The FIS World Cup Committee has given ski racing in Lake Louise a boost, approving a tentative schedule that includes hosting races at the popular Alberta ski resort of the next four years.

Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart Race Chairman John Cassels said of the decision:

“There is a very proud tradition of World Cup ski racing at Lake Louise as host of the first speed events of the FIS World Cup season and North America’s only Club 5+ World Cup site. We are pleased for the hardworking volunteers and staff as well as our world class partners that it was confirmed for four more years by the FIS Committee.”

Lake Louise was the first resort outside of Europe to be named to the prestigious Club 5+, an organization that brings together 13 of the most famous and historic World Cup alpine racing courses in the world. Member resorts include Kitzbühel, AUT, Wengen, SUI, Schladming, AUT, Cortina, ITA and others.

The decision of the FIS Committee must now be approved by FIS Council, which is scheduled to meet in November.

The Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart schedule includes Men’s downhill and super G races Nov. 29th and 30th with two Ladies downhill events Dec. 5th and 6th and a super G on Dec. 7th.

Some other recommendations from the FIS meetings in Zurich on the weekend included moving ahead with test events for single pole slalom at FIS races and new equipment rules for downhill permitting a racer to wear approved body armour under a downhill suit.

It was recommended that the 2010 FIS Alpine World Junior Ski Championships will be staged in the Mont Blanc region of France (Megeve/St. Gervais/Chamonix).

FIS will also be launching a new web site (www.fisalpineworldcup.com ) for the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup later this month. The interactive site will include athlete bios & blogs, race results, a weekly World cup video update and streaming of all WC races 72 hours post-event.

Fernie Brewing Company, walked away with Two Medals at the 2008 Canadian Brewing Awards, held in Toronto, ON.  This year was the 6th Annual Competition with 50 breweries and 239 individual beers entered.  The Canadian Brewing Awards are recognized as the premiere competition for judging the quality of Canadian-Brewed beer.

In its first competition, Fernie Brewing won medals in 2 out of 3 categories.  The Rocky Mountain Genuine Lager won Silver in the European Style Lager Category.  Their First Trax Brown Ale won the Bronze in the Brown Ale Category.  Fernie Brewing was the only BC brewery outside of the Lower Mainland to win an award at the event.

The Canadian Brewing Awards is a blind tasting competition to see who brews the best beer in 21 style categories.  A panel of 14 Certified Beer Judges considered 5 Criteria when judging: appearance, aroma, flavour, mouth-feel and overall impression.
“We make great beer, and it is nice to be recognized on a national level”, said Warren Smith, Head Brewer for Fernie Brewing.  “Since moving into our new brewery, our new water filtration system has enhanced the flavour of our beers dramatically.  We are extremely pleased with the quality of our brews, and I guess the judges were too!”  Smith admits the Rocky Mountain Genuine Lager has gone through a bit of a change, with a new style of yeast, and some slight changes in the hops and malts.  And that change has paid off big time for the local brewery.  “Not only for winning a medal, but our Lager sales are up by 62%,” says Sales Manager Murray Pask, “and to win 2 medals in such highly competitive categories is outstanding, as almost every microbrewery brews a lager and a brown ale”.

Financier Murray Edwards is selling half his interest in the Lake Louise resort area back to Charlie Locke — a former ski hill mogul who owned the property for decades before his company went into receivership.

Edwards, a major oilpatch player and co-owner of the Calgary Flames, controls a string of ski resorts under the umbrella of Resorts of the Canadian Rockies. But the Calgary businessman is planning to shed half his stake in Lake Louise in order to concentrate on real estate opportunities in places like Fernie and Kimberley, a company spokesman confirmed Thursday.

“Now management can focus full time on our other resorts which have large demands for real estate development,” said Matt Mosteller of Resorts of the Canadian Rockies. The opportunity just isn’t there at Lake Louise, he noted.  Federal restrictions limit building in national parks, creating challenges for resort operators in Banff and Lake Louise. “It takes so much energy to move real estate projects forward. We just think this is the right thing to do at the right time,” said Mosteller.

