Hotel Stargate: Austrian skiing charm in a top secret US military base

We are proud to exclusively offer the Hotel Stargate for this ski season. It sits under the gaze of Papoose Mountain in the recently built hi-tech resort of Area 51, which provides challenging skiing, spectacular scenery and lively après-ski. The long, exhilarating descents from Freedom Ridge, the Time Vortex run and world class off-piste skiing will surely attract keen skiers year after year.

Essentials

• Central location – close to Groom Lake (no fishing or swimming) and a 4 minute walk to the Groom I gondola.
• ‘Small and friendly’ hotel.
• Newly renovated rooms with out of this world facilities.
• Fitness area with sauna and geo-thermal steam room (please stay away from Vaporisation area).
• Bed and breakfast basis so you can explore local restaurants, or optional upgrade to half board available.
• Free WiFi (monitored) for staying in touch with the outside world.
• Exclusive to Frozen Underground.

The Stargate is centrally located in Area 51, close to the shops, local bars and within walking distance of several lifts. See the full map here.

In Detail

The term ‘small and friendly’ was designed for places like the Hotel Stargate to make it feel more cosy. Under new ownership, this relaxed hotel has been recently converted from an unused (mostly) military base – the rooms are newly renovated and comfortable. The Stargate’s location is great too. It’s just outside the centre of Area 51 – great for a stroll around the town – and only a snowball’s throw from the dry lakeside. For getting to the lifts you have the choice of a two minute walk to the Papoose lifts, a four minute walk to the Groom I gondola for access to Freedom Ridge, or catch the ski bus right outside that can also take you over to the Roswell Hoverlifts.

Back at the Stargate there’s a bar area for evening après drinks. The hotel has its own micro-brewery with Ale-ien, Unidentified Flowing Beer and the classic Seventh Symbol on tap. Way down in the basement is a fitness area with sauna, steam room and a free juice and tea bar in the relaxation room. You’ve got the choice of sticking with bed and breakfast giving you the chance to explore Area 51’s great restaurants – alternatively get your meals sorted before you go and upgrade to half board and eat at nearby Mulder’s Spooky Bar.

Hotel

Four floors above ground and 200 below. Lifts use electro-pulsed, sub-gravitional waves (from Roswell experiments) for eco-friendly travel between floors. Level -200 requires government clearance code Purity-7 or above because of proximity to (and possible contamination from) milady radioactive exo-classified technology.

Rooms

For 2 people on a bed and breakfast basis sharing a room with Austrian twin beds, private shower and WC. Some rooms sleep up to 4 people with extra sofa bed. Above ground rooms with balcony are also available at a supplement. All bedrooms have satellite TV, hairdryer, free WiFi and are non-smoking.

Facilities

• Fitness area with geo-thermal sauna, steam room, x-ray cabin and relaxation room
• Tea and juice bar in relaxation room
• Hotel bar in breakfast room
• Free WiFi
• Ski storage room

Meals

• Hot and cold buffet breakfast
• Optional upgrade to half board with 3 course evening meals with choice of main course taken at a nearby Mulder’s Spooky Bar (approx. 5-6 minute walk)

Excursions

• Radiation walk to Area 13 and Sedan Crater
• Groom Mines Tour
• Picnic trips to the Time Vortex (when in operation)

Airport

Area 51 is served weekly from Las Vegas International Airport using our popular Janet Airways service. Or you can fly into the local airfields at Alamo, Yucca or Rachel.
Of course, the easiest way to get here is by the Frozen Underground, which is just one stop from Las Vegas.

Land at Rachel, stay in the Little A’Le’Inn, and you’re ready to ski as the Inn is on-piste at the base of the Trust gondola.

---

Ski Accommodation in Area 51

Hotel Stargate Area 51, Nevada, USA
Frozen Rating ****
Prices from £1481 per adult Based on 2 sharing, 7 nights, Bed and breakfast
New this season | 2 for 1 lift pass

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SKI AREA 51 PISTE MAP

“It’s a smallish Twilighty Zone world”: the first theme tunnel ride for skiers

Frozen Underground: the legendary tube network linking all your favourite ski resorts.

