Columbus Weekend at Ski Resorts!

Don't you love this time of year? Autumn & anticipation... Fall foliage, brilliant red maples in New England or golden aspens out west, ushers in the promise of winter as the next season on tap.  Already the Almanac is promising an exceptionally cold and snowy winter for skiers and riders. The snow flurries have begun in Idaho and Montana - confirming I made the right pick booking a January ski trip to Big Sky & Moonlight Basin- the biggest skiing in America! How about you? Have you planned a ski trip out west? Have you invested in a ski pass? Bought new ski gear? Tick tock...

Columbus Day weekend many ski resorts take advantage of the three- day holiday to build winter anticipation with fall foliage festivals, ski sales and season pass promos.

Sunday River has a fun fall festival with chairlift rides, Maine food tasting, a craft fair and their zany must-see Wife Carrying Competition! Peak foliage in the Maine mountains is capped off with couples competing in a down and dirty obstacle course for the wife's weight in beer and some serious cash.

Sugarloaf hosts homecoming weekend with fun, food and foliage and an Uphill Mountain Climb as well. Mt Abram and Attitash host Oktoberfest - pre season parties with beer and the best deals on passes and gear.

These are all great reasons to head to the mountains, chill with your ski peeps - some of whom you haven't seen since March or April. Time to get stoked for the fast approaching ski season. You can ride chairlifts, drink beer at the base lodge and even wager on which New England ski resort will open for skiing first? Will it be Killington again, or Sunday River? Halloween skiing? Out west, will the first chair go to Loveland, Arapahoe...or who knows? Give me your best prediction for ski season 2013-14! 

 

See on the slopes very soon...follow us on Facebook & Twitter until then! 

- Heather Burke, Family Ski Trips & Luxury Ski Trips

Skiing, Tiger Woods, Lindsey Vonn and the National Enquirer?

Our Family Ski Vacation and Luxury Skiing Vacation blogs have moved, follow us at Luxury Ski Vacations and Family Ski Vacations! Thanks!

Ski girl confession: I just read the National Enquirer. I need to shower after touching the trashy tabloid now but first I need to blog and vent. After three decades of being a respectable ski journalist and writer, I caved. It was the 9/11 issue to be truly tasteless. Ski Mag tweeted out the cover story and I was intrigued, "Tiger's girl caught cheating." Later that day, there it was at the supermarket check out, the aforementioned rag with my ski idol Lindsey Vonn on the cover (next to OJ &  Brangelina).

First, that never happens, popular media has zero interest in ski racing as a cover story, except maybe when Bode Miller admitted to skiing Drunk at the Olympics.

Second, the Enquirer scoop "confirmed" that Lindsey had been seen cheating on Tiger..say what?! Sounded too good to be true. “They wouldn’t print it if it weren’t true” mantra flashed through my mind as I tore open the déclassé magazine.

Let me clarify I am not a big fan of the Lindsey Tiger relationship (I facebooked about it in February when he sent his private plane to pick her up in Austria after her ski injury). I guess I do judge and subscribe to the "once a cheater always a cheater" sentiment. This is not racial, it's reputation.

Along with my embarrassment for peaking inside the piece of crap mag, I was admittedly excited about the news. I love Lindsey and don't feel good about her dating Mr. Woods...Didn't he have a beautiful Swedish supermodel that he couldn't remain faithful to?! Lindsey needs to have her eye on the prize, rehabbing to return to the Olympics and winning Gold at Sochi Winter Olympics in February 2014. She's returned to the ski slopes, practicing in the gates. Goofing around with the philandering golfer didn't seem like a fit to me. So if she's seeing someone else on the side? I guess that is rich irony for the Tiger.

Well, so that you don't have to buy the Enquirer yourself, don't worry I didn't (I swear - I'm a speed reader - had it read before my Chardonnay and cheddar cheese were bagged), Miss Vonn was seen backstage at a Jason Timberlake JayZee concert in Miami last month in a "long session of deep kissing with a tall good looking man," very sensation details right down the "gripping her rear." Photographs showed Vonn's fabulous gams from a million miles away - and I would never exaggerate nor would the Enquirer, right?! Though I did smile at the subtitle, "Is Woods finally getting a taste of his own medicine?!" and the Sexpot Lindsey label. #Lol
Enquiring minds don't really need to know.

Go Lindsey, stay focused and fast, stay on the snow and stay out of the woods - #lol. I'm going to rinse the naughty newsprint off now.