The deal — which is still pending– would see Locke take over the daily operations of the ski hill. Both sides declined to discuss the financial details of the arrangement.  “I will be the managing partner. It will be operated basically independently from, but affiliated with, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies,” Locke said. Locke — a onetime mountain guide who in the 1990s ran the largest privately owned ski empire in Canada — said he’s anxious to return to the job. “I’ve been retired for five years and travelled and played,” he said.  “But my passion is the ski business — Lake Louise in particular.”

The two businessmen have a long history. In 2001, Edwards rescued Locke’s financially troubled company, Skiing Louise Ltd., after a slow start to the ski season saw it hit bumpy terrain.  A competing bid from a consortium that included longtime business rival and Sunshine Village owner Ralph Scurfield was rejected. Locke and Scurfield have shared an often acrimonious relationship that dates back to the 1980s, when Locke won the battle to acquire Lake Louise. Scurfield declined to comment on the deal Thursday.

Fernie Mayor Randal Macnair said he hopes the arrangement will translate into development opportunities for the other properties owned by Resorts of the Canadian Rockies. The company also owns ski hills in Fernie, Kimberley and Quebec. “The reality is there hasn’t been a whole lot investment in the Fernie property in the last number of years,” Macnair said. “Anything that will encourage that is a good thing.”

The movement against coalbed methane (CBM) development in the province got another boost from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) and can now count the B.C. First Nations Summit as an “active member”.

In back-to-back resolutions in September, both groups denounced further CBM development in the province. (The Province of B.C. actively solicits CBM tenure applications from petroleum corporations—see http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/OG/Pages/default.aspx)

Randal Macnair, Mayor of Fernie, commented on the UBCM resolution saying that, “The fact that coalbed methane has met with serious concern and opposition in Fernie and other communities across B.C. highlights the urgent need for the province to take a second look at this industry. It is inconsistent to legislate greenhouse gas reductions while subsidizing this kind of fossil fuel extraction.”

“Opposition to CBM is growing—quickly,” said Casey Brennan, a Wildsight program manager in Fernie. “The local community can be assured it’s not alone in having grave concerns about CBM.”

BP, the multinational petroleum corporation with dismal environmental and safety track records, has applied for a CBM tenure covering more than 300 square kilometres of prime grizzly habitat in the southern Rocky Mountains east of Fernie. It’s called the Mist Mountain Coalbed Gas Project.

“In April, the City of Fernie unanimously resolved to ask Gordon Campbell to deny CBM tenure to BP,” Brennan said. “The UBCM resolution came on September 25. It opposes CBM development in the Sacred Headwaters: the source of B.C.’s Skeena, Nass and Stikine Rivers in northern B.C.

“The First Nations Summit resolution came out the next day and it’s even more to the point. It calls for a 10-year, province-wide CBM development moratorium.” continued Brennan.

Six of B.C.’s major environmental NGOs are also calling for a 10-year moratorium on CBM drilling, including: Wildsight, Forest Ethics, Sierra Club BC, Pembina Institute, West Coast Environmental Law, Dogwood Initiative and local Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane groups across the province.

Brennan said that Wildsight is working closely with this provincial coalition of community and environmental groups on the issue. “We intend to make it crystal clear to Gordon Campbell that he must put this industry on hold: use sound science to protect the values, and not give away what we can never get back.”

Supplemental quotes:

The BC First Nations Summit represents the majority of First Nations and Tribal Councils in B.C.
First Nations Summit: “The coalbed methane industry is infringing on aboriginal title and rights all over British Columbia,” said Debbie Pierre, Executive Director of the Office of the Wet’suwet’en. “Our wildlife and wild salmon are threatened, and we are calling on Gordon Campbell to halt all drilling until we have a better approvals system in place.”

The UBCM represents more than 160 municipalities across the province.
UBCM: “We’ve got rednecks, commercial fishermen, sport fishermen, First Nations, municipal leaders, you name it—it’s a broad spectrum of people who don’t find this acceptable,” said Doug Donaldson, the mayor of Hazelton, B.C. and a supporter of the resolution at the UBCM.

For more information, contact:
Casey Brennan
Wildsight Southern Rockies and Flathead Program Manager
casey@wildsight.ca

Here are the improvements you can anticipate enjoying this year at Fernie Alpine Resort:

More Tree Skiing!
Some of this summer’s glading projects included KC Chutes, Cedar Ridge, Currie Glades and Cougar Glades, a new glade run to skiers right of Stagleap, with more lines being cut in Mitchy Chutes.

