Spring Breakers: Mammoth Mountain Has 16 Feet Of Snow On The Ground

by Kraig Becker on

Spring break is nearly upon us and while many travelers are looking forward to a relaxing escape in warmer climes, some of us prefer to hit the slopes for some late season skiing or snowboarding instead. It has been a banner year for many resorts across the western U.S., where heavy snows have fallen for much of the season, but if you’re looking for the absolute deepest powder in the country there is only one place to go – Mammoth Mountain.

Mammoth has had an absolutely terrific winter so far with a tremendous amount of snow falling across the region. As a result, the resort currently has a base of between 7 and 16 feet depending on where you are at on the mountain. On top of that, the Sierra Nevada range was hit with new snow storms just this week adding an additional 2 feet of fresh powder over the past couple of days alone. All of this precipitation has earned Mammoth the distinction of having the most snow of any resort in all of North America this year.

If you’re still looking for a great ski destination for the upcoming spring break, it really is tough to top Mammoth. The resort features 118 trails spread out across 3500 skiable acres, which means even on a busy day there is still plenty of room to move. Sixty-five percent of that terrain is aimed specifically at the beginner or intermediate skier, which makes the resort a great place for those who are still looking to build their skills. Add in some great lodges, restaurants and bars, and you’ll have everything you need for a memorable time both on and off the slopes.

Budget Locations For Spring Break Travel

by McLean Robbins on

Spring break is just around the corner, and if you haven’t already planned a trip, our friends at Expedia have mined their price stats to come up with some of the most budget-friendly locations around. From family-friendly to party-hearty, these trips won’t break the bank.

Tampa, Florida
Home of the New York Yankees’ spring training camp, this sunny destination has much to offer both families and singles. A four-day, round-trip flight from New York into Tampa starts at $180.

San Juan, Puerto Rico
If you’re looking to brush up on your Spanish, check out Puerto Rico’s capital city, San Juan. A five-day, round-trip flight starts at $279 and with average lows hovering around 73° in April, San Juan is sure to please. This popular destination has made one of the most coveted travel spots this year, and new hotels make this an exciting spot for luxury and budget seekers alike.

San Diego, California
This sunny city is an increasingly popular Spring Break destination. For stays between March 8-16, there are a number of package deals available (flight + hotel) for less than $800/person on Expedia. For $772/person, you can stay at the beautiful Dana on Mission Bay between March 9-16 with travel from New York.

Orlando, Florida
Whether you’re headed to Disney World or just seeking fun in the sun, it’s possible to find flights AND hotels for under $300 total when traveling from New York City.

[Image Credit: Flickr via yazmapaz & ace heart]

Luxury spring break options for the budget traveler

by Jessica Festa on

Do you wish you could afford to relax on a beach in the Caribbean with private butler service, or watch the sunset from the veranda of a luxury villa this spring? Thanks to Jetsetter Home‘s spring break sale, now you can.

Jetsetter Homes boasts properties all over the world, and during select dates this spring, some of their most affluent properties will be on sale. The private villas are each hand-selected, visited, and approved by Jetsetter travel correspondents, so you know the recommendations you’re getting are coming from a travel professional.

There is no fee to signup – simply go to the website and register for free.

To get some affordable, last minute vacation ideas for spring break, check out the gallery below.

%Gallery-150295%

South Beach Spring Break 2011 is on fire- part one

by Chris Owen on

This year in Florida, South Beach Spring Break is on fire as thousands of students take time off from school and descend on one of America’s most popular beaches. I was there this week and lived to tell about it. Follow along on this first part of the tale.

Flickr photo by Mumbojumbo22

Actually I was in town for a grown-up convention, Cruise Shipping Miami, one of the premiere events each year in the travel business which just happened to fall during spring break. More on that later.

The first two weeks of March traditionally bring the most action to Miami Beach in Florida, host to one of the biggest spring break celebrations in the world. This year was no exception and while crowds will dwindle as the month moves on, party people of all sizes, shapes and colors own the the streets, hotels, beaches and even parking garages.

I say spring-breakers “own the streets” but actually they own the sidewalks. The police own the streets and there are plenty of them on duty after a crazy spring break last year brought undercover cops this year.

“Tourists don’t come back after they see us taken over by brats from the mainland,” Frank Del Vecchio, an activist from the South Beach area told the Miami Herald. Locals who will be there long after spring-breakers have gone. They want the beach protected, trash controlled and behavior, specifically extreme cases of spring-break fever, addressed.

While an increased law enforcement presence seemed to eliminate most activities that would have resulted in a crime scene, pretty much everything else was allowed. Had I wished to buy any number of drugs, that would have been no problem. Drug-dealers on the streets of South Beach were operating at Jamaica-quality pestering level hawking everything from marijuana to Screaming Yellow Zombies, whatever those are.

Police searched coolers, some many times, coming up empty as beach party people learned to bury booze in the sand under a beach blanket or put it in their backpacks. Yes, just like on a cruise ship, there’s always a way to smuggle booze. I was proud of those kids, brought a little tear to my eye I must say.