We asked: what is the only thing you don’t like about your journey to the ski slopes? You said: “Nothing.” Clearly the anticipation of wintery adventures is enough to keep you in good spirits from home to snow.

Tunnels, they’re just so… dark.

Nevertheless, we thought we should do more than just allow you to sit for hours with blackness rushing past out of the window. We know that occasionally you get a glimpse of a train going in the other direction, an abandoned station, a yeti, or a ghost, but most of that’s quite dull. So, we have been working over the summer to “theme” some of our journeys and add some fun to the tunnels.

Just in time for Halloween, but running continuously from then on, we are pleased to announce that several lines will be fitted with our amazing “it’s a smallish Frozen Underground Twilighty Zone world” ride.

The idea is that, as your drinking your free schnapps – available on all services (drink responsibly) – you’ll unexpectedly enter a world whose boundaries are that of imagination.

The mash-up between Disney’s “it’s a small world” and The Twilight Zone seemed to be natural partners for our first ride. The former is a basically a tunnel trip around the World (just like our network), whilst the latter adds the element of horror you expect when deep underground in a dark and scary environment (just like riding our on our subway! 😉 ). Bingo, Bango, Bongo! The puzzle was complete.

The ride, lasting just over 15 minutes, features over 300 brightly costumed audio-animatronic Yeti (see other names below) dolls from around the world, frolicking in a spirit of international unity and singing the attraction’s title song, which has a theme of global mystery. Add in our famous smoke effects, some maniacal laughter, extremely good lighting and weird stuff mixed with all the schnapps, and its all a recipe for a frightening good pre-après!

The Story of the Frozen Underground

Wherever there are mountains, it seems, there are tunnels running underneath them. Intensive studies have revealed that some of the largest subterranean routes were originally created several thousand years ago by the early Yetis in order to make their journeys across mountainous terrain much easier.

Lovely snowy mountains. But there’s a lot going on beneath the surface.

For reasons yet unknown, it appears as though the tunnels became abandoned and seemingly forgotten somewhere between 2000 BFU (Before Frozen Underground) and 2200 BFU.

Their rediscovery started in the summer of 1567 in the quiet lane of Pulverturmweg in the north of Kitzbühel. On 7 July, engineers were digging foundations for the first Hahnenkamm ski lift. It was to be driven by a rudimentary steam turbine (described by Taqi al-Din in 1551) and needed some serious foundations. Without warning, the base of the hole collapsed, and it was clear they had broken through into some kind of cavern underneath. A search party was sent down and they found a tunnel which led upwards at a steep angle towards the north-east. It eventually emerged underneath a hütte on Waldhofweg owned by Anton “Gefahr” Lebkuchen.

Anton suggested to the engineers from the Kitzbühel Gemeinde that they could work together, and that his hütte could be the entrance of a subway system taking guests down via “trains” to the newly installed Hahnenkamm steam-driven rope lift. As well as developing this line, Anton set to work researching the surrounding area and, finding tunnels everywhere, realised the potential of taking people skiing to other distant places: The Frozen Underground was born.

Back in Kitzbühel, less than six months later, the first ever Frozen Underground line was opened on 2 January 1568. Then, the wooden carts of the Lebkuchen Line, driven by gravity alone and working (not surprisingly) just one way, took winter sports enthusiasts from Kitzbühel North to Kitzbühel North-West, through just 40 metres of tunnel.

Frozen Underground’s first sign shows the legendary Lebkuchen Line of Kitzbühel, 
which started operations in January 1568.

But what an experience, as the line dropped at an angle of 48 degrees! The buffers at the destination were well prepared snow-bags, but needless to say the arrival was always fairly thrilling. The only written comment on file from a passenger dates from March 1572. Upon his arrival he remarked: “Shiver mi timbers, mi ski pants are damp!”

The trains ran for more than 100 years until 1672, when the expansion of the ski area with many more ski lifts made the line redundant.

More recent excavations at Kitzbühel North-West have since revealed a very impressive first aid station and a bar, as well as the bottom station of the also disused Hahnenkamm rope lift.

 

PRE-DISCOVERY AND THE YETI

As more and more tunnels were discovered, questions began to be asked about their creation and initial purpose.

Along many tunnel walls petroglyphs were found, which soon began to reveal the world and life of their builders, the Yeti.

