Families hit the slopes!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of one of the big weeks for ski areas around the country. Traditionally, Christmas vacation and February vacation weeks are the money makers for resorts and this year is no exception. Even with the fledgling economy, people are still spending on weeks in the mountains. And yet there was and is much concern over the total number of skier and rider visits for the year, one large component of the financial figures – filling the bed frames - is factored largely by these two weeks.

The snow is falling just about everywhere!

I suppose if you live anywhere where the temperatures typically get below freezing during the winter months, chances are you have had at least one snowstorm already this year. While the west coast, Rockies, and eastern seaboard have been hammered by storm after storm, even places like Las Vegas and New Orleans have received snowfall this winter and we’re still in the early stages.

This past week alone, some of my favorite mountains in the Sierra’s like Squaw Valley and Heavenly Mountain Resort have received totals of around 4 feet of snow. And while the amounts haven’t been as high, and normally aren’t, here in the east, Sunday River and Sugarloaf have each reached the 3 foot mark for December. What this means to skiers and riders is an abundance of early season terrain that normally doesn’t open until January or February.

Fire breaks out at Sunday River condo complex.

A fire broke out in one of the South Ridge Townhouses early Thursday that sent members of the Sunday River ski community into a frenzy. With many condo owners living a ways away, new of what had actually happened and the extent of the damage was fairly sparse. Thankfully, no one was injured and the extent of the damage was limited, but it surely one of those times when you really hope the owners had a good home owner insurance policy. Places like that are hard to replace and the cost can often times not be recovered.

There's a beautiful site above the slopes of Sunday River!

Sunday River has announced that Saturday, December 20th will be the grand opening of the new Chondola and there is quite a bit of buzz surrounding the event. It will also signal the beginning of night skiing at Sunday River – a first. And while the 20th is slated as the grand opening, there is much speculation that the lift could actually begin operations as early as this weekend. With all the chairs and gondola cars strung on the haul rope and the load testing completed today, it’s very possible that the regions newest super-lift will mark the beginning of a new era in New England skiing and riding.

All those ski lifts parts come together to make one big happy lift!

Seeing a ski lift in all its’ millions of pieces before the final touches are done is simply amazing. A few weeks ago I looked in parking lot 5 at Sunday River and there were piles and piles of gondola and chairlift components all neatly wrapped in shrink wrap and ready to be assembled. To most it’s probably nothing more than an eyesore, but to see how all the equipment comes together from chairlift grips to gondola door hardware, is simply amazing.

Why do ski boots have to hurt?

While I already have 11 days skiing under my belt, it seems that some of the same challenges I faced last year are once again rearing their ugly head. Yep, boot pain is once again a prominent part of my ski life. It doesn’t keep me from having fun or enjoying full days on the slopes, but why is it my ski boots are all nice and cozy like a pair of Beautifeel shoes. I suppose it’s partly the price you pay for buying stiff boots, but much of it has to actually do with my feet and aside from having them reshaped, it will just have to be something I deal with cause we all know that you can’t just have your feet reshaped. That’s just silly.

What type of ski lift will you ride this year?

With all the new types of ski lifts debuting in the world this year, it should come as no surprise that many are truly over-the-top. Perhaps the biggest installation is Whistler/Blackcomb’s Peak-to-Peak Gondola. While it isn’t a vertical lift that people will take to get up the mountain, it will transport skiers and riders from mid-mountain on Whistler to mid-mountain on Blackcomb. The cabins hold 28 passengers each and a couple even have clear floors so the people inside can have a first hand view of the valley, 1300 feet below. Me? I liked the old Sugarloaf gondola with its’ foggy windows and wood flooring.

Heavenly Opens with one trail and four high-speed lifts...

On Friday, November 28th, Heavenly Mountain Resort opened for the 2008/09 season with skiing on Orion’s. Yep, a 3000’ vertical gondola, a high-speed six-pack, and two high-speed quads for skiing on one, one-mile long trail. I know that it may sound a little hypocritical for me to be passing judgment on this move by Heavenly when I was skiing on one trail just a month ago, but one trail at Sunday River, which was serviced by one triple chair is a lot different than the massive amount of resources needed to have Heavenly open right now. Personally, I see Heavenly as a destination resort and not a locals hill and thus the early season skiing doesn’t attract new skiers. And still I applaud their efforts. Perhaps they got some good press in the Bay area and ticket sales will be all the better for it…

Honeymoons are pretty much the best...

Alas, Julie and I arrived here at Disney World on Sunday and I waited until today to get online. Not bad for me. We’ve had a blast thus far and still have a couple of days to play! Then it’s back to work and of course back to playing in the snow at Sunday River!

For all of you that have been to Disney, you know that one of the many things that Disney does really, really well, is prepare fabulous food options. Perhaps not so much in the parks as you are trying to move quickly from place too place, but the dinners at the resort restaurant have some of the best food you’ll find, especially ay Epcot. And yet here we are on our honeymoon and what is again my favorite thing to eat? Yep, ice cream. I joked that I would stop at every place that has it, but I haven’t done so because there are so many. Nevertheless, I’ll surely need some kind of fat burner when we get back or at least a visit to the gym everyday for the next year. Yikes!

The Chondola Construction moves ahead!

With a month left in the construction process of Sunday River’s Chondola, things are really starting to come together nicely. I’d say that last week’s rain probably posed a big problem for the whole schedule, but even through the weather, work went on. Looking up the line of the lift, there is a huge spool in the middle of the ski trail that is actually thousands of feet of steel rope that will be spliced together and will make up the haul rope (cable) that the chairs and gondola cabins hang from. The process of stringing the haul rope and splicing it can take weeks and is pretty complicated, but it’s also a really cool part of the process. Another cool part of the recent construction is in the picture above. Notice that they are pouring concrete around the whole structure and the walkways. If you look closely at some of the areas that haven’t had the final layer poured, you can see orange tubing, which is actually heat coiling. This keeps the surface from allowing ice to build up.

Bretton Woods readies the mountain for the new season!

As of Wednesday afternoon, Bretton Woods, part of Mountain Washington Resort, has fired up its snowmaking guns and is busy laying down a good base for the approaching ski season. There is already over a foot of snow at the Top o'Quad Restaurant, according to Chris Ellms, Director of Ski Operations for the Resort.

"We plan to get folks out on the snow just as soon as we can. From here on in, we'll be making snow at every opportunity and plan to open as soon as possible," says Ellms. "If the cold weather cooperates, and especially if Mother Nature blesses us with a couple of inches of new snow, we will be able to open as early as November 8th -- possibly even sooner!"

The first weekend of skiing is in the books!

What a difference a couple of days make. I was fortunate to ski Friday through Sunday this past weekend and in typical New England early season fashion, we had three distinct types of conditions. Early season skiing and riding is challenging and conditions are variable by the hour. This is one of the reasons that regardless of the open terrain, skiing and riding is always listing as “for advanced only.” This of course doesn’t stop every Tom, Dick, and Harry form thinking that they fall into that category and clogging up the trails that we refer to as the “White Ribbon of Death.”

Nonetheless, the weekend was fabulous. We skied spring like conditions on Friday, boilerplate hardpack on Saturday, and sticky and wet manmade on Sunday – top-to-bottom. Sunday was by far the best day and by mid-morning there were some nice zipper lines formed down the center of T2.

Day3 is now in the books and we’ll take a few days off to actually work…

Mount Snow readies the terrain park with a fresh coat... And then it rained!

