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If I had a penny for everyone that asks for a “high altitude chalet” for their annual skiing holidays nowadays then I would be a very rich man!

But how can you blame them? The British press have been bolstering their winter broad sheets with the effects of “global warming” and the dreadful snow conditions that we have been apparently experiencing in the alps. This has of course been spurred on by doom mongers sat in a London press office, with all but a poorly placed webcam to gain their daily insight on the true snow conditions at a local level*. Nevertheless, they still feel qualified to paint a pretty dreary picture to the unassuming public as to the future of European skiing holidays.

Many webcams are inaccurately placed and only show snow at the Tourist Office altitude which is often below the snowline and not where the real skiing is. Morzine in particular, (one example of a great British ski destination), has suffered this over sight by the Tourist Office who have chosen not to lodge their webcam at the skiing altitude, but rather at a 900 metre resort level.

Coming from one who has spent every week of the ski season touring the alps over the last 11 years, then I feel qualified to have an opinion. Although I have seen a change in snow, it is not as dramatic as one is led to believe. If anything the seasons are simply shifting. We are getting the same seasonal levels of snow as we were a decade ago, but it now chooses to come later and stay for longer. April skiing is now bigger business than ever as it steals demand from the festive weeks; and rightly so because the reality is that April is experiencing higher levels of snow than ever before.

Thankfully, various ski associations with first hand knowledge of the actual snow levels of last season have sought public correction and recognition from the media as to the unfounded nature of their premature remarks; remarks about the uncertain future of European skiing holidays.

I have heard many tales of skiers cancelling their Christmas skiing holidays at the last minute with huge losses in cancellation charges, simply because they choose to believe all they read in the papers! If they had taken their holiday as planned and paid for, they would have found a ski resort skiing normally above 1500 metres, and please remember that most premier French resorts have 95% of their skiing above this level anyway.

Indeed the resorts where skiing is placed below 1300 metres are experiencing the “wrong kind of precipitation”, as temperatures are rising. However if you pick a resort where the skiing is above 1300 metres, then you will be experiencing normal skiing conditions and full coverage of ski area, which nowadays is further enhanced by snow cannons; snow cannons that are actually making the skiing better than ever before.

Perhaps the snow that we have just experienced in Chamonix, (July 1st 2007) is not a good omen that the snow is still prevalent, but acting as a harbinger to climate change or a merging of the seasons?

The fact is that last season was actually a better season for snow above 1300 metres than the previous two years. Long term weather forecasts are suggesting a rise in precipitation over the alps in the next ten years, along with relatively low levels in temperature rise. Therefore although there may be rain at low levels there will be greater amounts of snow at higher altitudes, thus making resorts above 1500 metres all the more in demand for European skiing holidays.

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Formula One rookie Lewis Hamilton took third in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, while Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen took first for the second time in a row since the previous week’s fortuitous win at Magny-Cours in France. Up until then, hotshot Hamilton gave both teammates and competitors more than a run for their money ever since he shot out to the lead since the start of the 2007 F1 racing circuit.

While Hamilton has continued to inspire not only his teammates for the Mercedes-McLaren team, he lost a bit of momentum with Raikkonen’s lead last week, and then again this past weekend. The Silverstone track, just over three miles in length, and one that offers sixty not particularly difficult laps, offered Raikkonen the chance to once again take the lead position as Hamilton fell behind during the first round of pit stops. Still, while Ferrari has gained some points with their last two wins, Hamilton still leads the pack with 12 points over his Mercedes-McLaren teammate, Fernando Alonso, who stands in second place.

The British Grand Prix, raced at Silverstone in Northhamptonshire, is one of the oldest traditions in the racing world, seconded only by the Spanish Grand Prix that began in the 1920’s. Though the British Grand Prix was raced for years on the Donnington Park circuit, Silverstone has been wowing crowds since 1950. The track, renovated in 1991, is somewhat tamer than it used to be, and current contracts will offer the F1 racing world Grand Prix events through to 2009.

The last half dozen Grand Prix races have seen fierce competition between the leaders of 2007’s Grand Prix drivers, including Hamilton and Alonso, driving for Mercedes, and Raikkonen and Massa, driving for Ferrari. The teams have battled for the lead since the Australian race at Melbourne and the Monaco Grand Prix, as well as more recent battles in the United States, France and now Hamilton’s native Britain. Germany is next on the list and fans are waiting to see how long it will take Hamilton to regain his first or second place wins that they have grown accustomed to.

