This ski winter was a winner....
1. First and foremost, there was the SNOW. New England received quality and quantity snow much of the season, a vast improvement over the previous. The Weather Channel exhausted their silly snow storm alphabet, with names like Nemo and Euclid delivering big dumps. Skiers that had their downhill days dialed got dozens of western-like powders days here in the East.

2. Sugarloaf was the winner of our Boston.com Skiing Showdown with over 63,000 voters participating. The Loaf rose above the rest - edging out Jay Peak in the end. Sugarbush (last year's winner) and Stowe made the final four, but Sugarloaf fans tipped the scale with their fierce passion.

3. Sugarloaf is beloved and big... big enough to get lost at, just ask Nicholas Joy of Medford, Mass. The fact that JOY survived 40 hours, two cold nights alone on Sugarloaf Mountain, but walked out on his own, definitely makes my top 5 of winners this winter. #MedfordStrong.

4. The U.S. Ski Team gets props for winning crystals globes around the Globe. Ted Ligety won five World Championships medals. Mikaela Shiffrin, at just 18, won World Cup Slalom Gold. Lindsey Vonn won her 59th World Cup and captured her 6th Downhill Title, impressive considering her season ending injury in early February. America's ski team sweetheart is back in the gym like a tiger (sorry, couldn't resist - for anyone out of the loop - she's dating Tiger Woods) training for Sochi's Winter Games. The U.S. Ski Team is looking strong for the 2014 Olympics.

5. For me, getting back on skis in March after a January tibia fracture was my highlight. In a skier's silver lining playbook, an early winter injury can have the upside of a same season comeback. It was indescribable joy returning to my favorite sport and the thrill of carving downhill. I still managed to squeezed in 44 ski days, including a grand finale in the Swiss Alps making this a memorable ski season for me. But, aren't they all?!

Ski season isn't over yet. You can still make turns at Sugarloaf, Jay Peak and Killington.

Still open for skiing out west are Snowbird Utah, Arapahoe Basin and Aspen Highlands in Colorado, Mammoth in California, Bachelor and Timberline in Oregon, and Lake Louise and Whistler Blackcomb in Canada. Photos of Sugarloaf and Zermatt by Greg Burke

Last weekend while New Englanders were slathering on sunscreen, pond skimming and enjoying spring snow at their leisure, speed skiers in Verbier Switzerland were donning tight suits and trying to ski faster than 156mph.

Verbier hosts the annual Speed Skiing World Championships - where European daredevils wear lycra race suits and bullet shaped helmets attempting to break the world record for fastest skiing. The vertical venue is the steep face of Mont Fort's 10,925' glacier. I skied Verbier a week ago and can attest to the crazy sick steepness of this run and mountain. I made many turns - no tuck.

This year, in hot pursuit of the French speed record set at Les Arcs of 156 mph, the crazy Swiss constructed a 110-foot long plastic ramp with a 60-degree pitch above the speed ski track in an attempt to gain more speed. Unfortunately it didn't work.

The fastest ski time at the FIS XSpeedSki Cup was Simone Origone from Italy at 134.84 mph, he is the world record holder and Verbier record holder at 140.31. His younger brother Ivan Origone was 2 mph behind for 2nd - talk about sibling rivalry.

The fastest woman was Swede Sanna Tidstrand skiing the course at 128 mph. Tracie Sachs was the fastest US woman participating, 118 mph for lucky 13th. There were no US men placing.

So the French race track at Les Arcs continues to be the fastest, where Simone Origone clocked his 156.2 mph and Sanna Tidstrand skied 150.74 mph, both in April 2006. The fastest snowboard time of 125 mph also belongs to Les Arcs and Australian Darren Powell. A new British snowboard record was set at Verbier last week, 94.26 mph for Jamie Barrow. He's 20 and told the crowd how difficult it is to keep a snowboard straight at that speed. I bet that's very true at almost 100mph, thanks for that tip Jamie.

Blame it on Verbier's amazing scenery, I took my time and skied Mont Fort much more slowly, maybe 25 mph tops. Having also witnessed Verbier's wild après ski scene on my visit, I can guarantee that even though this season's ski speeding event was not off the charts, the parties were likely off the hook.

Verbier Switzerland photos by Greg Burke

Not every ski day can be “epic” by definition. But today in Zermatt Switzerland had all the criteria, starting with a delicious Swiss breakfast of fresh croissants, salmon, local cheese and muesli at the Hotel Alex before boarding the first train up the Gornergrat to 9,842’.

We had first tracks on fresh snow and fantastic early morning views of the awesome Matterhorn, while everyone else was still sleeping in Zermatt village. By 11, it was time to ski to lunch - in Italy (because we could)! A long tram ride up to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise at 12,740’, and we were skiing over the boarder to Cervinia for more powder runs followed by an alfresco lunch of fresh pasta in the sun at Chalet Etoile.

With over 37,000 vertical feet of skiing in two countries on wide open powder bowls, perfectly prepared pistes and soft snowy chutes, we felt our après ski was well deserved today. And we just happen to be in the lively village of Zermatt for #ZermattUnplugged – a series of live concerts from noon til late night. Told you it was a great ski day. My only wish for tomorrow: more of the same, and that we not be woken by the thundering roar of an avalanche at 3am. Yes, there is that much snow in Switzerland this season!

Ciao for now...see you on the slopes! Photos of Zermatt Switzerland and Cervinia Italy by Greg Burke

Greg and I have skied some kick butt terrain out west (Snowbird, Jackson Hole and Big Sky come to mind), Delirium Dive at Sunshine in Banff Canada, and even Europe. Well, Verbier in Switzerland just moved in to the top slot for steepness, vastness, and sheer craziness.

Our first ride to the top of Mont Gele, we broke above the clouds for incredible views of the Swiss and French Alps. Perched on this jagged 9,917’ peak, we quickly recognized there were no groomed runs, no marked trails, just steep cliffs and NFT (no fall terrain) down 3,000’ vertical.

The only thing that capped that first descent was our second on Mont Fort, at 10,994’, with amazing vistas of Mont Blanc and The Matterhorn, and more sick steep terrain. We skied a crazy cat walk, clinging to a narrow 18” goat path above a cliff, to a delightful mountain Chalet de Glacier Tortin– the Swiss fondue was to die for, almost literally. Verbier is very cool, very challenging and vast - part of Les 4 Vallées with 410 kilometers of pistes (trails) plus more crazy off-piste terrain than you could ski in a winter. Wish I could stay longer, but tomorrow – Saas Fee!

