So the Beginning of another season and I can only dream it's gonna be a good winter. The weather so far has been somewhat normal,I wish it was a lot colder and the snow guns were firing away everywhere. With that said lets move on to the subject at hand. The Boston Ski and Snowboard Expo at the baside Expo Center. I will be attending this Saturday Nov. 21st. It runs from Nov 19th to the 22nd.

I went last year and grabbed a bunch of discount and free lift passes, not to mention I won a free trip to the berkshires. It is not just for northeast resorts either, there were canadian resorts there, Tahoe region, and Colorado. I brought my 2 and 4 year olds and they had a great time. I cannot say enough good things about the Expo. All I can say is if you are a serious Skier or Rider you needto get there for at least one day. You'll save alot of money in the long run and have a blast while your there.

SO if your in the Boston area this weekend and want to see the hottest new gear, grab some killer gear discounts and possibly lots of free stuff, stop in. You won't regret it.

See you on the slopes folks Bryan

Combining two words into one can be useful ('brunch,' 'spork,' 'beefalo'), hip ('bootylicious,' 'sexcapade,' 'stagflation'), and hilarious ('Viagravation,' animal hybrids such as 'grolar bear' and 'zonkey,' any scandal with the suffix '-gate' on it). But they can also be annoying ('Brangelina,' 'ginormous,' 'guesstimate,' 'jazzercize') and downright rage-inducing ('chillaxing,' 'fantabulous,' animal hybrids such as 'labradoodle'). So I didn't know what to think when Maine's Sunday River came up with their new "Chondola," a chair lift-gondola combo. But after checking out Sunday River's changes for this season-including the Chondola -I came away mostly impressed this weekend.

While the "Chondola" name falls into the annoying category, the lift itself undoubtedly belongs in the "useful" one. The new detachable lift consists of 6-person chairs with an 8 person gondola in place of every fifth chair. I had previously wondered why they should bother with what I saw as a poor-man's gondola but after hearing about the $7.2 million price tag and being a poor man, I guess I can see the rationale. I also understand the weight implications of having an all-gondola lift and the idea of providing an alternative to those with difficulty boarding a chair/inability to keep their pants on while riding the lift. Not to mention is it impossible to become suspended upside-down from a gondola with your pants down. In any case, the new lift cuts the ride time from a downright rage-inducing 20 minute ride(including changing lifts midway)from South Ridge Lodge to North Peak to just 7 minutes. And it puts you on your way to accessing 6 of the resort's 8 peaks. It also virtually reduces the Obama-inauguration-level crowd that once clogged the South Ridge area to something more reminiscent of an NRA meeting in San Francisco. One of four such hybrids in the country, Sunday River's snazzy new lift is one-of-a-kind in the northeast. Befitting of a one-of-a-kind mountain.

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Greettings everyone. So yesterday I got the chance to ski a little resort just south of Pcatello, Idaho called Pebble Creek. What a day! Pebble Creek is 2200 vertical feet of fun! The staff was great, the patrollers were super friendly and most importantly the snow was incredible. It is a nice steep mountain with a few lifts, but really just one to the top and accesses a host of fun terrain. There are lots of double fall line runs and some great bowl skiing for a small resort. The best part was the lack of lift lines and the 10" of snow. My kind of day for sure. Towards the end of my day, I noticed a closed roped area called South Bowl. I spoke to a couple of trollers and they said that I could venture out if I wished as long as I knew what I was getting myself into. Well I certainly did not know that I was going to find some of the most untracked freshies of the year. Way to go Pebble Creek. I highly recommend that if any of you are in the Pocatello area to swing on by. Fun for sure even for a guy from Jackson Hole. For $35 it is a steal. Let's all hope for deep pow and shirt lift lines! Larry

I recently went boarding at A-Basin and I was a bit disappointed. Not only was a lift ticket $65 for the day, but I spend half the time in lines. This ski resort is definitely one for the intermediate to expert skiier/boarder; most of the runs are blaks/blues and even the greens seemed a bit steep to me (not that I mind, but a beginner might).

I started off on the Pallavicini Lift and once I got off the lift headed toward the West-Wall run. This took forever! There wasn't much of an incline and I ended up just taking my board off and walking over to the cliff. I took that down to Jamie's Face and crossed Wrangler to T.B Glade. This was probably my favorite run because the snow was really packed and in T.B. Glade there was still some powder to be found.

I then took the Exhibition Lift to the Norway Lift for the rest of the day and continued exploring the blue runs (they're my favorite). I never made it to the terrain park areas ( there are two) but passing by they seemed pretty sweet.

