1. Poma (real name: Pomagalski) has 60% of the French ski lift market

2. The average French ski lift is 19 years old, whereas in Austria it is 11 years old

3. French ski resorts have 3800 total lifts, compared to 4200 ten years ago

4. Poma first installed lifts in the USA in the 50s, and cable cars are still commonly called ‘Pomalifts’

5. The annual French market is estimated at €125m

6. Doppelmayr lifts are used in 24 French ski resorts

7. Each year French resorts replace 33-34 lifts

8. 40-60% of Poma’s and 66% of Doppelmayr’s revenues come from international markets

9. Poma employs 660 in France and 880 globally

10. In 2011 Kassbohrer sold 130 ‘piste bashers’ in France, but an average of 170 p/a in 2008-2010

See on skipedia.co.uk

All the major tour operators have met to decide a course of action following the decision of a French court to ban ski hosting. In an unprecedented show of support all are rallying round the company taken to court, Le Ski. The meeting took place in London on Thursday. The tour operators present were Alpine Elements, Crystal Ski, Inghams, Le Ski, Mark Warner, Neilson, Ski Esprit, Ski Olympic, Ski Total, Skiworld, Thomson, VIP-SKI. The operators all supported Le Ski. The company has launched an appeal after the court ruling in Albertville last week. “All ski operators present were fully supportive of Le Ski in its appeal as ski customers are currently unable to benefit from this popular service,” said a joint statement from the tour operators.


See on planetski.eu

The illogical decision to ban British ski hosts from French resorts is likely to see holidaymakers head elsewhere, says Julian Sambles. For years the French authorities have been putting pressure on British tour operators to end their practice of providing holidaymakers with ski hosts on the mountain. Have they spent any time looking into what ‘ski hosting’ is, to see what benefits it brings them both financially, and from a marketing perspective, and at no cost to themselves? Alternatively, we could all go skiing in Austria or Italy, where I expect the tourists offices are already working out how to capitalise on the short-sightedness of the French.

See on telegraph.co.uk

A little over a year ago, I shared a simple video series Liberty University Snowflex had created that simply and easily accomplished three goals:

1. First, it was an engaging, but triumphant, story about learning to ski
2. Second, it was a testimonial of the power of ski school
3. Third, it created a couple dozen new skiers / snowboarders for life

The project was called “Trails to Rails”, a system that taught total newbies how to snowboard with the end goal being a rail jam and the end of the program. After a great, successful first round, they recent came back for another go with an extra focus on telling the story.

Why buy the GoPro when you can have the GoAmateur!!! twitter.com/linkdelight/st…

— Link Delight (@linkdelight) February 19, 2013

On Monday a court in Albertville has ruled that British Tour companies are not allowed use ski hosts to show clients round the slopes. It believes skier safety is compromsied. It is a test case and all ski hosting in France is now banned. The British are appealing. ”As we expected the court in Albertville has taken the side of the locals and the protectionist agenda of the ESF. We will be appealing and the case now goes to a court in Chambery. The fight goes on and we will take this all the way,” said the co-founder of Le Ski, Nick Morgan, to PlanetSKI shortly after the judgement was given. Through a PR firm in London the ESF has given its reaction to the decison of the court. “This is not an ESF led court action, but the organisation has rightly shown its support for French law to be upheld and that for those organisations using hosting or other personnel to ‘guide’ such people must possess a valid qualifications to do so.

Whatever the legal complexities and ongoing court cases one thing appears certain. It is a PR disaster for the ESF that is already held in low esteem by many British skiers and snowboarders. It seems the reputation of the ESF with the British holiday skier is about to go from bad to worse.

See on planetski.eu

With Valentines Day on Thursday there are many romantic experiences being offered in the Alps. Some are better than others.
There are of course any number of events where a Valentine’s theme has been introduced by the marketing and PR people.

Why is working directly with resorts important to GoPro?

We want to increase awareness of the brand with tourists to increase sales. We are looking for partners who can offer us exclusivity, and the opportunity to brand locations such as air bags, obstacles in the snow park and to partner with their digital assets. We can provide resorts with great content to push through their channels.

See on skipedia.co.uk

The Imperial Express in Breckenridge opens this weekend for the season after heavy snowfall in the resort. It goes to 3,914m and offers access to some of the best slopes of the resort.

See on planetski.eu