Mid-winter snow conditions and spring ski events make this a great weekend to ski. Sunday River’s Parrot Head takes place this weekend, with Pond Skimming on Sunday. Sugarloaf is set to host the East Coast Pond Skimming Championships today. Killington’s Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge is on, and Okemo’s Slush Cup takes place today at Jackson Gore. BodeFest is happening at Cannon with Bode Miller himself. Bretton Woods lift tickets are $29 today and for the rest of the ski season.

That’s just a sampling of the ski fun going on around New England. So get out there for some spring skiing and sunshine while you can - sure beats doing your taxes!

See you on the slopes! Photos by Greg Burke

I travel a bunch - it's the nature of the beast as a ski journalist. I am constantly appalled at how much luggage people haul to the airport, pay excess fees for, and return home having never worn half of.

I am a self proclaimed packing ninja. Stealth, and ready to fly at a moment's notice. Admittedly, it's hard to pack "light" as a skier or snowboarder, but here is my packing plan for a weekend, a week out west, or even two weeks in the Swiss Alps. Everything fits in my ski boot duffle bag with two outside pockets for boots and a center compartment, it weighs about 30 lbs., well under the excess fees the airline tend to soak skiers with.

Yes, I always bring my own ski boots, I even carry them on the plane if I plan to ski on arrival day. I wear my ski jacket too. Inside my ski boots, I stuff two pair of skis socks, goggles, and my hot stick plug in boot dryer (can't leave home without them because warm, dry feet are happy feet).

For clothing, I wear a lot of black, it's very European and trendy ...lol. No, actually it just travels well, coordinates easily, hides stains, and doesn't scream "I'm a tourist." I don't recommend jeans when traveling, they're bulky and not always up to dress code. Instead, I opt for black pants (or leggings for ladies) - they are lightweight, you can wear them from fancy to casual. Lay out your clothing, and plan your outfits, pack two shirts that coordinate well, a t-shirt in the event its warm and sunny, and pants (wear one with a versatile belt and bring a second max).

For the ladies (and metro men), a scarf or two can accessorize nicely - adding mileage to your outfits. I also bring a lycra or rayon skirt and tights - in case I get a fancy restaurant invite (a girl can dream and should always be prepared).

A swimsuit is essential, pj's are at your discretion but you certainly don't need your bulky bathrobe. I pack just a few pair of undergarments which can be hand washed in a sink. I swear by Tide disposable laundry packets for this, and for washing stinky ski socks at night so they are fresh and ready for the next ski morning.

If you plan well you can easily fit your lean, mean wardrobe within your ski bag - I separate things in zipper garment squares to stay organized (can you tell I'm a little OCD?). Your toiletries should be travel size - this should go without saying, but have you seen TSA's confiscated box? Besides, who need 10 ounces of shampoo - so why carry it and risk it blowing up at elevation?!

You still have plenty of room in your ski bag for your base layers, ski pants, a shell or fleece for layering, hat/helmet, as follows:

Ski or Snowboard Boots (in a separate compartment)
Ski Pants for colder days, Wind Pants for the warmer days
Ski Jacket for wintry conditions, Windbreaker/Shell for warmer weather
Two Pair of Ski Socks (stuff these in your ski boots)
Base Layer/Long Underwear
Helmet/Hat
Goggles and Sunglasses in their protective cases and tucked inside a hat
Gloves/Mittens /Disposable Hand Warmer Packets
Neck warmer/Balaclava/Facemask
Pocket size sunscreen and lip balm

I love my ski boot bag with wheels, its pricier but a real back saver - reserving my strength for the slopes. Consider renting skis if you are flying.

When you get home from your ski adventure, unpack and launder your ski stuff immediately so it's clean, dry and ready for the next trip...don't let it linger or fester or you will be sorry later. Just like, "No friends on a powder day," I say no excuse for procrastination. Pack and go ski.

Happy travels, see you on the slopes!
Photos by Greg Burke

The 80's were a totally rad decade, except if you were a downhill skier who liked to catch air. That was the era when ski areas mowed down handmade 4' jumps, forbid so-called freestyle air, and were super skeptical of snowboarders and their newfangled tricks. My brother almost lost his pass for launching off picnic tables and hand packing jumps. What a twist that today ski resorts are building 50' jumps, adding metal boxes and rails to terrain parks, open to anyone to huck themselves off.

This Friday and Saturday, Sunday River hosts the 5th Annual Dumont Cup - your chance to see the best free skiers in the country fly off 75 foot jumps and slide metal shooter cannons on an unbelievable slopestyle course on Rocking Chair.

The Dumont Cup is a Pro Am featuring Simon Dumont, Gus Kenworthy, Alex Schlopy Jossi Wells, PK Hunder, Joss Christiansen, Matt Walker, Nick Goepper, Charles and Vincent Gagnier, JF Houle, Colby James West, Alex Beaulieu-Marchand, LJ Strenio and Noah Morrison. If you don't recognize these names, and you are still wearing rear entry boots, you must see this ski event and witness how far the sport has rocketed.

The Dumont Cup is Simon Dumont's vision and event - where he brings his pro ski buddies to his home resort, and invites amateurs to compete for a top spot in the finals with the best. Past winners Gus Kenworthy, Alex Schlopy and Nick Goepper's careers launched following their podiums here. Simon, now 26, grew up skiing Sunday River and has become one of the most decorated free skiers in the world, his most recent medal - a bronze at this year's X Games at Aspen.

The March 29 -30 Dumont Cup is like the Winter X Games of the East for free skiing, and your opportunity to witness risky, jaw dropping tricks, triple corks and quad twisty flips at Sunday River - as skiers amped on Red Bull compete for $20,000 in cash, bragging rights and a burgeoning ski career. It's still surprising to me and my brother, children of the 80's, that this kind of big air is allowed, never mind encouraged! Go see for yourself. Dumont Cup at Sunday River Photos by Greg Burke, above Simon & 2011 winner Nick Goepper

"The fact that you are back skiing so soon speaks to the passion that you have for the sport and for your ski writing," said my editor friend Susan Grisanti. Fellow ski writer Amy Patenaude (of the Pat's Peak family) said, "Heather, I believe you have never taken for granted how much you love to ski and that you didn't need an injury to remind you how much you love to fly downhill! You are strong and fast and fun, and we all want you back on the slopes!"

Comments like that make me grateful for what I do, and for the people who share my passion. I am also thankful that my tibia fracture did not sideline me for the entire ski season - just 5 painful weeks. The physical discomfort was nothing compared to the emotional frustration and fear of losing what I love. Writing about skiing from my desk looking out at the continually accumulating snow was anguish. But I had friends sending me texts and messages that they were skiing my favorite runs for me, keeping me in the alpine loop in my absence. I appreciate my close-knit ski family and community more than I can express.

