Rider News

After a season shaping one of Europe's finest snowboard parks, Mayrhofen Penken Park, the UK's newest Burton and Anon Recruit Ross Needham is back in the UK shredding Tamworth Snowdome.

Ross Needham - Back In The Dome. from CharlieBingSmith on Vimeo.

BASI will be holding this advanced freestyle snowboard coaching course in Hintertux 9-14th June. This leads to a freestyle coaching qualification.

Details on the course here and there are currently two places remaining. BASI have indicated a course is a possibility if there is sufficient demand.

Entry form and additional information available here: http://bit.ly/17sGj7P Payment link: http://bit.ly/YLpFND

They've only just told about this and pre-registration closes today!

BASI and Snowsport Scotland have announced a new joint initiative to help provide improved facilities in Scotland for freeskiing and snowboarding – at the indoor Snow Factor real snow centre at Glasgow, on dry slopes and out on the slopes at Scottish ski areas.

As part of the initiative, BASI is providing a £5,000 cash sponsorship, spread over two years, to Snowsport Scotland to encourage the development and improvement in coaching standards.

BASI will also provide a sponsored student place each year on a UK Coaching Pathway Level 1 course for aspiring Freeski or Snowboard coaches.

The funding will assist Snowsport Scotland in the purchase and provision of transportable mountain features for use at Scottish ski resorts, indoor snow centres and dry ski slopes.

Sportsmatch funding available from SportScotland has also been approved and will add to the level of funding available for Snowsport Scotland to increase resources available for the overall project.

In addition to the above, BASI will also supply funding to assist with the cost of providing qualified coaches to mentor LASS Shred Days, jointly sponsored by Roxy. LASS is a platform aimed at a female audience to encourage participation and education in freestyle skiing and snowboarding.

Commenting on BASI’s sponsorship support, said, “Together with Snowsport Scotland, we share a common interest in encouraging a growth in participation and improving coaching standards within the UK,” said BASI Chairman Gareth Roberts.

In what is being reported in UK news media as an escalation of the campaign by the French authorities against British people working in French ski resorts, a British ski instructor working in the resort of Megeve was arrested and held in local police cells overnight while teaching on the slopes.

Simon Butler, who revealed he himself had been led from the slopes in handcuffs by French police earlier in the ski season and faces a three month jail sentence, told BBC news that the arrest and imprisonment for 24 hours of his instructor Alex Casey was "absolutely unbelievable" and a case of “pure persecution” by French authorities.

"If this kind of thing happened to French workers in Britain there would be an absolute outcry. It's scandalous," Mr Butler told the Daily Telegraph.

The incident led to British tourists staging an impromptu demonstration in front of the police station and for the British MP for Mr Casey’s constituency to call from UK government intervention to get to the bottom of the issue. The numbers involved were variously estimated at “dozens” or “around 100” by different British media outlets.

Both Mr Casey and Mr Butler are reported to be facing 3 – 12 month jail spells for ski teaching or employing ski teachers without accepted qualifications in France. Court cases are due later this spring.

The ski teacher’s arrest follows a court case against British tour operator Le Ski earlier this year in which the company was charged with illegally employing a staff member to lead a familiarisation tour of the slopes.

However a Chamonix police spokesperson, responsible for the region including Megeve, has stressed there is no campaign against British ski teachers and told the BBC the police was merely enforcing the law.

The law concerned appears to relate to a 2003 pan-European agreement that ski instructors should have passed a high ‘Eurotest’ standard in order to be able to teach. Some reports say that instructors are required to have the ‘Eurotest’ qualification to work for a non Ecole du ski Francais (ESF) ski school in France, although it may not be needed to teach in France if employed by the ESF. Mr Butler also told the Daily Telegraph that in order to operate within French law a non-ESF ski school had to have at least 10 instructors with the ‘Eurotest’ qualification, his school has nine.

It is not clear if there have been any previous prosecutions in France over the 10 years since the Eurotest agreement or if any other countries have imprisoned instructors lacking the qualification for teaching on their slopes.

In the separate ski guiding case, Le Ski is now being backed by around a dozen leading British ski tour operators in its ongoing legal battle to allow ski guiding in its limited form (familiarisation tours of easy-moderate category slopes, no teaching involved) to continue.

In each case the British companies involved had been working in France with no reported previous problems for at least 30 years. Mr Casey, aged 40, had worked as a ski instructor in Megeve for more than 10 years according to reports, and is reported to have BASI (the British Association of Snowsports Instructors) teaching qualifications.

