Great Snow Conditions Launch In Travell

Happy New Year -- and happy powder season across the snowbelt.

My friend Maja has been in St. Moritz, Switzerland, over the holidays. On Wednesday she wrote, "winter wonderland! ..snowing snowing snowing...." On Thursday she wrote, "December 31st, St. Moritz..and it's snowing like crazy! I wish all my friends a great New Years Eve bash!!!!!! To a fab 2010!" And yesterday, on New Year's Day, she wrote, "Happy New Year!!!!!! What a spectacular start! Love 1.1.2010! Fab Skiing! tons of powder, blue skies, GREAT fireworks ... evening another snow storm.... true winter wonderland.....I am feeling like a winter princess..... a great 2010 has begun! Happy New Year, cheers cheers cheers!" Thanks, Maja. I just wish St. Moritz had a current snow conditions picture on its website or that the site had a more straightforward to obtain to copy here and share with everyone.

My pal Nancy wrote from Maine, "Gotta Love This Snowstorm! It's great for the ski industry!" Hey Nancy, it's great for all of us who like to slide on snow. The photo at the right was taken at Sugarloaf, Maine, a happy fresh-snow scene repeated across New England. Vermont ski areas reported 3 to 9 inches of new snow, which in the Northeast is a major dump. Most Vermont areas were in the 2- to 5-inch category, but Mount Snow, in the southern part of the state reported 9 inches! If true, Mount Snow must had its own micro-weather system, because New Hampshire ski areas also welcomed 3 to 5 inches of new snow, and Jiminy Peak in northwestern Massachusetts reported just 1 inch.

But what of the Rockies? I went to Snowmass between Christmas and New Year, skiing on beautifully groomed snow on three cold, clear, wind-free days. It started snowing on the evening after day three, just as I was leaving. My son, Andrew, teaches skiing at Purgatory near Durango in southwestern Colorado. He tole me that they got about a foot in the days leading up to New Year, that conditions have been great there too, and that he, his ski school colleagues and their clients are eagerly awaiting their next powder day.

The biggest snows (and the best January deal) might just be at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The resort clocked in 19 inches of snow since Wednesday morning and is expecting huge storm that is forecast to hit the Tetons over the weekend, bringing another one to two feet of new snow. And the resort has an amazing January deal. The ‘Buy 2 Get 2’ airline offer from any departure city in the country, amounts to half-price fares on any airline for a group or family or four or more. Book before January 15 and travel by January 31. Combine that with lift/lodging packages starting at $81 per person, per night, and it's hardly worth staying home.

On the other side of the soaring Tetons from Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee has snared three feet of snow in the last three days. Th images are awesome, but I'm not skilled enough to download one and post it, so click here and be dazzled.

And if you don't ski, snowboard, cross-country ski, skate-ski (a dynamite exercise) or snowshoe, January is the time to do it. Learn a Snowsport Month features dynamite deals that generally include very affordable instruction, equipment and lift tickets or trail passes. Each participating ski resort or cross-country center sets its own program.

Great Snow Conditions Launch In Travell

Happy New Year -- and happy powder season across the snowbelt.

My friend Maja has been in St. Moritz, Switzerland, over the holidays. On Wednesday she wrote, "winter wonderland! ..snowing snowing snowing...." On Thursday she wrote, "December 31st, St. Moritz..and it's snowing like crazy! I wish all my friends a great New Years Eve bash!!!!!! To a fab 2010!" And yesterday, on New Year's Day, she wrote, "Happy New Year!!!!!! What a spectacular start! Love 1.1.2010! Fab Skiing! tons of powder, blue skies, GREAT fireworks ... evening another snow storm.... true winter wonderland.....I am feeling like a winter princess..... a great 2010 has begun! Happy New Year, cheers cheers cheers!" Thanks, Maja. I just wish St. Moritz had a current snow conditions picture on its website or that the site had a more straightforward to obtain to copy here and share with everyone.

My pal Nancy wrote from Maine, "Gotta Love This Snowstorm! It's great for the ski industry!" Hey Nancy, it's great for all of us who like to slide on snow. The photo at the right was taken at Sugarloaf, Maine, a happy fresh-snow scene repeated across New England. Vermont ski areas reported 3 to 9 inches of new snow, which in the Northeast is a major dump. Most Vermont areas were in the 2- to 5-inch category, but Mount Snow, in the southern part of the state reported 9 inches! If true, Mount Snow must had its own micro-weather system, because New Hampshire ski areas also welcomed 3 to 5 inches of new snow, and Jiminy Peak in northwestern Massachusetts reported just 1 inch.

But what of the Rockies? I went to Snowmass between Christmas and New Year, skiing on beautifully groomed snow on three cold, clear, wind-free days. It started snowing on the evening after day three, just as I was leaving. My son, Andrew, teaches skiing at Purgatory near Durango in southwestern Colorado. He tole me that they got about a foot in the days leading up to New Year, that conditions have been great there too, and that he, his ski school colleagues and their clients are eagerly awaiting their next powder day.

The biggest snows (and the best January deal) might just be at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The resort clocked in 19 inches of snow since Wednesday morning and is expecting huge storm that is forecast to hit the Tetons over the weekend, bringing another one to two feet of new snow. And the resort has an amazing January deal. The ‘Buy 2 Get 2’ airline offer from any departure city in the country, amounts to half-price fares on any airline for a group or family or four or more. Book before January 15 and travel by January 31. Combine that with lift/lodging packages starting at $81 per person, per night, and it's hardly worth staying home.