Daylodge Enhancements
Significant renovations and upgrades are being made to the dayldoge flooring, downstairs bathrooms, locker area, and Griz Bar.

Ridge Line Project
The installation of a new safety system will allow our Safety team the ability to get into key terrain to conduct control work on a more regular and safe basis. For you, it means more great terrain open sooner on those heavy snowfall days!  Further, 2 avalanche status boards will be added on the mountain to keep you well informed of open/closed areas on powder days.

Ski-in/Ski-out Parking
They have created more parking spaces, with the ability to ski down to the Timber Express and ski back to your vehicle at the end of your day!

More Snow in High Traffic Areas
Fernie Alpine Resort is adding another Techno Alpine snowmaking tower, allowing the mountain to make lots of snow in higher traffic areas.

Rest In Style
Upgrades are being made to the on-mountain Bear’s Den rest area, and a new outhouse will be added at the bottom of the Haul Back lift.

Fernie Alpine Resort is scheduled to open for the 2008/09 ski season December 6, 2008. Wax those boards!

2006 Olympic gold medallist Jenn Heil from Spruce Grove, AB is returning to the World Cup moguls circuit after taking a year off from competition. We caught up to her at her home in Montreal during a recent break from training to ask her a few questions about the upcoming season.

Q. How has your life changed since winning the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics?
Jenn: “Standing on top of the Olympic podium and hearing our National anthem was a childhood dream come true. It was incredible but I don’t think it’s changed me at all. Today, I’m on a new adventure as I head to 2010, a big one. I am working to take my skills to the next level.

Q. Is there additional pressure on you at World Cup events knowing you are both Olympic champion and four-time FIS World Cup champion?
Jenn: “Pressure is the way you look at it – I like pressure. 2010 is a whole new adventure. I am not defending a title but rather looking to lay down my top performance.”

Q. Have you seen the new Olympic course at Cypress Mountain? What do you think?
Jenn: “VANOC has done a great job in preparing world-class venues for all the sports; I’m really impressed with the progress they’ve made in what seems like such a short time. The mogul course is no different. It’s great. I love how accessible the course is to the crowd.”

Q. What do you think the highlights of the upcoming season will be for you? What are you most looking forward to?
Jenn: “This season is going to be an exciting season for me as I travel to many new venues after seven years of competing on the circuit. I am of course looking forward to the World Championships in Inawashiro, Japan. The Japanese are going to put on an amazing show with a huge crowd.”

Q. This is the second time you have taken a year off to rehab injuries and do some other things. Is the physical or mental break from competition more important?
Jenn: “The time away from competition has allowed me to take my fitness to the next level and at the same time I am re-energized to be back in the start gate. Last year I completed my second year of commerce studies as a full-time student at McGill University. It was really fulfilling to meet the challenges of student life and to travel to West Africa with Plan International in support of the campaign “Because I am a Girl”.

Q. Any last thoughts?
Jenn: “I am counting down the days before I am back in the start gate with my team-mates in the opening World Cup race in Moscow. I can’t wait!”
The FIS Freestyle World Cup season starts with a dual moguls competition in Moscow, Russia on December 13th followed by a moguls competition in Meribel, France on December 18th. The Aerialists get under way with two World Cup events at Adventure Mountain in China on December 19th and 20th.

No one needs tell that to Roz Savage, who plans to embark upon an unprecendeted solo journey across the Pacific Ocean in a 24-foot rowboat named the Brocade. She is bidding to be the first woman to ever accomplish this feat.

Initially departing on the Pacific journey in early July, the challenge will be broken up into 3 stages, with Stage 1 taking Roz from San Francisco to Hawaii – rowing for 2,600 miles. The journey will mean several months rowing alone in the Pacific Ocean. Roz is passionate about the environment and the Pacific row is a project of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a non-profit organization that supports grassroots marine conservation efforts. Roz has also teamed up with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

On July 10 in San Francisco, Roz will be hosting a ceremonial launch and provide opening remarks about her journey across the Pacific.  It’s not the first time she’ll be taking to the high seas. Last year, Roz rowed across the Atlantic alone in her boat but the journey was part of a larger fleet. While that was still an amazing accomplishment, this time, Roz is taking on the Pacific all on her own, completely alone, bidding to be the first woman to do so. She won’t even have a safety boat trailing her, with her only method of communication a satellite phone.

for more info visit http://www.rozsavage.com/

The 2008 TransRockies was a full-spectrum epic which tested over 500 riders from 30 countries with a spectacular new routing along the western slope of the Continental Divide. Along with unpredictable mountain weather that included everything from snow to crushing heat, riders were challenged with the most climbing in the TransRockies seven-year history and a new time trial format on Stage 3 which sent teams off one at a time to compete directly against their closest competition on the most tricky, technical route of the event’s history.