Personally, I probably won't go back there until the very end of the year, a.k.a. this summer when its the only place open! It was really crowded, the runs were pretty quick and pricy for what you get. I realize it was during the holiday season, but I doubt it will get any better until spring. I look forward to hitting up some of the bigger resorts like Winter Park, Breckenridge and Vail by the end of Feb. I also want to check out Echo Lake - while being pretty small, it seems to have a lot of 'terrain park' style runs as well as a learning school - just bought my 5 year old son his first snowboard for Christmas!

Namaste, Michele

31 December 2008 (New Years' Eve)

Winter Park and Mary Jane had some fantastic spring skiing weather today. The sun was out, skiers could be found wearing t-shirts, and the "low" temp was 27° (as read on the temp gauge on my Subaru when I was leaving)- the only problem is that it is still December. The good news is that the powder in the backcountry won't be bottomless. The bad news is that there probably isn't any good powder in the backcountry right now (I don't know since there are no lifts running that will get you access right now). The snow on both mountains was skied so much that it was almost exclusively hard-pack, wind-blown and icy, or some combination thereof. Although, there were spots where the wind had deposited some snow on the leeward side of a run here and there to provide some nicer stuff to ski on. Skiers are obviously hurting for some fresh snow though- the trees had been skied so much that moguls were beginning to form in the tightest of tree stands (an example is pictured below).

 

A tree stand I skied where the road was well traveled

I started on the Jane side hoping to find the Parsenn Bowl open and get a warm-up run in, with the intent of taking the Panoramic Express from the bottom of Parsenn to hit the Vasquez Cirque (summit at the Cirque is roughly 3700m/12,000'). Unfortunately, as soon as I got off the lift at Lunch Rock I could see bare spots from where I was (roughly 3400m/11,200') and knew immediately that the wind had blown so much snow off the top that it wasn't happening. On a tip from a Patroller who said that there really wasn't any powder anywhere, but that my best bet would be to try over on the Park side, I headed over via Switchyard, crossed into the trees, and dropped into Village Way. From there I headed down the mountain to the Pioneer Express lift hoping to get some decent skiing in along the Vasquez Ridge, but found that the entire area that direction was roped off. I made a run through the trees and one on the Sundance to Chuck Wagon to Lonesome Whistle trails and was disappointed to find that on all of the runs I had taken thus far, the snow over on the Park side was no different than the Jane side (if this is getting confusing, the Winter Park/Mary Jane Ski Area is actually two mountains connected together with bowls at the top of each- see the website at the link provided above).

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Unless you are extremely lucky, chances are you will find yourself hitting the slopes with a new skier/snowboarder; yet you don't want to bail on your friend just to go have a little fun? Well, believe it or not, there are still places to go and things to do so you make the best out of your day.

First off, consider the place you plan on visiting. Obviously Mount Bohemia is not going to be the best choice. Try to take your friend to a resort that has a good variety of runs, so you can push them to go a little further by the end of the day. For the new skier or rider I would recommend Cascade Mountain in Portage, Wisconsin. Not only is this resort very easy to get to right off the highway, but they have a beginner area with three dedicated lifts that run extra slow to help beginners get the concept of loading and unloading the lift. Cascade also has a long beginner run that is over a mile long, however, the run is only open during the day. For the skier or rider that can handle most greens and a few blues, then there are a multiple array of places you can visit. For the Southern Wisconsin region, I would recommend Devils Head Resort. By Cascade, Devils Head is only 8 miles off the highway. They feature the only on hill resort in Southern and Central Wisconsin. Devils Head is a great choice due to the multiple intermediate runs and mild black runs. The mild black runs help as a stepping stone to harder trails and also helps as a confidence booster. Be sure to stop in the bar and order a pizza. If Devils Head isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you keep driving past Central resorts and go straight North. Whitecap Mountains is probably the only place in Wisconsin that you truly NEED a trail map. Although there is only a 400 foot vertical rise, you will easily get tricked into thinking your at a much larger resort. Whitecap is an excellent choice due to its wide variety of runs. Granted, Whitecap has a great variety of challenging runs, but there are also a great arrangement of intermediate runs that will leave you and your buddy wanting more. Be sure to grab a trail map because you don't want to find your way halfway down The Dragon and find out its a double black.

So you find your self at a rather easy place and both get bored? Try to make the best out of what you have. For example, when I find myself at rather boring resorts, I change it up. We will take a run in the woods, take the run at high speeds (but stay in control!), or sometimes some friends and I will even switch gear. That may be a challenge, but is sure to make a day of fun if your getting skied out. Just remember, every resort has their own rules on top of the skiers responsibility code, so be sure you know these or you run the chance of getting your ticket clipped.

On the next trip with your beginner, be sure to check these places out and follow some of these tips and hopefully you won't find yourself bummed out that you may not be hitting the extreme runs, you'll still have a great day out on the slopes.

Be sure to add any additional tips!

I am a freelance writer and receive no compensation for endorsing any resorts. All statements in this article are solely thoughts of the author.