This weekend at Sunday River, being able to ski wall to wall corduroy, cranking arcs on a white welcome mat of soft snow with friends was amazing. We skied 45 runs and logged 54,000' of vertical in two days - which is way more fun that rehabbing on a stationary bike! Shout out to to Sunday River's groomers for the seamless carpet from Jordan Bowl to White Heat.

I thank all of you, friends and followers for your kind words of encouragement, for reading my blogs, even when I was fractured and freaking out, broken and blue, and for the big smiles when you saw me back on the slopes.

And finally to my husband, my forever ski date and photographer, thank you for shoveling all that powder snow that fell in February and for not pointing out the obvious - that I jammed up our winter plans with my injury. But the rest, and the best, is still to come this ski season. Stay tuned.

See you on the slopes!

Sunday River Photos by Greg Burke

On any given Saturday, dedicated skiers have had several invigorating laps on the ski slopes, before most folks have gotten out of their pajamas. Up before dawn, driving to the mountains for those first fresh tracks requires organization and a serious passion for the outdoors in winter. I often think to myself at around 10am on a weekend how much fun I have already had so early in the day. Mind you, waking up and making the trip before sunlight requires some self talk, because that warm bed could easily win. Coffee helps too, and heated car seats.

If you are a fellow skier or snowboarder, you know the joy of getting out on snow. You know how awesome alpine skiing makes you feel. And you feel a little sad for your friends who just don't get it. But you don't try to convince them, or over promote the snow sport - since it's something you either love or leave alone.

Some of my friends think we are crazy to spend our days off on cold snowy mountains, making long trips with tons of gear, spending serious money for a ticket to ride a suspended lift and strap boards to our feet and slide down a slippery hill. I suppose they have a point. But you and I know that along with the risk and the regimen (read: no sleeping in on Saturday or Sunday) comes huge reward. We skiers are doers.

See you on the slopes.
Photos by Greg Burke

If I picked the wrong winter to fracture my leg, at least I chose the right resort for a little ski rehab getaway. Bretton Woods and the Omni Mount Washington Hotel provided just the cure for Greg and me. Greg was eager to ski, and explore Mt Stickney's new "side-country" terrain, all-natural, un-groomed glades located on Bretton Woods' eastern slopes serviced by a new T-Bar. Already the largest ski area in New Hampshire, Bretton Woods is beloved for its pleasant, well groomed intermediate runs accessed by four high speed quads, and awesome views, but in the last decade they have added dozens of interesting, low angle glades that make the mountain ski so much bigger.

While Greg threaded exciting lines through the trees on skis, I lounged in the luxury of the grand 1902 Hotel - feeling like a Princess in her snow castle surrounded by elegant chandeliers and granite fireplaces in the Great Hall and Conservatory, and our beautiful room with a view of 6,288' Mount Washington. We first stayed at the Hotel in 1999, its first official winter season - and loved the lavish lodging after a day on Bretton Woods ski slopes across Route 302. It's even more posh now that Omni Mount Washington Resort has spent $80-million and added a Presidential Wing with a spectacular Spa which blends well with the prominent hotel, adding top shelf treatments in a luxurious setting.

Greg returned from skiing with a smile and tales of interesting trails like Inferno and Enchanted Bear. I wasn't even bitter, since I had my own intriguing stories, from my historic hotel tour, of Princess Carolyn's haunting presence in Room 314 (maybe I will get the courage to stay in Carolyn's spirited canopy bedroom next visit). We soaked in the immense outdoor pool, then sipped cocktails in the fairytale-inspired Princess Room before dinner. The Cave was not open during our midweek stay, so we will have to come back for that too. How often do you get to party in a real speakeasy bar in the brick and stone basement of a century old Hotel?

Staying in this white winter palace surrounded by Presidential views inspires relaxation and appreciation. I found myself thinking of the "well to do" who came to this gracious setting in the 1920's for a summer of social and outdoor indulgence. There remains a timeless elegance in this environment, and plenty to do at this majestic Hotel, and the surrounding White Mountains.

So many ski resorts claim to cater to the non-skier (or the wounded one in my case), but few offer more than skiing, après ski, and standard lodging. Omni Mount Washington Resort does it all with style - Canopy Tour Ziplining, snowshoeing, indoor and outdoor rock climbing, dog sledding, skating on a year round synthetic rooftop ice rink, spa-ing, cooking classes, afternoon wine and whiskey tastings with the sommelier, dancing in a prohibition cave, and drinking in this 111-year-old architectural marvel with its splendid scenery.

Omni Mount Washington Resort has specials like "Stay Here, Ski Free" lodging packages starting at $99 a night, per person, double occupancy. For day trippers, the Zip and Ski at $99 is a deal, as is the $129 Ski & Spa and the $160 Zip & Spa.

Knowing how beautifully Bretton Woods grooms, I even slipped in a ski run to lunch at Latitude 44, Bretton Woods' mountaintop restaurant, so the rehab went very well (shhh, don't tell my doctor).

While you were skiing (or shoveling) fresh snow, dermatologists were discussing your exposed epidermis in Miami Beach this week at their annual meeting. Everyone equates South Beach with a need for sunscreen, but when it's cold and snowy in the mountains, we are more concerned with frostbite and windburn than sunburn. The American Academy of Dermatologists wants to warn you that UV rays at elevation can be significantly stronger than at sea level. At 10,000-feet, the UV index is 40 percent higher, for example. Add to that the refraction factor, as snow reflects as much as 80 percent of UV rays back up toward your skin. So, basically - you're toast!

Being a ginger, I know too well that freckles (a cute term for sunspots) pop out on my face like Outer Limits moguls on a spring ski day. So I always wear a high SPF - even in freezing, flat-light December. But according to the 2012 report by the Sunscreen Environmental Working Group, “common sunscreen ingredient vitamin A (retinyl palmitate) may speed the development of cancer.” Other confusing chemicals in sunscreen include oxybenzone, diethanolamine, salicylates and parabens. What's a fair skin skier to do? Steer clear of fair weather? Stick your head in the snow bank?

The latest advice from the Derms is to cover up - so don't toss that balaclava or bandana in your ski bag just because it feels like spring. Seirus makes “Dynamax Bandanas,” with UPF 50 that block up to 99 percent of UV, completely chem-free and kind'a cool. It's what all the shredders in the park are wearing and they look gangster (which is a good thing apparently). Shaun White, fellow ginger, wears one. A broad spectrum sunscreen is also recommended, ideally containing zinc (preferably without the above mentioned offenders).

