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Turin/I: Olympic sports facilities left to waste away

Since the close of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin many of the sports facilities and installations have been left abandoned. The five ski jumps in Pragelato, for example, for which the building costs exceeded 34 million Euros, are now closed off and unused.

Hiking right across the Alps

The recently published book Via Alpina - 2500 kilometres from one coast to another (Via Alpina - 2'500 kilomètres d'une mer à l'autre) recounts the adventure of crossing the entire Alpine range. In 2007 Vincent Tornay followed the Via Alpina Red Trail for a total of 119 days in search of the people and landscapes that make up the Alps of today. He covered 2500 km and 124,000 metres of difference in altitude as he hiked through the eight Alpine states, from the Adriatic coastline to Monaco.

Tourism in mountain areas put to the test

The new December 2009 issue of Revue de géographie alpine / Journal of alpine research looks at mountain tourism and sustainability. Six articles examine the sustainability of current practices in tourism and take a closer look at the experience gained with sustainable tourism.

Beacons of energy-efficient construction in the mountains

The summer of 2009 saw the opening of the first mountain chalet to be built to the Minergy-P standard. Located in the ski area of Zermatt/CH at an altitude of 3,883 metres, the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is a model of ecological construction at the foot of the Klein Matterhorn.

Abondance Ski Area reopened

In the last few years, lack of snow was a major problem for the ski area in Abondance/F, which is located at 1500 m above sea-level. Because of poor snow conditions, the lifts did not open at all in the last two winter seasons.

Mountain hike for climate protection

On 15 August 2009, some seventy hikers went up to the Goldbergkees glacier on the Hoher Sonnblick in Salzburg/A to draw attention to the impacts of global climate change.

Melting glaciers on your local mountain - what now?

On 24th and 25th September 2009 cc.alps is organising an international conference on the impact of melting glaciers on communities in collaboration with CIPRA Switzerland and the Swiss Foundation for Landscape Preservation in Crans Montana/CH.

Why do you go hiking?

Together with the French Ramblers' Association and the French Alpine Club, the French association "Grande Traversée des Alpes" are trying to find the answer to the simple question, why do tourists go hiking on mountain and woodland paths or through dunes and deserts?

Dolomites named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

At its 33rd meeting held on 26th June 2009 in Seville, Spain the UNESCO World Heritage Committee approved the application from the Dolomites/I to be included in the list of "Natural World Heritage Sites of universal value" thus according it the highest worldwide status for a natural site.

First carbon-footprint calculation for a ski school

The carbon footprint of a ski school in France has been measured for the first time.

Awards for six sustainable tourism projects

During its presidency of the Alpine Convention France is focusing on sustainable tourism.

UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch wins TO DO! Award 2008

Every year since 1995 the Institute for Tourism and Development (Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung) stages its "TO DO!" competition for socially responsible tourism.

Advanced studies in the field of sustainable tourism

The Swiss Tourism School Siders is offering a new Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in "Heritage and Tourism - The Mountains as a Living, Working and Recreation Environment" in conjunction with the UNESCO World Heritage property of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn.

French municipality against heli-skiing

In mid-November 2008 the municipal council of Pralognan la Vanoise/F voted unanimously to put a stop to tourist helicopter traffic on its municipal territory in the Chavière/F valley.

2018 Olympics - How green are France's candidatures?

Four French towns are bidding to stage the 2018 Winter Olympics:

Lots of Russian tourists in Austria

Never before have so many Russian holidaymakers come to Austria as in 2008. Hotels reported a 35% rise in arrivals and a 40% increase in overnight stays.

Alpine Crossing

The "Alpine Pearls" co-operation venture is organising a "softly mobile" winter trip through the Pearls of the Alps between 19 and 30 January 2009 - specially for members of the press.

Actors, Discourses and Interfaces of Rural Tourism Development at the Local Community Level in Slovenia

The Andes and the Alps on a single rope team

This year mountain guides from Peru are carrying out part of their training in the Alps at the invitation of their Swiss counterparts. Already back in the early 1980s, the Swiss Mountain Guide Association initiated a professional mountain guide training course in Peru.

Glittering mountain hut in the Monte Rosa massif

Construction work began last week on the new Monte Rosa Hut at the foot of the Dufourspitze above Zermatt/CH. The hut, which resembles a glittering rock crystal, is being built by the Swiss Alpine Club in the framework of the 150th anniversary of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

More winter passengers handled by France's Alpine airports

Passenger volumes at the airports in Grenoble-Isère/F and Chambéry-Savoie/F increased by 7% and 20% respectively in the 2007/2008 winter season. In the last two years, Grenoble-Isère has had the highest rates of growth in passenger totals of all French airports.

Geotourism Challenge - public voting for the winning projects

This year the American National Geographic Society launched the "Geotourism Challenge: Celebrating Places/Changing Lives", a new competition designed to find and promote pioneers in the field of geotourism.

Ibex Label for Swiss youth hostels

At the beginning of May ten Swiss youth hostels were awarded the Ibex Label, which has been presented to establishments operating according to sustainable management principles in Switzerland since 1994.

Successful destinations in alpine tourism

BAK - Basel Economics has been analysing the success and competitiveness of some 100 tourist destinations in the Alpine region on a regular basis since 2005; however the study focuses only on economic aspects and does not take ecological aspects into account.

Switzerland's first village hotel

The entire village of Vná in the Lower Engadine is to become a hotel as of May 1.

Alpine ski resorts melting away

A quick demise looks to be on the cards for two ski resorts in the Ticino/CH. Indeed the ski station at Abondance/F did not even go into operation this season.

Onto the slopes by plane

More and more low-cost airlines are flying to the Alps in winter. More than twenty of these "ski destinations" are being offered to winter air travellers. With the offer of connecting flights, air passengers are now able to travel directly to the ski slopes from Salzburg/A, Innsbruck/A, Klagenfurt/A, Zurich/CH, Friedrichshafen/D, Munich/D and, most recently, from Grenoble/F and Memmingen/D.

Economic and ecological effects of artificial snow

A new study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) highlights the effects of technical snow-making systems on the regional economy, the use of resources and the environment.

Snow levels depend on more than just altitude

New results by the Austrian research project STRATEGE show that snow levels do not necessarily depend on altitude. In precipitation scenarios relating to climate change, researchers found that other factors such as the micro climate, relief and exposure of the locations concerned also had to be considered.

UN Conference on Tourism and Climate Change

A three-day United Nations conference was held in Davos/CH in early October on the subject of tourism and climate change. In a joint statement the participants urged action by the tourism sector to face climate change and reduce emissions.