With temperatures dipping into the lower 20s, snowmakers reported for duty at Mount Snow Saturday night, firing up the fan gun snowmaking machines on Launch Pad, a learning hill near the base area. By daybreak on Sunday, about three inches of snow had piled up and the terrain park crew moved in, setting up a small park with half a dozen features. The park opened to the public at 10 a.m. EST.


With temperatures in the 20s again last night the fan guns continued to run. The Launch Pad terrain park will be open to the public today as long as the snow holds. Visitors can secure a free lift ticket from employees stationed at the park. Visit the snow report at mountsnow.com for details and updated information.

Skiing and food - They go together!

Many would think that with a season full of skiing, skiers and riders would actually get in great shape and perhaps lose some weight, but interestingly enough, the opposite usually happens. I was discussing this with my nutritionist the other day and explaining the lifestyle of après ski, food, and booze. Yes, the exercise alone is great, but we but a ton of crap into our bodies while were off the slopes. Kind of makes you wonder if people try weight loss supplements in the off season.

The inside of a Chondola terminal!

Unless you a ski lift stops just before you get on or off, it’s rare that you get a look inside some of the inner workings of today’s high-speed lifts with all their gears, pulleys, wheels, sheaves, and conveyors. Granted, most of you don’t really care what’s inside as long as it works and it’s fast, but the terminals for high speed lifts are very fascinating. And yet as much as that may be the case, I can see why their aren’t really all that esthetically pleasing, which is why the bottom and top terminals are all covered, but this is a rare chance to see what the inside of one of Sunday River’s high-speed lists looks like. This picture is of the base return station for the new Chondola. While you can see a lot of wheels that are connected to conveyers and ultimately to the bull wheel, you won’t see any big engine. Not to worry, though. On this particular lift, the drive is in the top terminal. I hope we can get a good look in there soon as well, but things re coming along nicely as the season fast approaches.

Fall means ski sales galore!

One of the tell-tail signs that winter is coming are the massive amounts of ski shop tent sales. This weekend alone there were three in southern Maine and one at Sunday River. The sales are a great way to get good deals on new equipment and find some awesome bargains on last year’s models and clothes. Whether you’re looking for new ski pants, a new pair of skis, or even MBT shoes, fall is the time to look out in your local paper or watch for television commercials as this is the time of year for the best deals to get you ready to make the most of the winter sports season!

Can't it be winter already???

Here in the east were still waiting for the first snow. Sure, it’s only mid-October, but with the days growing shorter and overnight temps dropping, many of us are getting antsy for a little white stuff. Folks at Sunday River celebrated the end of summer and the nearing of winter with the annual Fall Festival. Thousands showed up and packed the lower lots for craft fairs, chairlift rides, and the annual wife carrying championships. Me, I wasn’t there. Jules and I had just closed on our house and the order of the weekend was to paint and paint we did. It was sad to miss the first gathering of our friends at the mountain, but it is a time to prioritize and with the wedding nearing, we want to get things ready for a seamless transition. I can’t help to think how cool it will be to see snow collect on the ground around our new home.

We'll miss Fall Festival 2008, but have other cool things to do!

Fall Festival at Sunday River is this weekend and sadly, Julie and I will miss it. Of course we do have a really good reason and that is that we are closing on our new house tomorrow in the morning and we'll be hard at work Saturday and Sunday, painting. Thankfully, the place need almost no work, but it does need some paint, according to Julie and since I don't have a choice, but to agree, well... Anyway, have fun at the North American Wife Carrying Championships!

The Blue World get its' first coating of the white stuff!

While overnight temperatures dip below 40 degrees here on the coast of Maine, the mountains have been seeing their first temps below freezing. And while some of the much higher elevations have seen a trace of snow, there hasn’t been enough to stick through the daylight hours here in the east. And yet out west this isn’t the case. I obviously wrote about the snowmaking battle that has already begun between Loveland and Arapahoe Basin ski areas, but many other ski resorts in the west have seen measurable snow. So of course I would be remiss if I didn’t honor the namesake of this website and report on the first snowfall of the season in Lake Tahoe. While the upper elevations saw a few inches, almost the whole of Heavenly Mountain Resort got at least its’ first coating of the white stuff. A true sign that ski season is very near indeed!

Once again, it's Loveland vs Arapahoe!

While the crisp fall air was a good reminder of the season to come this morning, there is an annual event out west that officially marks the countdown to ski season. The competition to open for skiing and riding first in the United States has waged between Loveland and Arapahoe Basin, both in Colorado, for decades. Starting as early as September, these two ski ares on the continental divide start pumping out as much snow as they can and aren’t afraid to be proud that they are in competition. Due to the high elevation and less humidity, both areas have colder temps earlier than most and take advantage. They know that they might not have the most skier visits when the season is in full swing, but every year they put their stamp on the ski season!

The heart of ski lift installation!

There’s a part of installing a ski lift that as always been fascinating to me and many others in she ski world. While we love to see the finishing touches put on the base terminal of a shinny new lift and the stringing of brand-spanking-new chairs is a cool site, it’s the flying in of the lift towers that captivates us. Why? Perhaps it’s because the precision of placing these huge towers in a precise line up a mountain is mind-boggling or maybe it’s because installing towers requires the use of one of the largest commercially used helicopters in the work.

Regardless, when you think of the engineering that must be incorporated, there really is nothing like the construction of a ski lift. The pictures here are of the chondola towers being lowered onto their anchors by a massive Sikorsky helicopter and some of the new 8-person cabins that will be interspersed with 6-person chairs.

Everyone has an opinion on opening day!

You can troll from one message board to another and there is a common theme aside from the annual first track stoke. It’s the annual, “guess the opening day thread,” and no matter whether you’re on EpicSki or AlpineZone it’s unavoidable. Everyone and his or her cousin has an opinion on which area will open first, why that particular area will open first, why Killington no longer opens first, and even a mention about how, from time to time, a resort from North Carolina opens first.

As skiers, we’re obsessive and trivial things like these make us happy. I mean even if I’ve never met some guy who says that my home mountain is going to open on Halloween, he can actually make me feel better. No, not because he has any credibility, but just because we share that little common belief. It’s silly, really, but it’s what keeps us going in those waning months before the bull wheels actually do start to turn and the snow guns stay on whenever possible. So check out your local ski forum and read the opening day thread!

Disney, here we come!

I know a lot of people that have difficulty in the winter choosing between warm weather destinations and ski vacations. I, of course, am not one of those people. Yes, I compromised on the Disney vacation for the week after our wedding next month, but first, it’s early in the season. Second, if I weren’t getting married, I wouldn’t be talking that week off anyway. And third, I’ve got the second week in December off and will ski the whole time. So yes, I look forward to Disney. It will be a lot more fun than doing some Caribbean villa rentals. The beaches are all the same and I just don’t think there is much to do. In Disney… well, it’s Disney!

Skiing with Nintendo Wii!

I know I’m not the only one out there, but I’m curious how many adult would really like to cave in and go buy a Nintendo Wii. Seriously, this things has become pretty big and the fact that they have an interactive game for skiing makes it that much cooler. Yes, I have an old Nintendo that has a skiing game, but it’s obviously very outdate and far beyond the help of just a new video card. Besides, with the Wii skiing game you use your whole body and not just a controller. Yes, I think it would be a poor choice to buy one just for that game, but I’ve heard that there re other cool ones as well. Perhaps after the ski season I’ll think about it.

More to life than ski forums...