See on the slopes. I'll be wearing broad spectrum sunscreen and a bank robber bandana - so you might not recognize me.

photos by Greg Burke

Dan Egan was an extreme skier long before the term was dropped by every mediocre skier on the mountain. He and his brother John have been going big in ski films ever since Warren Miller first spotted them at Sugarbush in 1978. The Egan bros have skied all over the globe.

These days Dan Egan is more about pushing your ski envelope than his own. Since 1990, he has operated Ski Clinics - providing small X-Treme Skiing camps that focus on fun while improving your technique, building your confidence so you can conquer steeps, bumps, or even the Big Couloir at Big Sky (pictured above) - one of the steepest scariest runs in North America. Dan loves sharing the extreme ski dream with skiers that want a piece of that excitement, and the skill set to go with it.

This weekend March 9-10 Egan hosts his "Explore the Beast" clinic at Killington. This two-day session, with a 1:5 coach to skier ratio, takes you from trail skiing, working on carving and bumps, to glades and backcountry terrain, for an all mountain ski camp. Dan's clinics are first and foremost fun, his smile and humor are contagious, and his tactful teaching method teamed with his vast vertical experience is just what most skiers need to take their skiing to the next peak. Unlike a traditional ski lesson, these camps include a welcome party, two full days on snow, lunches, video analysis, and evening tech talk. Its pricier than a standard group lesson, but a lot of bang for your $358 bucks.

Egan gives exclusive tips on how to pick a good line and read ski terrain, for example. "I teach total body skiing, which focuses on balance, controllable acceleration, and expanding the type of terrain people ski," said Egan.

March 14-16, Dan is off to my personal favorite - Big Sky in Montana, where he will guide a group skiing the steep lines of Lone Peak, the biggest vertical in the country and home of the Big Couloir. This 3-day camp is all about honing your steep ski skills on un-groomed, off-piste, often unforgiving terrain.

Other upcoming Ski Clinics include Val d'Isère France, Tuckerman's Ravine Fridays in April, and summer ski adventures to Chile. So yes, Dan Egan is living the extreme skier dream, but you can tag along for a taste at one of his clinics. Maybe Dan's clinic tips will land you in the next Warren Miller, Meathead Films or TGR ski video.

There are a few spot remaining in the Killington and Big Sky clinics. See more on Egan's Ski Clinics and we will see you on the slopes.

Big Sky Big Couloir photo by Greg Burke

My friend said picturing me sidelined with a broken leg mid ski season was like taking candy from a kid (or crack from an addict, but I should edit that). Skiing is my thing, for sure. I love it, I write about it all winter (and much of the summer). Downhill skiing kind of defines me, and 90% of my facebook friends and photos. And never before had it been taken away from me. I'd seen it happen to many ski friends and family members including my husband Greg and my beautiful daughter Aspen - who blew their knees skiing. So when the MRI indicated a fractured tibia, a part of me cracked too. I didn't burst into a fit of tears, or get mad (couldn't very well stomp out of the ortho office in a huff). I just went silent - and calculated the Doctor's prescribed six weeks.

Ironically, I injured my knee skiing the Twister Trail (ha, ha, very funny) on day 4 of an 11 day ski media trip. I knew immediately it was bad, that I had done some damage, maybe bruised a bone. But I kept skiing, kept going on our ambitious multi-ski resort road trip. It was hard enough admitting to my husband Greg that I had hurt myself, never mind facing more ski PR people with my situation. "Hi, I'm a professional ski journalist, see my notepad and my knee brace..no really, I'm fine."

So I was confined to groomed cord for the next seven days. These were not doctors orders, just self-preservation. Thankfully Telluride, Durango and Wolf Creek all served up white carpet for me - plus some sweet fluffy powder at Telluride that I was able to float on for some fantastic ski photos by Greg.

I see now how people question my skiing with a fracture (unbeknownst to me) - the photos are all smiles, snow and scenery (no grimace)! Not sure if that makes me a martyr or a maniac? Please don't answer that, its purely rhetorical. Stairs and getting in and out of my ski bindings was harder than skiing, if that's any consolation or explanation. For the record: Greg was my binding enabler, or accomplice.

Two comments caused me the most contemplation:

First, the ski patrol at Telluride said "You have been skiing for 43 years and never been injured? You're pretty lucky." Really?!

Secondly, there was my big brother who said, "Sis, this is actually the best thing that could have happened to you!" What?!

Okay, I get it. Skiers injure their knees. This is my dose of downhill humility, though maybe not lucky or the best thing ever. I will come back, I will demonstrate more compassion for others who have overcome far greater ski injuries than me (shout out to Lindsey Vonn). And I will appreciate the sport I love so much - even more. Just for the record: I already loved skiing a lot! It's my addiction - like candy only sweeter with less calories. Take a run for me. See you on the slopes (3/15, but who's counting?!).

US Ski Team racer Ted Ligety became the first man in over four decades to win three gold medals at the World Championships, not since 1968 when French racer Jean-Claude Killy won 4 Golds has there been such a stellar ski performance. Ligety did not get the quad gold in Slalom on Sunday, but he took Gold in Super G, Super Combined and GS in Schladming, Austria last week.

The US Ski Team needed this big victory after Bode Miller stepped down due to injury and Lindsey Vonn's Austria Championship attempt ended with a horrific crash and airlift on Feb 5. Vonn and Miller are both recovering from knee surgery.

Ligety hadn't been in the spotlight much, until now, and he capitalized on the moment. Post race, Ted praised his Shred Stupefy Goggles, saying "Being able to put my head down and charge with a 360° clear field of view has enabled me to take extra risks. It's been by far the best week of ski racing in my life."

While Ted Ligety was shredding gates and winning in Austria, his signature line of Shred Goggles and Brain Bucket helmets were turning heads in Denver at the SIA Snow Show - an annual gathering of ski manufacturers flaunting next year's gear.

Ligety’s latest MEGA BRAIN BUCKET Helmet offers the most impact protection plus cool technology of a unique PIN inside the helmet, ICEdot is an In Case of Emergency ID which can be text messaged to a designated number and an automatic reply will be sent with critical information about the injured wearer. Shred will equip all helmets with this unique PIN system, think of it as the OnStar for skiers and riders.

So Ligety is skiing like a rock star and rocking his cool swag. Won't every kid on every race team want some steezy Shred Goggles like Ted and a Half Brain Helmet? Shred Optics and Helmets come in super fun colors (like dayglow green and nastify orange), and are completely integrated to work seamlessly together.
In other ski racing news, 17-year- old US skier Mikaela Shiffrin won her first World Championship slalom at Schladming, the third youngest gold medalist in slalom and the first American woman to win since Barbara Cochran in 1972. Mikaela is a Burke Mountain Academy girl.

Great results for the USA, less than a year away from Sochi Russia's Winter Olympics. Go Team.

