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!