CASCADE WILDFIRE 85% CONTAINED; RED LODGE SPARED
SAM Magazine—Red Lodge, Mont., Aug. 7, 2008—Operations are winding down on the Cascade Wildfire, which at one time threatened Red Lodge Ski Area. The fire has burned more than10,000 acres but is now 85 percent contained. Currently, crews staffing the fire are mopping up and securing fire lines. Dozer lines along the controlled perimeter are being rehabbed and structure protection equipment has been removed. The west and southwest sides of the fire will be allowed to burn into natural containment areas under the watchful eyes of fire crews. It is expected that ski resort staff will return to the mountain and resume summer operations over the next two to three days.

www.saminfo.com

Innovative Swiss footwear provides off-season training boost for Canadian ski racers

Arizona Snowbowl News Release
NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OFF APPEALS RULING

Wonderful news!!! We are victorious in the court battle in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. We want to thank the Flagstaff community, skiers, snowboarders, employees and all supporting the area. We are proud the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed the decision from the District Court. We will have more information soon.

3. brianeggleton , 20 hours ago | Reply
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Bryon, have a great project in Chile! Hoepfully the weather is better than the incessant rain we are getting in New Zealand's North Island this winter...it has been marginally better on the South Island.

Last week we forecast about 40 cm of snowfall over the weekend at many resorts in Chile. On Monday Chapa Verde was in great shape after receiving half a metre of fresh snow over the weekend. Similarly, about 50 cm of fresh snow fell over the weekend at the Chilean Three Valleys resorts of El Colorado, La Parva and Valle Nevado. Portillo did even better than expected and almost a metre of snow fell over the seven days to Monday and like everywhere else had a sunny start to the new week.

American killed in Olympics attack


BEIJING, China (CNN) -- An American man was killed and American woman attending the Olympics was wounded in downtown Beijing Saturday by a Chinese man who then killed himself, according to China's official news agency, Xinhua.

A Chinese tour guide, a woman, was also wounded in the attack, which happened around noon at the Drum Tower, a popular tourist site, Xinhua reported.

The attacker, identified as a 47-year-old man from the eastern Chinese city Hangzhou, jumped to his death from the second level of the Drum Tower, a spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Government Information Office told Xinhua.

The official said both U.S. citizens had entered China with tourist visas. The report did not say how they were attacked.

One American dead; assailant commits suicide
Olympic stain: Beijing stabbing victims related to former BYU volleyball coach

BEIJING — A Chinese man stabbed the in-laws of the U.S. Olympic men's volleyball coach, killing one and injuring the other while they visited a Beijing tourist site near the main venue where Olympic competitions began Saturday.

Russia And Georgia Nearing All-Out War

World Cup champion Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) is again planning to train under his own program. "Bode had great success last year with his own program and we expect that to continue," said Hunt. "While our primary focus is on the athletes training in our U.S. Ski Team program, we want to also support Bode in achieving his success."

"My intentions were, and still are, to raise awareness of what's going on at USSA and how the athletes feel about specific parts of the organization's approach to athletics. Although I can't speak for everyone, I can assure you that there are many unhappy members, both current and retired, that would like to see some changes made. There is an obvious disconnection between the athletes and the executives and a lot of us feel that our best interests are not always looked after." www.yardbarker.com

"As they say, History repeats itself, and once again the U.S. Ski Team cannot afford to fund their athletes" www.yardbarker.com

3 for 3: Phelps Grabs Another Gold In 200 Free

The following recall has been announced:

— About 3,500 pairs of 2007 Rossignol HC snowboard bindings, made in China by Rossignol Ski Co., because the t-nuts that attached the buckles to the straps on the snowboard's bindings can detach, posing a fall hazard to consumers. No incidents or injuries have been reported. The product was sold at snowboard, ski and sporting good stores nationwide from August 2007 through May this year. Details: by phone at 888-243-6735; by Web at http://www.rossignol.com or http://www.cpsc.gov.

Club 5+’s general assembly took place in Cape Town (RSA) on 27th May, 2008. The agenda included the election of its board. By acclamation, Victor Gertsch (Wengen) was confirmed as President, Srecko Medven (Kranjska Gora) and Edmund Dellago (Gröden) as Vice Presidents and Hannes Huter (Kitzbühel) as General Manager.

