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Colorado Ski Town Ready For Wacky Tobaccy To Hit The Slopes
There’s a new way to relax after a long day on the ski slopes, and we’re not talking about downing a hot toddy by the lodge fireplace. The town of Breckenridge, Colorado recently voted to legalize marijuana within the ski town. For those that spend more time rolling down the mountain rather than remaining on two feet—this is excellent news.
The town voted overwhelmingly to allow snowboarders, skiers, and all others over 21 years old to have up to an ounce of ghanja. However, there is a slight catch, so hold off on heading to your friendly neighborhood head shop. In case you aren’t too familiar with state law, marijuana is still technically illegal in Colorado. So the measure that was approved was more of a local opinion than anything else.
Tags: Ski Travel / California / California Travel / Skiing / Free Stuff / → All Tags
Mammoth Mountain Opens Early, Free Skiing For All!
Skiing in Southern California sounds like a horrible oxymoron, or a poorly conceived of joke. But it's true, Golden State foreigners: There's snow to be found around our usually heat-stricken climes, namely at Mammoth Mountain.
In recent years we've heard reports of poor snowfall and late season starts in some California skiing regions, Lake Tahoe in particular. That isn't the case at Mammoth in 2009, though; the mountain was hit with two-to-six feet of snow ahead of schedule, according to a report from the Los Angeles Examiner, boding well for ski bunnies itching to hit the slopes early. The Examiner states that Mammoth's current "26 inches of snow is the highest October total since the 2004-05 season," with "warm temperatures approaching 60 degrees" around the mountain. Now that's oxymoronic.
Tags: Ski Travel / Skiing / Ski Resorts / Snowboarding / Sports Travel / Active Travel / → All Tags
The Ski Season Is Already Underway In Colorado
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.
Tags: Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / Alaska Travel / Alaska Air / Ski Travel / → All Tags
Cross-Country Ski Beneath Anchorage's Air Traffic
We love airplanes, you love airplanes, so let's go look at airplanes! In our Prime Plane Spotting series, we'll let you in on all the best spots to whip out your cameras and binoculars for a piece of the aviation action.
It's cold and it's snowy and you just want to stay inside with a nice steamy mug of hot chocolate. Gosh, how we long for days like that while the weather is muggy like now. But in Alaska, the hot chocolate days are long and you've got plenty of time to get our your cross-country skis for a little winter weather plane spotting at Anchorage International Airport.
In fact, two accessible parks bookend the airport, so you've got your pick of views. For the more active, we recommend the larger Kincaid Park, also known to be one of the USA's premier cross-country ski destinations with 16.5 miles of trails. And you can see in the video above how close your encounter with air traffic will be.
Tags: Ski Resorts / Ski Travel / Park City Travel / Hotels / Funiculars / → All Tags
Park City's Upcoming St. Regis To Get Equally Swanky Funicular
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]
Tags: Adventure Travel / Ski Travel / Helicopters / New Zealand Travel / → All Tags
Spring is Here But Heli-Skiing Awaits You in New Zealand
Today is the official day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere but we can't seem to shake our powder lust.
While we thought we still weren't quite rich enough for heli-skiing, a recent Age review of heli-skiing down near Queenstown in New Zealand caught our eye, we've discovered you can hit the adventurous slopes for less than we thought.
The whole idea of a helicopter dropping us into a tricky spot in the mountains so we can throw ourselves down some untouched snow is not only decadent, but pretty tempting, although our ski skills probably need some refreshing first.
Tags: Zip Lines / Ski Resorts / Ski Travel / Big Sky / → All Tags
Zipping Through The Mountains In Snowy Montana
No matter the location, zip lines make any travel experience that much cooler. That’s why we’re tingly all over to let you know about the latest and greatest. The newest “zip” takes flight in Big Sky, Montana and will definitely give you a break from hitting the slopes.
The three lines range in length between 350 and 500 feet, and will let you reach speeds of up to 25 miles per hour while you are praying that the cable doesn’t snap. Speaking of breaking the cable, you’ll need to weigh in at under 300 pounds to take in the fun, so if your winter workout has consisted of chips on the couch—consider yourself warned. You’ll be whisked over the slopes, and the ride can likely help you get a sense of what runs you’ll want to ski when you return to the ground. Best of all, they’ll pick up your gear at the first zip line, and will have it ready and waiting for you when you finish with line number three.
Make sure you dress warmly as the wind is certainly going to be blowing as you zoom throughout the trees. This is the first ski resort to offer something like this in Montana, and with the whole experience takes about two hours—you’ll be back on the slopes in no time. So strap on a helmet, get cozy with that harness, and try your best to see some wildlife below.
For a video of the experience, go here.