Raikkonen’s most recent win now puts him one point ahead of his teammate, Felipe Massa, but he’s still almost 20 points behind Hamilton for the lead. Raikkonen was quoted after the race as saying, “Once we knew we had enough fuel, I was able to close on Lewis and try to overtake him. But we knew he was coming in, so didn’t take too much of a risk hopefully, the championship is not over. It’s still going to be a long season.”

Raikkonen may be right, with upcoming races still scheduled in Turkey, Italy, Belgium and China, to finish the 2007 Formula One circuit in Brazil in October. Plenty of time to continue to thrill crowds and fans carefully watching the awesome rise of Hamilton as he continues in his efforts to beat records and encourage both teammates and competitors to give their best in a truly inspiring F1 season to date.

The most popular F1 Grand Prix is the Monaco Grand Prix.

Travel guide YourMonaco.com includes information about the Grand Prix, with additional information about Monte Carlo’s Casino Square and online poker, and for the first time Monte Carlo visitor, a map of Monte Carlo

Tennis pro Roger Federer awed crowds at this year’s Wimbledon to win his fifth men’s finals, casting a ray of sunshine into a stadium nestled beneath gray and cloudy skies. The 2007 Championship matches saw invigorating and exciting plays made by names who have become household words across the globe, among them Rafael Nadal, his rival for the win. Nadal, originally from Mallorca, gave Federer quite a handful in the final as their volleys matched power and technique that kept fans riveted.

Federer, the 26-year-old from Switzerland, turned professional in 1998 and is currently ranked number one in singles play. He holds the second position for the ATP Championship year. Federer seems to play better alone, for in doubles competition he holds the 24th position. As a singles player, Federer shines with 48 titles. Since he began his gifted career he has won over 500 matches and has earned over 30 million in U.S. dollars.

The man who’s given him a run for his money this year, rival Rafael Nadal, was born in Manacor, Mallorca, in 1986, and is five years younger than Federer. Nadal, a left handed palyer, currently ranks number two in singles play. He holds the number one spot for the ATP Championship position and has over 200 match wins under his belt since he turned professional in 2001.

The breathtaking final between the two took almost four hours, with Federer finally winning 7-6; 4-6; 7-6; 2-6; 6-2. The match pitting two such gifted players against each other proved one of the best matches crowds at Wimbledon have seen in a while. The match drew a standing ovation upon its completion, and both Federer and Nadal can be congratulated on outstanding play as crowd favorites for 2007.

Federer with this win earned his fifth title championship, and the opportunity to compete with tennis great Bjorn Borg, who also won five straight tennis championships. This was a lifetime achievement for Federer, who all but collapsed due to the physical and emotional conclusion to his awe-inspiring play at the end of the match. Borg, watching from the Royal Box, was among those who stood to congratulate the exhausted player after completion of the final.

Once it was over, Federer honored his rival with the words, “It was such a close match. I told him at the net that he deserved it as well. I’m the lucky one today.”

Luck may have a little something to do with his win, but skill and determination takes precedence over Federer’s excellent play. It was a very tough match for him, but his refusal to crumple and his determination to excel kept the crowd on the edge of their seats for the duration of the match.

The competitive rivalry between Federer and Nadal will more than likely continue to draw crowds, as this Wimbledon match has gone down in history. Two extremely gifted and dedicated players; both Federer and Nadal honor their home countries with their skills, competitive spirit and sheer joy of the sport.

To read more about Rafael Nadar’s home island of Mallorca visit YourMajorca.net

The holiday and travel guide includes Thomas Cook holiday deals for Mallorca and a map of Spain

As people sit and enjoy a tennis match, they have many chances to develop thoughtful ideas about how tennis was created. Thoughts might drift around about how the inventor must have been a creative person to create such a fun game that allows people the opportunity to be out in the fresh air and spend lazy days hitting a tennis ball back and forth across a net.

Their thoughts might drift to the tennis racquet and how such a person could find the time to create such an interesting tool to use in this competitive sport. The creator must have had a very creative spirit to come up with the idea of stretching nylon and weave it just so that it is snugly woven enough for a tennis ball to bounce from it with some order of control over where it would go afterward.

The creator of tennis would also have to have an analytical mind too because creating rules that all can live by is a difficult task to undertake. The creator of tennis also had to take into consideration what fears people might have that would make them think that they could never get the tennis ball over the net with precision accuracy that is required in the game of tennis.

