Looking through a recent survey from Le Ski, I was struck by one stat in particular. While it was encouraging to read that the number of UK skiers and snowboarders is predicted to grow by 14% in winter 2023/24, the fact that only 13% stay in catered chalets highlighted how...
AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing fast. A few years ago, it was just the name of one of Steven Spielberg’s less good movies, but in 2023 AI has moved from the world of ‘futurologists’ into the mainstream. The chances are that even if you haven’t tried ChatGPT (or Google’s ‘Bard’),...
Iain’s article ‘Parrots in the Snow: the rise and fall of Bladon Lines‘ has now been published in ‘Ski+Board’ magazine. It’s also now available as a special episode of The Ski Podcast My first experience of working in the ski industry came 35 years ago when I went to Chatel...
Iain from Skipedia recently went ski touring in Morocco. Flying into Marrakech, and then travelling to Imlil (1740m), Iain then spent three nights at the Refuge des Mouflons (3207m), ski touring to different 4000m peaks. Ski hire was from Braemar Mountain Sports, guiding and logistics were organised by Toubkal Guide. You...
These are difficult days for the ESF in the UK. The current legal cases against Simon Butler and Le Ski have stirred up plenty of negative sentiment within the British market against the ESF. Both cases – which deal with different aspects of the law – are currently at different...
Okay, not strictly anything to do with marketing, but just for fun… So why do chalet girls bake a cake every day? As far as I know chalets have always left out a cake for their guests to tuck into for ‘afternoon tea’. After a long day on the slopes,...
Last month a piste basher driver in the Swiss ski resort of La Tzoumaz enjoyed an increasingly common sight when he encountered a pack of four wolves on the slopes. La Tzoumaz is part of the ‘Four Valleys ski area, which also includes Verbier, Nendaz and Veysonnaz. According to Nicolas Bourquin, head of the Cantonal...
Nothing says you have no friends more than this photo of Kim Jong-un, smoking a cigarette, sitting on a chairlift, on his own. This photo was taken in 2013, when Kim took a test ride at the new Masikryong ski resort, built by soldiers from the North Korean army. Educated in Switzerland, the supreme leader...
UPDATE (10 January 2023): Mayor of Chamonix, Éric Fournier, has confirmed that a joint bid (with Valais and the Aosta Valley) for the Winter Olympic Games “is not on the agenda” ————- Chamonix is currently preparing a bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympic Games, in partnership with the Valais region of Switzerland and the...
Iain Martin, presenter of The Ski Podcast and founder of Ski Flight Free, was recently interviewed by ‘The Independent’ for an article about climate change and the lack of early-season snow in the Alps. Iain Martin, a lifelong skier and host of The Ski Podcast, pointed out that there was still plenty of skiing this week...
The last week has been full of articles in the UK national newspapers about the snow-impoverished slopes of Europe. As is the way with the ‘News’, there has been a focus on the spectacularly bad looking strips of snow across grass and not much mention that above 1800m, the skiing is not too bad. ‘Misery...
Two snow cannons in the French ski resort of Les Gets have been vandalised, causing thousands of euros worth of damage. Several power cables were cut and graffiti added saying ‘Pas de ski sans neige’. ‘No skiing without snow’ This translates as ‘No skiing without snow’, which as a message is hard to argue with,...
