air at X Games Aspen 2012, and Shaun White, the first snowboarder to five-peat in SuperPipe, plus many more.

See the full list of invited athletes and the competition schedule for X Games Aspen 2013.

Snow Dome Planned for Weston-super-Mare

One of the largest leisure development schemes in the UK has gained overwhelming planning approval from North Somerset Council and is set to provide a major jobs and leisure boost for the South West town of Weston-super-Mare.

Based on a 12.7 acre site at Locking Parklands, a former RAF site in Weston-Super-Mare, the £50 million Leisuredome attraction will provide weather-reliable and world leading extreme sports and recreational activities all year-round.

The Leisuredome will boast a 210 metre ski slope, the longest in the UK, and an indoor climbing centre with a 40 metre climbing wall, the tallest in the world, alongside an indoor surfing centre and sky-diving facility. It will also support the local community with fitness and meeting facilities, including a children’s centre, BMX skateboard park and gymnasium.

Being developed by Leisuredome (UK) Ltd, the new facility is the brainchild of directors Mark and Clive Hamilton-Davies who have combined their business success and personal passion of skiing to create the leisure and sport facility.

More than 573 direct and 256 indirect jobs will be created by the development, which has already secured 92% of its retail and activity concessions.

Clive Hamilton-Davies, director, Leisuredome (UK) Ltd, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that planning approval has been granted by the Council. The Leisuredome has had overwhelming support from the local community, regional business and sports clubs from further afield.

“This decision is a major economic and leisure boost for the West Country and for the town of Weston-Super-Mare. It will deliver employment-led regeneration in an area where there is long term unemployment and provide a direct investment of £50m to the town.

“Our development will build on Weston’s growing reputation as a leisure destination and the success of the Grand Pier which reopened last year. We estimate it will attract 550,000 visitors in the first year, which will add to the £369 million already generated by tourism in the local economy every year.”

It is hoped that work will commence as early as December this year and the facility will open in early 2013. Sir Robert McAlpine will be the main contractor.

Skiing For the First Time

If you have never skied before, now is a great time to start. Modern skis make it easier to learn than ever before; in fact the majority of beginners will have mastered the ski basics within a weekend.

Modern skiwear will keep you warm and dry and doesn’t have to cost the earth. Many ski shops offer pre season or end of season discounts so there are usually bargains to be had. On your first ski trip it’s best to rent skis, boots and poles rather than buying, however it is now generally cheaper to buy your ski clothing rather than hiring. Ski jackets, pants and socks and goggles can be bought relatively cheaply.

A great place to learn to ski is one of the many indoor snow domes here in the UK. A few lessons before your ski trip can make a real difference in how quickly you progress during your week on the slopes. There are currently indoor slopes in Milton Keynes, Castleford, Glasgow, Tamworth, Manchester and Hemel Hempstead.

When selecting a ski resort it’s important to check how ‘beginner friendly’ it is. Many resort have great facilities for beginners, such as magic carpets (equivalent of an escalator on snow) and wide, gentle nursery slopes.

If you’re new to skiing it’s best to book some lessons with a recognised ski school. Using a ski school means your instructor will be qualified to the appropriate national or international standard. Learning in a group with other learners is a fun and quick way of mastering the basics.

Recommended Resorts

Bansko, Bulgaria – a great beginners resort, which offers great value and has recently seen lots on investment in its infrastructure, with improvements to the lifts and slopes. A good resort if you’re looking for a cheap and cheerful introduction to skiing. Not great if you’re going on holiday with other intermediate/advance skiers as they may get bored of the limited skiing area.

Mottaret, France – offers plenty of nursery slopes for beginners whilst providing plenty of skiing for intermediate skiers in the 3 Vallees, one of the largest linked ski areas in the world.

Soldeu, Andorra – a great budget option, Soldeu has a well-established ski school with mostly native English-speaking instructors. Offer a surprisingly good natural snow record as well as extensive snowmaking facilities. Not much atmosphere, and traffic on the road through the village can sometimes be heavy.

La Plagne, France – a good choice for families, part of the Paradiski Ski Area, which includes the resort of Les Arcs. Offers a wide choice of slopes for all abilities. Not the liveliest of ski resorts but for a relaxing introduction to skiing it is worth considering.

Early Snow Hits Southern England

Three inches of snow fell across parts of southern England on Sunday!

Ski holidays on a budget

There is a general and collective groan when it comes to talking about skiing holidays: “They are expensive.” Many of us just accept that we will blow around £1,000 for a week of skiing in Europe but if you’re a couple or a family, the total cost can knock a big dent into your annual income.