Cave drawings in many tunnels show what we know to be pictorial representations 
of the Yetis who carved out the routes through the mountains.

Today, the origins of the tunnels are explained fully in the Museum of the Frozen Underground in Snowdorf, Stieglstein. In brief, the subterranean routes were originally created by the early Yeti species Giganto Sapiens Alpina, with the purpose of speeding up their journeys through the mountainous terrain.

The size of the Yeti meant, for comfort of travelling, they had made the tunnels fairly large, with many “stops” along the route. These were their original access ways to the surface. Markings on the rocky walls at these “stops” suggest they were used as coffee bars and meeting places for relaxation before continuing on their long trek – some of the modern-day stations are hundreds of miles apart.

Not surprisingly, ancient settlements tended to cluster around these “stops” that have grown into the ski resorts of today. Therefore we reach the undeniable conclusion that the Yeti are responsible for where we ski!

 

The Frozen Underground. It’s just unbelievable how the tunnels link virtually all our favourite ski resorts together. 😉

See all the Maps at: frozenunderground.com

Our wintery music collection: NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL SKIING – Vol. 1

THIS FANTASTIC ALBUM IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE SHOPS, NOR ONLINE OR ANYWHERE! THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S MYTHICAL! BUT YOU CAN LISTEN TO AND GET HOLD OF THE TRACKS HERE!

We’ve been playing music throughout our Frozen Underground system for years. You’ve heard them in the mornings as you get to the slopes, and in the evenings as part of your après-ski. For those stations that form part of a resort’s lift system, we’ve also tried to tailor the music to the kind of pistes that you’re just about to ski or board down – that’s heavier stuff for the blacks and more middle-of-the-piste for the blues.

Gradually, we’ve received requests to put a compilation together, as the music has become a part of your winter ‘soundtrack’. So, with requests to you as to the tunes you’d like to hear, we are proud to present: NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL SKIING – Vol. 1.

‘Skiing’ is used generically to mean all sorts of winter sports and associated fun: Snowboarding, Snowballing, Snowbombing, Sledging, Après-Ski, General snowy larking about, Enjoying the odd Glühwein (drink with a responsible adult if you can), as well as Skiing itself. We tried putting all that lot onto the cover, but it just looked like a messy load of old slush, so we went minimal and succinct.

 

The “album” has been divided into five sides, with each focusing on one particular part of the day and what you’re up to.

Side A looks at the morning preparations, to get you more in the skiing/boarding/snowballing (etc.) mood than you already are (if that’s possible) when you wake up on a clear, blue, sunny morning that’s seen a fresh dusting of snow in the night. Use this on the Frozen Underground/chair/bubble lift too, as you anticipate what is about to happen – another day on the slopes.

Side B gets you right in the action. That lift has dropped you off just where you want to be – the ridge that kicks off a rocking, heart-pumping black (red and blue also available, if that’s your limit). Here are some songs to mull over as you make your final preparations to push on over the edge. You’re locked and loaded, and there ain’t nowhere to go but down, baby!

Side C looks at the red slopes. However, In some places, these can look a lot like blacks (!), so the tunes to go with this terrain vary from ‘power rock’ down to ‘power dance’. Oh, yeah! Something to get your edge(s) into as you sweep majestically down those wide open, empty 😉 pistes. Throw in a few snow covered trees and you’re good to go.

Side D is blue country. And to be honest, for some, this is a happy place to exist. They generally don’t have sheer drops off the piste for you to worry about if a snowplough goes amiss – although tell that to Dachstein West which has the spectacular run 9, affectionately known as the ridge of death, which does exactly that on both sides! Anyhoo, eyes forward and cruise.

Side E is for Entertainment. You’ve caught the first lift up, you’ve just managed to catch every last lift you need to get you back down. The slopes are pretty much empty, your legs could probably do with a schnapps, the day is fading, but what’s that in the distance? The lights of the après-ski bar, like a beacon, are welcoming you home – any stories to tell?

