Former Great Britain ski jumper Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards has revealed he has had surgery to reduce the size of his famously large chin.

Edwards captured the nation’s imagination when, as the only member of the British team, he came last at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary sporting his distinctive thick spectacles and moustache.

The Cheltenham-born amateur’s failure only increased his popularity, and he enjoyed celerity status throughout much of the 1990s and his name remains synonymous with the sport in Britain.

More snow fell at our featured Austrian resorts over the weekend.

Many of the glaciers received more than 15cm of snow on Sunday so there wwas plenty of excellent skiing conditions on Monday.

The Hintertux glacier (10/170cm) has the most terrain available, with 18 lifts running and more than 60kms of piste available.

Other resorts, such as Obergurgl and Obertauern, received a good amount of fresh snow. They have also been using the snow cannons in the cold temperatures so the slopes are looking very good for when the resorts open.

Obergurgl should be the first of the major Austrian resorts to open, with Friday 13th November their planned season start date.

Snow is still falling in the French Pyrenees, particularly over the Cauterets. However, there is no measured depth for the amount of snow that has fallen so far.

It has also been snowing over the French Alps, although the amounts are not as great as the Pyrenees.

The countdown to Vancouver has officially begun! The ”100 days out” milestone has officially marked the beginning of the race to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games — and Under Armour just secured some exclusive, behind-the-scenes video of downhill skier Lindsey Vonn, who is one of Team USA’s best hopes for gold in 2010.

As you may know, Lindsey is likely to emerge as the country’s biggest star in Vancouver, with a fierce combination of an indomitable will to win and cover-girl good looks. We had a rare chance to sit down with Lindsey and shadow her through one of her famously grueling workouts… her intensity and preparation are legendary.

This video really gives you a sense of what it takes to be a champion, and really gives you a sense of how Lindsey is ready to kick some serious butt! While Lindsey has made a handful of appearances over the last few months, this is the first inside look at her story — in her own words. It’s pretty powerful stuff and only the first of more to come!

Ski resorts in the Alps have begun their season earlier than ever thanks to unseasonably heavy snowfalls that left some places looking “like the middle of winter”.

Over the weekend, skiers and snowboarders enjoyed outstanding conditions for this time of year as a handful of European resorts opened earlier than expected following snowfalls of up to 20ins (50cm) in the past week.

In Saas Fee, Switzerland, snow depths have already reached more than 3ft (1m) on upper slopes, while the Austrian resort of Kitzbühel earlier set an 80-year record by opening on October 24.

Whistler’s build up to its most important ever season, Olympic year 2010, is getting underway with snowmaking guns firing up to compliment the natural snowfall that has already blanketed the resort’s upper slopes.

Currently, over 160 snow guns are assisting Mother Nature to get a head start on winter with additional snow guns expected to be on-line within the next 24 hours as the freezing level continues to descend down the mountain.

Currently snowmaking production is converting over 7 million gallons of water into snow per day. This is equivalent to producing snow as high as a four-story building with a footprint the size of a football field, per day. As temperatures cool production levels can more than double.

With excitement reaching fever pitch as the 2010 Winter Olympic Games are now less than 100 days away, Whistler is seeking to reassure skiers and boarders that the ski area will be largely open during the Games and subsequent Paralympics in February and March.

Traditionally resorts hosting winter games see a dip in business during Olympic year, but then increased business in following seasons. Whistler is putting a positive spon on this probability by suggesting guests who do come to the resort this season will have more of the slopes to themselves.

Snowboarder Stefan Gimpl continued his superb start to the season with Big Air victory at the FIS World Cup in Barcelona.

The Austrian, who celebrated his 30th birthday with victory in London last weekend, finished with 52.3 points after scores of 26.8 and 25.5 in his first and third jumps.

Switzerland’s Gian-Luca Cavigelli qualified ahead of the Austrian for the final but, just as in London, he couldn’t outscore Gimpl when it mattered and had to settle for silver with 51.3.

Jean-Baptiste Grange of France and Veronika Zuzulova of Slovakia hold the distinction of being the first champions of the European Ski Federation after winning indoor slalom races at Amneville, France.

Grange marched though the elimination format taking out teammate Stephane Tissot in the round of 16, Thomas Koenig in the quarter finals and Manfred Moelgg in the semi-final match before his final match-up with Christof Innerhofer. Grange got the win by .24 of a second. The closest match of the day was for the three and four spot where Moelgg edged Marc Gini by .06.