Ski area
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Ski area
OR:
Ski area on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a
ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...
.


Scope of activities

The
US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
defines a ski area as: "a site and associated facilities that has been primarily developed for alpine or Nordic skiing and other snow sports, but may also include, in appropriate circumstances, facilities necessary for other seasonal or year-round natural resource-based recreation activities, provided that a preponderance of revenue generated by the ski area derives from the sale of alpine and Nordic ski area passes and lift tickets, revenue from alpine, Nordic, and other snow sport instruction, and gross revenue from ancillary facilities that support alpine or Nordic skiing and other snow sports."


Notable examples

Ski areas can extend over several
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
(ex:
La Plagne La Plagne () is a French ski area in the alpine valley of the Tarentaise (Savoie). Since 2003, La Plagne and the neighbouring resort of Les Arcs form Paradiski's ski area. It is currently owned by Compagnie des Alpes. In 2014, La Plagne wa ...
in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Alta Badia Alta Badia is a ski resort in the Dolomites of northern Italy, in the upper part of the Val Badia (german: Hochabtei) in South Tyrol. It is part of the Dolomiti Superski ski area. It is included in the territories of the municipalities of Corv ...
in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, etc.) or several countries (ex:
Portes du Soleil Les Portes du Soleil (literally "The Doors of the Sun") is a major skisports destination in the Alps, encompassing thirteen resorts between Mont Blanc in France and Lake Geneva in Switzerland. With more than 650 km of marked pistes (claimed ...
in France and Switzerland). A municipality can have several ski areas (ex: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in France,
Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alps, Alpine resort town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, muni ...
in Switzerland,
Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühe ...
in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, etc.). The largest ski areas connect several ski resorts (ex: Les Trois Vallées in France).


Business models

Alpine ski areas require substantial capital investment, a significant labor force, and maintenance of an infrastructure that provides dining and retail services to skiers and that assures reliable snow that is appealing to skiers in locations that are accessible to them. Consequently, they require a fee structure and ancillary attractions that provide the revenue to sustain them economically. The natural settings of ski areas require the management of their environmental impacts, according to legal standards. The profession of ski area management requires specialized training in degree programs. Specialities include the maintenance of the lift and trail infrastructure and the management of the supporting commercial enterprises that rent and sell skis and that provide food services.


See also

*
List of ski areas and resorts This is a list of ski areas and resorts around the world. Africa Asia Europe North America See also * Comparison of North American ski resorts See also * Comparison of California ski resorts * Comparison of Colorado ski resorts *List ...
* Private ski area (North America)


References


External links


White Book of Ski Areas directorySki areas per state (NSAA)
{{Skiing Lists of ski areas and resorts