However a spokesperson for BASI (the British Association of Snowsports Instructors) quoted by the BBC appeared to support the French police action, saying, "This is European law and you would expect the French police and the local magistrates to apply the laws as they understand them."

In the case of the ski guiding legal case, French ski schools say they allow qualified ski teachers from other countries to teach or guide on their slopes. However ski instructors with qualifications below BASI level 3 or the kind of ‘gap year’ ski teaching qualifications commonly available in countries like Canada and New Zealand are reported not to be acceptable to French ski schools even for basic familiarisation tours of resorts.

Another alleged incident, reported by the Daily Mail, involved an 18-year-old female student who was allegedly, “pushed over violently” and “was screaming and crying with pain when a gendarme leapt on her twisting her arm back,” after she took photographs of police questioning a ski instructor over alleged illegal ski teaching.

Comments pages following British media stories on the incidents have included calls for boycotts of French ski resorts. France is the leading destination nation for British skiers and snowboarders with around 40% market share.

A plan for a promotional ‘flash mob’ performance by members to the ESF who have been vocally supportive of the actions of the French police, although keen to stress through a British PR agency that they do not profit from it (a claim disputed by British tour operators), in London earlier this season, was cancelled at short notice.

Check out this liʼl dude. Scott is 10 years old and already has enough style to make most of us cry ourselves to sleep at night. Hanging out with John ʻFeeshʼ Weatherley and already shredding for Rome snowboards he is bound to pick up some ridiculous trickery. Scott joins the likes of Becky Menday, Matt MacWhirter and Chris Chatt along with the Grindhouse crew including Feesh, to represent Celtek in the UK.

Take a peak at Scott's March Mania edit and watch out for him this summer as he hits up the Scottish Highlander next week and plans to get down and steezy at the summer dome comps.

Mikee Cee
Amplid is excited to announce the addition of old hand Mikee Cee and young gun Jonny Pickup to the UK Ambush team.

"Amplid is going from strength to strength in the UK and these team signings are about sustaining that momentum. Mikee and Jonny are two very talented and passionate riders, and I’m very pleased that they are now representing Amplid and helping to build the brand in the UK”. Andy Steel, Ultra Sport Europe

Mikee is one of the UK's most well respected riders. If Mikee isn’t at Hemel or Milton Keynes shoveling snow onto the kickers or coaching up-and-coming kids on the rails and boxes you can bet he’s working on an FBBB event or dialing his rail skills. Mikee is 100% dedicated to the UK snowboard scene and Amplid is honored to have him on the Ambush team.

Relative unknown Jonny Pickup has been representing Wiltshire shop Goomama for the last couple of years, refining his skills in Whistler and Mayrhofen out of the media spotlight. Battling with injury and polishing his rail game have kept him busy until now but expect to see more from Jonny in the next 12 months.

www.amplid.com


Jonny Pickup

Fresh from a first place in The Brits Slopestyle, we thought you might be interested in pint-sized Bern rider Katie Blundell's video from the Breckenridge and Keystone park, Colorado.

www.katieblundell.com

Breck and Keystone Laps from Katie Blundell on Vimeo.

With The Brits on the horizon, we thought we'd post this little edit up from Seb Kern who first came to our attention a few years back at The Brits. Seb has been out training with Team GB in The States and is developing his bag of tricks and working on 1080s.

Seb should be joining us at the SCUK Spring Bash in April to offer you some advice as part of the demo partners we have planned.

Seb Kern 2012 edit from Seb Kern on Vimeo.

We’re very pleased to officially announce that Lisa Filzmoser and Vera Janssen, both existing killer streetwear and outerwear team riders are now charging the mountains with Nikita Snowboards afoot. The girls are stoked to be enriching the relationship with Nikita and riding the new FW13-14 selection.


Vera Janssen and Lisa Filzmoser

Innsbruck based fearless freestyler Lisa is headed to Alaska armed and ready to shoot with the creative True Color Films crew whilst also getting ‘Boobilicious’ with the Lipstick Productions ladies filming for the release of their third all-girls movie later this year.

“I am so happy to ride Nikita snowboards since Nikita and I have such a long relationship. It’s great that they are now doing Snowboards too. My choice is the Sideway Sista; it is the optimal board I can use for Backcountry riding and also park. It is light and really good quality. Love it! Looking forward to going out and shooting with this snowboard.”

