Indoor Skiing in China and More

by Jamie Rhein on

Where I live in Central Ohio, the snow still on the ground might be described as “patchy.” Each day more of it melts away leaving sloppiness where a winter wonderland used to be. Skiing in Ohio is hard to come by.

At Yinqixing Indoor Skiing Park near Shanghai, China, it’s skiing year around. The basic idea is that an indoor ski slope does to summer what an indoor water park does to winter. Who needs Mother Nature to give us the weather we need to do the activities we love? If you’d rather strap on skis more than don a bathing suit, here is a link to several indoor ski slopes around the world.

For a bit of an Yinqixing Indoor Skiing Park experience through your computer screen, check out Lee LeFever’s video. He’s also the author of the blog called “The World is Not Flat.”

Through the Eyes of a Crashing Skydiver

by Iva Skoch on

If you ever needed a reason to not skydive, here it is. The UK’s Daily Mail got their hands on the helmet-cam footage of 25-year-old skydiver Michael Holmes…crashing.

Mr. Holmes is no stranger to the game: he’s completed over 7,000 successful leaps, and one less-than-successful jump.

Yep, you get to see, in full color, all 12,000 ft of his fall, after both of this parachutes failed. Amazingly, he landed in some bushes and survived the ordeal. There’s even a few seconds of him talking to his friend, who’s found him on the ground. But beware, the video isn’t for the faint of heart.

Amazing Snow Tubing Wipeout!

by Willy Volk on

Recently, Jamie provided a great run-down for us on snow tubing options across the US. The only thing that could’ve made her round-up more complete is if she’d found this hilarious video of the world’s worst (best?) snow tubing wipeout. At only 13 seconds, the video is so incredible that I can virtually guarantee you’ll watch it again. And again.

Just be happy you’re not that guy in the lower right-hand corner…

[Via Digg]

Travels with Conan O’Brien

by Justin Glow on

Conan is the funniest talk show host on television. Period. No, stop arguing — he is! Go ahead, name someone funnier, I dare you. Letterman? No. Leno? No way! Carson Daly? Well, maybe…if by “funny” you mean “annoyingly stupid.”

Seriously, Conan’s the best; the lengths he and his writers go to get a joke is unsurpassed by anyone. Remember when he traveled to Finland to meet the female politician he so closely resembled? Hilarious. He’s also recently been filming bits in Canada, Germany, Ireland, and parts of the Middle East, and NBC has collected various clips from his travels and put them on their website.

Unfortunately I can’t link directly to it, so you’ll have to go to Conan’s main page then scroll down a bit until you see his “Travels with Conan” map. Also, it doesn’t seem the videos work in Firefox. Bummer.

[via WorldHum]

Oscar Settings: Best Films for Scenery

by Neil Woodburn on

Motion pictures often take us to places we cannot go ourselves. Unfortunately, the Academy Awards does not have a category honoring “Best Location.” We can, however, speculate as to which films might win such an award if one were to exist.

Gretchen Kelly, writing for the New York Post, has put together her own list of nominations with a bit of background where each was filmed and also information on how to visit.

The Queen: Filmed mostly in Scotland and also Brocket Hall just outside of London. Guests cannot stay in Brocket Hall but can eat at its classy restaurant.

Pan’s Labyrinth: Filmed at Aguas Vertientes in Spain’s La Garganta region near the city of Segovia. Some pretty wild scenery here!

Little Miss Sunshine: I liked this movie but I felt there was nothing too spectacular about the road trip scenery through the Southwest.

Marie Antoinette: Filmed in Versailles. Enough said.

Babel: My personal favorite for scenery but not for Best Picture. One of four interweaving stories takes place in Morocco’s rugged Draa Valley located in the Taguenzalt region.