Since we are heading into ski season and there are those who might need a
little push to get in the mood, here is a quick and dirty
little ski gallery that
will help make strapping on those boots for the first time in almost a year a little more tolerable. Take a quick
couple of clicks through the gallery while you’re working on some lame Powerpoint presentation, and then go
over here and check out the snow reports for the coming week. Snow is beginnnig
to fall in the West, so isn’t it time you broke out your boards?
Say Oui as You Ski Quebec’s Mont Tremblant
If you live in North America, there’s
a place the Boston
Globe says you can go to experience the French Alps without actually flying over the Atlantic. Known as
Mont Tremblant, this lush skiing resort in Quebec, Canada definitely has
the makings of a European ski vacation in a quaint Alps village. Quite a few French speaking people end up there (it is
in Quebec after all), according to the Globe, which further enhances the image.
Mont Tremblant is apparently rich in Canadian ski history. Not only is it the first place in that country to to have
a ski lift, but it has also been named the number one ski resort in eastern North America for eight years straight by
Ski magazine.
Skiing Maine’s Less Traveled Trails
If you’re looking for ski areas outside of Maine’s two largest (Sugarloaf USA
and Sunday River), the Sac Bee has an AP
story which may be of interest to you. There are 19 other ski areas, some of which have recently gone through
expansions, vying for your attention. Three areas in particular, Black
Mountain, Bigrock and
Saddleback, told the Associated Press they have poured millions of
dollars into “new trails, new lifts and new base lodges.”
More information on skiing in Maine in general can be found on the Ski Maine
Association website.
Oh, to Ski on Silverton Mountain
Neil Young may not have sung about this place, but the buzz is so good that I’m gonna post about it.
Silverton Mountain is one of those places that is just
beginning to get some real cred, and might just take off big time in the near future. Skiing Magazine has ranked it
number one in steeps and powder in the whole US of A. The place offers guided skiing and snowboarding for 80 skiers or
less a day. Silverton Mountain is located in Silverton, Colorado and caters to extreme hard core folk who can’t
stand waiting in line, let alone bother themselves with legions of ski tards cluttering up the slope and shooshing in
your way as you’re cutting the virgin. So exclusive, reservations are required. But a friend of mine says it’s some of
the finest skiing on the planet.
Back Country Bliss
The Times has
a piece from the Sunday travel section about how several major areas are taking advantage of the rise in back
country skiing. They’re creating programs that might be called “back-country lite” and offer more terrain (sans lift),
guides excursions into ski area perimeters, and Sno-Cat rides to regions beyond the lift. These extras are, of course,
more expensive, but offer a way to get away from the tedium of groomed slopes.