Pro-Mum Vera is back in Canada, wallowing in the epic conditions of Whistler’s backcountry. She’s testing out her super sled alongside the new snowboards and continuing to film the insightful ‘Vera’s Shredventures’ episodes released with Mahfia.tv and sequences for Lipstick’s ‘Boobilicious’.

“I'm super stoked on the Nikita Snowboards. After snowboarding passionately for 22 years, I definitely wouldn't ride anything but a great quality board and Nikita Snowboards have me convinced! The first week I got the board, I took it to some extreme conditions; from straight-lining Whistler/Blackcomb's legendary Dave Murray Downhill in icy conditions, topping 100km/h in many of its turns, to ripping nearly 1000m vertical lines and chutes in the far-away backcountry of Bralorne, BC, to hitting powder pillows and jumps - the Nikita Expression 154 is my new weapon of choice!”

And from the Nikita camp, Iceland legend and Marketing Director Geiri states “We are uber happy to have awesome and talented human beings Lisa and Vera riding our snowboards. They have been a part of the Nikita family for some time now and having them riding and testing our snowboards is a very natural progression to our relationship."

www.nikitaclothing.com
www.forgirlswhoride.com

Twelve British ski tour operators, including all of the country’s largest companies, met on Thursday 28 February 2013 to discuss the way forward after a court in Albertville, France, ruled social skiing illegal, with the legal case being made against one company, Le Ski, which has operated in France for 30 years.

The court decided that social skiing could only be led by a guide with a ski teaching or ski guiding qualification recognised in France, unless the leader was an unpaid volunteer. As a result ski customers from all companies are currently unable to benefit from what they say is a popular service.

“Social skiing is where a representative from the holiday company takes guests on familiarisation tours of the slopes, show them good lunch spots and how to avoid queues. They do not go off piste. No instruction is given,” said a statement from the operators.

A formal appeal has been lodged by Le Ski and the case will be heard by the court in Chambery in the near future.

All ski operators present were fully supportive of Le Ski in their appeal. Those present at the meeting were Alpine Elements, Crystal Ski, Inghams, Le Ski, Mark Warner, Neilson, Ski Esprit, Ski Olympic, Ski Total, Skiworld, Thomson and VIP Ski.

14 year old Becky Menday travelled all the way to the mountain resort of Big White in British Columbia, Canada. The young teenage snowboarder travelled to Canada with her dad to attend the 'all female' 3 Star TTR Billabong 'Flaunt It' slope style snowboarding competition as part of the World Snowboard Tour. This was to be Becky's first ever intercontinental competition and indeed her first ever intercontinental trip. Fortunately she was allowed to travel out for two weeks, this allowed her time to acclimatise to the different time zone and practice on the mountain course before the competition.

The day off the competition was made even more challenging as fog and heavy snow made visibility on the mountain very poor. Despite the harsh conditions, Becky took on 35 other female competitors from all over Canada and North America of all ages. The course consisted of a rail feature followed by two large kickers about 10 to 16m and then a final rail feature, the competition was a jam style format and this meant that each rider could do as many runs as possible. However the long turn around time between each run caused by a slow chairlift and the time limit set by the organisers meant that most riders only managed 4 or 5 runs. The GB Freestyle Team 'elite junior' stomped a series of stylish tricks including back 360's, nose grab straight air, front 360 off the toes melon grab and stale fish.

Becky was amazed to be singled out to win the 'Best Overall Style' award for her runs and tricks, and also really pleased to take 4th place overall in the competition and part of the top 5 prize winners.

Becky said "What an amazing end to a fantastic time, not only did I have the excitement of realising a dream and snowboarding in Canada, but I also won best riding style against 35 other amazing girl riders."

None of this would have been possible with out the support of Canadian Affair who covered the costs of all the flights and Snow Rehab who covered the cost of our accomadation and last but not least Big White Ski resort who provided free lift tickets for the whole two weeks.

Becky said "The Canadian people are so friendly I felt very welcomed and have made so many new friends, I can not wait to hopefully have another opportunity to return there".





Becky's website: www.beckymenday.co.uk and Facebook: www.facebook/BeXxMenday

Thanks from Becky to www.snowrehab.com / www.canadianffair.com / www.bigwhite.com

[Pictures by Andrew Jay]

Former Whitelines editor, BBC presenter, 3 x UK Air Guitar Champion and Spencer's Best Man - Ed Leigh asks Who Runs Snowboarding?