Club 5+, an umbrella organization for the organizers of the FIS Alpine World Cup events, currently comprises 13 organizers around the world. It aims to ensure and optimize the quality of event organization.

What began as whispers among the media and gymnastics insiders weeks ago about the ages of three of China's female Olympic gymnasts -- Jiang Yuyuan, Yang Yilin and He Kexin -- has grown into ear-shattering, head-hurting shouts. Despite assurances by Chinese officials that all three are 16, the minimum age of eligibility for Olympic competition, newly discovered documents and records prove otherwise.

The New York Times first looked into the age of China's gymnasts with a story on July 27 that focused primarily on He Kexin, whose birthdate on numerous online records was listed as January 1, 1994, making her 14 when the Games began and ineligible to compete.

These people think we are stupid...We are in the business of gymnastics. We know what a kid of 14 or 15 or 16 looks like. What kind of slap in the face is this? They are 12, 14 years old and they get lined up and the government backs them and the federation runs away. There is an age limit and it can't be controlled.

Gold Rush: Phelps Goes 6 For 6

“No matter how much you think you suffer, how much you think you sacrifice, there are thousands of others who have suffered more, given more.” -Willie Schaeffler, U.S. Olympic Ski Team Coach

Phelps equals Spitz' record..

The 20-year-old, who was one of Austria's most promising Nordic combined skiers and won 2007 world junior gold in the team event, was kept in an artificial coma at a hospital in Innsbruck.

Due to weather conditions (Strom) The races were postponed today.

Police identify three men killed in skiing incidents – Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, Australia
Monday, 18 Aug 2008 03:28pm

Police have identified three men killed in separate skiing incidents in the NSW Snowy Mountains over the weekend.

About 12.15pm yesterday (Sunday 17 August 200, Kevin Lane, a 65-year-old St Ives man died when he hit a tree in Blue Cow whilst he was skiing.

In another separate incident, Malcolm Ripper, a 48-year-old Jindabyne man was killed when he also hit a tree in Sun Valley, Perisher about 3:15pm on Sunday.

The tragedy continued when Tom Carr-Boyd, a 22-year-old Wentworth Falls man died when an ice cornice he was skiing on collapsed at Blue Lake in the Kosciuszko National Park.

Police investigations into the three incidents are continuing and reports are being prepared for the information of the Coroner.

"The Olympic philosophy is that the whole world takes part. You have the best in the world but you also have representatives from the lesser countries," Gueye, who made his Olympic debut as an Alpine skier in Sarajevo in 1984, told Reuters in an interview.
For him, that changed when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) introduced more stringent qualification standards for the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics.

Gueye's Senegalese family are no strangers to struggle.
The skier is named after his grandfather, a Socialist politician elected to the French parliament during the colonial era who gave his name to a law granting French citizenship and rights to all inhabitants of France's overseas possessions.
"My grandfather instilled his values in me -- values of defending just causes and fighting for the things that I believe are important," Gueye said.
"The struggle has moved on to sport, where it is about fighting corruption, fighting for progress.

Attending the Beijing Olympic Summer Games, FIS President Gian Franco Kasper and Secretary General Sarah Lewis had an opportunity to meet with the leadership of the Chinese Ski Association. The host association delegation was led by Zhao Yinggang, Director General, and Ren Hongguo, Vice President along with Yan Xiaojuan, Deputy Secretary General and Member of the FIS Freestyle Committee, Ding Yi, Deputy Secretary General, and Yu Haiyan, Secretary. The discussions focused on the work the Chinese Ski Association is undertaking to develop skiing and snowboarding in China and its plans for the coming years.

Special emphasis will be placed on the development of the FIS disciplines that have not been a focus of the Association’s activities in the past, namely Alpine Skiing and Ski Jumping, as well as on the further development of Cross-Country Skiing. There are currently some 200 ski resorts in China and the Chinese Ski Association is especially concentrating on developing recreational skiing in addition to competition activities. As an example, it has recently initiated a project dubbed ‘Bring Teenagers to the Snow” to encourage ski and snow activities by youngsters and the youth.

In recent years, China has become one of the leading nations in Freestyle Skiing, especially in aerials. It has amassed a total of 88 podium places since 1997, including 26 wins and several medals at the title events such as Olympic Winter Games. In the last two seasons, Chinese snowboarders have collected eight podium places as well, including the first three World Cup victories in the ladies’ half-pipe last season.