Unique among the epic multi-day events, the TransRockies takes participants deep into remote wilderness areas, cut off from urban amenities, like shopping, news, and even cell phone coverage. With a four-day segment in the middle of the event when riders are at least 30 miles away from even the nearest hamlet, the TransRockies gives the participants a genuine Rocky Mountain experience where they’re more likely to see a bear than a Starbucks.

When the last of the teams had crossed the line and the finisher medals and t-shirts had been given out, the TransRockies also marked another first by opening up registration the day after the event concluded. 2008 participants got first crack at reserving one of the coveted 2009 team spots while all other interested riders were able to start signing up the next day.

Even with the memories of 17,000 metres of climbing and 550km of raw pain and elation still fresh in their brains, teams began signing up immediately for the next year’s event and 100 team spots for 2009 were reserved within the first few days.

As is done every year, the TransRockies organization immediately began extensive surveying on participants’ satisfaction and suggestions on the full range of race management issues from course and catering to medical services, showers, mechanical support and transport. “We’re really gratified by the responses to our survey,” said Event Director Aaron McConnell, “we’ve received amazing feedback and really high satisfaction ratings from our participants.”

With over 200 surveys completed thus far, the 2008 TransRockies is setting new standards for participant satisfaction across a broad range of measures. This year food was a major area of emphasis for the TransRockies organisers and the survey results indicate that the new food program was a spectacular success with satisfaction ratings of over 97 percent in quality, quantity and overall impression. Likewise, the overall satisfaction rating for the event was over 94 percent while 92 percent of participants said that the event met and exceeded their expectations.

“These are the highest satisfaction ratings that we have ever had”, said McConnell, “and they’re tribute to the hard work put in year-round by our staff and volunteers. We’ve set the bar really high for 2009, but we’re confident that we’ll be able to offer our participants an even better ride next year.”

The 2009 TransRockies Challenge is scheduled to take place August 9th–15th, and registration is open at www.transrockies.com, where detailed event information can be found.

NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft has discovered evidence of past water at its Martian landing site and spotted falling snow for the first time, scientists reported Monday. Exactly how that happened remains a mystery.

“It’s really kind of all up in the air,” said William Boynton, a mission scientist at the University of Arizona at Tucson.

A laser aboard the Phoenix recently detected snow falling from clouds more than three kilometres above its home in the northern arctic plains. The snow disappeared before reaching the ground.

Phoenix landed in the Martian arctic plains in May on a three-month mission to study whether the environment could be friendly to microbial life. One of its biggest discoveries so far is confirming the presence of ice on the planet. Scientists long suspected frozen water was buried in the northern plains based on measurements from an orbiting spacecraft. The lander also found that the soil was slightly alkaline and contained important nutrients and minerals. Scientists think there could have been standing water at the site in the past or the ice could have melted and interacted with the minerals.

“Is this a habitable zone on Mars? I think we’re approaching that hypothesis,” said chief scientist Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. “We understand, though, that Mars has many surprises for us and we have not finished our investigation.” Mars today is frigid and dry with no sign of water on the surface, but researchers believe the planet once was warmer and wetter.

NASA extended the three-month mission through the end of the year if Phoenix can survive that long. With summer waning, less sunlight is reaching the spacecraft’s solar panels.

Phoenix will be out of touch with ground controllers briefly in November when the sun is between Earth and Mars, blocking communications.

Scientists are racing to use the remaining four of Phoenix’s eight tiny test ovens before the lander dies. The ovens are designed to sniff for traces of organic, or carbon-based compounds, that are considered the building blocks of life. Experiments so far have failed to turn up definitive evidence of organics.