Trying to flee the freezing temperatures sweeping across the country is natural, but predictable. Instead, do what folks in these frigid destinations do—embrace it and Get INTO the Cold. The trick to staying toasty is chill-killing gear and lots of bone warming activity. So stop moping around waiting for summer to arrive and head to these five crazy cold places and get your winter wonderland on.

Cold Meter: Moderate-High
Early mornings at this classic New England alpine resort town can be deceiving when the bright sun makes it a bearable 30 degrees. But the mercury quickly descends to a body numbing 3 by late afternoon.

Outdoor Adventures:
Skiing brings in beaucoup visitors to Stowe each winter season where two mountains are split into six different traversable areas. Mount Mansfield, the state’s highest peak at 4,395 feet, is where the big dogs hang out on the multiple wooded trails and “Front Four” black diamond descents. Expect to shell out some duckets for lift tickets (min $57 day per adult during early/late season; more during prime and peak times). ]]> Chanize 2010-02-12T15:25:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/1/12/81824/5259

Colorado's most recent we-really-hope-this-goes-viral marketing campaign is drawing to a close, as the state's tourism board has settled on three lucky "snow virgins" to get 3-month all-expense paid skiing trips. The entire contest—which began with candidates sending in personal videos before getting flown in for final interviews—hopes to leverage a bunch of new social media to get Colorado's slopes exposure.

The three winners, who can be found on SnowAtFirstSight.com, will use blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr to discuss their experiences. In any case the kids all sound exceptionally bubbly. Exceptionally bubbly:]]> Omri 2010-01-12T12:39:59-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/12/12/115535/64

We know, you've been waiting and waiting for some Mongolian developer to finally open a resort on Bogd Khan Uul Mountain, the 914-meter peak that overlooks the capital, Ulan Bator. Well, the wait is over. As The New York Times points out, Sky Resort opened to skiers in November, with dirt-cheap lift tickets, lots of artificial snow making (while temperatures are very cold, Bogd Khan Uul doesn't get much snow), and a ski and snowboard school with 27 professional instructors. There are nine slopes in total, with names like Chuluut, a beginners run, and Khurkhreet, the resort's only black diamond run. Does anyone know how to say Cowabunga! in Mongolian? ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-12-12T11:55:35-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/12/2/161951/554

Adventure sports company Canadian Mountain Holidays is already taking reservations for their winter packages, with a Canadian heli-skiing vacation scheduled for March 13-20. To save you the trip over to Wikipedia, heli-skiiing is when you crave downhill isolation so much that you actually book a helicopter to take you into a remote mountain region. The Tour D'Adamants vacation package - guided by TV sports commentator Bob Roll and Tour de France competitor Ron Kiefel and presumably part of the company's Powder Masters program - revolves around a stay in the isolated Adamant Lodge.

The vacation sounds awesome even before you begin to muse about the near-total lack of other humans, at which point it becomes exquisite. The price tag is where things begin to get a little problematic for us: $10,100 per person. So while we've been known to argue that remote vacations are literally invaluable, we find ourselves having to revise that number downward to mostly invaluable.]]> Omri 2009-12-02T16:28:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/14/72258/120

Many people are still putting the final touches on their jack-o-lanterns, but it’s already time to break out the skis from the storage unit. Winter has arrived extra early in some parts of Colorado this year. Last week a baseball playoff game was canceled due to a little snow and sleet, and the Loveland Ski Area fired up the lifts for the first time this season on October 7. It’s been cold enough and they've had the snow-making machines running at full force to get everything ready for the beginning of the season.

The resort is about 50 miles outside Denver and this is the first time they’ve opened this early in about 40 years—guess there’s no trouble with global warming up on the slopes. Unless some other ski resort sneakily opened their facility without any fanfare, Loveland is the first ski resort to open in North America this year. ]]> kjb 2009-10-14T08:58:37-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/17/114530/695

Right now, we're a little preoccupied with our summer cocktails and our river tubing spots to begin thinking about the upcoming ski season. Yet we did come out of our summertime haze for just a moment to read this press release about the first funicular to ever open at a North American ski resort. The lucky ski resort? Deer Valley in Park City, Utah.

The funicular, which is nestled at the base of the mountain at The St. Regis Deer Crest Resort’s Snow Park Building and is adjacent to Deer Valley’s Snow Park Lodge, ascends 500 vertical feet in just 90 seconds to the primary hotel building.

The funicular cars will have panoramic windows that are tinted and UVA and UVB-protected. They will also be heated (with AC operating in the summer) with leather seats and a separate area for luggage. Fifteen well-heeled (booted?) skiers can fit into these cars. But unlike other funiculars in the U.S., the Deer Valley cars will function independently so that "demand can be met at the base and top terminals."

The ride is free and the St. Regis is hoping you'll try the funicular on a lark and then of course, pop into their hotel to check out Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s new J&G Grill, a wine bar, or the Remède Spa, or the ski beach overlooking Deer Hollow ski run or the outdoor terrace with its 40-foot long firewall.

A 500-ton crane is installing the funicular as we speak but the St. Regis Resort won't be open until later this year.

Related Stories:
· Park City Travel Guide [Jaunted]
· The St. Regis Deer Crest Resort [Official Site]
· Funicular [Wikipedia]]]> juliana 2009-07-17T12:19:19-05:00 40.6382278 -111.47789 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/8/16143/66573

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Hostage Situation: Somali pirates took over a U.S.-flagged ship near the Horn of Africa this morning capturing about 21 American crew members. However, the crew was able to regain control of their ship except their captain is still being held hostage. Story unfolding. [NY Post]

· Continental Airlines Switching to Star Alliance: Continental just received U.S. approval to join the Star Alliance. This alliance, which includes United Airlines and Lufthansa, will allow Continental to offer passengers access to more routes and better prices. So they say. Continental is currently a part of SkyOne which includes Delta/Northwest and KLM Airlines. After a 21-public comment period, Continental then can join the Star team. [Chicago Tribune]

· Kentucky Derby Travel for the Rich Only?: Hotel room rates in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby are averaging about $350 a night with the Hyatt Regency going for $1,130 a night. Reasonable or insane? [HotelChatter]

· Hotelicopter Is Kind of Real: One more from our sister site...The Hotelicopter is real in the sense that it's a hotel booking site, not an actual hotel. Oh. [HotelChatter]

· Ski Season Almost Over Dude: Lake Tahoe is closing up soon and LA Times gives you the closing dates for the ski resorts in the region. [LAT Daily Deal and Travel Blog]

[Photo: LAT]]]> juliana 2009-04-08T17:01:34-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/