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Annual Events for Skiing/Snowsports/Mountain Resorts
The winter season provides hundreds of world class events that are well worth visiting or even worth considering arranging a holiday around if you get the chance. Some are world class sporting events whilst others are just an excuse to party. And the end of the season doesn't mean an end to the calendar either - events start kicking off in the summer and early autumn in preparation for the following winter sports season.
Here's a list of the top annual events in the winter resorts of Europe and beyond, so get your diaries out and get planning...
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Having started back in 2003, the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival has now firmly established itself as an
annual event and is held in every October in Scotland's capital city.
There are usually around 20 films on show, all aimed at the mountain enthusiast.
The majority are based on climbing, skiing and snoawboarding, but there are also films on kayaking,
BASE jumping and general exploration.
This years event will be held in the George Square Lecture Theatre at Edinburgh University.
Official Website:
www.edinburghmountainff.com
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Scotland's very own snow and extreme sports exhibition.
The show features plenty of winter resort and travel exhibitors, plus all th elatest gear from the
industry's top manufacturers and retailers.
There's lots of live music and a fantastic apres-ski area.
And there's plenty of performances at the show from some of country's top freestyle skiers,
snowboarders and cyclists, plus an artificial slope to get some hints and tips from the experts.
Official Website:
www.scotlandsskishow.co.uk
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Advertised as 'the World's biggest consumer winter sports show', it's held every year in October at the
Olympia exhibition centre in Kensington, London.
It's recently grown into a massive general event, with quite a lot of non-snow stuff going on such as
live music, comedy and food. On the ski and boarding side there are plenty of interactive things to look
at and some competitions on the indoor slope, and there are a massive number of exhibitors (over 200)
trying to showcase their equipment, resorts etc.
It's also worth noting that kids under 11 go in free. Which is nice...
Official Website:
www.metrosnow.co.uk
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The start of the 2011-12 FIS World Cup competition kicks off (weather permitting, of course - the 2010
men's giant slalom was cancelled becuase of fog) with giant slaloms for both the men and women.
As with the last few years the races take place on the Rettenbach glacier above Solden.
Official Website:
www.skiweltcup.soelden.com
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Battersea Power Station gets transformed into London's very own ski resort as part of the 2011 London Freeze event.
Freeze combines the world's best snowboarders and skiers with a massive music line up to boot. The main snow event is the London leg of the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup, with 500 tonnes of snow brought in and a ramp as tall as about 10 of the city's famous red buses.
The 2011 London Freeze will be the season's third LG Snowboard FIS World Cup event
and the season's first big air competition.
The weekend's been attracting big crowds over the years with upwards of 30,000 expected again for this year's event, and it's not hard to see why, with an International Freestyle Ski Competition, alpine themed bars and 2 stages pumping out about 100 hours of live music at this iconic location
by the Thames.
Official Website:
www.relentlessfreeze.com
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The NEC hosts one of Britain's largest ski shows, with over 130 exhibitors from around the globe.
As well as all of the exhibtors this years show features the Big Air Demo team, free skiing and boarding
lessons on the show's indoor slope, kids snow tubing, an ice climbing wall, a winter film festival
and a snow talk theatre, featuring guests such as Graham Bell.
Official Website:
www.globalsnowshows.co.uk
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Levi is a baby when it comes to World Cup races, having only hosted it's first World Cup back in February 2004.
However, the event has really captured the imagination of the Finnish public and more than 30,000 people will
descend on the tiny Lapland resort for the weekend's slalom races. Such has been the popularity and enthusiasm
from the hosts that Levi has now earned itself a regular slot on the race calendar, with the 2nd race weekend
of the season taking place here and the opening men's and women's slalom races.
Official Website:
www.skisport.fi/worldcuplevi/en/
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The Four Hills Tournament is a prestigious ski jumping competition that takes place on four different hills in Germany
and Austria over the new year period. The tournament has taken place since 1952 at the same four venues, Obertsdorf and
Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany, along with Innsbruck and Bischofshofen in Austria.
For more details on this event, check out our full
Four Hills Tournament
section.
Official Website:
www.vierschanzentournee.com
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The word 'classic' is often over-used, but not in the case of this race.
Set on the slopes of Lauberhorn above the Swiss resort of Wengen, this is a race that has the lot - history,
drama and the best scenery on the world cup calendar.