On the other side of the soaring Tetons from Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee has snared three feet of snow in the last three days. Th images are awesome, but I'm not skilled enough to download one and post it, so click here and be dazzled.

And if you don't ski, snowboard, cross-country ski, skate-ski (a dynamite exercise) or snowshoe, January is the time to do it. Learn a Snowsport Month features dynamite deals that generally include very affordable instruction, equipment and lift tickets or trail passes. Each participating ski resort or cross-country center sets its own program.

Skiing Utah: Powder Mountain

"Less is more" at this ski area near Ogden (and that's not me blasting through the powder)

Powder Mountain offers more terrain and more snow with less infrastructure than any other area in Utah. It is a ski and snowboard area, pure and simple, and not a resort with lodging. There's 4,700 acres of inbounds terrain -- 2,800 acres directly lift-served, 1,200 more requiring a shuttle ride back to the lifts and 700 requiring a snowcat ride. Add to that 2,500 acres of guided snowcat skiing/riding terrain, and you have a formidable 7,200 acres to explore. In North America, only the combination of Whistler and Blackcomb offers more acreage. There's not a snowgun anywhere, for Powder Mountain receives 500 inches of cloudlight Utah snow every year. What's all the more remarkable is that Powder Mountain has just four chairlifts (only one a high-speed quad) and three surface tows.

The 5 1/2-mile access road ascends through the woods, first passing shuttle pick-up points for off-piste skiers and riders, and then the Sundown beginner/intermediate area served by a double chairlft and a surface tow. Laid out almost like a separate ski hill, it has a parking lot, a base lodge, a teaching hill, ski school, rental shop and lights for night skiing. The Timberline base has another another parking lot, another day lodge, a yurt from which private lessons and powder tours depart and a ski shop including rentals.What you don't see is a lift.

It is necessary to ski down to the loading area for the Timberline triple, and from there, you can access the Hidden Lake Express, a recent replacement for a classic old double chair that accesses the heart of Powder Mountain's lift-served terrain and culminates at the area's highest point. Powder Mountain's topography is a series of ridges and valleys, and long roads between them. Gentle meanderers lace across the complicated terrain, and groomed cruisers entice intermediate and advanced skiers. But Powder Mountain's abundant black-diamond turf really makes it shine. Outstanding tree skiing, rock-rimmed chutes, headwalls and snowy spillways make it a place for advanced and expert skiers and riders to rip. Especially on non-holiday weekdays, you can have the vast terrain practically to yourself. The terrain is complicated and spread-out that the two-dimensional trail map is helpful, but even better for getting a clearer picture of the lay of the land is to take the free guided tour that takes off from the Timberline base at 10:00 a.m. daily.

The limited on-mountain lodging is not operated by Powder Mountain. Lodging options include the condos and townhomes in the rental program of Wolf Creek at the bottom of the Powder Mountain access road, additional accommodations in the small town of Eden and downtown lodging in Ogden, a very cool little city less than an hour's drive.

Powder Mountain, P.O. Box 1119, Eden, Utah 84310; 891-745-3772.

Skiing Utah: Powder Mountain

"Less is more" at this ski area near Ogden (and that's not me blasting through the powder)

Powder Mountain offers more terrain and more snow with less infrastructure than any other area in Utah. It is a ski and snowboard area, pure and simple, and not a resort with lodging. There's 4,700 acres of inbounds terrain -- 2,800 acres directly lift-served, 1,200 more requiring a shuttle ride back to the lifts and 700 requiring a snowcat ride. Add to that 2,500 acres of guided snowcat skiing/riding terrain, and you have a formidable 7,200 acres to explore. In North America, only the combination of Whistler and Blackcomb offers more acreage. There's not a snowgun anywhere, for Powder Mountain receives 500 inches of cloudlight Utah snow every year. What's all the more remarkable is that Powder Mountain has just four chairlifts (only one a high-speed quad) and three surface tows.

The 5 1/2-mile access road ascends through the woods, first passing shuttle pick-up points for off-piste skiers and riders, and then the Sundown beginner/intermediate area served by a double chairlft and a surface tow. Laid out almost like a separate ski hill, it has a parking lot, a base lodge, a teaching hill, ski school, rental shop and lights for night skiing. The Timberline base has another another parking lot, another day lodge, a yurt from which private lessons and powder tours depart and a ski shop including rentals.What you don't see is a lift.

It is necessary to ski down to the loading area for the Timberline triple, and from there, you can access the Hidden Lake Express, a recent replacement for a classic old double chair that accesses the heart of Powder Mountain's lift-served terrain and culminates at the area's highest point. Powder Mountain's topography is a series of ridges and valleys, and long roads between them. Gentle meanderers lace across the complicated terrain, and groomed cruisers entice intermediate and advanced skiers. But Powder Mountain's abundant black-diamond turf really makes it shine. Outstanding tree skiing, rock-rimmed chutes, headwalls and snowy spillways make it a place for advanced and expert skiers and riders to rip. Especially on non-holiday weekdays, you can have the vast terrain practically to yourself. The terrain is complicated and spread-out that the two-dimensional trail map is helpful, but even better for getting a clearer picture of the lay of the land is to take the free guided tour that takes off from the Timberline base at 10:00 a.m. daily.

The limited on-mountain lodging is not operated by Powder Mountain. Lodging options include the condos and townhomes in the rental program of Wolf Creek at the bottom of the Powder Mountain access road, additional accommodations in the small town of Eden and downtown lodging in Ogden, a very cool little city less than an hour's drive.

Powder Mountain, P.O. Box 1119, Eden, Utah 84310; 891-745-3772.