BEAVER CREEK — Austria's Michael Walchhofer has announced that the 2010-11 season will be his last, but it doesn't seem that he'll be going into retirement quietly. Walchhofer tied for first in training run today with Italy's Peter Fill with a time of 1 minute, 48.34 seconds on a stop-and-start and eventually abbreviated day of downhill training at Beaver Creek's Birds of Prey on Wednesday.
VAIL, Colorado — The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the Vail area from 9 a.m. Sunday until midnight Monday night. Snow accumulation of 8 to 16 inches is expected. Winds will gust to 30 mph or more, and visibility will frequently be as little as a half mile, according to the weather service. Expect hazardous driving conditions, especially over Vail Pass, with icy and snowpacked roads. Vail Mountain has already reported 96 inches of snowfall this season, while Beaver Creek has reported 66 inches.
Beaver Creek will open 426 acres of terrain and 11 lifts for today's 9 a.m. opening.
The lifts are:
• Centennial Express Lift (No. 6).
• Cinch Express Left (No. 8).
• Buckaroo Gondola.
• Drink of Water (No. 5).
• Bachelor Gulch Express (No. 16).
• Strawberry Park Express (No. 12) for access to Bachelor Gulch only.
• Five surface lifts.
BEAVER CREEK, Colorado — Beaver Creek opened on Dec. 15, 1980, with six lifts and a 45-minute ride time to the top. Beaver Creek now has 25 lifts, three mountain villages and plenty of top professionals at its Ski and Snowboard School. Beaver Creek recently won the top ranking for family programming in Ski Magazine's annual reader's poll, and the resort is proving why through its family programs this season. From new kids' adventure area to Family Fun Nights to family programs seven nights a week, Beaver Creek has distinguished itself as a place for families.
VAIL, Colorado — With nearly a foot of new snow over the weekend at mid-mountain and snowmaking conditions prime for lower elevations, Vail Mountain operations crews plan to open more lifts and terrain than initially anticipated with approximately 550 acres of skiable terrain on opening day, Friday.
DENVER — This season, there's more to technology on the ski slopes than the new shapes in skis. As skiers and snowboarders head online to book vacations and then brag about it, Colorado resorts are amping up their social media and smart phone applications to reach them, offering everything from geotagging to automatic Twitter updates. Vail Resorts Inc. and Aspen Skiing Co. are launching new apps, and resort employees industrywide are also plastering Facebook walls and tweeting about recent snowfall and special deals that might not be available anywhere else but online.
DENVER -- Most teams don't have a good debut at the state tournament. But, then again, most teams aren't Eagle Valley volleyball. The Devils made it a 2-0 Friday at the 4A state tournament Friday at the Denver Coliseum, first sweeping No. 6 Thompson Valley and then grinding out a gutsy 17-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-23 victory over upset-minded No. 7 Longmont.
VAIL and BEAVER CREEK, Colorado —The International Ski Federation has announced the dates for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships — the world's best ski racers will return to Vail and Beaver Creek February 3-15, 2015.
LEVI, Finland — Marlies Schild of Austria won the first women's World Cup slalom of the season, edging Olympic champion Maria Riesch of Germany by 0.03 seconds in a race north of the Arctic Circle. Lindsey Vonn was sixth. Schild was fifth after the first run and trailed Riesch by 0.81 seconds, then had the fastest time on the second leg of the Levi Black course. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was third. Vonn looked set to challenge for the podium after a fast start to her second leg, but the American nearly lost her balance halfway down the course.
Vail, Colorado - Snowmaking started Monday on the Golden Peak Race trail with about 25 snow guns starting up around mid-day, said Paul Fillion, senior director of mountain operations for Vail Mountain. He expected the guns to continue blowing snow throughout the night and into the next two days. The guns turn on automatically when temperatures drop below 32 degrees, he said.