The 2012 year's event will be the 82nd running of the races, making it the longest running of all the
FIS World Cup races. It's traditionally run the weekend before the Hahnenkamm races at Kitzbuhel,
making back-to-back classic downhill races.
Official Website:
www.lauberhorn.ch
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This spectacular ski race was started back in 1928 by 5 Brits from Murren's Kandahar Club and now has an
important place on the annual ski calendar as one of the biggest and most popular amateur ski races in the world.
The course is just under 15km long, starting just under the Schilthorn
(think James Bond On Her Majesty's Secret Service at 2790m and finishing right down in the valley at
Lauterbrunnen 2000m vertically below. The winner hurtles down in about 15 minutes but there's plenty of
competition - with upto 1800 skiers taking part. The event has become big business for the village of
Murren, with other events in the lead up and a massive Swiss party afterwards.
The 2012 race will be the 69th running of the event.
Official Website:
www.inferno-muerren.ch
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The word 'classic' is often over-used, but not in the case of this race. Set on the Streif slope of the Hahnenkamm mountain above the glitzy Austrian resort of Kitzbuhel, this is a race that has the lot - history, drama and some of the steepest slopes on the world cup calendar.
The 2012 year's event will be the 72nd running of the races, if you decide to go and watch just one ski race, try and make it this one, it's an awesome spectacle. It's traditionally run the weekend after the Lauberhorn races at Wengen, making back-to-back classic downhill races.
More Information on the event can be found here...
Official Website:
www.hahnenkamm.com
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When it comes to ballooning, the Swiss resort of Chateau-d'Oex is the Alpine capital, and this is the festival to celebrate it.
The 2012 festival will be the 34th in the history of this renowned international event, and will feature about 100 balloons,
including 10 special shaped ones, from over 20 different countries. The highlight for us though has to be Monday the 24th's fantastically
named event - "the David Niven Long Distance Hare and Hounds Competition" !
As the festival normally runs in the last week of January it's possible to combine a visit with a skiing holiday in the area - Chateau-d'Oex is
situated in the Pays-d'Enhaut region (between Lausanne and Interlaken) and there are a number of other ski resorts close by,
including Gstaad for the millionaires amongst you.
Official Website:
www.ballonchateaudoex.ch
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First run back in 1999 as a competition for mainly local free-skiers, its now classed as one of the world's best freeskiing events.
Verbier itself is renowned for its off-piste routes, including the likes of Mont Fort, Mount Gele, Vallon D'Arby and Gentianes.
Its from the summit of one of these routes, Mount Gele, that freeskiers ride down, making their way via cliffs, cornices and other
obstacles they come down the west face. The event also features skier-cross competitions and a friendly atmosphere.
Verbier has some of the best nightlife of the Swiss resorts and the event means the towns best-known bars Ice-Box Club,
Casbah, Tara Tata, Farinet, Pub Mont Fort, Wonderbar and the Farm Club.
Official Website:
www.verbierride.com
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The "White Turf" horse races have been held on the frozen lake at the Swiss resort of St Moritz since 1907.
The races are held on 3 weekends in February, when the resort's image as a millionaire's playground is enhanced
further by mega-rich visitors sipping champagne, wolfing-down caviar and handing over giant rolls of swiss francs
in betting money.
It's not just some sort of novelty event though - the races are actually the most lucrative in Switzerland,
with prize money totalling just under half a million Swiss Francs.
As well as the traditional horses-with-jockeys that we're used to in Blighty, the event also features
skijoring, where instead of having someone on their back, the horses race along pulling a skier, a bit like
an alpine-skiing version of chariot racing. The skijoring tournament takes places over the same 3 weekends and
at the end the skier with the most points from the 3 weekends is crowned as "the King of the Engadin Valley".
The resort is also well known for it's polo tournament played on the frozen lake, whilst other sports have also been tried on it, an
"ice-cricket" match for instance back in 1990's, although the event became more famous for David Gower's car sinking into the frozen lake,
rather than the match itself !
Official Website:
www.whiteturf.ch
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The Arctic Challenge is a snowboarding event held every February in Norway.
It was created by world champion Terje Haakonsen and includes disciplines such as the "highest air" and "best trick".
The event is renowned for its friendly atmosphere.
Official Website:
www.t-a-c.no
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The Winter X Games has been held every year in America since 1997, and in 2010 Europe
got it's own version of the event, called the Winter X Games Europe.
Tignes hosted the 2010 event and has been the venue ever since.