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It’s an interesting question and one that’s been nagging me for the last couple of years. It started when a friend very publicly challenged everyone on Facebook to justify why the Olympics were good for snowboarding. Read more on RedBull.com...

Sabrina has been kicking about the slopes of Avoriaz, South America and New Zealand for the last few years bagging herself a steezy set of tricks and some amazing skills on the mountain. We are pretty chuffed to welcome Sabrina to Westbeach and look forward to her antics in the years to come!


http://sabrinaburnham.blogspot.co.at/

Mid Season Edit, Mayrhofen, 12-13 from sabrina burnham on Vimeo.

A French court decreed this week that it was seeking to ban "ski hosts" employed by tour operators from showing new guests around French ski slopes when they arrive in resort.

The disagreement between the French ski school and tour operators has been going on for decades in various forms but has recently resurfaced with a new legal move, targeting the British tour operator Le Ski, which has been bringing skiers to the French Alps for 30 years. Le Ski are appealing the ruling supported by other tour operators, including the biggest, Crystal, who issued a statement, “Crystal Ski is disappointed... We have temporarily suspended our social skiing service in France whilst this process goes through the courts. We have never seen social skiing as a replacement for a ski school as social skiing is where a representative from the holiday company takes guests on familiarisation tours of the slopes, show them good lunch spots and how to avoid the queues. They do not go on black runs or off piste and stick to gentle slopes. No instruction is given.”

The national French Ski School, the ESF, which has become the subject of increasingly negative comment on British internet ski sites, the gist of which are that the move is more about protectionism of French ski school jobs than about safety, has sought to distance itself from responsibility for the French court decision, “This is not an ESF led court action, but the organisation has rightly shown its support for French law to be upheld and that for those organisations using hosting or other personnel to ‘guide' such people must possess a valid qualifications to do so. ESF is committed to ensuring the safety of UK tourists using French resorts for winter sports. ” said an ESF statement.

Relentless Energy Pro snowboarder Jenny Jones tells you how to stomp a perfect 270!

Shot and edited by Alex Hill in Keystone, Colorado.

For more information visit relentlessenergy.com

Relentless Energy Pro Tips - the 270 with Jenny a Snowboarding video by relentless

The third stop of this year's Freeride World Tour in Chamonix, France on 26th January saw 17 year old Max Thidling on top of the podium and 14 year old Jake Terry take an impressive 3rd place in the juniors. Max lives out in Chamonix with his family, so must be stoked at winning on his home mountain. Jake's 3rd is impressive as he's much better known as a park rat and Hemel regular; a locale not known for its freeride offering!

We were away at the SCUK Winter Bash when the boys pulled this off, so weren't able to give them the shout out the result deserves at the time.

As you'd imagine, Jake was happy with his third place in his first ever freeride competition. He's even happier that his starting slot for the next European leg at Fieberbrunn in Austria has been confirmed and he has his fingers crossed for another podium. SCUK wish him and Max well.


Max Thidling in 1st place. Jake Terry in 3rd.


Max drops in for his run in Chamonix © FWT/T. Lloyd

Jake and Max have been tearing the Alps a new one by the looks of it. Jake is currently in Davos, Switzerland training. Next week he heads off back to Morzine, France.


Jake training in Davos last month ©. Max Thidling.


Jake training in Morzine last month © Max Thidling

The final day of the 6 Star O'Neill Evolution last month, an out-and-out highlight stop on the World Snowboard Tour, set the scene for the legend that is Gian Simmen to bid a fond farewell to the world of contest snowboarding.

Closing the curtain on a competitive career that has been more than two decades in the making, the 35-year-old Swiss style master fittingly chose the O'Neill Evolution and the Swiss resort of Davos, located just a few miles as the crow flies from his home resort of Arosa, to say goodbye. "Finishing my 23-year contest career here is a dream come true," said Gian, a three-time Olympian. "It's the closing of a circle. I rode a board for the first time here in Davos; won my first major contest here; won my two World Championship titles right here too. So to finish off my contest career in Davos - it's the icing on the cake."


Having officially closed out his competitive career the day before with a very respectable 6th place in the Halfpipe Finals, and a typically enormous Backside Air on the last hit of his last run, Saturday afternoon's 'Legends Session' presented fans and fellow riders – both past and present – with an opportunity to honor Gian's remarkable contribution to the sport.