In life, we take the good with the bad and sometimes we need to step back and take some deep breaths. This became apparent to me recently when I had decided that I’d had about of a particular individual on a ski forum that I’ve been posting on for some time. Now you’d think that a ski forum would be just that, but skiers and riders are very passionate people and our opinions can sometimes get the best of us. We have our choices for mountains and trails that we like better, or think are better, than others and quite frankly, we’ll tell you. That being said, every now and again things get out of hand and thus was the case with me and this gentleman. So I decided to step back and not take part for a while. My passion is still their and my love for many of the board members remains, but things got a little destructive for me and some others and I think that my decision will be good for me. Besides, everyone wants to be in good spirits when the ski season starts and in case you haven’t noticed, the temps have been dropping and overnight temps in the mountains have even slipped below freezing!

Rating ski areas by their chili!

Although I’ve never mentioned it here before, I used to have a test that I put to every ski area I visited. Sure, the mountain’s terrain, size, and snow quality have always been and always will be hugely important to me, but when I was younger, I used to joke about how I rated mountains or resorts for their chili recipes. To most, this would sound strange, but to skiers and riders, chili is a staple food. While many larger resorts use food service chili that’s pretty generic, the best mountains for the best chili are often the mom and pop ski operations. Take for example, the Camden Snow Bowl in Camden, Maine. This 900’ vertical mountain might not offer much to entice skiers or riders aside from the fabulous views of the Atlantic Ocean, but inside their rustic a-frame lodge you’ll find real homemade chili that is a little different everyday, but always pleasing. Further up the road, Sugarloaf, used to have a fabulous chili before the days of ASC, but now it’s like the other bog mountains. So next time you decide to take a break from the larger resorts, try the chili at your local mountain; if it’s not some of the best you’ve had, I’ll be very surprised.

Heavenly's Biggest Little Project!

For decades, skiers and snowboarders alike have complained about trail in particular at Heavenly Mountain resort – The Skyline Trail. This very long cross-cut style trail is the only route to get from the top of the Sky Peak in California, to the Nevada side of the resort.

After a slight downhill start with a couple of turns, the trail actually turns uphill slightly, leaving skiers and boarders have to push their way to the border. If you’ve done it, and if you’ve skied Heavenly, you have; you know that while the views from the trail are unreal, the poling aspect is a pain. Granted, there has always been the option to drop into the Ski Ways glade that it accessible from almost any point along Skyline, but this is only an option for experts and brings you back down to the California side. Of course on a powder day, Ski Ways is pure glade heaven!



Now I don’t know why it took so long for the folks that run the mountain to do the math on this one, ‘cause let’s face it; the complaints about Skyline have been flowing for years, but finally Heavenly has regarded the trail. This past summer, crews blasted rock on two sections of the trail and have regarded the trail to have a constant 10 percent grade from California to Nevada. Cheers to Heavenly for listening!

To watch or not to watch - ski films!

Many people consider ski films a rite of fall. While some of us prefer to get on the snow as soon as possible, some people need to get out and see that new flick by Warren Miller Entertainment (Note: Warren Miller is no longer involved) or Teton Gravity Research. I understand the need for a little on screen stoke, but what can be better than actually sliding on the snow?

Part of the problem is that while many ski films come to Portland, they come after the season has started and if I’m in the mountains for the weekend, I’m not coming back to watch a movie. Luckily, Meathead Films shows their flicks at Sunday River and although I haven’t been in the past, I’m hoping to this year after watching their previous titles recently and enjoying the East Coast backcountry vision they pursue.

Regardless of whether you like to wait for the first film or the DVD option is your choice, the temps are falling and the leaves are turning. Summer is officially over so put away your boat and start thinking snow!

It's all part of the journey!

In recent years I can't say as though I've done as much day skiing as in the past. With my fiancee's family having a place on the mountain, I've spent most weekends there and haven't had the need to get up early and make the trek to wherever I was to be skiing that day, but while that is something I don't take for granted, it should be known that the ride in the car to the ski mountain can be just as satisfying as skiing itself.

I suppose it's hard to explain if someone isn't a skier or snowboarder, but that trip to the mountains with the hot coffee in one hand, music blaring, and the drivers' side window down, can be part of the overall experience. Personally, I often found these trips as a time for me to be by myself and reflect on things in my life, but also to think about skiing, the people I ski with, and just to take in the beauty that too many people never slow down to appreciate as they cruise from their metropolitan areas to their mountain of choice.

The ski trip includes the journey in the car and it can be solitary or with a group of friends, but it's never an experience to be taken lightly. If you consider it a hassle to drive to a mountain, there's a good chance you shouldn't be there to begin with. And while it's nice to be able to wake up a little later and jump on the lift, I continue to have my days where I go off by myself in the car and head to some ski area I haven't been to in years. It's all part of the adventure and for me, it adds to the reward.

A new way to fight the wildfires - ski resort style!

Just last month, a huge wildfire threatened Sun Valley Resort in Idaho. Site of the first chairlift in North America, Sun Valley isn't only full of history, but in the winter it's full of celebrities who come from all over the world to ski Dollar Mountain and some on the best bowl skiing anywhere.

The bowl and tree skiing got a little more vast with the recent fire, as 48,520 acres around the resort town burned. What I found particularly interesting about this fire wasn't the size or magnitude. Fire like there are fairly common during a dry summer, but it was how the resort itself attempted to protect the lifts and trails as the fire neared. As most of you know, almost all ski resorts in North America have extensive snow making systems. Of course these are operated in the winter to make artificial snow by mixing compressed air and water through miles of piping. As it turns out, someone at Sun Valley was quick on their feet and decided to turn on the resort's snow making system in the hot summer months. What this did was sense millions of gallons of water up the mountain and was sprayed out of tower guns mounted on the sides of trails. Luckily, the fire was stopped before actually reaching the resort, but if it had, the resort's ski lifts may have been saved because of the excess water being pumped out of the snow guns. Amazing!

Keep track of all your assets with GPS tracking!

It wasn’t too long ago that GPS tracking was something only for the technologically advanced, like the military, but times have indeed changed and thanks to LiveViewGPS, you too, can track any of your family members or perhaps some of your company vans. Their GPS Tracking allows you to monitor with the use of a LiveView device. Simply put the device in your company trucks and watch them as they scatter across town. Want to make sure your teenage driver isn’t on his way to Mexico, you can monitor him too, and all of this can be done from your computer monitor. This is one of the coolest inventions to come onto the market in a long time.

Can't we all just get along???

We must live in one of the most competitive societies in the world. I mean it seems to me that we are always trying to outdo each other in every aspect of life. Sure, competition is great for many things, but often this leads to unnecessary arguments and worse. What I’m trying to say is that we all have opinions and often times, parody is okay.

My reason for writing that has to do with people feelings on ski resorts. Much like professional sports teams, people have home ski areas and they will seemingly do anything in defense of them. I like to browse some message boards and am a member of a few and what annoys me to no end is that people always bring up the topic of which mountain is better, which mountain is bigger, which mountain is better terrain, and on and on… Does it really matter?

Sports like skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and the like, are meant to be enjoyed by all in a natural setting. While I may prefer one place and you may prefer another, it doesn’t mean that either is better. What it means is that we have differing opinions on what we like, we have pride in a particular area, and we may prefer certain aspects of said area. It would seem to me that if people spent more time out there enjoying these things they could spend less time complaining and arguing.

Installing a ski lift = really hard work!

