Austrian rescue crews are losing hope in the search for a 31-year-old snowboarder who went missing on Saturday in the Upper Austrian Krippenstein, according to a story in the Austria Times.
The man, 31, from Gloggnitz in Lower Austria, was snowboarding with friends but failed to appear at their pre-arranged meeting point in the afternoon. The other snowboarders sounded the alarm. . . . Rescuers have been unable to look for the man because a warm “föhn” wind from the south has raised the danger of avalanches in the area. Rescuers would face too high a degree of risk if they went up the mountain.
X Games Senior Vice President Rick Alessandri, is pretty happy with the “cross-platform” ratings of the Winter X 13. “The continued growth across all our multi-media properties is a testament to the passion, athleticism and drama the X Games athletes deliver each event.”
But according to a story on TVbythenumbers.com the TV ratings really weren’t all that strong, though it’s hard to tell with all this “best ever” lingo:
Television: Winter X Games 13 was ESPN’s highest-rated and most-viewed Winter X Games in history. The eight telecasts averaged 942,000 homes, up nine percent from 2008. Young male and people demos were up double digits from last year. Three of ESPN’s eight Winter X Games telecasts, delivered over a 1.0 rating this year –Friday prime time, Sunday afternoon and Sunday prime time. Sunday night’s 1.3 rating and 1,242,210 homes makes it the highest-rated and most-viewed Winter X Games telecast ever. ABC’s Winter X Games 13 telecast on Saturday averaged a 1.2 household rating and 1,376,481 households.
Just for comparison sake nearly seven times as many people watch Extreme Makeover on ABC TV and 14 times as many people regularly watch American Idol. The Portland Summer Dew Tour event that aired live in August (albeit with the Olympics for a lead-in) got a 2.7 rating.
No matter where we were on the floor at SIA it seemed like our conversations were constantly being drowned out by the music pumping from the Skullcandy booth. The Omatic Snowboards booth was right across the isle from Skullcandy and here’s how Todd Richards was taking it. . .
US Snowboarding Grand Prix Tour Director Eric Webster serves himself a bit of vegetarian lasagna and salad off the buffet line in the VIP lounge in the Boreal Lodge and walks over to the cafeteria style picnic table. His radio crackles as he sits down.
For the past 11 years the former professional snowboarder has been spending his winters making sure the US Snowboarding Grand Prix events happen. His arrival at Boreal Resort is a bit of a homecoming. “During the 1988-89 season, Burton had a team house at Tahoe Donner and we used to ride and train here all the time,” Webster says. “It’s good to be back. The resort has been great to work with.”
While we were at the SIA Show it seemed that no one in the snowboard business was being effected by the economy. But it appears that Mammoth Mountain is not floating blissfully along. The LA Times is reporting that the mountain has laid off 101 employees.
CEO Rusty Gregory, in an interview with KSRW radio, or Sierra Wave, confirmed that 101 employees have been fired and other cost-cutting measures were enacted to make up for a sharp drop in skier-visits. . . . Revenue at the Eastern Sierra resort, which offers some of the world’s finest skiing and snowboarding, is down 21% from preseason projections. And the projected number of skier visits for this season has been reduced from 1.4 million to 1.1 million. . . . Gregory said 10 senior managers received 5% pay cuts. Vacation time has been shortened and gas allowances have been eliminated. Gregory, however, assured that none of the cuts will jeopardize the safety of visitors.
And to think we always figured if things ever got really bad we could always get a job as a lift op. Guess not.
Monica Davis, a 35-year-old British snowboarder died on New Year’s Day after falling nearly 500 feet while riding in the German Alps at Garmish Partenkirchen, according to a story on Thisisderbyshire. The woman, who got separated from her friends, had sent several text messages before her fall.
She sent text messages from her mobile phone asking for help, but the battery ran flat before she could be found by the German emergency services.. . . The message read: “I am really stuck on the mountain off-piste. I am not being funny, I think I am going to need mountain rescue. I am not OK, I am really stuck.”
Davis took her snowboard off and apparently fell while trying to walk to safety. Her body was found the next day.
The Alliance of Action Sports has just announced a three-year deal with Eurosport 2 giving the European sports broadcaster exclusive live coverage of the Winter Dew Tour. And of course, Alli President Wade Martin is excited.
“We are thrilled to offer a live telecast of the Winter Dew Tour in Europe through Eurosport 2,” said Wade Martin, President of Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports. “This is a terrific opportunity for fans throughout Europe to see live coverage of the best action sports athletes in the world.”
Our favorite Euro snowboard blog Snowbroader has all the great ISPO parties lined up for anyone who is staying on the trade show party train. And for those not lucky enough to make the trip to Munich they’re kicking down complete coverage from the floor starting Sunday February 1, 2009. We’ll be checking it out.
Austrian rescue crews are losing hope in the search for a 31-year-old snowboarder who went missing on Saturday in the Upper Austrian Krippenstein, according to a story in the Austria Times.