Photos Courtesy of Agency Zoom

Next time you think you are dropping a big line, doing a fancy trick and laughing in the face of danger, think of Sverre Liliequist in Zermatt, Switzerland. Check out this video from yesterday, at The Swatch Skiers Cup 2013 Competition.

Sverre not only outruns a big avalanche he triggered, but he manages to toss in a svelte back flip while skiing just ahead of this huge slide. I hope he won a free Swatch watch for that! Do not try this at home, or in Zermatt.

The ensuing days since Nemo blanketed the Greater Boston area have given us plenty of images of people navigating the city on skis, but now emerges video of one snowboader who took to the vertical of Beacon Hill in a clip that proves the neighborhood doesn’t ski too badly when there are 30 inches on the ground.

H/T: Ski The East

I have done some crazy things on snow, mushing a dog sled, zip lining at over 60mph at Gunstock, no brakes on Okemo's Timber Ripper Mountain Coaster, riding in a snow cat at night, heli-skiing. Rodeling, riding a wooden sled down 7.5 kilometers at Quebec's Le Massif Ski Resort, certainly qualifies.

Le Massif's Luge, which opened last winter, is a 4.6 mile km sled trail, the only dedicated sled track in North America and the 3rd longest in the world. "Rodeling" comes from the authentic European style alpine wooden runner sled called a rodel. Rhymes with yodel, but you may be more apt to scream as you fly down Le Massif's resort vertical, 2,483,' reaching speeds of 50mph perched on your rickety runner sled.

This crazy Canadian adventure begins with a debriefing by your two Luge guides, one of which is a ski patrol, as you gear up with a helmet and heavy boots, plus your protective ski attire. You have a choice of feet or head first, I chose to sit up for the phenomenal view of the St Lawrence Seaway, and the hope that I'd get less snow in my face sitting versus the appropriately named hammerhead sled.

After a snowcat ride to the top of La Luge, a few safety tips and steering instructions are given. It's counterintuitive that you steer by leaning where you don't want to go, and use your feet to brake - carefully so you don't break an ankle, yikes. After practice passes on a small pitch, the guides release us like a 20 pack of crazy Canuks.

Within 100 yards, my husband flies off the side of the trail and lands in a snow bank. I surprise myself by not stopping for him when I see him smile. I barrel on, bumping along on my squirrely sled. Seeing sledders bob and weave and occasionally crash in front of me is exciting, scary, hilarious, as I grip my ride, speeding and skidding my way down the groomed track. Steering is tricky. It doesn't come naturally to lean into the fence or tree you don't want to hit.

Two tight turns, lined by bright red netting, prove too much for a few ahead of me and they get tangled up, but I manage to slip through the crashes. Halfway down, we stop at a log cabin for libation and a headcount, all are accounted for and laughing about our luge antics thus far. Speeding down the final and fastest section, we glimpse the scenic St Lawrence River as we approach sea level. More hairpin turns eject a few from their sleds like popcorn, but no one is hurt, they jump back on and hustle to get back into the race. Arriving at the trails end, it's fist pumps and laughter, as we head for the gondola, blending in with skiers for our ride back up Le Massif.

This crazy sled ride wouldn't fly in the US, so go Luge at Le Massif for $35, for the adventuresome and above 12 set.

I love Lindsey Vonn. She’s a fantastic alpine skier, she always looks fabulous, and she is super friendly to her fans– taking time to talk give autographs to my daughter and her friends’ at Sugarloaf’s 2008 Alpine Championships. But when I said I wanted to be just like her, I didn’t mean I wanted to be at the Orthopedic Surgeon having my knee MRI’d at the same time as Lindsey. By now you have seen her horrific crash in Austria. I will spare you mine from a week ago in Colorado – it was far less spectacular, and much less televised.

I crashed and twisted my knee on day 4 of an 11 day Southwest Colorado ski trip. I went on to ski several runs each day on the gorgeous groomed soft snow at Crested Butte, Telluride, Purgatory at Durango, and Wolf Creek. But I knew something was very wrong, there was pain and a pervasive fear that my favorite activity was in jeopardy.

Suddenly I was able to relate to all those knee injured skiers before me, including most of the US Ski Team, my husband and daughter, and a good percentage of my ski friends. When I described my injury to a ski patrol, he was impressed by the fact that in 43 years of skiing (I started really young - 3) I had not had an injury.

Well, I'm no Lindsey Vonn, no illustrious race career hanging in the balance (I can still write about skiing). Lindsey tore her anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament, and fractured her tibia, scheduled for surgery in Vail, Colorado next week. I only fractured my tibia, thankfully no ligament damage or surgery for me. I am not comparing, nor am I pandering for sympathy - I will ski again this season. Still, I already miss skiing, badly.

I can only imagine Lindsey's longing to get back to training and skiing, and her frustration at how things can change in a fraction of a second. I know Lindsey's eyes are on the prize, competing for more Gold at next February's Sochi Olympics. I simply look forward to getting back to the skiing that I love.
Telluride Colorado - Heather Burke skiing with a broken knee, and at Wolf Creek, Photos by Greg Burke

Don't you wish Survivor would take its show to the snow? For 26 seasons, the Reality TV series has been staged on some sandy beach, a sun soaked island, or warm weather safari. I vote that Jeff Probst put on a winter coat and strand his castaways in a ski chalet somewhere in the remote Alps.

It's time to mix it up Mark Burnett, with Immunity Challenges involve sledding, snowboarding and skiing. Imagine how cool (pun intended) a ski off, sled race, or snowball fight to the finish would be. The winners of each Survivor Reward Challenge could be whisked away via helicopter over snowy peaks to some fantastic alpine spa for fondue, hot showers, hot tubs, mulled wine and a chance to whine about their fellow competitors by a fire wrapped in fur blankets.

I am not suggesting that the 20 Survivor players be exposed to frost bite or hypothermia, or risk freezing to death. Probst and crew will have to work out the details, build primitive but provisional chalets for each tribe, and maybe an igloo or snow cave for the Tribal Council Ceremonies. When the tribe has spoken and you are voted off the mountain, your torch is snuffed and you sled off down the snowy slope.

My point, we need more seasonality to Survivor, and other so-called reality shows, we need a real winter scenario. Snow, rime, and cold-hard reality would make such a riveting stage. Is anyone else tired of the same old tropical beach scene and bikinis after 25 seasons of Survivor? It's time to feature some spectacular snow locale, leaving castaways in the cold to "out play, out winter and out snow plow" one another. Show us some serious winter survival skills.