While I’ve talked about detachable lifts and the technological advances we’ve seen over the past few decades, one thing remains the same and that is that it’s really hard to install a lift. From surveying the lift line, clearing trees, blasting rock, digging holes for foundations, and then actually installing the lift, the task can be daunting and costs millions of dollars. Regardless, it’s a pretty cool series of events that have to happen in a particular order for everything to work out properly. Check out this video of the Sunday River Chondola installation as they get the line ready for the massive helicopter to come in for some of the more heavy and dangerous work.

Technological advances in ski lifts equal faster and safer rides!

Ski lift technology has evolved by leaps and bounds over the past few decades. While tradition mono-cable gondolas first utilized the technology to detach from the haul-rope (Overhead cable) back in the 1960s, the lifts were still pretty slow in comparison to today’s standards. It wasn’t till the early 1980s that the first Doppelmayr high-speed detachable quad chairlift was installed at Breckenridge, Colorado.

While the purpose of the traditional gondola was to detach from the haul rope for ease of loading and unloading, today’s detachable lifts are meant to come off the line for the haul rope can retain a high rate of speed while the chairs slow down and make it easy for people to load. When a detachable chair’s grip releases from the haul rope, the chair is carried about the terminal on a conveyer, which travels at a speed of less than a quarter of the lifts speed. After the skiers or rider load the chair, the chair continues to move along the conveyer, but gradually speeds up until it reaches the same speed as the haul rope. It is at that point that the chair reattaches to the haul rope and makes its’ way up the line.

The advent of high-speed lifts was not only about getting people up the mountain faster, but more importantly, it has allowed for less congestion in high volume base areas and has allowed for shorter lift lines. Less time in line and less time on the lift means more time on the trail. People don’t go to ski resorts to wait in line or sit on lifts; they go to slide down the mountain on two planks or one and lift technology has made this a better experience for all.

Seasons Passes Can Save You a Lot of Money!

As we head into the last couple of months before the ski season begins, resort will be sending out numerous notifications about season pass prices. This is indeed their big last push for pass sales, but folks, you’re not being sold a bill of goods by buying a pass. Having had a pass at various resorts for most of my life, I can say that I think passes are the best bargains anywhere. Hell, I can go to Lake Tahoe for a week and save money by purchasing a seasons’ pass except for at one ski resort. Granted, many of their visitors are from away or overseas and don’t have a clue that this is such a great option, but really folks, look into this.

Now I understand that budgets are tight and right now you might be saying that you’ll just buy day tickets, but have you seen the cost of these? Upwards of $80 depending on the resort. With passes going for as little as $350 at a lot of resorts, you don’t have to ski many days to pay for your pass. Another benefit can be discounts at resort stores and services and even a discount on next year’s pass.

Camden Snow Bowl Finally Seeks Upgrades!

During the November elections, residents of Camden, Maine will get the chance to have their say in a proposal that could breathe new life into the town's ski area. Already a rarity in the industry, the Camden Snow Bowl is town owned and operated and thus rarely sees the funding needed for improvements, yet even as my family and I took breaks from the cold this past winter, it was clear that the beautiful yet cramped A-frame lodge needs expansion. Additionally, planners have decided that along with the expansion of the base lodge, the area is long-overdue for an upgrade to the lift system, which may be the oldest in the state. With a classic Hall double chair as the main lift and two vintage 1960's Hall t-bars, the lifts are showing their age and the highest lift is the main t-bar, which is the only way to access 4 of the 10 trails from the summit. And while a new lift is unnecessary, a good used double or triple chairlift to replace the summit t-bar could keep a lot of families happy and possibly increase revenue.
The main problem to all these ideas is that the Snow Bowl as an annual operating budget of around 300k. The improvements all told would come to about 6 million over 2 years. While this is a drop in the bucket to most ski areas, a town owned ski area can't come up with such funds. So the town is turning to the voters to approve tax appropriations for a quarter of the costs, with the other costs coming from fund raising and private donations. This is an exciting time for Camden. With the town showing that they are willing to raise most of the capital and a town itself having deep pride in this skiing gem, I look forward to a positive news article the day after the vote!

Heavenly Mountain Resort honored for being "car-free!"

I feel fortunate to have travelled to some of the best ski resorts in the world. And while I still love being at home in Maine, I treasure the trip I get to take to places like Europe and out west. A few years ago, Julie and I started to ski at Heavenly Mountain Resort on the border of California and Nevada. We were instantly taken by the awe-inspiring views, the friendly people, and the wonderful skiing. Of course, you only need to look at the title of my blog, The Blue World, to understand how much Heavenly and Lake Tahoe mean to me. And despite all that I love about the South Shore, I never would have put Heavenly in the same category as a European resort. It’s not because of the skiing – the skiing is great and the snow is far better, but American resorts are just totally different from anyone on the other side of the pond. Be it the culture, the jagged peaks, or the architecture, there really isn’t any comparison, they are just different experiences and both are great. So it came as a surprise when I read an article recently that was talking about ski resort where you don’t need a car. It’s commonplace in Europe, but here in the US, no way – until now. Heavenly Mountain Resort was named #7 in the world for being car-free. It’s not something I gave any thought to, but now that I look at the map, the villages, and the public transportation system, I can see that at Heavenly, you really don’t need a car. Just think how much money you could save by not having to rent a car on a ski vacation? You can have that experience in South Lake Tahoe!

Looking for skis this year? Do your homework!

It’s that time of year when reviews of everything from skis to resorts are beginning to flood the world of mountain living. As I enjoy the fist issues of ski magazines for the year, I marvel at all the awesome new skis on the market and am pleased to have been able to test some of them. That being said, I’m pretty happy with my B83’s and won’t be forking out a $1000 plus for a pair this year. Of course I said that last year as well, and then snap… I was off to the ski shop. And while I certainly don’t wish that upon anyone else, skis do break, skis get tired or worn out, and technology is always allowing us to do new things and ski better. Naturally there will be thousands of folks looking at new skis this year and therefore I have two pieces of advice for you. First, look through all the ski magazines and see what features you like. Second, get out early in the season and demo the skis you’re interested in. Skis can look great on the outside, but it’s how they perform and feel under foot that will determine what you should buy. It’s getting colder folks!

Where's Bode this summer?

While it’s easy to find out what the U.S. Ski Team is up to, the top American male alpine skier might be a little more obscure these days. Sure, Bode Miller and his Team America will be front and center of newspapers once the season starts and he attempts to defend his overall crown, but for now, the outspoken World Cup Overall Champion is laying low. Having lost two of his coaches from last year, we know that Forest Carey will return and Bode has been hard at work in New Hampshire taking care of his organic farm and playing a lot of tennis. So while you may not hear about his exploits on the snowfields of New Zealand, he’ll surely be ready to race once the season starts. I don’t care if he says he’s 50-50 on whether he’ll race, he will. As long as he thinks he can ski well and win races, he’ll race, and for at least the foreseeable future, it will be without the backing of the U.S. Ski Team.

Skilifts.org offers the right kind of addiction!

Are you excited for ski season? Is your resort planning or installing a new type of lifting that you've never seen before? Chances are that you can find pretty much any ski lift imaginable on skilifts.org. While they currently only cover resorts in the United States and Canada, you'll be amazed at the amount of pictures, states, and history packed onto this page. I will warm you, though, it is addictive. Once you click on a picture of an old lift and find out it was moved to another resort, you may find yourself searching on and on and on. There's also a forum where you can mingle with fellow lift geeks and industry reps.

The U.S. Men take their show to New Zealand for on the snow training!

