Eat, drink and ski happy in Salt Lake this winter

What’s the happiest place on Earth? Well, Disney claims that title, but here’s the problem: Utah does, too. If they were in different countries, no conflict would exist, but since they do, we have to sort this out.

A Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index recently released ranks Utah highest among all states in happiness. And, if that’s not enough, Men’s Fitness magazine ranked Salt Lake City fittest in America. So, the endorphins are firing, and Utah is thrilled. Want to get a little taste of this happiness?

The Gold Medial Podium Package celebrates Salt Lake’s Olympic legacy. Skiers and snowboarders can hit the slopes while taking advantage of some great deals. Book a four-night vacation by December 15, 2009 — including a Ski Salt Lake Super Pass — at any of the 22 participating hotels, and your fourth day on the slopes and your fourth night in the hotel are free.

World Cup snowboarding comes to Telluride

World Cup snowboarding is coming to Telluride! Check out the Visa U.S. Snowboardcross Cup from December 17 to 20, 2009 at the Telluride Ski Resort: this is the only stop in the United States fro the International Ski Federation’s (FIS’s) Snowboard World Cup. Both snowboard cross (SBX) and parallel giant slalom (PGS) competitions will be held in what is the second in a series of five Olympic qualification events for the two disciplines.

Ryan Mackey, snowmaking and grooming manager at Telluride, says, “Snowmaking is off to one of our best starts in years with the cold weather, and the new snow we have received in the last couple of weeks is a great bonus.” He continues, “Currently we are making snow on Upper Village Bypass, Lower Boomerang into the Mountain Village, Meadows and Lower Misty Maiden (especially for the World Cup).”

U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach Peter Foley calls Telluride the perfect western home for an World Cup stop early in the season. “With the early start on snow happening at Telluride we are getting really excited to get there,” he says. “We can’t wait to show the athletes from around the world how great Telluride is and let them experience a real world class course,” Foley adds.

John Jett, the Competition and Event Services Manger, has been working through the course procedures and qualifications with the USSA and FIS. “The last of our summer projects for the event, including laying the timing wire for the PGS, has been completed,” he explains. “Both FIS and USSA course inspections have been approved for the World Cup Competition.”

This is the Telluride area’s first World Cup competition and will give a taste of what’s to come in February’s Vancouver Olympics. Frank Bell, Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee, hopes that “the world will join us either in person or through the media coverage in introducing the best snowboarders in the world to the great terrain, spectacular mountain setting, and two great ski towns that embrace the 2009 Snowboard World Cup.”

Ten Finnish festivals to finish the year

We’re into the home stretch on 2009, with only three months left to enjoy. Then, the calendar page flips over, and we take on 2010. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways left to make the rest of this year memorable. In Finland, home to some of the strangest celebrations on the planet, you can find a few interesting distractions – and they’ll make for great stories when you get home. Of course, there are a few mixed in that aren’t so strange but could still be pretty interesting.

1. Rovaniemi Design Week
Head up to the capital of Lapland to enjoy its first ever design week. On its own, this seems pretty mundane … until you get a sense of what’s scheduled to happen. The event will host the 24th Design Challenge, which involves competing to develop the Arctic Circle: Santa’s home base.
September 28-October 4, 2009

2. Baltic Herring Fair
This festival dates back to 1743 in Helsinki and is the oldest event dedicated to Finland’s most important marine product fish. Look for it in the Old Market Square.
October 4-10, 2009

3. Carnival of Light at Linnamäki Amusement Park
The Carnival of Light involves fire acrobats and the Pumpkin Fest parade, not to mention an array of ghosts and witches. A laser show and Harry Potter-themed skating rink tie it all together.
October 8-19, 2009

4. Skiexpo
This is the largest winter sports fair in the Nordic corner of the world and includes downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing and other bone-chilling experiences.
October 30- November 1, 2009

5. Etnosoi! Festival
Listen to Hungarian Gypsy music groups Romengo, Nadara (from Transylvania) and Dobet Gnahoré from Ivory Coast thanks to the Global Music Centre and Centre for Romany Art.
November 4-8, 2009

6. Moving in November
Like to dance? Or, just watch? The Moving in November festival brings contemporary dance acts from across Europe. This year, enjoy two Finnish premieres: riffy by Tommi Kitti (love the name) and Moe by Heli Meklin and Michael Laub.
November 3-8, 2009

7. Helsinki Motor Show
This is the only annual auto exhibition in Scandinavia! Go to the Helsinki Fair Center where you’ll see the work of Finnish importers and manufacturers from around the world. Look for a few concept cars while you’re there.
November 26-29, 2009

8. Ladies’ Christmas Market
Load up on locally made products from the women of Finland at The Christmas Market at Wanha Satama. On the shelves, you’ll find plenty of jewelry, ceramics, leather, woodwork, clothing, baked goods and Christmas goodies.
December 2-6, 2009

9. The Declaration of Christmas Peace
Spend Christmas Eve participating in a tradition seven centuries old: the declaring Christmas peace in the Turku Cathedral.
December 24, 2009

10. New Year at the Senate Square
Ring in the new year at Senate Square, where you’ll be treated to professional firework displays and all the liquor you can store in your pockets.
December 31, 2009

Podpro Ski and Snowboard Guides

Snow season might be winding down, but that’s no reason not to start thinking about next year’s fresh powder. While you’re waiting, why not check out the iPod and iPhone-compatible skiing and snowboarding guides by Podpro? The company offers free downloadable trail maps for a number of the most popular resorts in both the U.S. and Canada.

iPhone users will be pleased to find full maps for more than thirty resorts across the United States and Canada, including top spots like Whistler, Aspen, Snowbird, and Snowmass. What’s more, iPhone owners who visit the Podpro website will have access to live updates on current weather and ski conditions as well as a rundown of local lodging options. iPod users don’t have quite as many options as their iPhone friends, though they still have access to Podpro’s free guides to British Columbia’s Whistler resort. Glove fingers crossed that they’ll add a few more options in the near future.

Now all you need to figure out is how to avoid dropping your precious Apple device in a snowdrift when you wipe out.

Poach, snowboard, video and win $5000

There are four resorts in North America that still prohibit snowboarding: Mad River Glen, Vermont; Deer Valley, Utah; Alta Ski Area, Utah; and Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico.

Encouraging a “peaceful protest” against the ban, famous snowboarding equipment company Burton is sponsoring a contest where you must to go to one or all of these resorts, snowboard, and submit a video of it. The best video in each resort will win $5000.

Contests are not meant to be easy, but I don’t think this would even be possible! It’s hard to hide your snowboard so I don’t see you getting past the entrance; if you do manage that, how would you go up the ski-lift without being asked to leave your snowboard behind? The only “ski-resort” I have been to is the one at a mall in Dubai, so I’m the last person qualified to even think about smart ways to enter a snowboarding prohibited center, but if any of you can enlighten, I’d be curious to know.

Also, other than the fact that snowboarding packs the snow in a way not very suitable for skiing, and the general complaints from traditional skiiers, what are the other reasons that justify the banning of snowboarding?

It seems like the competition was launched end of November 2007, and there are no videos up yet. For those who are excited by events that make you eat forbidden fruit, the deadline for this one is March 1, 2008. Videos should be 5-minutes long and in *.flv format.

Make sure you read the “Poaching Commandments”; full details on how to enter can be found here.