257: Innsbruck in Tirol, Northern Snow Show & the UK’s first employee-owned ski company

We find out all about Innsbruck in Austria, look at the Northern Snow Show and learn why ski company Peak Retreats is handing over ownership to its staff.

Host Iain Martin was joined by journalist Catherine Murphy; MD of The Snow Centre, Ian Brown; founder of the UK tour operator Peak Retreats, Xavier Schouller; and the company’s new MD Alison Willis.

Tirol in Austria sponsors The Ski Podcast, which means that this winter we'll be able to find out more about some of the great destinations in Tirol, and how you can connect with the wonderful ‘feeling of life’ there.

SHOW NOTES

Catherine joined us in Episode 232 to discuss the new Jandri 3S lift in Les 2 Alpes (1:00)
Miss SnowItAll, Rachael Oakes-Ash runs the Snowsbest.com website (6:00)
Robert Redford starred in ‘Downhill Racer’ in 1969 (7:30)
Chill Factore in Manchester and The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead are the same company (8:30)
The Northern Snow Show takes place in October at The Snow Centre Manchester (9:45)
Listeners to the podcast can get free tickets for the show here (13:00)
Iain visited Innsbruck in 2017 after a trip to Kuhtai (13:30)
There are many sites to see in Innsbruck (14:00)
The most famous site is the Golden Roof (14:45)
Catherine loved the Hofkirche (15:45)
British architect Zaha Hadid designed the spectacular funicular stations in the city (18:00)
Hadid also designed the Bergesil ski jump (19:15)
Rob Rees reported in Episode XX on the ‘Four Hills Ski Jumping Competiiton’ (21:15)
Innsbruck serves 12 ski areas (21:20)
You can go night skiing in Kuhtai (22:00)
Find out about the ‘SKI plus CITY Pass’ (23:00)
Find out about Axamer Lizum (24:00)
Nordkette ski area is immediately above Innsbruck, with amazing views (24:30)
Peak Retreats are becoming the only UK ski company to be employee-owned (25:30)
The company was set up in 2002 (27:00)
The decision to pass on the company to the employees rather than sell it (29:30)
Listen to ‘The Rise and Fall of Bladon Lines’ (31:00)
Find out about the Alpe d’Huez bike challenge (35:00)

Feedback (36:00)

I always enjoy listener feedback and I love to hear what you think about the show. You can leave a comment on Spotify, Instagram or Facebook – our handle is @theskipodcast – or drop me an email to theskipodcast@gmail.com

Colin Slater: "Just discovered the podcast and listened to loads now, loved the Bladon Lines one!”

Glenn Westrup: “I’ve really enjoyed Rachel’s snow reports from Australia and NZ”

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