While most of us are only dreaming of being on the slopes right about now, the men’s U.S Ski Team has been hard at work in New Zealand preparing for the upcoming World Cup and Europa Cup seasons. In all, 17 of America’s best have been training slalom and giant slalom on Coronet Peak and are said to be in good form. While speed courses such as super-g and downhill can’t be maintained and even full-length training courses have been hampered by heavy snowfall and poor weather, this extra time on the snow at the end of the summer and dryland training is an aspect of the off season that the Europeans seem to take for granted. It takes a lot of extra commitment and even more money to make this happen, but coming off the best single season for American skiers, the off season tactics seem to be paying dividends and everyone is looking forward to a strong effort with the opening giant slalom in Solden, Austria in October.

Rossignol closes the door on its' most famous line of skis!

Without much fanfare at all, Rossignol has finally phased out its’ most successful line of skis ever. While they are keeping a lot of the Bandit technology and molds for the 2008-2009 season; gone is the name that captured so much of the retail ski market over the past decade. In 2003, I became a fan of the Bandit X, added the B2 (formally Bandit XX) in 2006, and last year I went for what I would consider one of the best all-around skis I’ve ever had under foot, the B83 (formally the Bandit XXX and B3). The Bandit lines were popular for combining skiers’ desire for wide skis for crude and powder with various side cuts. While most companies were building fat skis or shaped skis, Rossi was able to do this together. Instead of naming a new line, the models will all have separate monikers and topskin designs. It’s truly the end of an era is skiing.

Parabola helps cure the summer blues!

While the temperature may still be a little warm to start thinking about snowmaking, or wearing a sweater for that matter, a good way to satisfy your skiing stoke would be watching the new ski flick from T&W Productions out of Yarmouth, Maine, Parabola. T&W specialize in getting lots of footage of eastern skiers and riders at locations all across New England while also dedicating ample portions of their films to adventures at in some of the biggest and best resorts in Utah and Wyoming. From Sunday River, Maine to Snowbird, Utah, there's no shortage of powder days accompanied by one of the best soundtracks you can imagine to get your adrenaline rushing. Check out the trailer to the film and catch some of action and beautiful footage throughout the movie.

A sign that snow isn't too far away!

When I got home today from work, I had a package waiting for me from Skiing Magazine. Having just renewed my subscription for three years at only $10, they also threw in a new embroidered fleece blanket. Okay, so I could pretty much care less about the blanket, but it certainly means that the first issue of the year will arrive any day, which means that other ski mags will arrive any day, which basically means I don't have to rely on the USA Today's sports section for entertaining sports reading.

The last of the film makers...

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a skier or snowboarder that doesn't enjoy a good ski or riding flick. The evolution of this medium has come along ways over the past several decades and while there are only a few household names in the industry, there are pioneers who allowed us to have great ski footage. Dick Barrymore was one of those pioneers. Making ski movies up through 1985, he was the first great American action sports film maker making movies such as The Last of The Ski Bums and Vagabond Skier. Barrymore, a 2000 inductee into the United States Skiing Hall of Fame, died on August 4, 2008 at his home in Ketchum, Idaho. Barrymore's passing leaves a hole in the industry that won't soon be filled and suffice to say, icon was lost.

Do skiers and riders really love trail maps?

What is it about ski trail maps that skiers and snowboarders love so much? While tourists will bring them out for reference time to time, you rarely if ever see a frequent skier with one. It could be because they know the mountain layout or they studied the map before, but I guarantee you won’t see many pulling out a trail map on the lift. It’s odd actually. It’s like they/we would be admitting defeat like I husband who needs to ask for directions in the car. And yet we don’t dislike trail maps we/them/us love them. We collect them, compare them from years gone by, and some folks even frame them. Most of the people that I ski with go away to other parts of the country at least once a year and we all bring back trail maps – multiple trail maps that friends snag up. It’s a very interesting thing.

World Cup Alpine Racers Gearing Up For 08/09 Season!

With the first event of the 2008/2009 World Cup season coming up in Austria in October, racers from around the world are fine-tuning their skis and their skills for the year. After months of dry land training and little rest, most countries have their racers training on glaciers from New Zealand to Austria. While glacier training is great for the technical events such as slalom and giant slalom, the speed events usually get left out of the regimen until the season starts and early season training facilities prepare courses. With little news out of any camps this summer, it's hard to pick clear favorites for the overalls, but one would have to think that if Bode Miller decides to race - and has replaced his coaches - he will be at or near the top of the standings. On the women's side, there is no reason to think that Lindsay Vonn's success from last season won't carry over to this year, but I would think that among the strong contingent of Europeans, American Julia Mancuso is going to want to bounce back form an up and down season last year.

Alex Kaufman takes new job at Mt. Bachelor, Oregon!

After leaving Attitash Mountain in New Hampshire several years back to take a position at Sunday River, Alex Kaufman built a reputation in the ski industry through his positive work at promoting, no only Sunday River, but the sports of skiing and snowboarding in general. Many of us "locals" got to know Alex quite well through the years and his collaboration with us as a group has been nothing short of awesome.
It was announced a couple days back that Alex has taken a new role at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. Owned by Powdr Corp, Bachelor is a mammoth ski are that exists on a dormant volcano and is home to an average of 350 inches of snow a year. This is a great opportunity for Alex and while there are many of us in the east who will miss him, we wish he and his wife luck on this journey and thank him for his hard work!

Summer's the season for on-mountain improvements

As August is just around the corner, resorts across the country are putting their capital improvement projects into high gear. I spoken a lot about new lifts and in particular, the Sunday River Chondola, but there is a lot more that goes into preparing for a ski season than just installing a new lift. Everything from new coats of paint to base lodge renovations to trail grading and mowing are all part of summer operations and are some of the little things that add up to make the resorts look great come opening day. If you haven’t done so already, take a trip to your favorite resort and take a walk around. You’ll notice a certain buzz in August that means while winter is months away, the resort operators have it in their sights to make the most out of the short summer season.

Wildcat may not be a resort, but it's making quite the play as a four season area!

While most major ski resorts around the country can qualify as four-season resort because of large hotels and at least one 18-hole championship golf course, there’s often little else that they offer to their customers. Some have gone in and out of the mountain biking business, but with fluctuating numbers of riders, the costs to run even one lift can put these resorts in the red. That being said, some resorts will take that hit in order to draw customers, who will want to visit and own property at an resort that offers activities year-round. Wildcat Mountain in New Hampshire may be a little different in that they don’t have a major hotel and they don’t have a golf course, but what they do have is an array of summertime activities that seemingly puts the competition to shame. Last summer, Wildcat, which has been offering summer gondola rides for many years, added a state-of-the-art zip line to their resume of summertime activities. This summer they have fired up another lift to allow disc golfers a 9-hole course that begins up on the mountain and snakes its’ way down. While I know of a few resorts out west that have zip lines and lift rides, I haven’t heard of this in the east and the mountain course for disc golf is the very first I’ve heard of. It’s this type of outside-the-box thinking that often sets Wildcat apart and being less than a mile from trailheads for hiking Mount Washington and only minutes by car to either Gorham or North Conway, New Hampshire, this resort is billing itself as one of the premiere four season resorts in New England, despite being a day area. Oh, and the views of Tuckerman Ravine, Huntington Ravine, Great Gulf, and Gulf of Slides, can't be beat.

Ski Resorts Not Exempt From Economic Woes!