 

NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL SKIING

68 FROZEN TRACKS

INCLUDING: SKI SUNDAY THEME, QUEEN DON’T STOP ME NOW, FEEDER FEELING A MOMENT, DAVID HOLMES I HEARD WONDERS, BLUR SONG 2, IRON MAIDEN RUN TO THE HILLS, AEROSMITH (DUDE LOOKS) LIKE A LADY, THE WHO YOU BETTER YOU BET, OASIS STAY YOUNG, THE PRIMITIVES CRASH, SEAL CRAZY, SOUND CONVOY WIR WOLLEN DIE EISBËAREN SEH’N AND MANY MANY MORE!

Click here to see the full track listing

JUST TO REMIND YOU: THIS FANTASTIC ALBUM IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE SHOPS, NOR ONLINE OR ANYWHERE! THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S MYTHICAL! BUT YOU CAN LISTEN TO AND GET HOLD OF THE TRACKS HERE!

More information on the music and OUR MAPS at: www.frozenunderground.com

The Battle of the Snowmen

Wolfgang IX and his snowmen infantry as depicted before The Battle of the Snowman in 1358.

One of the places to visit on the Frozen Underground is the site of The Battle of the Snowmen. Take the Alpine Line to the newly completed station at Snowdorf, and the deserted plain where the battle took place is just a short walk away. Here is its story…

The Battle of the Snowmen was fought during the last phase of the Frozen Wars (1324–1359) between Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. It took place on January 17 and 18, 1358, on the plains near the village today called Pulverkirchen, 3 km west of Snowdorf in the British Alpine Principality of Stieglstein.

It pitted the Austrian snowman army, composed of the best icicle archers and snowball artillery in Europe and led by Wolfgang IX, the newly crowned Snow King, against the cunning Swiss forces, led by Heinrich “Scarfman” the Cold.

With Wolfgang IX were some German Eisbildhauer. These were bitter rivals of the Swiss, and their job was to create diversions during the battle.

Background

The battle followed years of Swiss successes, during which Austrian fortunes had suffered greatly. The Swiss had taken control of Vaduz (for them the gateway to Austria and further, the Himalayas) and it looked increasingly as though Innsbruck was to be the next target.

The prologue to the battle was a remarkable Alpine passage, in which Wolfgang hauled pieces of artillery (including 80 huge snow cannons) up the newly made pistes overlooking present-day Snowdorf.

Location of the battle site up on the western plains of Stieglstein, and not too far from the Frozen Underground station of Snowdorf. Why not stop off at the brewery on the way back down – their ‘Snowman’s Finger’ Ale commemorates the battle and has been produced here since 1368.

Battle

The Swiss encountered Wolfgang’s forces, below the little village of Pulverkirchen on a featureless plain. As a treaty had been signed a few weeks before, the Austrians were not actually expecting a battle – Wolfgang was in his tent, trying on a new mittens, when scouts reported the coming of the Swiss.

The Austrian army were quickly rolled into action, forming up in three divisions: the vanguard, known affectionately as the “Roundheads”, posted slightly forward and on the right under Frederick “Carrot Nose” XXII, Earl of Lebkuchen; the central battle, commanded by the King, slightly trailing the right; and on the left and even further back, the “singing rearguard” commanded by Frosty the Snowman. Each division was a combined arms force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery.

Close to sunset, Heinrich’s forces approached the Austrians in three divisions of their own, each a dense mass of “broom” snowmen. They had no artillery or cavalry and had learned in past actions that a rapid advance into the enemy would sweep all before them.

The battle began with a “forlorn hope” detaching from the Swiss vanguard phalanx, and with lowered brooms charging the grand battery in front of the King’s position in the center. Their intent, justified by experience in other battles, was to quickly overrun the Austrian snow cannons and Glühwein hoses and then turn them upon their owners – the blighters! At temperatures of around 70 degrees the Glühwein is a formidable weapon, and deadly to snowmen, so this was a serious danger.

As it happened, Frosty’s cavalry from the right counter-attacked their flank, driving the forlorn hope back to the shelter of the Swiss vanguard.

Smoke and the coming of night obscured the battle; in the moonlight and confusion, the outcome hung in the balance. Snow flew here, snow flew there, and the frightening sound of whistling icicles allegedly provided a constant soundtrack to the relentless attacks that took place that dreadful frozen night. The portable carrot greenhouses were used as makeshift hospitals during at the worst times.