This February marks the 26th season of Survivor, "Fans versus Favorites" in the warm sunny Philippines... yawn. I propose "Skiers versus Riders" in the remote alpine, Survivor Alps - the winter edition. Would you send in your audition tape to CBS in hopes of competing to become "Soul Survivor Alps" for a $ million and mountain bragging rights?

Austrian Alps photo by Greg Burke

I am in Colorado skiing, a trip booked back months ago – knowing the snow would be a sure thing, unlike New England conditions, right?! Guess again, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado have been well - rocky, with a lack of snow until the first snow in a month moved in to the South West same day we did. Coincidence? I think not. As an East Coast skier, you learn to ski anything, do your snow dance and be ever optimistic. Coloradoans are more meteorologically spoiled most winters, they pout when they don’t get their pow.

Our arrival day (leaving Manchester NH at 7am), we skied eight great afternoon runs at Arapahoe Basin, snow was skinny but soft, and snow clouds loomed. Next, Greg and I skied Monarch Mountain (never heard of it? full story later) and the snow began to accumulate. The locals at this fun mountain thanked us for our good snow karma.

Crested Butte received a foot of fresh snow when we arrived - bringing many powder thirsty locals out for first chair. We were the new kids in the lift line, outed as Easterners with our skinnier skis, but we were praised for bringing the heavy foot plus of snow. We skied up to knee deep on trails and glades, trying to match laps up with the Butte’rs who live at 10,000’.

Next on our Colorado ski odyssey: Telluride received two feet of snow this week (see a pattern?). Today we skied between Telluride’s beautiful western sunshine and sparkling snow, as amazing terrain opened up for the first time all season. You’re welcome Telluriders. On our ski safari still is Purgatory at Durango - they got 37”, Silverton Cat Skiing and Wolf Creek each received 40” from this last storm.

I can’t actually take credit for this Colorado snow, but I am taking pleasure in it. You should consider booking your trip now, since ski and stay deals dropped when snow was down, and the snow situation is looking up!
Telluride and Crested Butte Photos by Greg Burke

We Eastern skiers think we do "après ski" well, but the root word and the real deal obviously ordinates in the European Alps. Killington's Wobbly Barn, The Matterhorn ski bars at Stowe and Sunday River (not related), and North Conway's Red Parka Pub are all very lively after the lifts stop spinning.

After a trip to Austria last winter, let me say - we are mere amateurs with our après alpine antics. Après ski in Austria, Switzerland and France starts with wine at lunch at a mountainside chalet (if not schnapps shots before), continues at umbrella bars on the slopes, before carrying on at ski bars dancing to a DJ or live band in ski boots.

I have been to the self-proclaimed "worst après ski bar" in the Alps, The Mooserwirt in St Anton where I witnessed post-powder partying in a different league (ok I did partake - research). The Mooserwirt rocks every afternoon from 3-8pm with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of skiers drinking shots and steins, dancing in ski boots to the tunes of DJ Gerhardt. It's a wild winter scene. And that's not the only crazy ski bar! Just across the ski slope is the Krazy Kanguruh, or KK to those in the know, with more hopping après ski - owned by world champion ski racer Mario Matt.

The best and worst aspects of both these St Anton ski bars is that they are ski in ski out. The ski in part is cool - click out of your ski bindings and drink beer with a view of St Anton's village 200 yards down the snowy trail. But imagine the ski out, skiing those finally 20 turns after drinking for four hours! We enjoyed our après, then retreated to the sophisticated Mooser Hotel (same owner, same chalet - but so much more subdued, even spa-like on the hotel side) for a gourmet dinner in the slopeview restaurant, where we watched a few wasted skiers make their way, and their wipeouts, back to the village. It was like viewing highlight reels of Austrians' funniest home videos gone vertical.

An awesome high altitude bar in Austria is the panoramic Mountaintop Star at Obergurgl - it takes three lift rides to reach the 10,111' summit lodge, where the bartender told us, "Sorry, we don't serve food, just drinks!" It's a long ski down after those libation.

If this Austrian après ski sounds enviable, St Anton tourism officials might disagree. They have introduced a volunteer but suggested no-ski-boots-after-8pm policy, fed up with drunk skiers stumbling around their pretty alpine village after dark in full ski attire. So bars must close and send the crazies home by 8pm. The hope is that the après-ski crowd will go back to their St Anton hotels, remove their stinky ski boots and ski togs, shower, sober up, then patronize the village's restaurants for a satiating dinner before sleep, and skiing the amazing Alps again the next day. #SkierProblems
Photos of St Anton and Obergurgl Austria by Greg Burke

It's National Safety Awareness Week through Jan 27. Annually the National Ski Area Association reminds us to ski and ride with care, and "know the code. "

Everyone on the slopes should "know the code," but I continue to witness cluelessness on occasion. Maybe we need to "break it down" for those bone-headed boarders and stubborn skiers. Let's make the 7 ski safety tips crystal clear:

1. Always stay in control.
Translation: you should be able to turn and/or stop at any moment during your skiing and riding. This includes avoiding stationary objects - lift towers and trees that won't move out of your way ever, and other skiers who make an unexpected turn or stop. Note to Bomber Boy flying straight down a groomed boulevard at 35mph:your perfect elevens to the base are not evidence of "control."

2. People ahead of you have the right of way.
Like driving your car, if you are going to pass someone - you need to be sure you can do so with plenty of space so as not to impede their safety. Sorry, this even applies to trail hogs sweeping across the entire trail, if they are below you, you have to give them all that space and more.

3. Stop in a safe place for you and others.
The best placed to stand is usually on the side of a trail and on the top of a knoll clearly visible to others but not in bowling strike range. Chilling out under a big joey jump or snow whale could result in you as a landing pad.

4. Whenever starting downhill or merging, look uphill and yield.
This may be my biggest ski peeve. Don't just push off down the hill or pop out of an intersecting trail without looking up to be sure you don't cut someone off. Didn't you mother teach you to look both ways before crossing? Same concept only simpler - just look up!

5. Use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.
Ski brakes, snowboard retentions straps - I hope this one is self explanatory. If you have ever searched for a lost ski in deep snow, or watched a ski soar like a javelin down a steep slope, you'd know.

6. Observe signs and warnings, and keep off closed trails.
Don't duck ropes, the patrol put them there for a reason - yes, without consulting you. Ask a few of the 45+ skiers and riders who became search statistics this season how "cool" it is to be lost on a snowy mountain.

7. Prior to using any lift, you must have the knowledge and ability to load, ride and unload safely.
How about, if you cause the lift to stop because you're ill-prepared, prepare for the wrath of everyone else in lift line? Take a lesson, ask a liftee or another skier for instruction before your first time.