I’m often surprised at how many people perceive the ski industry and how it’s affected by the economy. Lot’s of people think that ski resorts and their quests are isolated from the downturn of the economy because of the perception that skiing or snowboarding are wealthy people’s sports. While skiing is expensive and many resorts cater to people that are willing to pay a little extra for their vacations, the spectrum of people that ski is wide and most of these people have jobs, families, and mortgages. Those three things right there are going to come before skiing and that is why some economists are predicting that this winter will not be a good one for resorts across the United States. While last year saw records shattered across the country, it was ahead of the $4 plus a gallon cost for gas, the surge in oil prices, and let’s not forget about the airlines – a lot of resorts count on travelers who comes from away. While there have been several signs of this in the east and they have been reported on locally, I think that a good indicator is with the country’s only publically traded ski resort holding company, Vail Resorts. The owner of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Heavenly, Vail Resorts shares have tumbled recently, falling for the low $40’s to the mid to low $20 range. The stocks fell further this week as Wall Street analysts downgraded Vail’s status from a stock to buy to one to hold off on. Some people were surprised that Vail Resorts would be so directly impacted. Just look at the list of resorts and you see five extremely large destination resorts that each draw near to or over a million skier visits each year, but many of these people comes from all over the United States and get to the respective resorts by plane. In case you haven’t heard, airline tickets are expected to double in price by early next year. That’s a big punch in the stomach to some of these resorts. While Vail in Colorado and Heavenly, which straddles the border of Nevada and California, may be more insulated because of their massive European share of visitors and the weak dollar, there’s no promise that those numbers will hold. In all, it should be an interesting time for skiers and riders all over the country and a time where resorts will need to make cost cutting changes to help manage their places in the market in the hopes of drawing and retaining skiers and riders.

The end for surface lifts draws closer

With the removing of the Kennebego T-bar (The only lift on the map to the summit) at Saddleback, Maine and the subsequent installation of a fixed grip quad, not only is a piece of history leaving, but a part of the mountain that was once accessible in heavy winds will now sit idle many days next winter. Sure, I know the value of putting in a chairlift for the mountain. It makes the summit much more accessible to the intermediate terrain up top, but in my opinion, the t-bar served many purposes like crowd control and keeping people off some expert terrain that can be as hairy as anywhere in the east. Second to all of that is that Saddleback had always prided itself on the fact that they had t-bars and slower lifts as they have always been a throw back to what skiing was. Now, as they expand and try to cater to higher income guests, they are going away from that philosophy, but also perhaps hurting their amount of skier days. The issue itself is industry-wide. Not many resorts still consider surface lifts as viable as many skiers and riders are afraid to ride them, but in my opinion they are not only fun, but also highly functional lifts that last a long time and can operate when other lifts sit idle. So the next time you look up at a part of any mountain that is closed because of wind while you cruise the beginner and intermediate terrain waiting for lift holds to open up, remember back to when t-bars and Pomas were the order of the day for expert terrain and remember how great it was to still get fresh tracks after a storm or even be able to access the same terrain. We live in different times now.

Ski Magazine Countdown Begins!

Nope, I'm not just talking about Ski magazine, but in about a month the first issues of all the major ski magazines will begin to arrive in the mail. Some will start off with the annual buyer's guide while others will start with their resort ratings, but regardless, I just can't wait till that first glossy cover arrives and the taste of ski season will begin to take over. Not that I'm excited or anything...

Chondola base structure is taking shape

For those unable to get up to Sunday River to see the construction first hand, I've obviously been doing my own supplement to the Chondalog right here. Now don't get me wrong, I encourage you to visit Sunday River's site as it's full of fabulous information about the lift and the technology, but that being said, writing about it here keeps me excited for the winter and the opening of this monumental lift at the River. From today's update, here is a video of Rohn Stilson talking about the pouring of the base and summit structures and their importance.

Happenings at Sugarloaf???

More rumors are coming out of the western Maine resort of Sugarloaf. During the past couple of months there have been some odd happenings. It started with two truck loads of CWA Omega I cabins being shipped in from Big Sky Montana. While it was said that these may be used in the future, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would want to spend the money on gas to ship all those cabins to a location that is only about 40 miles from the Canadian border. Nonetheless, the cabins were dumped in some bushes and thus lending credence to the notion that Big Sky wanted them out and they had to go somewhere. That being said, some pictures surfaced recently of stakes in several spots around the resort and one in particular that is situated right outside of Bullwinkle’s. On the stake it says, “Top bull wheel,” but heck, that could mean anything, right…

Doppelmayr vs. Poma

Perhaps not as particular as people are about brands of skis, I have found that skiers and riders are very opinionated when it comes to lift brands. While there were dozens of lift manufacturers up till the mid-80's or so, that number has dropped off to a handful. Most of those dozens either folded or merged with today's leaders; Doppelmayr and Poma, and yes, they have other names and if really depends or where you are and what you buy. I'm trying to be simple about it and refer to them by one name. Regardless, these two companies do pretty much every high-speed installation in North America now and also much of the refitting of older lifts. As for my favorite or the two, I am a Doppelmary fan through and through. Yes, I love the concept of the double-loading system that Poma came up with, but I find their lifts to be slower on the line. All that being said, this is specifically related to high-speed lifts and fixed grips is another story altogether.

What could have been for Mineral King Valley, CA

Back in the 1970’s, a man by the name of Walt Disney had a unique vision for a southern California valley that while destined for failure, was ahead of its’ time, like so many of his creations. And yet this was different in that Disney had eyes on a parcel of land called Mineral King Valley for a major southern California ski resort that would attract thousands of skiers from greater Los Angeles and south. While located on Forest Service land, Disney wanted to create a European style resort in that he planned a car-free village with use of the now famous monorails that had been installed in his two original parks as well as Seattle. Despite the environmental efforts, Disney’s and other developers’ bids were ultimately all denied and this steep-walled valley remains untouched.

Summit Terminal Work Continues at Sunday River

For those of you following the ongoing saga that is the installation of the Sunday River Chondola, or as I like to call it, The Viking Express, the resort has taken some major steps in preparing for the Doppelmayr parts to arrive next month. Check out the Chondola Page at Sunday River for tons of info and the latest pics, which show a lot of blasting needed for the top terminal. Perhaps I'm even steal a picture from the site and post it on here as long as AK and co dont' sue me!

Helping trace skiings visions

While we can easily take a journey into skiing’s history and see where rope tows used to incline and old Hall or Heron chairlifts used to swing, we don’t often look at what could have been. If we research through sites like NELSAP we find scores of little and medium sized hills that couldn’t make it for one reason or several others, but what about proposed ski areas and resorts. Earlier in this blog I talked about Lake Catamount near Steamboat Springs and to date that it one of the more famous of these failed or stalled proposals. And while lifts were never erected and base lodges never built, the history behind these proposals is really interesting and many have sketches. An easy way to learn some of this for your self is to head of to Colorado Ski History and look in their dedicated section. Maybe there’s some real estate you’d be interested in.

Has the online forum replaced the bar stool?

We've all been in situations where we've been in a bar and some yahoo is rambling on and on about how epic his ski day was. Heck, maybe you're on of the guys or gals that has done this. It's surely all in good fun. If you're full of crap you're full of crap. Skiers can generally tell what someone is talking a big game. Does this get them the label of a gaper? Perhaps, but even the best of skiers can be a gaper depending on which meaning you choose. Regardless, we know that these situation will never go away and we don't want them to. It can be rather amusing, but with the increasing use of internet chat forums, skiers and riders can now talk all the garbage they want and never have to back it up. It's a funny phenomenon that I see often and like those talkers in the bar, it's easy to get a sense of who is really full of it and who truly has soul.