In the darkest hours, the fighting stopped, and both armies extracted themselves and reorganized. During this time heads were remade and trees lost many branches for arms.

At dawn the battle commenced again. In Frederick’s forces, the Glühwein had been remixed, this time with the correct amount of cinnamon, which commentators say may have been the cause of it being ineffectual in the earlier morning attacks.

Fierce fighting continued for several hours until it was clear Heinrich was outnumbered and outsnowcannoned. By noon the Swiss had retreated back over the border and the battle was over.

This was a decisive victory for Wolfgang and the après-battle party was apparently “just the coolest” according to those who attended.

See how to get to the site of the Battle near Snowdorf by visiting: www.frozenunderground.com

Snowdorf finally has its own Frozen Underground station

Map of Stieglstein showing the recently completed Frozen Underground branch line to Snowdorf.

Nestled in a hidden corner of the Alps is the small British Principality of Stieglstein. Here is the home of the 2,520m Hornspitz, popularly known as Yeti Mountain, but other sites in this area of interest to the traveller include the remains of a Castle (history unknown) and those of a prehistoric ski lift.

The Principality’s main village of Snowdorf is now served by the Frozen Underground thanks to a recently completed branch of the Alpine Line from St Anton. This enables visitors to easily explore the Forest of the Lost Lebkuchen and witness the barren landscape that saw the Battle of the Snowmen back in 1358.

Further up in the western reaches is the tiny village of Pulverkirchen, where some fine walks start that take in several mountain huts and, of course, the local brewery.

For more information visit: www.frozenunderground.com

“Glühwein Street” by Gerry Rafferty

With thanks to Wikipedia: “Glühwein Street” is a ballad written and first recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. It was released as the B-side on a limited-edition 7” vinyl of his hit, Baker Street, on 3 February 1978. Arrangements of both tracks included the famous saxophone solo introduction, played by Raphael Ravenscroft.

This almost forgotten track is now remembered due to the investigations by Frozen Underground HQ which, after numerous rumours, located the long-mythical station, of the same name, in the British Alpine Principality of Stieglstein.

The discovery was also partly thanks to the retreating Stieglstein ‘Yeti Mountain’ Glacier, which revealed the entrance to the station.

Discovery image of Glühwein Street Underground Station after the retreat of the ‘Yeti Mountain’ Glacier.

Believe it or not, originally Glühwein Street was the southernmost station on London’s Victoria Line, making it technically an enclave of the City of Westminster’s in the Alps. The tunnel south of Brixton has long since collapsed, but it has now been suggested that some sort of conduit remains, as many waiting passengers at the now final station on the line have experienced cold breezes emanating from what should be the end of the line.

An old, recently uncovered Victoria Line London Underground sign has just about enough detail to show the final southern station as Glühwein Street.

What’s more annoying to Frozen Underground is that fact that a new, very expensive tunnel – an extension to the Blue Run – was dug to connect Les Deux Alpes to Tunbridge Wells (and on up through England into Scotland). Geologists have subsequently found that the old southern Victoria Line runs just a few metres to the north and the two tunnels are virtually parallel “all the way”. More details of the Frozen Underground can be found here.

Origins

Named after the famous Alpine street in Snowdorf, the song was left off Rafferty’s album, City to City, which was Rafferty’s second release after the breakup of his old band, Stealers Wheel in 1975.

Rafferty wrote the song during a period when he was regularly travelling between his family home near Glasgow and Snowdorf, the main town of Stieglstein, where he often stayed at a friend’s apartment in Glühwein Street. As Rafferty put it, “I knew a guy who lived in a little flat off Glühwein Street. We’d sit and chat or play guitar there through the night and ski all day.”

LYRICS to: “Glühwein Street” (pt. 1)

“Windin’ your way down to Glühwein Street
Sun on your head and skis* on your feet;
Well another crazy day
You’ll drink the night away**
And talk about après things.

This mountain chairlift makes you feel so cold
It’s got so many people but it’s worth the goal;
The piste is nice and long
And nothing’s going wrong
You could ski on anything.”

* alt. lyrics: “a board”
** drink responsibly

Well, there we go. It’s all true, as far as we are aware.
Visit: www.frozenunderground.com