Related Stories:
·Big Sky Resort [Official Site]
·Skiing Is Just The Beginning At Big Sky [Jaunted]
·You Can Fly On Hawaii's Longest Zip Line [Jaunted]
Tags: Hotel News Briefs / Naycations / Ryanair / Mardi Gras Travel / Ski Travel / → All Tags
The Ominous 'Naycation' Prediction Might Be Coming True
Yes, you're the only one for miles and miles around.
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.
· Naycations on the Rise: Chris Elliott warned us that the year of the Naycation was upon us and he might be right. According to a new travel research report says, "Americans could spend $30 billion less on leisure trips this spring and summer." Eeeeee. [USA Today]
· But Budget Ski Trips Are Still Possible: And as the ski season winds down, the prices go down as well. [Concierge]
· Mardi Gras Revelers Are Like the Energizer Bunny: One dude says he's "been at it" since Friday night and by "at it" he means drinking (and blacking out, we presume.) [AP]
· Seriously Ryanair WTF: Ryanair has announced they will get rid of all check-in desks. From the CEO:
"All we will have is a bag drop where passengers can drop off their luggage, otherwise everything will be done online. Ultimately, we want just one in five people to check-in luggage."
This spells disaster to us. People are not going to know where to drop off this luggage, despite signage. They are also going to want to know who's making sure their luggage gets on the plane. Does Ryanair just not want to be in business anymore or what? [M-Travel]
Tags: Ski Resorts / Ski Travel / Skiing / Snowboarding / Big Sky / → All Tags
Skiing Is Just The Beginning At Big Sky
If you’re trying to fill up that US map on the back of the Winnebago with state stickers, you should head to Montana this winter. Besides getting to say you’ve been to Montana, there’s some pretty good skiing at the Big Sky Resort. The resort is only a 45-minute rental car disaster away from the Gallatin Airport in Bozeman. There’s daily service on most of the major airlines, and a couple of smaller ones as well, so you should be all set.
Tags: Ski Travel / Skiing / Winter Travel / Switzerland Travel / → All Tags
Switzerland Skiing Has A Sell-Out Season
Skiing in Switzerland has usually struck us as a bit stereotypical--not to mention expensive--but if the statistics are right, well, we might be wrong.
Apparently this winter, the economic meltdown has not managed to melt the Swiss snow at all. Quite the opposite, in fact: There have been unusually heavy snow falls across the Swiss Alps, and they've produced the best skiing conditions in a long time. And despite the credit crunch, bookings are just as high as last year, and many thousands of skiers are headed to Switzerland for their winter vacation.
But not wanting to sound too cheerful, the Swiss Tourism Board has a gloomy explanation: A spokesperson said she thought tourists were still flocking in because they have "a greater need now to escape from everyday life." Or it could just be that plenty of people love skiing, right?
Related Stories:
· Snowfall Buries Skiers' Credit Crunch Fears [Reuters]
· Easy-to-Reach Skiing: Elm, Switzerland [Jaunted]
· Switzerland Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Kecko]
Tags: Skiing / Winter Travel / Ski Travel / Ski Resorts / Active Travel / → All Tags
Bring On The Snow
Time to put fall festivals and Halloween to bed. Screw the cornucopias, pumpkins and earth tones--let's carve through the white stuff!
Just a quick ride from Denver, Loveland Ski Area kicked off the season in late September by firing up the snow making guns. A little warm spell in early October slowed them down, but the weather lately has been wintry, and they've got one lift running and three beginner trails where you can shake out the off-season.
Only about ten minutes away, machine-made groomed snow is also what's available at Arapahoe Basin. They only have a sliver of the action open so far, but one lift is running and there are a couple trails to navigate. Conditions may not be ideal, but where else can you find a resort that's open from October until early June? We'll regret saying this later, but winter can't come soon enough!
Related Stories:
· Loveland Ski Area [Official Site]
· Arapahoe Basin Ski Area [Official Site]
· Skiing coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of Loveland: andrewparnell]
Tags: Ski Travel / Australia Travel / → All Tags
Australia Travel: Sand, Surf and... Snow?
Skiing and snowboarding fans in eastern Australia are raving this year: The snow just keeps on coming and it's a perfect season to hit the slopes Down Under. Australia might not seem the obvious destination for a ski trip, but it has the advantage of being an off-season extravaganza for Northern Hemisphere snow fans.
Resorts in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales and at Falls Creek in Victoria are all reporting much higher than average baseline snow and predicting more excellent months of skiing in 2008.
On top of that, the weather's reaching much further down the mountains than normal, with snow settling as low as 3,000 feet above sea level; that's getting skiing Aussies and ski-laden visitors pretty excited. Who says the land Down Under is only for surfers?
Related Stories:
· 2008 Smashing Records on Snow Depth [news.com.au]
· Australia Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: avlxyz]
