Two days, 21 inches in Telluride

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Telluride currently bears the weight of 21 inches of snow, and I, for one, can’t think of a better place to be stranded. The powder is soft and begging to be carved, so grab your skis and pick up a lift ticket. The Telluride Ski Resort is starting packages at $119 a night next month, making a quick trip out to the slopes even more enticing.

This is the second year in a row that Telluride has had record snowfall in December. For the entire month, more than 100 inches of fresh flakes have fallen. That’s more than eight feet! For the entire season, total snowfall is close to 12 feet. The resort’s CEO, Dave Riley, sweetens the pot, with “new terrain, chairlift, restaurants, howitzers, snowcats, hotels and air service on top of the fantastic start to the season.”

Yes, Dave, we know. We need to get out to Telluride.

Head out west for New Year’s Eve, and you’ll get to enjoy a fireworks display, torch light parade and a countdown on Main Street at the courthouse clock tower.

Daily deal – Swiss Gear Montreaux backpack for $8.54

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is for the Swiss Gear Montreaux technical daypack.

This high quality bag has 2 side pockets, one large main compartment and an iPod/mp3 player pocket with a headphone pass-through jack.

The bag is available in several colors, but to get the low price of $8.54, you’ll have to select pink, red, black or gray, if you select any of the other colors, the price will shoot up to just under $19. The normal retail price of the bag is over $30!

As always, you’ll need to order more than $25 from Amazon to be eligible for their free shipping, or you can use your Amazon Prime account if you have one.

There are no reviews of this bag, but to be honest, at eight and a half bucks, there is very little that can go wrong, so I’ve ordered one for myself (just not in pink).

Sarah Palin intervenes on behalf of Japan Airlines

by Jeffrey White on

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, fresh from her 15 minutes of election fame, is using her pull to help save some sectors of her state’s travel industry.

Specifically, Palin recently intervened on behalf of Japan Airlines, asking the US Dept. of Homeland Security to resume customs checks on winter flights from Japan to Fairbanks. Customs had said it did not have enough staff in Fairbanks to maintain a winter presence, which led DHS to deny landing rights to roughly 20 JAL flights.

Logistically, it’s a pain for US Customs and Border Protection to meet these flights; customs officers have to be flown from Anchorage to Fairbanks each time a JAL flight lands.

But these flights mean big business for Fairbanks’ economy: $4 million, according to some estimates.

After Palin intervened, DHS decided to reverse its decision.

“We recognized right away the importance,” Patricia Eckert, a trade specialist with the governor’s office, tells the Associated Press. “There is tremendous economic impact at a time of year when it’s most valued.”

People still coming to U.S., spending money

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Over the first nine months of the year, 39 million people visited the United States from abroad, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In September alone, we had 4.1 million guests. International is still up 8 percent from the first nine months of 2007, but September visits were flat year-over-year. This probably means that the rising dollar is slamming tourists from Europe, making them less interested in us.

Apparently, they only like us when their money is worth more.

It’s cool, as long as they spend like sailors on shore leave, which they did. Through September, visitors to the United States from foreign countries dropped almost $110 billion – up a mind-blowing 22 percent from 2007. Seriously! Financial crisis be damned! Europeans have money, and they know how to put it to work!

More Canadians, so far, have come this year (+12 percent), and more of them took planes. Fewer Mexicans visited the United States, as well, but Western Europe more than compensated. The number of tourists posing in Times Square while listening to David Hasselhoff on their iPods was up 17 percent. Almost half of all visitors from abroad were from Western Europe. Most of them were Germans (+20 percent), French (+28 percent), and Italians (+29 percent). There were 28 percent more Russian tourists, too.

Are you a stats geek? Get the rest of the story straight from the Department of Commerce.

Honolulu (and the island of Oahu) is lights out

by Brenda Yun on

It’s not like I didn’t warn you. What did I say just a few days ago? (We know, Brenda, you told us HECO was completely incapable and that it is a completely useless electric company). I guess, in anticipation of the storm that is coming, someone at HECO really messed up and now the entire ISLAND (yes, that’s what I said, the entire island of Oahu) is out of power and we’ve been that way for four hours and counting.

I had a whole Friday evening planned out for myself. I was all ready to paint the town red and attend the 5th annual Head Gear Party, hosted by my high school classmates. (I was going to be a very stylin’ Chinese cowgirl, by the way). Instead, I found myself sitting by candlelight for the second time in a week! While I do really enjoy feeling like I’m in the back woods of Maine all over again, I have to tell you I would much prefer having a gin and tonic with my high school friends and catching up on old (and embarrassing) times way back when we were teenagers.
I guess, instead, it’s really time to dig up my list of things to do when things go bad. That really comes in handy right about now. So, as follow up to my list, here’s some commentary:

  1. Be creative: Does driving around in the dark, with no stoplights telling people when to go count? There is bumper-to-bumper traffic on Pensacola Street (just one block away from me) right now, and people are irate. I can hear sirens blaring, dogs barking, and people yelling. It is not a happy scene here this Friday evening at 11 pm. If I could make a slight amendment to my tip, I would say you might be better off walking around in the dark, because DRIVING around in a blackout is just plain dangerous.
  2. Letter to a loved one: I would still support this activity. It really helped me calm down as I texted the heck out of every one of my friends who are across town (maybe in traffic or playing Scrabble with each other by candlelight).
  3. Conversation with a stranger: Sorry, I’m too scared to invite a stranger into my home and make small talk by candlelight. Maybe next time…
  4. Indulge in food: I was cutting eggplant and almost ready to fry it on the stove when the electricity cut out. I am really wishing I’d stocked up on that Peanut Butter ‘n Chocolate ice cream I spoke of, but I didn’t. I haven’t had dinner yet, I can’t bear to open my fridge for fear of letting the cold air out, I’m hungry, and I’m grumpy.
  5. Sleep: This is my only alternative. Yes, I think sleep would be good for me right about now.

… but thank goodness for Hele Wireless internet! With traffic, newspaper presses, and regular internet at a complete standstill, Gadling might just be one of the first sites with really pertinent news that, if we were smart enough, we probably would’ve already known:

  • The Hawaiian Electric Company has no business being Hawaii’s electric company.
  • There are over a million very unhappy Honolulu residents right now.
  • Cell phone companies likely made BANK between the hours of 7-9 pm this evening, when the entire island of Oahu went black and people had nothing better to do but call their loved ones (see #2 on my list) and complain about how this situation is really, really bad.
  • At least we are thankful for it not being less than 70 degrees outside.
  • Even more Hawaii residents are thinking about getting off the grid – not just me (thanks, Marilyn, for the link!).
  • It’s a Friday night, but at least there’s always Saturday night!

[This photograph was taken at 10:53 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. If you look really closely, you’ll see my very unamused pug Iris by my chin.]