Saddleback goes ahead with summit quad

It seems that while I was trying to write some accurate information about this summers new lift installations, I forgot one that is hugely important to New England and Maine skiing. While the lift installation falls into the same category as Killington in that the new lift is replacing an old, it's a little more of an upgrade for the good folks at Saddleback, Maine. For the first time ever, the summit will be accessible by a chairlift as the Kennebego T-bar is being replaced with a fixed grip quad. While the t-bar was great in allowing access to the mountain's expert terrain on many cold and windy days, the steep liftline also served as a natural deterrent to folks who should avoid the upper mountain terrain. The lift is part of the resort's 10-year master plan.

Have you checked up on the Peak to Peak?

The world's more extensive and expensive ski lift installation is again going full steam ahead with the two massive towers in place and both terminal stations being fitted with the drives, brakes, conveyors, and extensive sheave trains. Watch some great videos and see tons and tons of photos on Whistler/Blackcomb's Peak 2 Peak site!

The best chalets at some of the world's best ski resorts!

My teenage years were extremely memorable for me as they relate to my skiing experiences. Having lived in London, it was not only easy to hop a flight to Geneva or Zurich for a ski vacation, but it was commonplace. Everyone I the European skiing community knows that Britons love their luxury ski holidays and will spend more on booking some of the best chalets than anything else. Okay, so maybe some more money on ski lessons would help, but that’s neither here nor there. Every years the British flock to resorts like Courchevel, France, Verbiew, Switzerland, and St. Anton, Austria, to name a few. And they are looking to book a luxury chalet in Meribel, they turn to the experts in ski destination bookings, Supertravel. They’ll set you up with a chalet in Val d’Isere, Aspen, or any of Lake Tahoe’s resorts.

Remembering the Lake Catamount proposal!

If you’re old enough to remember this illustration, you’ve been skiing at least as long as I have, but technically the resort in question, on the shore of Lake Catamount is still pending approval. Sure, the original financers back out decades ago and permits would still need to be renewed, but this controversial resort that was planned for development in the 1980s could still happen. Only miles from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, residents and locals thought the idea of a second major resort to the area would help with the economy and bring diversity to the area that hosts only Steamboat Resort. Unfortunately, in the planning and permit process, nearby wetlands along the shores of the lakes caused and environmentalist stir, but in the end (Or the middle, depending on how full your glass is) it was the financial aspect that held the project up. Along with a proposed 14 lifts, the proposal also called for a railroad connection between Catamount and Steamboat Springs. A couple years after the last major financial backers of the original 1970s plan withdrew their names, the powerhouse couple of Tim and Diana Mueller submitted their own proposal for a resort on the mountain. While the proposal was accepted, this nice sketch is still all that’s ever come of the plan.

Summer Sucks!

Have you ever noticed that a lot of skiers and riders don't handle summer very well at all. Aside from the desire to be on the slopes, we are mostly a breed that doesn't like heat. Me, I don't really want it over the mid-70 range and I hate humidity. While many skiers and riders spend time hiking in the summer, a lot of those hikes come early or late in the season, but not so much when summer is at its' muggiest. Thankfully I have the outlet to be able to sail and live on the coast, but I can't imagine living in the mountains in the summer unless it was a place like Lake Tahoe. People have this perception that Maine is always this cold place, but in the summer our inland areas get as hot if not hotter than most parts of the country and we get black flies. Yikes!

A slow year for eastern installs

As summers go, it's a slow year for lift installations in the eastern United States. While there are many trail and snowmaking projects going on all over the region this year, only two brand new lifts are being installed in New England and no major trail network expansions. Whereas I don't think this means a decline in the industry, (the numbers were up across the board last season) the strong focus on snowmaking upgrades as opposed to terrain and lift expansion is certainly less exciting. New England is seeing two new lifts this summer. Killington is replacing a fixed grip quad with a new Doppelmayr HSQ and as we know, Sunday River is hard at work on the Chondola, which will be the only newly routed lift in the region this year.

Sunday River's Chondola Site Gets Major Upgrade

Constant and consistent improvement is a top priority at both Boyne USA and Sunday River Resort. A cool reminder of this is with the resort’s very new website dedicated to the building of the Sunday River Chondola. Formally, this site was a blog only and was called the Chondalog, but under the guidance of Alex Kaufman it has been transformed into a much more diverse and extensive website, which has multiple pages to include videos, blog updates, technical data and drawing, as well as a photo gallery. You can get to this site by accessing through the Sunday River website or visit chondola.com for more info.

Another Hybrid No One Talks About?

Willamette Pass, WA has what they call a high speed 6-pack, but it also carries gondolas. Granted, it seems as though they only carry the CWA Omega III Cabins in the summer, they have ski slots on the doors. Not only that, I've heard they have run this lift as a hybrid. So why isn't it listed as one of the country's "Chondolas?" I assume that the answer is because they don't use both cabins and chairs in the winter, but the lift seems perfectly configured for it. Very curious. I'll see if I can find a picture.

Still skiing Tucks in July!

Like most of the rest of you, I pretty much figured tat skiing for the year was and is through. I mean, come on, it’s July 6th for Christ’s sake, but low and behold, the heavy snow year has paid dividends to those still willing to make the hike to Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington. Sure, snow lasts in the ravine longer than anywhere on the east coast and there have been years where people have talked about the snow left in early July, but I’ve never heard of people skiing or riding the ravine this late. Most people have already switched gears, but no these hearty souls. My hat is most certainly off to them!

What do you do with those childhood ski stories?

You've heard stories of the local rope tows and family ski nights in your communities, but how much do you know about the history of your local ski hill. It's easy to just drive by and recall the days spent sipping hot chocolate in the lodge or hanging on for dear life as the rope tow whisked you to the top of the bunny slope, but whatever happened to that community hill? I suppose the popular idea would be for me to tell you to check out NELSAP, (New England Lost Ski Area Project) but I'm actually writing this in the hope that you will recall these places from your youth that others may not have already and share them with sites such as NELSAP. After 10 years online, a lot of folks think that if the area existed, it is documented on this popular site, but the fact remains that the areas listed are only there because people recall them, go out and fins where they were, and then the history is documented. Of course if you live outside of the northeast (NELSAP lists ski areas all along the eastern seaboard) there are other sites that aren't quite as established of extensive, but are growing...

In construction...

These are the things that skiers do in the summer!

A few posts back I introduced some of you to sites called skilifts.org and a more localized site called chairlift.org. While these are only a couple of websites dedicated to ski lifts in the United States and Canada, there is a ton of really good information and history about lifts and ski areas. From my own research, I have decided that I may want to do an incremental post – say once a week, where I talk about a unique or odd lift or ski area that I’ve come across and why I find it interesting. Chances are that most of you have never seen the pictures or heard of the subjects I’ll talk about whereas some of you will know everything about them. That being said, I won’t talk about the area that a lift exactly like this lift was proposed to be built, but will say that the drawing itself is based on a lift from Custer, South Dakota. It is referenced as a “ski bus” because it is self-propelled, which is to say that while it is on a track line, it is not a jig back lift, nor does it have a haul rope pulling it up the track line. As you can see from the drawing, the engine is actually in the cabin. The only hint I will give as to where this was to be built is that it was in a valley that in home to one of America’s most famous and posh resorts and has three other ski resorts nearby. (Pretty good hint, in my opinion)

The end of American Skiing Company

Almost a year after trying to dissolve itself and having sold off all but one resort, The American Skiing Company is finally laid to rest with the sale of The Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah to resort developer Talisker. While the sale faced legal challenges from the owner of much of the land the Canyons rests on as well as stiff anti-trust opposition from bidder Vail Resorts, the sale agreement has been reached and the company that both changed the landscape of ski resort ownership and at the same time angered many skiers and riders, is no more. Sunday River and Sugarloaf, both in Maine were sold last June to Boyne USA of Michigan. The American Skiing Company was founded by former Sunday River owner, Leslie B. Otten, who had quickly developed several resorts in the east and a handful out west. In 2001, ASC was the largest operator of ski resorts in the United States, but when the company went public to attempt to raise capital for rising investment costs, they were struck with less than favorable weather conditions and began a long downhill slide.

