Dry winter shakes up Alpine ski and travel industry
Low snowfalls are a big problem for ski resorts in France, Italy and Switzerland, with skiers waiting to the last minute to see where there's snow.
Sports and Competitions
Not a phantom menace: Camera drone nearly hits ski champ
An Austrian champion ski racer was nearly killed Tuesday when an out-of-control camera drone fell to earth bare inches from him. A photographer caught the dramatic near-collision. The skier, Marcel Hirschner, finished second despite the accident; he is currently ranked fist in standings at the World Championships, now being held at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. He's been champion 4 times in a row. According to Ski Federation director Markus Waldner, who has now banned drones from all meets...
Italian ski resorts: Get insurance or pay for rescue
Italian ski resorts, faced with rising costs and declining subsidies, have warned skiiers: If your insurance doesn't cover your rescue, you'll have to pay for it. The warning covers resorts in a number of areas in the Alto Adige, Trentino and...
2020 Olympics spur Tokyo 'hotel war'
A flurry of new-hotel building, massive renovations and even replacement of existing hotels is changing the face of Tokyo's central area and some suburbs, largely spurred by the hope of profiting on the 2020 Olympics.
Lausanne gets 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Ice hockey at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, Innsbruck Photo: Rolf Roletschek / Wikimedia The Winter Youth Oympics—a relative youth itself, since the first was only held in 2012—will hold its 2020 games in...