The event consists of slopestyle and superpipe competitions for men and women in both skiing
and snowboarding.
Official Website:
www.the-brits.com
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Also known as the British Freestyle Ski and Snowboard Championships.
With our lack of reliable snow and big mountains, the Championships are held abroad, but that hasn't stopped the week-long event
becoming extremely popular amongst members of the UK's thriving freestyle scene.
Unlike many other national events it's open to anyone - pro's or amateurs alike.
And it's not just about the competition either - the week has become a big music event as well featuring appearances from many of the nation's top DJs.
Official Website:
www.the-brits.com
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Mayrhofen is lively enough for the rest of the season, but come Snowbombing week it quite literally goes berzerk.
Billed as the greatest show on snow, "an awesome alpine gathering with goggles, guitars and great music on the grandest of stages - the Alps!",
it's definitely one of those events where the emphasis is more on the partying than the actual skiing or snowboarding.
Official Website:
www.snowbombing.com
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The Verbier High Five event (set-up and sponsored by Carlsberg) is a series of five pro-am races held one
day at the end of the ski-racing season in the Swiss resort of Verbier.
The event has the novelty that as well as current professional ski racers, some ex-pros also take part along with
hundreds of amateur skiers, who compete with each other to try and get the opportunity to pair up with a
profession in the finale - the slalom race.
The best end-of-season pro-am ski party in the world ? Probably....
The Verbier High Five event, sponsored by Carlsberg, has been run since 1999 and has now
established itself as a cult end-of-season party event for many of the professional ski racers
from the FIS white circus.
The event features five races - Giant slalom, Speed Monster, Big Bad Boarder Cross, Carlsberg Triathlon
and then the Parallel slalom Pro-Am, which sees the best amateurs team up with pro's to make two-skier
teams who then compete against each other.
The races are all run on the same day and feature both pro-skiers and hundreds of amateurs.
The fun aspect of the event has made it hughely popular with amateurs and pro's, who get to rub
shoulders with each other during the event. It's a bit like the skiing equivalent of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney
and Andres Iniesta having an end-of-season five-aside football tournament with a dozen pub teams.
Official Website:
www.verbierhighfivebycarlsberg.com
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The Scandinavian Big Mountain Championships have been held every year since 1992
and features some of the world's top freeriders battling it out for glory in a number of men's and women's
events, including alpine, telemark and snowboarding.
The event is the grand-finale of the European freeride season and it's popularity has grown to such an extent in recent years that
there are well over 100 competitors in the men's alpine event alone.
The races are held on the Nordalsfjall mountain in the cult Swedish resort of Riksgransen, one of the world's most
northerly ski resorts, situated well inside the Arctic Circle near to the border with Norway.
The resort is famous for it's late season snow, which usually hangs around long enough for skiers
and boarders to be able to use the slopes under the midnight Arctic sun.
The 2012 race will be the 21st running of the event.
Official Website:
www.bigmountain.se
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Natives (and subsequently natives.co.uk) was set up at the end of the 1990's to help seasonal workers find jobs in ski resorts. The Natives Jobs Fair is a chance to get a taster of what the work is like, meet people who've actually been out there working for a few seasons, meet potential employers and basically get an idea of the different options that are available to you.
This years event will be held on Saturday 11th June October in the Bordeaux Suite of the Novotel London West Hotel.
It's worth noting that entry is free. Which is nice...
Official Website:
www.natives.co.uk
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The 2012 Les Diablerets Film Festival will be the 43rd running of one of Europe's largest events dedicated to films centred around the mountains.
Centre piece of the festival is a giant screen showcasing the latest action from some of the world's top outdoor film directors,
including some freeriding features. There also climbing walls and exhibition stands to visit.
Official Website:
www.fifad.ch
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A new entry to the calendar that is being advertised as the largest winter sports event outside of the Winter Olympics, Winter Games NZ
has been set up to run every 4 years as a prelude to the Winter Olympics. Which is quite a clever marketing ploy by the crafty
New Zealanders who are behind it. 2009 was the inaugural running of the event but it's already attracted over 800 winter athletes to compete
in 26 different snow sports, from alpine skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, curling and skating. The good news for anyone wanting to
compete is that entry is free, whilst spectators can watch the events for nothing as well, apart from the stadium events at Naseby and Dunedin
for the curling and ice hockey.
Official Website:
www.wintergamesnz.com
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