Have a fun safe time on the slopes and follow the 7 rules. Ski patrol have been known to give free ski passes to those who know the code. If you are due for a new helmet, purchase one at Killington Sports this week and get a free lift ticket.

Dress warmly, see you on the slopes!

Imagine my surprise when a facebook friend pointed out a flaw in my ski technique. At first I was peeved, then my curiosity piqued, then I was consumed with this constructive carving criticism or unsolicited ski tip (depends upon how you look at it, right?). His pointer:

"To improve the turn shape bring the downhill ski up to be equal with the uphill ski. Both skis are equal to make the transition to the next turn fluid. You don't want your downhill ski to fall back and behind," Jim Dougherty, of the Snow Pro iPhone split screen app.

It turns out, pun intended, that this is a common shaped ski situation, when ski tips are uneven - you don't finish what you started - a completed turn. As you are carving a turn, take a look down to see if your downhill ski even falls behind your uphill ski? This simple check and correction can really make a big difference in your technique.

I experimented with this little pointer, and found that with a little tweak, my ski turns really improved.

Sure enough, keeping your ski tips almost parallel helps you carve most effectively, and keeps your "knees above skis." The more you tip or tilt your skis on edge, the more your uphill (inside) knee bends and your downhill ski wants to slide back. Pull your uphill ski and boot back to maintain more even ski pressure, or move your downhill ski forward in the turn. Either way, this simple drill distributes your weight and power on both skis for better carving (read: less skid). It also reduces rotation - that bad habit of turning your upper body and arms with your skis. You get more resilience and dynamic performance (better bend from your boards) by completing the turn too. At the end of your turn, shift and roll to the other side and start the process again, lather - rinse - repeat.

The best place to practice this technique is a low angle, well groomed slope, a trail run out is perfect for experimenting since you can get the sensation at slow speeds before taking it up a notch on steeper terrain. Be sure if you are making big arcs that you have sufficient room to avoid cutting off another skier or rider. No one likes a trail hog.

Remember this is free ski advice, worth what you paid for it, and no substitution for a private ski clinic. I haven't taught skiing or given any technical tips since I was a ski instructor at Smugglers Notch two decades ago. So take this ski tip with a clump of snow, but I wanted to share because it helped me. Enough tech talk, toy with it if you wish, and enjoy your skiing.

I am going to go out on a frozen icy limb and say skiers are honest and trustworthy. My experience with lost and returned items at ski resorts is far better than in my other everyday pursuits. This is surprising since skiing is such a gear intensive, expensive sport - you would think it would be a finders keepers losers weepers scenario on the ski slopes.

I never expected that my husband's goggle, which flew off his hat while skiing at Okemo this weekend, would actually be returned to the "lost and found." Whoever picked them up off the Heaven's Gate ski trail could have easily popped them in a pocket and enjoyed the $200 Smiths for the rest of the season. I was shocked when Greg walked out of the base lodge with a big smile and his retrieved red goggles. Thank you to the kind ski stranger who went the extra mile to return them.

Similarly, I had completely written off my wallet which fell out of my ski jacket pocket a few seasons back at Sugarloaf. Imagine my astonishment when it was returned a month later, it had been buried in the snow on Spillway, but was sent back to me intact including the $20 bill.

My son "misplaced" his phone while skiing at Big Sky Montana, it was turned in at the end of the day - a bit wet but whatever. This does not typically happen at the mall, at school, in public places. People who ski just seem to me to be more considerate, kind and honest. If its karma, I am glad I picked up a guy's phone one day at Sunday River, called the last number dialed and was able to track down a friend skiing with the phoneless guy and give it back at the Barker base lodge. He was stoked, I know the feeling.

I am not going as far as to say skis and snowboards don't disappear at resorts (its like leaving hundreds of dollars unattended), so keep track of your gear - note to self. But I am thankful to the honest skiers and riders that do the right thing and help a stranger reunite with their stuff. And I am glad I don't have to buy my husband a replacement pair of goggles for Christmas.

A little ski math, I typically log 40, maybe 50 if I am lucky, ski days in a season. My husband Greg tracks our vertical with his handy Vertech Ski watch and with the Alpine Replay iPhone app - for comparison. Okay, so we are a bit obsessed, but we enjoy measuring our time on the mountain, typically bagging 10 runs before lunch. It's a game, it keeps us going. Our average ski day, we accumulate about 26,000 vertical feet, so that squeaks us in at just over 1,000,000 vertical feet in a ski season. I have always thought our alpine accumulation was worthy, till I saw Tom Hanson's stats.

Sugarloafer Tom Hansen has us beat, by four times - geez. If this ski season seems like a bummer for many of us in New England, it has been a hummer for Hanson. He has skied 105 days, logged 4,239,462 vertical feet (yes, 4 million) in 2,841 runs, which is the equivalent of 6,346 miles. I don't know how many Bag burgers he has burned in calories, but for a 60 year old guy with arthritic knees and a heart condition, I am impressed. It gets better; Hanson has raised over $2,500 in pledges for the Ski Museum of Maine while tackling the mountain. You can still contribute to Hanson's charitable charge at www.skimuseumofmaine.org and you can track his stats at Sugarloaf's Alpine Replay, but I doubt you can catch up with him.

Sugarloaf Photo by Greg Burke

My season's accumulation of grievances and grudges are not a big deal, but simple ski etiquette could cure these alpine annoyances and mountain mishaps, and probably improve everyone's day on the slopes. So here you go, my top ten skiing pet peeves.
Don't ski while talking on a cell phone, it's like driving while texting. Skiing and riding require your full attention. Cell phones should only be used as a communication device to hook up with people you are skiing with, not for blathering to your buddy at home while booking down the hill. How about pulling safely off to the side of the trail to make or take a call? And please refrain from long, loud extended conversations on the chairlift when in the company of others - surely that conversation can wait.

Don't crank your iTunes so loud and blare over your chairlift companions' conversation. Besides common courtesy, if you are so tuned out while skiing, you may not hear the approaching snowmobile or groomer.

Don't ski way above your ability level. It is okay to challenge yourself but it is not okay to endanger yourself or others by skiing out of control and being unable to stop, turn or avoid others. The trail designations, green circle, blue square and black diamond, are there for your benefit. Work up to each level and remember that trail designations are unique to each ski area, the level of difficulty typically refers to their trails - so a black diamond at Stowe is more difficult than at Bretton Woods.

Don't bomb straight down the trail just to reach the Terrain Park, make the most of your run, and your time in the park. Maybe it is just me, but I find it rude and reckless when park skiers just beeline to the park, cutting skiers off, then skid a big skid stop, producing a huge snow cloud to finally check their speed before the park entrance.

