Ski resorts talk up piste length

SKI resorts are being asked to be more honest about the size of their pistes.

After a German cartographer Christoph Schrahe reported some resorts were more than doubling the length of their pistes, the international federation of ski resorts operators (Fianet) has asked for better standards.

Mr Schrahe found that resorts were measuring piste length taking account of the zig zags made by skiers during their descent.

For some this meant pistes were reported as being up to 150% longer than they actually were, such as Les 4 Vallées in Switzerland which claims 362km but actually measures 164, and Isola 2000 in the Alpes-Maritimes which claims 120km but measures 54km.

Fianet has since recommended that piste-length be measured according to Mr Schrahe’s methods, taking a line down the centre of the pistes.

The idea has met with some resistance.

“If everyone applied this, people would see the number of kilometers of skiable pistes drop,” said the representative of French skiing areas, Laurent Reynaud.

“However, the French ones will still be the biggest,” he added.

© dell - Fotolia.com