On 5 June 2014 at the International Ski Federation, FIS, congress in Barcelona, Swedish resort Åre was elected to host the 2019 Alpine World Ski Championships. Åre, most recently hosting the WSC in 2007 was elected with the narrowest possible margin: 9 votes against 8 for the sole competitor, Italian Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Due to large quantities of snow, Hemsedal has decided to extend the ski season by one weekend. This year you can ski and snowboard until Sunday 11 May at Hemsedal Skisenter.
With ten million annual visits at skistar.com and more than one million active customer contacts, SkiStar is now taking the next step towards new business. SkiStar opts to develop e-commerce within mountains sports with the main focus on alpine skiing, to one hundred percent integrated with the existing online booking flow at skistar.com. The launch is planned for the autumn 2014.
Jon Olsson is celebrating ten years as an event organiser in Åre with a great show featuring several of the world’s best freeriders in the Head Big Air. In concert with the freestyle show some of the alpine World Cup top racers will take part in the parallel slalom event Betsafe Alpine Challenge; this year also including female athletes such as Olympic gold medallist Julia Mancuso.
With a new location, updated layout and creative elements, the new Hemsedal Park has been well received by users. Feedback indicates that Hemsedal is on its way to regaining its position as one of the best snow parks in Norway.
The Swedish Government has today decided to invest SEK 250 million to implement the plans to build a new airport in Sälen. Together with private investments, this project will comprise over SEK one billion.
In a few days March will be here and the hours of daylight in the Swedish mountains keep adding up. And there are many weeks of great skiing left as SkiStar Åre keeps on running the winter season until 4 May. Spring in Åre is also packed with major events including JOI, Red Bull Home Run, Skutskjutet and Freeride.
Sales of off-piste safety equipment are booming but the knowledge and skills at using the gear do not always match the quality of the avalanche pack. In an effort to remedy this, Hemsedal Skisenter is now offering a free training arena for the use of avalanche search equipment.
At all the SkiStar destinations Åre, Hemsedal, Trysil, Sälen and Vemdalen skiing is in full swing and the season’s news together with the introduction of the children’s concept Valle are ready to greet the first major arrival of guests during Christmas. The next two weekends will also see the official openings of the three new chairlifts in Åre, also adding another 13 hectares to the ski area.
On Saturday night at the international World Ski Awards gala in Austrian Kitzbühel, Åre claimed all the awards for Sweden. Åre won the votes as the best Swedish ski resort, Copperhill Mountain Lodge was voted the best Swedish ski hotel, Copperhill Mountain Lodge the Villa won the title best Swedish ski chalet while Åre Granen was praised as Sweden’s best ski boutique hotel.
Saturday night, at the World Ski Awards in Austrian Kitzbühel, Trysil claimed the title as Norway’s best ski resort while Radisson Blu Resort Trysil won the title best ski hotel. The award ceremony took place at the fashionable five-star hotel A-Rosa in the Austrian ski metropolis.
It is now becoming even easier and quicker to go on a skiing holiday to Hemsedal – one of Europe’s most snowsure ski resorts. Situated in the middle of the wild Norwegian winter snowscapes, Hemsedal is just a few hours away now that two of Europe’s leading ski tour operators are offering charter tours with direct flights to Fagernes Lufthavn.
Skiing is much more than an outdoor pursuit and holiday activity – it is a lifestyle that carves through all the stages in life. To make skiing as much fun as possible for the youngest guests we're introducing a common kids’ concept at the SkiStar destinations Åre, Hemsedal, Trysil, Sälen and Vemdalen. The most important news includes no less than three new chairlifts in Åre and new skiing areas.
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.