And now for a little "lift porn."

Do you have an infatuation with ski lifts? Probably not because it’s pretty weird fetish to have and yet nonetheless, ski lifts are some of the most fascinating engineering wonders in the world. Sure, there are millions of people that love to ski or ride, but only a handful of people that truly love and appreciate the history and technology that is behind the carriers that get us up the mountain. Yep, I’m one of them and it probably makes me a dork, but I can look at ski lift pictures for hours on end, especially old and rare lifts. Thankfully, I know that there are a lot more of you out there and I encourage you to embrace this little hobby and take a look at what other lifts are out there other than the ones you ridden and the resorts you’ve visited. Several websites around the world focus on ski lifts, but one of my favorites is called Skilifts.org and not only has information of all the components and terms for lifts as well as a whole glossary, but they have a extensive photo and statistical library for ski lifts from all over the country that continues to grow by the month. Now get back to work!

Sunday River lands Snowboarding World Cup for 2009

In 2001, Jeremy Bloom and Johnny Moseley dueled on the bumps of White Heat in an F.I.S. World Cup Freestyle Mogul stop at Sunday River, Maine. While the event was a huge success and brought the spotlight to Sunday River, it's been 7 long years since a World Cup event of any sort has beckoned. Meanwhile, Sugarloaf, Maine has hosted two U.S. Alpine Championships. Sunday River has been fortunate to remain on the radar of the USSA by hosting a few snowboard Grand Prixs, but the World Cup is a whole different level and with the event straddling February and March of 2009, the names competing will be many of the same that will don their nations colors the following year in whistler for the Olympics.

Anyone see a Gondola cabin?

There have been reports of Big Sky Montana gondola cabins showing up at Sugarloaf, Maine by the truck load, but the problem is that Sugarloaf doesn't have a lift permit to install anything this year. As you can imagine, skiers and rider from the Loaf are once again crying foul as their sister resort is getting a new hybrid, but folks in Carrabassett Valley should be stoked in my opinion. I mean you don't truck 35 gondola cabins from Montana to Maine for no reason. Sure, their currently sitting in bushes, but perhaps next year they will be cruising above the West Mountain trail???

Dig a hole and a lift will be built!

While there is still and air of mystery about the whole “chondola” project and others happening at Sunday River, Maine this summer; one thing is for sure, the hole that’s being dug in front of the South Ridge base lodge is not a new pit for pond-skimming. Given that I have very little knowledge of the hard plans for the lift, I can only assume that they are digging to pour concrete for anchors for the base terminal, but then again, depending on what Sunday River has for plans, they could be building an actual base station, which would be beneficial for those folks that will be using the gondola part of the lift and need to be shielded from the cold more than skiers and riders. Yes, I could come up with a bunch of different ideas, but quite frankly, no one cares to read about those despite the fact my imagination constantly produces them.

Skiers take to the boards?

It may sound funny, but in the summer, skiers take to the boards, message boards, that is. Actually, skiers can be found on websites like this all year round, but in the summer we tend to be doing far less skiing (Like none) and a lot more talking about skiing. By talking about the sport with other like minded souls, it makes the summer months go by faster.

Sunday River's "Chondola" blog is up and running

With construction under way at Sunday River, Maine for the new hybrid lift, or "Chondola," the resort has set up a separate website blog for those wishing to track the progress of the lift. Starting with the deconstruction the Borvig triple that was dismantled and will be on route to Michigan, there are facts, videos, links to related topics such as the company doing the installation - Doppelmayr, and lots of pictures. The site should be updated daily and will be linked off the main Sunday River website, but for the time being, it can accessed via www.chondola.com.

Ski Bowl development

Looks like all this development is just past the new triple at the Ski Bowl which opened this past season. The proposed quad would probably connect with the base of the new Burnt Ridge trail pod. This shows the quad and trails being built by ORDA vs. the developers. Not sure how I feel about this since the only benefit of this lift is to the private development although it could possibly take some pressure off the Gore base if parking at the Ski Bowl is expanded. There's barely enough there now for tubing and the triple.

The lengths to ski in the summer

I've never skied in the summer and was thinking about the lengths that soem people go to, to do it. Would you battle altitude sickness and pay a lot of money to go skiing in the summer? Have you considered Chile or Argentina? I know that if I had a little (or a lot) more money and perhaps some more time off, I would be done there in a second. As for the altitude, it would probably be an issue for a while, but I'd find a way to get through it. Of course I could just live in a place like Bend Oregon or Vancouver, BC and then I could go to Mt. Hood or Whistler respectively, but then again, what else would I do in one of those places?

Mount Abrams Changes Hands

Two Maine businessmen have purchased Mount Abrams in Greenwood, Maine. The resort got a bit of an overhaul after being bought at foreclosure auction several years ago and went back on the sale block this season when the current owner decided it was someone else's turn to operate the family-friendly resort in Western Maine, near Sunday River. The new owners pledge a commitment to keeping the resort a small family environment with the only immediate changes being an increase in the size of the ski school.

Oops! A little snag in Boyne's lift plans...

With the new Hybrid being installed at Sunday River, Maine this summer, the plan called for the 22-your-old Borvig triple chair to be moved to one of Boyne's resorts in Michigan. The process of moving the lift began last month as the chairs were loaded onto flatbeds and take across the country, but when it came time to take the lift tower (In picture) out, it seems that someone forgot to get a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency and not the resort can't take legally take the towers out. Whereas I'm sure a permit will be issued, someone dropped the ball...

Need a lift?

If you’re looking to charter a jet, there is a lot of information you need to know. Pricing, jet availability, FAA regulations, pilot credentials, and where specific jets are available. While a lot of corporations went away from the use of private jets in the not-so-distant past due to shareholder concerns, the recent rise in fuel costs has brought the corporate business back and one of the best ways of utilizing this resource has been to get a jet charter as opposed to purchasing a new jet for the company.

Boyne weighs their lift options for Sugarloaf

While Boyne Resorts is installing the northeast's first hybrid lift at Sunday River this summer, Sugarloaf, Maine has been told that no new lift is in the plan for the next year. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen as the rumors continue to fly and some activity has others talking. Big Sky Mountain Resort in Montana recently shipped 35 gondola cabins to Sugarloaf and the chatter perked up. Resort official indicated that their is a chance that a gondola may be installed somewhere on the mountain, but no plans are imminent and none are in the works for next season. All this comes as Sugarloaf has speculated that along with Sunday River, they too, would like a lift to access their mid-mountain restaurant and their has often been talk about a new lift or used gondola being used to access this area on West Mountain. For now it's all speculation, but sometimes it's just more fun that way...