[Free]

Couch Potatoe Skiing
Although I love the winter and the snow I am not a big skiing fan, I used to do cross country skiing, but since I live in the city it's too far a journey and I am just too lazy... And I hate it to watch ski-racing on TV, you can't escape it here, it's always on since it is quite the only sport Austrians have some success they love it of course...

So I didn't think I would like this free skiing game, but it is strangely addicting and now I can't stop trying to manage to beat the clock again and again... It was financed by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) and some other sponsors. It's a free 15 MB download, currently there is only one track available, alledgedly 3 others are added during the season.

You can also register and have your time ranked online, I don't know if it is possible from outside Austria, but you can try and piss them off like Bode Miller in reality

Here is the link for the download:

http://skichallenge.orf.at/challenge/stories/download/

(bottom of the page click on "Download ORF-Ski Challenge 06")

The ingame dialogue is in german, but it's not difficult to figure it out, just click on "Probelauf" (test run) to race against the clock (and your best time race which is represented by a "ghost"). You can click on the icons to select weather conditions and skis.

Controls: Arrow keys for steering and space for jumping.

[Carlhole]

SNOW SKIING IN THE DESERT? - SKI DUBAI !

Takes the joke right out of the Jamaican Bobsled Team

[Novus]

Dubai is a truely stange city in the desert. They have these massive man-made islands. Two Palm Tree shaped islands, a giant cresent island, and bunch of smaller islands making up the earth in miniture. They are also building hundreds of skyscrapers including one that is a 1000 meters tall and has 189 floors. It is already under construction so will be built.

You can find detailed listing of all their projects here:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=457

Shame no one will get a chance to enjoy it.

[PenultimateManStanding]

Las Vegas is a weird place. It creeps me out there. Haven't been back since 1987 because it's so bizarre. But Dubai has got to top Vegas for sheer surreal strangeness from what I've read and now see in these pictures.

[lowem]

Amazing isn't it, the stuff that a few billion petrodollars can buy.

[timbo]

Ignoring the actual cause of global warming it would seem that things are definitely warmer. It has been my observation over the last 30+ years that ski seasons are getting shorter, with less snow and higher snowlines.

[Plantagenet]

There is no doubt skiing is impacted.

In Switzerland some of the classic old resorts at lower elevations can no longer function as destination ski resorts, because they never know if they'll have snow or not. The Cascades lost almost an entire winter season a couple of years ago due to lack of snow. My own local resort here in interior Alaska finally opened last week.....weeks later then in the past.

[mgibbons19]

Hmm, I would have thought the waterskiing season would be longer with global warming.

[cipi604]

Not this winter... this is one of the coldest and the hardest winters ever.

[vision-master]

City parks are getting on-board with snowmaking for Nordic skiing in the upper Midwest. Today we had a high of 35 degrees? Spring like weather. Last year the American Birkebeiner was canceled due to lack of snow. It is scheduled in Northern Wis during the snowest time of winter.

[timbo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cipi604', 'N')ot this winter... this is one of the coldest and the hardest winters ever.

[dorlomin]

Britains only real ski resort, Aviemore is pretty near its death these days due to such poor recent seasons.

[Pixie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cipi604', 'N')ot this winter... this is one of the coldest and the hardest winters ever.

[heroineworshipper]

Not sure about global warming, but the bosses are in the office a lot more instead of skiing in the last few years.

[catbox]

Our local spots opened about a month late this year.



cb

[ohanian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('heroineworshipper', 'N')ot sure about global warming, but the bosses are in the office a lot more instead of skiing in the last few years.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ohanian', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('heroineworshipper', 'N')ot sure about global warming, but the bosses are in the office a lot more instead of skiing in the last few years.

[zzzpeakoil]

Here in Romania it surely is a very cold winter. This night we see snow reaching half a meter overnight . That hasn't happen in the last 3-4 years. I don't believe in global warming. some people think there's an ice age coming up soon. (iceagenow.com)

[jbrovont]

I have to say the ski season in the eastern US has definitely gotten shorter in the last 15 years. I used to start skiing in early December and the snow would hold though early march. The last 15 years, it seems like we only have snow in the depth of January, and by mid February it's melted, or too slushy/rainy to snow. A lot of resorts north of where I live are hurting badly, and some have just now opened with the winter storm that went through. It hasn't been cold enough to make snow, and Sunday, it's going to begin melting again.

[Smudger]

going to meribel this year as last year was at resort at just over 1,000m and the ski was bad.

I know sking is not good for oil or the environment , but I'm good the rest of the time!