Heather Burke Editor of www.FamilySkiTrips.com and www.LuxurySkiTrips.com

Are you ready for a Ski Nation?!

Ok, so maybe we don't need another mobile app, or another ski app for that matter...but here goes. Ski Nation launched today. Sounds like a season pass good across the globe, like the Epic Pass now valid at 26 major ski resorts  - but no, it's a group of Olympic and X Games gold medalists and world champions who are pooling their talents and promoting a mobile application and independent skier network,  to debut this winter  2013-14 ideally timed for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.  

Ski Nation is a $300,000 so-called "crowd-funding" campaign. The Ski Nation mobile app creates a lifetime record of places where you have skied, while allowing ski biz peeps and companies to provide information and offer discounts once you have opted in. Ski Nation is free, and available at most major ski resorts  and Nordic centers. The app is unique since it is not marketed or featuring one resort, its a free-form free-style sharing of ski intel, according to our friends at Ski Area Management.

"Ski Nation is for all skiers regardless of age, experience, skill, or their home mountain," said Olympic gold medalist and four-time World Champion Ted Ligety, co-founder of the group.

Other Olympic and World Champion athletes involved include  Bode Miller, X Games freestyle Champion Sammy Carlson, Tanner Hall, Simon Dumont, Tom Wallisch, speed skiing champ Franz Weber, and extreme skier Wendy Fisher, and free style medal hopeful Hannah Kearney.
Jack Turner is one of the founders, we loved his work with SnowMonsters as ski safety education for young skiers and riders, by the way, and the Utah Olympics.

 You can pledge support  (ok, dough) at www.SkiNation.com and be part of the initial movement  with special lifetime benefits and input to the finished product. You can also follow their progress on Facebook. 

 

You heard it hear first at Family Ski Trips... soon we'll be skiing!

Biggest Skiing in America - Yellowstone, Big Sky, Moonlight - Boom!

I hate to say I told you so, but I did. I tweeted, on July 26, 2013 - ‏"@FamilySkiTrips26 Jul The Yellowstone Club to buy The Club at Spanish Peaks with Big Sky Resort! Good ski news! What's next? Maybe they buy @MoonlightBasin too #BiggestSkiinginAmerica #Boom http://fb.me/QLf1vITJ  "

Prediction come true: on August 15, 2013 Yellowstone Club owner CrossHarbor Capital, in partnership with Boyne Resorts, who owns and operates Big Sky Resort, announced that they are acquiring Moonlight Basin from Lehman Brothers Holdings. 

Big Sky will manage Moonlight Basin, they already share a lift  - the Iron Horse quad, share flanks of  Lone Peak's awesome terrain, and offer an interconnected lift ticket. For the past three seasons,  Big Sky & Moonlight Basin have marketed the Biggest Skiing in America.... a combined area of 5,700 ski-able acres, 4,350 vertical feet and 23 chairlifts. These stats eclipse Vail's 5,200 and rivals that of Whistler/Blackcomb.

Well, that big Montana ski experience just got bigger if you consider Moonlight Basin abuts Big Sky which neighbors Yellowstone Club and Spanish Peaks - another private ski community with lifts and lodges including the Pinnacle atop the Ram Charger lift at Big Sky. I don't see Yellowstone Club dropping their secure boundaries and letting the riff raff in anytime soon, but the  modest terrain at Spanish Peaks will likely become fair game.

I am a huge fan of Big Sky - one of my favorite ski resorts anywhere. Moonlight Basin also makes my list - it has been a sleeping giant, no big crowds and pretty amazing terrain - comparable to neighboring Big Sky.  Moonlight has its own community of stunning slope side homes and a gorgeous mid-mountain Lodge but struggled through foreclosure with Lehman Brothers. I believe the Moonlight giant is about to be awakened. Boyne (who owns Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Loon, Boyne, Boyne Highlands, and Brighton) is big on quality lifts, grooming and snowmaking, Yellowstone is all about posh lodging and exclusivity. An interesting Montana match made for skiers.

Stay tuned.. and be sure to follow family ski trips on twitter - for breaking news in the ski biz! 

Back to School - Ski bargains for College Students!

Ok, so I wish I could go back to college. I see the excitement in my two kids' eyes as they pack and plan for their fall semesters on campus.  New curriculum, seeing their classmates, and of course the anticipation of keggers and crazy times . My envy really piques when I see the annual season pass deals that roll out for college students. Certainly incentive to roll out of bed on weekends and hit the ski slopes.   