The creator left the clothing options open when he created tennis. People wear fashionable styles of tennis clothing all of the time or most certainly comfortable clothes that are suitable for the hot day’s sun. The creator might not have known that tennis gear would become so popular or become such an influential type of clothing that it is marketed by creative designers over the world.

Some people think that the creator of tennis must have been a sportsperson. The physical activity required in a game of tennis is sufficient enough to build strong legs and arm muscles, but the skill required to play tennis was created with precision accuracy in mind. The creator of tennis probably did not get intimidated by many things because the game of tennis can be very intimidating, or a least to the person on the other side of the net.

The creator of tennis was most certainly a fun loving person because the game is fun and people have an extremely good time competing against each other at the competitive sports level and at the fun level where the game is played by kids at school and during the period that comes right before homework has to commence. The creator might not know that the game also gives people the opportunity to travel and see the world, when they are not on the tennis court in a foreign country.

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Some people have expressed interest in the statistics that affect a sport that they routinely participate in. The statistics are compiled for several years and placed on the NCAA website in hopes that some students can get inspired by the history involved in the participation of students in a collegiate sports event.

Other students simply like to crunch numbers and many of their friends might be amazed that they do this type of activity for recreation. With the data provided by the NCAA on their website, these statisticians might choose to compare the statistics by the number of participants throughout the one year or they might combine the data for several years at a time.

Other statisticians might want to use the data on the NCAA websites because it was derived from many years of athletic events. Few statisticians can pass by such a magnificent array of numbers in one place. The statisticians would probably download all of the information and spend a surmountable amount of time crunching the numbers just to see if they can determine the right figure in their estimates for the following years input on the collegiate statistical participation in certain sports.

Many of these statisticians prefer to go straight to the data mother lode and access the Championship Results Database. While in this database these statisticians will probably have a stupendous time researching the data by team, year or a specific student or at least one that they think was an awesome athlete back when the statistics were done.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association organizes the statistics for collegiate sports into three categories. Statisticians could organize their files to reflect that there are statistics that cover Fall Sports, Winter Sports and Spring Sports. The data included under each category would center around the Championship Records and the Statistics associated with those records.

In the Falls Sports category, the statistics for Cross Country, Field Hockey, Footballs, Soccer, Volleyball and Water Polo are provided to them. The statistics are also organized to reflect whether the data pertains to male or female athletes or if the data contains a combined review of all athletes without regard to sex. The records can be viewed or downloaded and saved as reference material for other uses that may come about.

In the Winter Sports category, the statisticians would find the statistics for Basketball, Bowling, Fencing, Gymnastics, Ice Hockey, Rifle, Skiing, Swimming and Diving, as well as Indoor Track and Field and Wrestling. All of these statistics will be carefully considered numerous of times since the statistics in these sports reflect participation by both sexes with the exception of Bowling.

After the Springs Sports category is covered, the statisticians will have plenty of time to devour the data for sports such as Baseball, Golf, lacrosse, Rowing, Softball, Tennis, Outdoor Track and Field, Volleyball and Water Polo. Then they can reflect on their results and ponder them until another batch of numbers is transferred to the NCAA website.

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There are some fun skis that can be rented during the summer season for a number of water sports in any city located near a beach. Water enthusiasts that live near a beach front are more likely to own their own set of water skis. This water sport is very popular with boat owners because it requires very little equipment. Boating enthusiasts that want to cool off from the high temperatures of a summer day will consider many water sports.

Some of the water sports are made for one person but there are others that can accommodate a small crowd. For the water sports that involve skiing, a water enthusiast will typically don a life vest and cool off rather quickly by being towed behind the boat on a rope on a gorgeous set of skis that are perfectly sized for their body length. For small children, there are specially colored skis that can be rented and they are complemented by small sized rubber pads that are perfect for little feet.

Any vacationer that heads to a resort location will typically be interested in several water sports that are offered. Some of the vacationers will usually choose motorized jet skis to go sightseeing along a resort coastline, and save some of the other water sports for later in the afternoon. The power motors in the Jet Ski’s offer tourists the ability to zoom across the water at speeds that could exceed 125 miles per hour.

Of course, there are speed laws at sea to comply with as well as safety regulations that must be enforced, but even with these small hindrances jet skis provide a lot of entertainment for a vacationing family to enjoy. For safer water sports for young children, there are games of volleyball that are played in waters that are knee deep.

