The WWF has published a lengthy document at: www.panda.org/?184562/Ski-area-plans-threaten-Europes-last-untouched- detailing their belief that plans for new skiing areas in the region around the Carpathian Mountains and the Balkans threaten to harm major protected areas that house some of Europe’s last remaining untouched wilderness.

The document highlights proposed new ski areas and existing resort ski areas expansions in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Ukraine.

The thrust of the document is that environmental protection laws in place are either too weak or side-stepped anyway in the drive for commercial profits,

“In theory, potential conflicts between nature conservation and development – including for ski tourism – should be mediated by procedures such as Environmental Impact Assessments and the European Union’s Article 6 of the Habitats Directive, which provide a system for evaluating potential impacts on nature and identifying solutions and measures to mitigate negative impacts. In practice, however, these safeguards are of limited effect, and in the face of intense pressure from economic and political forces, nature conservation is often given short shrift.” the report states.

The WWWF notes that the Carpathian Mountains are Europe’s last great wilderness area – a bastion for large carnivores, with some two-thirds of the continent’s populations of brown bears, wolves and lynx. They are also home to the greatest remaining reserves of old growth forests outside of Russia.

“It is striking how little climate change and sustainability appear to be entering calculations for many of the new ski areas,” said Andreas Beckman, Director of WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme. “Already, rising temperatures and decreased precipitation and snow cover is causing problems for many facilities, with some poor recent ski seasons.”

Erika Stanciu, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, Forest and Protected Areas Team Leader highlighted existing ski areas she believes have broken international environmental protection legislation, such as Bansko in Bulgaria.

“We can all avoid ski areas that do not comply with basic criteria for environmental safeguards and legislation”, she said. “For example, Bansko, in the heart of Pirin National Park in Bulgaria, is a popular ski destination that has become infamous for being the first of a series of illegal ski developments in Bulgarian protected areas. Half of the ski runs in Bansko have no environmental permits, while those ski runs which do have permits have violated each requirement of the Environmental Impact Assessment decision. These violations include for example the width of ski runs – instead of the permitted 30m they actually are 60 to 100m wide. The European Commission has initiated penalty procedures against Bulgaria because of violations of environmental law in the case of Bansko.”

The now annual race between ten lucky piglets rang in the New Year at the famous Swiss resort of Klosters, the favourite of Prince Charles.

“The nippy little animals are intended to bring good luck in live form at the change of the year.” Explained a spokesperson for the resort.

The grand New Year reception traditionally takes place on the afternoon of 1st January on the Bahnhofplatz in Klosters. Around 2000 local people and guests toast the New Year and exchange good luck wishes.

The New Year’s speech was given by the President of the Local Council, Markus J. Haltiner and entertainment was provided by the popular band Supreme.

The Hotsch Race, this year taking place for the 5th time, is now an indispensable part of the New Year’s Day celebrations. Bets are placed on the speedy little porkers on which will be crowned the “2010 good luck pig.”

Although great fun to watch, race insiders confide that getting pigs to run is an art in itself. The ten young piglets from the local Kessler farm are meticulously trained for the big day by farmer Kessler.

A new guide to mountain resorts worldwide has been published on the iPhone. The PeakLocation app, published by the team behind the popular PeakLocation.com website, is a guide to both where to go skiing and becomes a companion while you’re there.

The PeakLocation app provides a vast amount of high quality information on winter and summer mountain resorts around the globe. 44 countries are currently covered and there are over a 1,000 locations listed!

As well as a wealth of guidebook style content in your pocket, the PeakLocation app makes use of the iPhones in-built technology to add a new dimension of interactivity for users.

For example you can record your high altitude exploits right on your iPhone by simply opening the PeakLocation App and adding a “high point” and your altitude and location will be stored on the phone.

“Bragging rights in the resort bars will be yours or simply take a screen shot and email it to home to your friends and family.” said PeakLocation’s Rupert Fisher.

For each resort listed the PeakLocation App provides key statistics, details of the nearest airport and often a professionally written review by award-winning veteran ski writer Patrick Thorne.

The newest feature for the App allows users to download live weather information for the majority of the resorts listed.

The App also lists the world’s 50 highest resorts by their height. “PeakLocation App owners can cross check the published heights of resorts and their highest lifts against the height they’re given by the iPhone’s GPS height when they visit the resort,” said Fisher. “It will be interesting to see how these measure up to numbers published by the resorts.”

There’s also a Google map pinpointing a resort and its surrounding area.

“It’s a fantastic time saving feature when you’re in an unfamiliar area or for planning your trip to the mountains!” said Fisher.

PeakLocation App users can mark several of the resorts in the app as “favourites” allowing them to quickly access them from the main menu. App users can mark off places they’ve been to or places they’d like to go. Most resorts feature stunning photography showcasing the mountain town or village and providing colour to the text summary. There are more than a thousand images linked in.

The PeakLocation App is aimed at skiers and snowboarders but will also prove valuable to anyone visiting the mountains in summer or winter. It is available now from the iPhone App store priced £4.99.

“Basically, if you’re interested in the mountains then this app is for you!” concludes Fisher.