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!