Many vacationers like improvising and spend time doing water sports that are very low cost. The children are quite happy to spend their time in the water bodysurfing and using their own boogey boards to skim across the water surface as much as they like. Parents might consider hang-gliding and sight-seeing at the same time but some instructions are required before take-off.

Vacationers like to relax while away from the day-to-day bustle of work and home life, and will generally enjoy simple water sports like rafting and canoeing to pass some of the day and all of these water sports can be enjoyed by the entire family. For the more active water enthusiasts there is surfing, but this water sport will require prior knowledge with enough skill to brave the waves that can come crashing down on the shoreline.

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A new organisation to promote better understanding between countries through sport has been launched recently, with its headquarters in Monaco, and Prince Albert at its helm.

The organisation is supported by both the United Nations and the IOC - the Olympic Committee - and is called ‘Peace and Sport’.

The purpose of Peace and Sport is to lead global actions that will sustain peace, based on its values of independence, neutrality and perseverance. As well as sportsmen and women the aim is to influence governments and industry on how sport can bring people together.

Accepting his position as patron of Peace and Sport, Prince Albert commented that “Even more than an education, sport is mixing people for a better understanding and thus contributes to a better World. Sport is finally just more than sport, sport can contribute to peace. This is why, as some others, we have made our own contribution from Monaco.”

Working with Prince Albert as President of Peace and Sport is Joel Bouzou, a former Olympic medalist, modern pentathlon world champion, General Secretary of the UIPM and Executive Board Member of the World Olympians Association.

Bouzou commented that “Through this experience we demonstrated that conceptualized action can bridge the gap between two worlds which very often, deliberately or otherwise, have tended to ignore each other and can help work towards better social cohesion”.

The organisation is to hold an annual international forum for discussion of its objectives, plans and results, with the first to be held in Monaco, presided over by Prince Albert, in November of this year.

Peace and Sport represents a new strand of campaigning for Prince Albert of Monaco, who has been campaigning to heighten awareness of global warming since becoming Monaco’s Sovereign in 2005.

Prince Albert of Monaco signed the country up for the Kyoto Protocol shortly after becoming Sovereign, and a few months later left behind the comfort and glamour of his palace and Casino Square for the wilds of Antartica to see for himself the damage being caused to the glaciers because of global warming.

Upon his return he set up a foundation with his own money to study the impact of rising sea levels, and since then has been active in the attempts to publicise the need to cut CO2 emissions in the industrialised world.

In recent months he has met both Prince Charles and President Chirac of France to discuss global warming. Although he spent some time in the US in his early years and speaks English fluently, he hasn’t had to learn Italian and can converse with leaders the world over without the need for a translator.

Closer to home the Monaco Yacht Show, attended by thousands of yachting sports men and women every autumn, is showing that even events designed for the super rich can play their part for the environment.

World class yachts and its industry has blossomed over the last ten years, with multi millionaires and billionaires buying yachts in the tens of millions of Euros price range - and when it comes to some billionaires they seem intent on buying a fleet that would put some small countries navies to shame.

Despite being the second smallest country in the world Monaco has established herself as the natural European home for many of the world’s wealthiest men and women due to her tax haven status, with many more visiting on holiday while cruising the Mediterranean for the Monte Carlo casino - and Monaco has managed to stay as a top destination by cleverly spotting and exploiting trends ahead of her competitiors.

The Monaco Yacht Show is part of the attraction for the super-rich, and has firmly established itself as the leading super yacht show in the world over the last fifteen years. For Monaco itself the Yacht Show is second only to the Monaco Grand Prix sporting event for visitor numbers. Combined with the Hotel de Paris and other Monaco hotels the principality has successfully secured her position as a natural environment for the wealthy and sportsmen to live or visit.

Monaco is showing that cuts in carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases are possible in a land of plenty, and the Monaco Yacht Show has successfully achieved carbon neutral status for the 2005 and 2006 events, with plans to repeat this for 2007, establishing itself on the map of Monaco as an environmentally friendly event.

To attain carbon neutral status last year, the organisers sponsored various projects in Europe and further afield to offset carbon emissions generated by the show, giving credence to Prince Albert and Monaco as pioneers for the environment, as well as sports like the Monaco Grand Prix.

YourMonaco.com includes details of the Monaco Grand Prix.

As well as the Grand Prix, the Monaco guide includes a map, details of the Hotel de Paris, Hotel Columbus and other hotels in Monaco, plus a Monaco weather forecast and today’s weather in Monaco.