Comments from the CEO Stefan Sjöstrand: “The early start of the winter season has led to a high demand from our guests, and the bookings are 9 percent higher than previous year, meaning that more than 80 percent of the season’s estimated accommodation sales are already booked.”
The conceptual light setting “In the Footsteps of Giants” is one of the remaining finalists for the Lamp Awards 2013 – an international competition in architectural lighting. In the Footsteps of Giants was designed by Ljusarkitektur and is one of the 20 finalists selected from 608 entrants.
The snow has hardly yet turned into sorbet on the slopes in Åre since temperatures, despite a long period of sunny days have stayed mainly below zero. This has resulted in magic skiing conditions. We are now looking forward to playful slushy conditions but with cold snow further up on Mt Åreskutan and several big events such as classic Freeride and the popular downhill race Skutskjutet.
With one of the most significant investments in lifts ever made in Åre, next season will see the addition of no less than three modern chairlifts. The new lifts will boast capacity in the ski area with about 5 000 persons and further improve the skiing experience in the zone below the treeline. The building work will commence in May, and opening of the three new lifts will be in December 2013.
The world’s greatest Big Air stars: Henrik Harlaut and Tanner Hall in the company of many others are in place in Åre to take part in the 2013 edition of Jon Olsson Invitational - JOI. The event now also includes the parallel slalom competition Betsafe Alpine Challenge, BAC, with many contestants from the men’s alpine elite.
Actor Peter Magnusson is acting cicerone, taking the members of staff through a digital training programme based on SkiStar’s core values – Personal, Positive, Proficient and Professional. The programme shall result in the guests feeling even more welcome and new employees being comfortable in their role from the start.
SkiStar Åre rounds up the autumn with another early opening. On Saturday 24 November, the cable car in Åre opened for the season. For the first time in SkiStar’s history the guests were able to ski from the top of Mount Åreskutan down to the valley as early as in November.
Following the more symbolic opening of Minitege last weekend which still resulted in more than 4 600 recorded lift rides, SkiStar Åre now follows up on Saturday 10 November by opening the VM8 lift for the season with, initially, the piste Gästrappet, meaning skiable verticals of 454 metres.
Known as the alpine capital of Scandinavia, Åre is a modern skiing resort with a long history and an international atmosphere. Trains to Åre stop in the centre of the town, and there are two international airports within an hour’s drive. In addition to wonderful skiing, Åre has a host of restaurants serving culinary treats, as well as an uncommonly wide range of shops and entertainment options.
This coming weekend, 24-25 August, for the fifth consecutive year Åre will be hosting one of the events in the international bicycling competition Avalanche Cup. More than one hundred adrenalin pumped riders are taking on the downhill mass marathon in this extraordinary race.
All the ski aficionados on site in Åre on Easter Eve can look forward to entertainment on a high level. The time has come for JOI Big Air and Vattenfall Alpine Challenge by Olsson and Byggmark in which freeride skiers and alpine world-class ski racers invite all the spectators to a great show. The start lists are quite impressive and include many names from the world’s utmost top lists.
The last week of the Swedish school holidays when the kids from the region flock to Åre will coincide with double World Cup events in Åre, for the very first time. The weekend 9-10 March the double events will attract the world’s best female alpine skiers together with the leading mogul athletes to Åre to fight for so-desired World Cup points.
On 16-18 February, the third of the four events which constitute the World Championship will be held in Swedish ski resort Åre, making this one of the winter’s greatest sport events estimated to attract large crowds of spectators. At the moment, the 420 metres long ice course is being finalized; a course that snakes down the hill before finishing right in the middle of Åre Square.
Just in time for Christmas weekend, Åre is opening all the lifts and the major part of the pistes in the lower zone. The past few weeks of wonderful winter weather, sub-zero temperatures and snowfalls have enabled the opening of the ski area in accordance with plan. Only the last two days have brought several decimetres of fresh snow.
Following a week with highly conducive weather conditions, Åre is now set to open many more lifts and pistes. The depth of the snow cover at the measuring point in Rödkullen at present is 38 cm and more snow is forecast for the immediate future.