Locals want it all under control but they also want money. In a struggle between “let’s keep the streets clean” and “we want money”, guess who came out on top?

Miami is set up to handle large crowds of people, this week was no exception and it was good to see a vibrant system operate at it’s peak of efficiency. Miami for spring break is near or at the top of everyone’s top-10 spring break list including StudentUniverse.com where Miami Beach comes in at #2. Miami offers a lot of attractions including a world-class zoo, seaport, museum, convention center and more. Number one on most To-do-in-Miami lists is South Beach which is not far from that convention center and Lincoln Road mall, a dining and entertainment complex frequented by tourists and spring-breakers.

Flickr photo by prakash_UT

Over at the grown-up convention, suited travel professionals (well, except for this one guy from Gadling in cargo shorts being all quirky and irreverent as those Gadling people are) from all over the world also descended on Miami’s convention center for a week of what is promoted as “the world’s most important and largest annual meeting for the cruise industry”.

This was an entirely different group of people.

Top executives from major cruise lines told of a unified cruise industry promoting a safe vacation experience on one of their safe ships in safe waters that lead to safe destinations. About halfway through the first day the theme was clear: Our ships do not believe in and stay clear of pirates, earthquakes, tsunamis and the Frito Bandito.

But far from all about business, attendees seemed to make time for fun too as seen in this video of the typically-Miami party hosted by Porthole Cruise Magazine and held in a converted parking garage.


Tourism here is down too like the rest of the world. Local people I talked to were glad to have the business and happy to put up with the mess it brings. Emilio Rodriguez, a Miami cab driver, told me “In a couple weeks it will be like somebody turned off the faucet and it will be slow again…but right now? Life is good.”

Indeed, hotel rooms can be as hard to find as parking spaces. But for those that stayed at a South Beach hotel, walking was the order of the day anyway leaving stumbling to be the order of the night.

Related Stories

Spring break in full swing, budget considered

by Chris Owen on

Around the world, concern over rising prices is high on the list of concerns with travelers, but with spring break in full swing U.S. college students take to the beach. Somewhere. Maybe not where they initially had planned.

If the price of gas at the pump is cutting back on spring break travel you’d never know it at Miami’s South Beach, a perennial favorite among spring breakers. Crowds of party-goers are clogging the beaches by day and streets by night as thousands stream in. But higher fuel prices and a recovering economy are having an effect whether they come by air, land or sea.

Skyrocketing prices at the pumps are modifying plans and adding on additional costs for travelers. Gas prices nationwide are averaging right at $3.53 a gallon right now, up from $2.75 a year ago says GasBuddy.com who has been tracking prices since 2000.

As much as spring-breakers want to get away from world events, they can not escape the effects of a world in turmoil on several fronts. It’s been nothing but bad news coming from the middle east starting with Egypt unrest then Libya and the potential threat to oil supply that could result. As the massive earthquake then tsunami rocked Japan yet another wild card was thrown into the oil game.Airlines too are adding on or increasing fuel charges. In a revised profit forecast, the International Air Transport Association said it was downgrading its airline industry profit outlook for 2011 to $8.6 billion from the $9.1 billion it had estimated just last December.

Cruise lines, with a system in place to recoup rising fuel costs, are holding off on adding back in their rabidly unpopular fuel surcharges for the most part. Based on the price of crude oil, while the threshold for when a fuel surcharge can be added has already been exceeded, cruise lies are not anxious to pull the trigger in fear of slowing down solid bookings that are filling ships at a record pace.

Yesterday, we were in Fort Lauderdale at the premiere of Royal Caribbean’s short film series Ocean Views (#Oceanviews) where packed ships were full of spring breakers and their families at Port Everglades.

The Ocean Views series itself, directed and starring Jenny McCarthy and James Brolin along with some other big-time Hollywood stars is a comment on a world in transition. In the well-done 10-minute films, available on YouTube and the cruise line’s website, top names in entertainment are, well, working on a cruise ship, something none of them would have imagined a short time ago. Still, it’s where the future is headed and the social nature of a short film is right on track. In a question and answer session following the premiere, 40-year veteran Brolin admitted being a bit hesitant to take on the project in the beginning but acknowledged that “it felt right” after production began.

Filmed on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, Brolin’s film has to do with multi-generational (3G) family groups, a segment much sought-after by travel sellers. 3G travel groups, backed by grandparent’s secure funding, have a better ability to weather unanticipated increases in travel costs. The all-inclusive nature of a cruise vacation is appealing too as grandparents get out the checkbook to pay.

Still, with spring break in full swing for many, bringing along the parents and grandparents is about the last thought in a spring-breakers mind. Adjustments in the budget category for students on South Beach this year means maybe another person or six in a car coming down here or in the hotel room, not always a bad thing.

Flickrphoto by Gubatron

Related Stories