The laid-back, fun-filled jam session saw a veritable who's who of European snowboarding royalty gracing the Halfpipe to doff their caps to one of snowboarding's greatest ambassadors. Among others, Xaver Hoffman, Michi Albin, Reto Lamm, Pascal Imhof and Johnny Eisenhut all rolled back the years and reminded the young guns how it's done. Not surprisingly, Gian was the standout rider, boosting double-overhead airs while sporting a 1980s-inspired dayglow one-piece O'Neill snowsuit. Style by the mile from the retiring hero.

Reflecting on his career at the end of an emotional day, Gian said: "Snowboarding has given me so much: the friends, the experiences, the chance to live a very special lifestyle – it gave me a place to clear my mind. As the first rider to win Olympic Gold almost 15 years ago, I understood very quickly there would be certain expectations of me. I just hope people remember me for the work I've done for snowboarding, the work I still plan to do, and hope they enjoyed my riding and riding with me over the years. I can't thank everyone enough for this amazing journey."

We're sure we speak for the whole snowboarding community when we say: "Thanks for the memories Gian; it's been one hell of a ride, and long may it continue!"

The Sarah Burke Foundation has been launched nearly one year after the Canadian freerider’s death in a Utah training accident.

Helmed by Burke’s husband, freeskier Rory Bushfield, the foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to Sarah’s legacy. Its mission is “to provide inspiration and support to those in need.”

“Sarah had too many amazing qualities to list, but two of the most obvious ones were her love of winter sports, and her commitment to helping people in need,” says Bushfield, who’s serving as the Foundation’s president. “We are honoured to be able to continue Sarah’s practice of giving through the Sarah Burke Foundation and are grateful for the tremendous support we have received.”

Funds raised through the Foundation will go toward athlete scholarships and organizations Sarah would have been keen to support.

Fundraising efforts include the sale of Sarah Burke Snowflake necklaces inspired by Sarah’s snowflake tattoo, along with Lil Wayne limited edition Sarah Burke T-Shirts.

www.sarahburkefoundation.com

A charity based in London has been taking a novel approach to supporting young people from inner-city areas, with lessons in skiing and snowboarding.

Snow-Camp uses winter sports, which are often inaccessible to poorer children, to teach new skills and develop confidence and self-esteem.

Click to watch the video on the BBC.

So now you know what Snow Camp is all about and why Snowboard Club UK supports it. Please sponsor The SCUKers Alpine Challenge - 175km snowboard/snow shoe marathon that starts next week in Morzine. We've already paid for the chance to be part of the challenge, so please help us reach our £2000 funding limit.

New initiatives in the French Alps this winter are aimed at increasing avalanche safety and awareness in the mountains

Two new D.V.A. (Avalanche Victim Detector) Parks have been created in Val Thorens and Les Menuires.

Installed by the ski patrol team, the Val Thorens’ D.V.A Park boasts a wired system with one to eight ground beacons and is next to the Espace Junior. This area is free to use and open to everyone.

Additionally, in several resorts, ski patrols take skiers out to teach them about safety. In Samoens in the Grand Massif, it takes place twice a week during the school holidays, and every two weeks the rest of the season.

In Courchevel, the Drop Zone is an area where skiers can learn how to control their speed and how to stop.

Nova Scotia is believed to be the first region in the world where wearing a ski helmet has become compulsory.

The Eastern Canadian province introduced the new law at the start of this season which sees anyone not wearing a helmet risking a fine of CAN$250.

Nova Scotia is home to three small – medium sized ski areas, one of which, Ski Wentworth, was carrying a clear advert for the new law on its homepage, promoted via the new www.helmetmatch.com web site.

“The Snow Sport Helmet Act is a world-first, designed to keep our noggins safer on Nova Scotia's ski and snowboard hills. Brain injuries are the leading cause of death among skiers and snowboarders of all ages, and helmet use reduces the severity of injury by up to 60%.”

The site carries detailed information on the protective qualities of various helmet safety design standards.

Helmet laws in France, Italy and some individual states/provinces require children to wear helmets and in the case of Italy threaten fines to ski resorts themselves if children are found skiing without helmets on their slopes. In Nova Scotia parents or guardians are responsible to ensure anyone under 16 in their care is wearing a helmet, whilst 16s and over are responsible for wearing their own helmet,

“Getting caught without a helmet could also cost you a $250.00 fine. So you might want to strap one on your head,” the site advises.

