04/14/2019 To all Canadian Masters, family & friends,
As most of you likely know by now, the third World Winter Master Games (WWMG) are taking place from 10-19 January 2020, in Innsbruck, Austria – go to https://www.innsbruck2020.com/en/winter-world-masters-games for more information.
Smart move for those that have already registered! For those that have not but are considering, I strongly encourage you to register now, as some events have already sold out! If you change your mind, you can cancel without reason and get a full refund of your registration fee, of €190, until 1 October 2019!
You should have received an email regarding the WWMG/Canada jackets designed by Victoria Fenninger; if the number of jackets ordered so far, being 38, is any indication of racers/spouses/friends going, then we Canadians will put on a great show! The order deadline was 1 April 2019, but we have been able to push this right out until midnight 20 April 2019.
Go to https://alpinecanadamasters.racing/?p=4867&lang=en for jacket design and order details.
Regarding accommodation, there are various options including staying right in Innsbruck as shuttle buses will be running regularly to all events – go to https://www.innsbruck2020.com/en/traveller-information/accomodation/51-0.html for more information.
Rich Deacon has done much research and has secured “near on-hill” accommodation option for us – thank you Rich! Rich’s message follows below so send him an email if you are interested so that he can keep you informed as to how to lock in to this deal.
Hoping to see many of you there!
Lloyd
Lloyd Sevack | President
Canadian Alpine Masters | Maîtres Alpin Canadiens
Hi everyone,
The first and most important piece of the puzzle, our Innsbruck/Igls home base, is now in place. Sobek is holding a block of 25 rooms at Hotel Bon-Alpina https://www.bon-alpina.at/en/wellness_und_schwimbad for check-in 9 January and checkout 16 January. The alpine events were recently confirmed to take place from 10 – 15 January inclusive.
Patscherkofel (Patsch) is the WWMG alpine venue. Since the 2017 relocation of its tram, no longer are there “ski-in, ski-out” accommodations* in Patsch. Access to the tram station is now by free buses that run from Innsbruck every 10 minutes during the week, or every 15 minutes on weekends. From Innsbruck to Patsch takes about 25 minutes on the bus and from Igls (where we would stay) to Patsch is about 8 minutes.
Hotel Bon-Alpina is in the centre of the town of Igls (pronounced Eagles) and ticks the highest number of boxes:
- There is a Patsch ski run that ends at Igls and normally in January, you can skip the bus and ski home.
- Spa area has a large steamer and sauna, a small fitness room and indoor & outdoor pools – apart from indoor pool, these features open at 4PM daily.
- Cute town to walk around; in addition to our hotel there are a couple of other dining options as well as a bakery and supermarket.
- Innsbruck is less than 20 minutes by bus or taxi or you can take “the forest train” that runs hourly between Innsbruck and Igls during the day.
- These are all especially nice features if you are traveling with a non-competitor who is looking to do more than run jackets for you every day at the hill!
- Price includes seven nights of accommodation, daily hot buffet breakfast, four dinners (leaves us three other evenings to dine out in either Innsbruck or Igls), use of waxing room, all taxes and service fees, and an Innsbruck “welcome card” for free and discounted local services: CDN$1,066 for a single room (limited number available), CDN$795pp for a twin or double room.
- A heads up that hotel Wi-Fi may be extra though have not yet received confirmation either way on this.
- I recommend you read the Bon-Alpina trip advisor reviews and look at the 360° room and other hotel pics.
*for those intent on being able to walk to the lift, there is an 18 room inn located between 60m and 500m away (distance depends on the information source). However to get anywhere else, eg: restaurants, shops, activities and services, a bus or taxi ride is required. Because of this relative isolation and the length of the WWMG event, I declined to block rooms at the Hotel Romerhof.
** based on current exchange rate of €1.00 = CDN$1.51
Deposit: No deposit is required at this stage. I am currently investigating discounted air, ground transfers, travel insurance, bob sleigh and/or toboggan nights, post-trip leisure ski excursions, etc. Once all has been resolved I plan to circulate two packages (a “hotel only” and an “all-inclusive”) together with their respective deposit and cancellation requirements. Payment method will be e-transfer i.e. no credit card payments.
To Hold a Room at Hotel Bon-Alpina: Those planning to travel to WWMG and wishing to hold one of the 25 Sobek-blocked rooms at the Bon Alpina must let me know directly by email to [email protected] and I will confirm receipt of your response. In the event demand exceeds supply, I will keep a wait-list and may be able to secure additional rooms. Please indicate with whom you would like to room if you have asked for a single room and we run out.
Important: please respect that any communications with the Hotel Bon-Alpina regarding rooms must be through me.
WWMG should be a great time – consider bringing a “plus one”!
Best regards,
Rich Deacon, GM
Sobek Expeditions*
*Travel Industry Council of Ontario, retail registration #2499539