Oliver Kern of Skiresort Service International has set another world record by skiing on 70 different lifts in Austria’s giant SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser Brixental area.

The astonishing feat meant Mr Kern skied 22,059 vertical metres (72,375 vertical feet) whilst covering more than 120km (75 miles) of runs and riding uphill for a further 76km (50 miles) on the regions ski lifts, all on a single regular ski day.

Mr Kern already holds three successful world records for skiing more than most people would consider possible in one day, including on both sides of the Atlantic and in three countries on both sides of the pacific in single days.

For the fourth record, the conditions in the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser Brixental were perfect and nearly all of the 91 ski lifts were in operation on the day chosen for the attempt, Tuesday, 27th January 2009.

During the day Oliver Kern rode 65 different ski lifts, five additional rope tows and a magic carpet, riding just one lift, a double chair twice, during the day. The new record beats the previous best of 58 lifts in one day.

Mr Kern started in Going and skied then via Ellmau, Scheffau, Brixen im Thale to Westendorf. On the way back he passed Hopfgarten (with the Hohe Salve mountain as the highest point of the tour), Itter, Söll before returning to Going.

In the afternoon snow and fog on the Hohe Salve mountain slowed Kern and his team a little, but the record was at this time no longer in danger. At 16:45, the new world record holder skied in a relaxed state down to the valley. Then the record was celebrated in Going at the Bio Hotel Stanglwirt.

The accommodation on offer at Tignes, the French ski area that offers the most ski-days each year, has moved significantly up market with the opening of the resort’s first four star hotel, Les Suites du Nevada.

The new development is the work of MGM who have built a reputation for high quality accommodation across the French Alps.

“We wanted to better meet the expectations of present and future clients, and to assist ski and leisure villages in the development of their respective visitor infrastructures. Careful consideration of the views in Tignes enabled us to identify a vital factor preventing the village from realizing its full potential as a ski destination of the highest order. A lack of four-star hotel-style serviced accommodation was an important oversight, which we addressed with the minimum delay by the design and construction.” said an MGM company statement.

‘Les Suites du Névada’ features twenty-four luxury suites built with expertly-crafted local wood, stone and river-bed slate. Each uniquely-styled suite is equipped with latest generation high-tech touches including rain-curtain showers, whirlpool-baths and flat-screen LCD TVs.

“The mood is cozy yet serene, enabling guests to relax and unwind in a peaceful, stress-free environment.” say MGM.

MGM has also announced it will add more property to Tignes in the future. It has previously constructed a three star hotel and other high quality accommodation. They’ve proved so successful that they are to be joined by ‘Le Télémark, a brand new development of around fifty luxury tourist apartments which is scheduled to welcome its first guests during the winter of 2009/2010.

Europe’s ski resorts may have breathed a sigh of relief as abundant snow fell early in the winter, and in many areas has continued ever since.

As well as leading to a bumper season despite the general global economic gloom the big snowfalls have meant resorts have not had to spend so much money powering up their increasingly extensive and expensive snow making systems.

However there can be down sides even for ski resorts to the big snow falls. Travel problems and a high avalanche risk off piste are two, but the French resort of Val d’Allos 1800 la Foux has reported another.

The boss of the Val d’Allos tourist office, Gilles Gravier, revealed that the resort had faced a big bill just to clear the snow from streets, lifts and buildings to that the resort could function properly.

“The snow depth has now reached 360cm (12 feet), the most we have seen since winter 1975. Last Friday night alone, February 6th, more than a metre of snow fell. These very big snowfalls mean a lot of work for our teams clearing the snow and in January we spent 120,000 Euros just on clearing snow from our resort. This quantity of snow also means we have a high avalanche risk for off-piste skiers of level 4 against a maximum danger level of 5.”