An annual study sponsored by Post Office Travel Money has found that average holiday costs to Soldeu in Andorra are 18% lower this winter than last, but the authors of the report have tipped Italy as the top value choice with prices falling and Italy’s average holiday price (£429) was the cheapest of the ‘big four’ ski nations and more than 30 per cent less than Switzerland.

The Post Office® Ski Resort Report (www.postoffice.co.uk/skireport2012) which features prices for 27 European and North American resorts, researched by the leading ski-holiday operator Crystal Ski found that Eastern Europe was still the cheapest for bargain-hunters as usual, but that prices were falling across Europe.

“The stronger pound is having a positive impact on ski resort prices in Europe this year. Prices are down in most resorts but the best savings to be struck are where the improved exchange rate combines with falling local prices. Aside from the 18.3 drop in costs Soldeu, skiers are likely to save 12 per cent in Nendaz (Switzerland) and 5.5 per cent in Ellmau (Austria),” said Andrew Brown, Post Office Head of Travel Money.

Visitors to Livigno in the Italian Alps can expect to find the cost of ski passes, equipment hire, ski school, meals and drinks 10 per cent lower than last year. At £361.85 for ski holiday costs, Livigno was fourth cheapest of all resorts studied, and has the lowest-priced ski school (£75.44 for 5-6 half days) - under half the cost of 14 other resorts surveyed.

In addition to rating all 27 resorts for overall value, this year’s report recommended the best for family skiing, beginners and for skiers considering world-class resorts. Here too Italy scored well: of 12 world-class resorts surveyed, Italy’s Sestriere (£418.85) and Cervinia (£439.48) were the bargain choices, 42 and 39 per cent cheaper respectively than Zermatt (£725.73), Switzerland. More surprisingly, their low prices earned the two resorts top ten places in the best value chart – Sestriere at no. 7 and Cervinia at no. 8.

For a family of four, Soldeu was only marginally more expensive than Kranjska Gora (£1,118.42) and in third place with Bansko cheapest (£853.26). Its high rating was boosted by a significant drop in local resort prices, which, when combined with a 5.6 per cent rise in sterling’s value against the Euro, resulted in an overall 18.3 per cent fall in ski holiday costs since last year.

“Another way to save money is by resort-swapping within countries. For example, families can shave 28 per cent off their ski costs in Austria by choosing Ellmau over Kaprun and almost 20 per cent in Switzerland by visiting Nendaz rather than Wengen,” added Andrew Brown, who recommends, “In order not to lose the benefit of the stronger sterling, change holiday cash in advance to get a good rate, or load money onto a pre-paid card like the Post Office Travel Money Card Plus, which is now available in Swiss Francs as well as Euros.”

With Sochi 2014, host resort to the Winter Olympics on the horizon, UK specialist ski tour operator Ski Solutions is offering a January ski weekend to Sochi including a one-night Moscow stop-over.

The package, which has a limit of 15 participants and runs from Thursday 17 – Monday 21st January 2013, offers skiers the chance to check out the new ski resort, which has a 1720m vertical and state-of-the-art lift system, with two full days skiing included in the weekend itinerary plus the night in Moscow to visit the Kremlin.

The holiday costs £1,195 including flights (BA from Heathrow to Moscow), transfers, lift pass and accommodation in the four star Radisson Hotel Krasnaya Polyana.

“I’m really excited to be leading this new Sochi weekend. This is a pioneering adventure to the home of the 2014 Winter Olympics as we look to establish a short breaks programme within this resort,” said Craig Burton, MD of Ski Solutions.

Google Street View, the service that shows you images of more than 250,000 miles of roads around the world, is now available for the pistes of more than 90 top ski areas around the planet.

It’s a couple of seasons already since Aspen’s slopes were among the first to be filmed by a special Google Street View camera mounted on a snowmobile, and since then the internet giant has been clocking up more ski areas including many with some of the world’s most spectacular scenery.

Among new resorts for winter 2012-13 is the top Spanish resort, Baqueira Beret in the Pyrenees and the UK's own indoor slope - The Snow Centre, Hemel Hempstead.

"Whether you're looking to discover a piste you've never tried before, or just want to take in some winter wonderland scenery, we've added Street View imagery for resorts across Europe (including runs in Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Italy and Spain), Canada (including runs in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario) and the U.S. (including runs in Utah and Michigan)," wrote Ulf Spitzer, program manager for Google Street View on the Google Official Blog.