Make ski resort losses your gain this year

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Skiers are winners in the current recession. Lodges and resorts out west are offering generous deals to put you on their powder. So, if you have a bit of extra cash on hand and the urge to hit the slopes, there’s never been a better time to be alive.

In the Aspen/Snowmass area, you can get a free flight, a free night’s stay and a free lift ticket. Of course, there’s a catch. You’re total stay has to stretch to five-days/four-nights, and you need to pay for one of the two airline tickets – which have to be on Frontier Airlines.

Vail Resorts, with properties in Colorado and on the California/Nevada border, can get you three nights in a room and three days on the hills for the price of two at its Heavenly Resort or Lakeside Inn & Casino. RockResorts, which operates on the luxury end of the scale, is kicking in a free night, a bottle of wine and a $50 gift card for guests who stay at least two nights.

These types of deal are rare this time of year, when skiers normally flock to the slopes. But, times are tough. Visits to Vail Resorts are down 5.8 percent (through January 4, 2009), and revenue from lift tickets is down 7.5 percent. Bookings through the end of last year … down 14.8 percent. More and more reservations are hitting at the last minute. For the airlines and resorts, this is brutal, and they’re willing to go the extra mile, it seems, to get you to dig into your wallet.

[Via NY Times, where more deals are listed]

Indulge in Romance at Badrutt’s Palace

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Skip out on the usual box of candy and fistful of roses plopped on the kitchen table and do something interesting for a change. This year, kick around a seven-night ski trip to Badrutt’s Palace in St. Moritz for Valentine’s Day. Doesn’t Switzerland sound better than another dinner at your local favorite restaurant?

A four-course dinner, by candlelight, at Le Restaurant, completes the experience. Executive Chef Frédéric Breuil’s Valentine’s Day menu includes warm goose liver with braised cabbage, winter vegetables and sherry sauce, truffled salsify soup with ravioli, grilled chicken breast with prawns and basmati rice and leeks. The experience ends with heart-shaped chocolates filled with raspberries and raspberry sauce.

Dinner is priced at approximately $160 per person (not including liquor), and the seven nights on the slopes will set you back $5,600. If you need to come up with a quick idea, and money’s no problem, here it is. You have two weeks … pull the trigger.

Quebec has some insane deals

by Tom Johansmeyer on

I know I just pitched cold-weather destination Montreal to you last week. So, why would I send you even farther north? Well, for skiers, this is a no-brainer. If you could get your third night (hotel) and third day (slopes) free, you’d probably battle the cold happily. This is exactly what’s going on in Quebec right now.

From January 5 to 29 and also February 1 to 12, you can get two-for-one hotel and lift access at Stoneham or Mont-Sainte-Anne. To sweeten the deal, they’ll throw in a guided tour of each mountain, access to the Mont-Sainte-Anne snowshoe trail and a free ski free rental, free skiing lesson or a half-day of cross-country skiing (with equipment). Prices start at $226!

While you’re in this part of the world, dash into the city for the 2009 Carnaval de Quebec. Explore the ice palace, shout during the canoe race and admire the snow sculptures while buried under 17 layers of clothing. Quebec may be cold this time of year, but that’s no reason not to go.

Austrian Ski resort kicks off the new year with Europe’s largest snowman

by Scott Carmichael on

To celebrate the start of the new season, and to promote their newest ski resort, the Galtür region in Austria built Europe’s largest snowman. The 53 foot tall snow sculpture is called Emil, and stands at the bottom of their new kiddie slopes. The Ski resort used to be a collection of various challenging slopes, but for 2009, designers divided things into 6 different zones and renamed the area “Silvapark“

Three of these six zones are “kid friendly” and offer beginning skiers a chance to get used to sliding around on their ski’s. The junior slopes even feature traffic lights, as a way to teach kids how to be considerate of other skiers.

Of course, a 53 foot snowman is nothing compared to the 122′ Olympia SnowWoman made in Bethel, Maine in 2008.

Laurentian resorts try to stay under the radar

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Quebec‘s Laurentian ski resorts, north of Montreal, are trying to stay low-key. The 14 ski areas dotted along Highway 15 tend to be family owned and operated – translation: reasonably priced.

Mont Saint-Saveur is part of this region’s offering, taking skiers and snowboarders to 38 runs via eight lifts. Ample lighting makes night skiing much easier (Saveur has the most night runs among the Laurentians). A heated floor on the outdoor terrace, and a giant fireplace to go with it, make Saveur a great après-ski spot, as well.

Mont Avila is reputed to have the best terrain park in the region, which includes an Olympic-sized halfpipe. “Snoprk” reflects the handiwork of park designer Patrick Bernier, which I’m sure matters to somebody. If you really prefer to ski alone, consider Le Mont Gabriel (popular with ski racers), Mont Olympia or Belle Neige. Ski Morin Heights is family-oriented with one run cut specifically for kids.

You need choices? Well, now you got ’em. Montreal is 45 minutes from New York by plain, Quebec is about an hour – a little more from Washington, D.C., a little less from Boston. Grab your skis, and trek up to the Laurentians. Put the commercial stuff behind you.

[Via Toronto Sun]