Fortunately there are ways to keep the cost of a skiing holiday down. If you have flexibility on the times that you can go on holiday and you’re willing to look at a range of resorts, you could easily knock hundreds of pounds off the cost of a week on the slopes.

Top tips for cut-price ski holidays

Buy ski wear in the sales: Many ski shops have pre-season or end of season sales. This is the best time to bag a bargain on your ski wear.

Avoid school holidays: The price of a ski holiday suddenly goes up as soon as the UK schools are on holiday. So this means that the weeks of Christmas, New Year, February half-term and Easter are pricier than “school term” weeks.  If you do not have children, the non-holiday weeks are the ones to book.

School holiday deals: If you have kids – and a ski holiday is a great family trip – book your vacation as early as possible and take advantage of “kids go fee” incentives, such as those from Crystal Ski.

Go by train: A train journey to Europe’s mountains – if you live in England – can save money and will also take you much closer to the slopes so you will cut out the need for costly transfers from airports. There are many more train services to the Alps on offer these days.

Book it all yourself: It might be more hassle to book the flights or train/transfers/accommodation and lift passes separately but you could also bag yourself a cut-price holiday by doing so.

Sign up to ski holiday email alerts: As the ski season approaches you will find that many ski holiday companies are looking to fill up their hotels and chalets. They will send out last-minute deals by email. If you are able to take up last-minute holidays you could grab yourself a great bargain.

Budget conscious resorts: Resorts such as Courcheval 1300, La Tania, Les Menuires in the Alps might not be the hottest choice for the rich and famous, but they offer budget priced accommodation that is still close to great skiing. We know these resorts are great value because we have stayed at them.

Stay and drive: Booking accommodation that is half an hour back down the valley can save a lot of money. Many of these villages also have bus connections to the main resorts but if not, consider hiring a car for the week. What you save on accommodation will easily allow for car hire and we bet you’ll still have money left over for a few Vin Chauds each day.

Early or late season: Take a chance and head to the slopes at the start or end of the ski season in Europe. Make sure you book a high resort or one that is more snow-sure (eg go for a resort with a glacier and snow-making) and you’ll still enjoy a week of great skiing but at a time when prices are far lower.

Attack Of La Nina - Ski Video

Attack Of La Nina - Ski Video

GB hope for historic snowsport Winter Olympics

Great Britain's freestyle snowsports team are targeting up to three medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Considering team GB has never won a single Olympic medal on the snow it is an astonishing claim.

But Pat Sharples, team GB head coach, is confident recent results in slopestyle, an event making its Games debut in Russia, suggests they can make history.

“I skied for four years without getting on the snow, I loved it and it was what I needed”

Sharples' confidence is backed up by the performances of Billy Morgan and James Woods. Woods. Morgan was victorious at the London Freeze big air event last weekend. Woods won a World Cup event in September, the first British man to do so.

Throw into the mix snowboard cross rider Zoe Gillings, who has had seven World Cup podiums, including a win and snowboarder Jenny Jones, who has three slopestyle X Games golds to her name, and you can understand why Sharples has made the claim.

After disappointing performances at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 UK Sport removed funding for all skiing and snowboarding athletes.

However after a string of top results in world-class events, it has agreed to provide £584,300 worth of support for freestyle skiing and snowboarding through to 2013.

Although grateful for the financial assistance, skiing and snowboarding is still the poorest funded of all the British Summer and Winter Olympic sports, and alpine skiing receives no help at all.

"We don't always have to be on the slope and a lot of the guys have come through learning on dry slopes and indoor centres," Sharples told BBC Sport.

"They have become so good on the rails and boxes because in these artificial centres they're playing around on them and learning new tricks constantly.

Woods added: "I skied for four years without getting on the snow, I loved it and it was what I needed."

"In Britain we're deprived of the mountains and the skiing mentality, it's not a way of life and it's very much considered what you do when you're loaded.

"I've had jobs back in Sheffield and some of the guys even now are working all through the summer so they can get a month away and strive for the Olympics.

"Everyone on our team, we've done our fair share of sleeping on floors and and not eating so much so we can afford the lift pass," said Woods. "I'm not telling a sob story - it's fantastic because it shows the passion and how much we all want it."

GB freestyle funded athletes:

Podium squad:

•Jenny Jones (snowboard slopestyle)

•Zoe Gillings (snowboard X)

•James Woods (ski slopestyle)

Development squad:

•Aimee Fuller (snowboard slopestyle)

•Ben Kilner (snowboard half-pipe)

•Billy Morgan (snowboard slopestyle)

•Jamie Nicholls (snowboard slopestyle)
•Katie Summerhayes (ski slopestyle)