Here is a "new"  New England pass deal for college students - the 4.0 College Pass. Clever name, and an impressive conglomerate of 4 mountains - Okemo Mountain Resort, Killington Resort, Pico Mountain and Mount Sunapee Resort. And the price is nice at $369, if you purchase (or Mom and Dad do) by December 15, 2013. Even better scholastic news, the pass has no blackout dates - so you can ski during holidays, college break, Presidents weekend, you get the drill. There is also a buddy bonus, you can bring up to five college friends for 50% off tickets. Sounds like a plan, and an après ski party! The 4.0 College Pass gets students 378 trails or 150 miles of skiable terrain with 8,727 vertical feet at the 4 ski resorts, 19 terrain parks and 59 lifts - how's that for some Econ 101. Vermont and New Hampshire road trip anyone?

A smart student should compare that 4.0 pass to the College New England Pass, which is $349 if you buy before Nov 30, with unlimited skiing at Sunday River,  Sugarloaf and Loon. These three ski areas combine to give students  347 trails, 42 lifts, 2,265 acres and 7,260 vertical feet, to weigh in to their winter decision making.  Obviously ideal for students in proximity to Maine and New Hampshire ski slopes.  

Jay Peak and Burke Mountain have a Judge Pass for just $199 at the Northern Vermont sister ski resorts, but you need to jump on that price by September 5.

So make Dean's List, and make a decision on where to do your downhill thesis this season. The college pass deals will be making a splash at college fairs everywhere. Enjoy the student discount during those sweet four years before reality, careers and real ski sticker shock sets in.

More on www.FamilySkiTrips.com and www.LuxurySkiTrips.com

 

Summer fun for skiers - bike, hike, zip!

 

Just because you are jonesing for snow and ski season to return...doesn't mean you can't make the most of the mountains and summer months with alpine alternatives. Ski resorts are rolling out summer amusements to retain business between snow seasons.

Mountain biking at ski resorts is a cool option, particularly when you can ride the chair lift up with your bike and enjoy an adrenaline rush ride down. Just be warned that green circle ski trails are more like black diamond descents on a bike - the surface is not soft carve-able snow - its dirt and rocks, grass and gravel. A full suspension bike is recommended and riding experience is essential for big mountain biking. See Heather's article on Sunday River's mountain bike park that offers 30 trails, lift accessed.

Hiking is another option, and ideal with a chairlift ride, up or down - your choice. Again, hiking bots are better than sneakers. You will be surprised how much steeper and uneven the trails are without snow cover. The reward is seeing how long, scenic and sprawling the mountains are in summer.

Ziplining is one of the coolest 21st century add-ons at ski resorts. The chairlift brings you to the summit, or at least up the mountain, where you harness in and zip down a cable from platform to platform with amazing views and a rush of a ride. I love Gunstock's zipline in New Hampshire - you control your own speed, and the scenery of Lake Winnipesaukee is amazing!

Okemo in Vermont has a zipline tour and a Timber Ripper mountain coaster - which is like a mini-railroad cart that swerves down the mountain on a track... very fun.

So don't dismiss the ski mountains in summer - there's plenty of fun pastimes and pretty spectacular scenery too! Ski season will be here soon enough!

SAM's best & worst in ski marketing for 2012-13

Ski Area Management magazine is like the Bible for ski industry peeps, and the Sammy's are the Oscars, Emmy's and ESPY's of alpine awards! I am always excited to see the cheers & jeers for this year's ski ad campaigns from SAM magazine.

These are funny but usually right on! SAM features their best and worst in their May issue after the snow melts and ski area managers have met at the NSAA annual gathering in some sunny resort devoid of snow! This year it was Palm Springs...

On the East Coast, some of our favorites, Stowe, Sugarloaf, and Killington got kudos for their ski ads in print and online. Meanwhile a few got demerit marks, like Bretton Woods for a blurry ad and Stratton for a stuffed bear hucking off a jump. You just never know what's going to be brilliant and what is deemed "not your best work!"

See Heather's ski blog on Boston.com for this year's ski resort winners including props for learn to ski and season pass promos in the East this year!  And we'll see you on the slopes ...in the fall.

Until then we'll be biking and waterskiing to stay in top ski shape!