Conversely you should not just bomb through the Terrain Park, even though the best untouched cord lies on the sides. Whether or not you are using the elements; you must respect the other riders' turns and allow for safe intervals. Terrain Park etiquette requires that you be aware of who is hitting what element, who is next, when to call your drop, and quickly clear landing areas for the next jibber.

Racers, the ski area does not exist solely for your run. Cutting liftlines and carving huge trenched arcs on your way to the race course with no regard to other skiers (people who paid full price for their lift privilege) is not very cool, despite your expensive spandex suits and razor sharp skis. Assuming you are god's gift to skiing is ill advised. Very few of you, like .5%, will become the next Bode Miller or Lindsey Vonn, the rest will join the ranks of recreational skiers and hopefully find racer behavior annoying.

On the subject of lift lines, don't enter the lift corrals until you are ready to ride said lift. Standing with your board or skis blocking the entrance jams up the flow. Floundering with your gear, trying to find your group, digging for your ticket to show the liftie, and missing chairs makes you look like a joey (or a punter if you speak Canadian). Causing the lift to stop because you do not slide out in time for the chair will not win you new ski friends.

Don't attach your lift ticket to the main zipper of your jacket. It looks ridiculous, and worse, it whacks you in the face as you ski.

Don't be a gaper, avoid the big gap between your goggles and helmet, or your hat and helmet - it looks amateurish and will subject your forehead to the cold, wind, sun, and ridicule.

Don't assume you can just pick up the sport. Get a lesson, instead of teaching yourself or getting a few pointers from your buddy. The money spent on professional instruction will reduce your risk of injury, improve your long term enjoyment of the sport, and accelerate your proficiency in the sport of skiing or snowboarding. We can all spot a self taught skier by their technique (or lack of). Photos by Greg Burke

Yes, the snow is melting fast, but the events calendars are heating up in ski country. Put your bike and golf clubs down and go ski this weekend. The big action is going down at Sunday River's Dumont Cup.

Some of the biggest names in big air and big ski tricks, Jossi Wells, Gus Kenworthy, PK Hunder, Torin Wallace, Alexis Godbout, Joss Christenson, and Alex Schlopy, are coming to Maine to compete in the 4th Annual Dumont Cup, a pro am slopestyle contest. Their host is X Games Gold medalist and Maine native Simon Dumont, who founded this event after breaking the world record for a quarter pipe jump in the spring of 2008 at Sunday River.

You can be front and center, in Rocking Chair Park at Sunday River, to watch amateurs work their way through elimination rounds on Friday, March 23. 40 skiers will be selected to compete Saturday against the seven top pro skiers for cash prizes of $25,000. You can ski to the venue, or walk up the snowy hill near the base of Barker Mountain. Unfortunately that is how host Simon Dumont will be attending his own signature event, he pulled out of Euro X Games earlier this month when he tore his ACL, then flew to Vail and underwent surgery last week, so he will not be competing on skis as he has done for the past three years. So it goes with big aerials, big consequences.

Ironically, last year's Dumont Cup was cold and windy which caused blustery tailwinds and several big crashes along with the big tricks. Nick Goepper won with a cork 900, switch dub rodeo 9 japan and a dub cork 10 mute (feel free to look that up in your freeskier dictionary or YouTube it). Goepper's ski career has launched since, this pro am event helps amateur freeskiers show their stuff, meet their montors and grab some attention on the East Coast. This year, the Dumont Cup action should be huge, the snow should be soft, and the spectator scene should be amped up on sunshine and Red Bull giveaways - one of the event’s big sponsors, along with Target, Oakley, Nike 6.0, HEAD, Toyota, Giro, Rockwell, Seshn, Empire Attire, and Kicker. The Dumont Cup is televised on NBC Sports, to broadcast April 10.

If you have not seen the Dumont Cup, it is like X Games slopestyle skiing comes to Maine instead of Aspen. And if you have not had your fill of skiing, The River has over 450 acres of skiing still.

3rd Annual Dumont Cup Photos by Greg Burke

So mom was right, again. Everything eventually comes back into style. Take a look at ski fashion, hats with huge pom poms and shiny metallic ski jackets are back. Another huge trend at the annual 2012 Ski Fashion Show in Denver was the return of rainbow colors from the 80s. Of course, ski wear manufacturers are smart enough to change and update ski styles, so you will look dated if you just drag your old bright red parka out of the basement (besides you will smell of moth balls). Here are the top trends in ski fashion from the runway, and at ski shops near you.Top 10 Trends in Ski Fashion

1. Color is back, replacing black as the default for skiers. At Snowsports Industry of America’s annual fashion show, bright colors in stripes, squares, and blocks were big and bold for skiers. Frankly some of the loud colors remind me of my second grade playground jacket, with wide bands of contrasting bright yellow, red, green and blue. But, these candy colors are a cheerier choice than black or white. “Brighter colors are appealing simply because they are happier and represent energy and action,” said Michelle Hollingsworth, Obermeyer's lead designer.

2. Cougars are popping up on the slopes, and we are not just talking about 40+ divorcees in the singles line. Rossignol has wild cougar, tiger and zebra inspired ski outfits from designer JC De Castelbajac, other ski clothiers are pushing animal print too.

3. Silver and gold sound like NASTAR ski medals, but these glamorous shiny fabrics are coming to fall line fashionistas, very 70s disco-tech. Metallic gold, silver and bronze quilted jackets are being offered by Obermeyer and Rossignol, perhaps geared more toward Aspen's clientele than New England skiers at Wachusett.

4. The pattern is for patterns. Next season's ski wear offers big plaids and prints matched with bright colored ski pants (picture lime green, orange, poppy red) or vice versa - crazy graphic pants with an eye-popping solid colored jacket.

5. Snowboarders buck the trend, of course. While skiers are moving to bright and bold colors, inspired by snowboarding, riders are moving to business attire styles for the slopes in black and brown plaids, even gray flannel and tweed. Burton and Bonfire are both producing more subdued city-street style snowboard clothing. I guess at 30-something, snowboard attire is growing up and looking for some respect.

6. Fur is back, but this time it is for everyone - women, men, kids, even snowboarding teen jackets have fur trim. Whether you go for the real deal or faux, fur is being used in ski jacket trim, hoods, glove cuffs, boot toppers, and hat pom-poms for next season. M Miller, a luxury ski wear company based right here in Boston, sports gorgeous furry hoods in their Alpine Heritage collection, all made in the USA.

7. Ski gear keeps getting smarter. Every year, snow sports fabrics improve with new technology - today's outwear and base layers are thinner, softer, stronger, more weather resistant and even odor preventing. So your old jacket from the 80s, while perhaps a re-trending color, is not composed of the latest greatest moisture wicking, wind and water resistant, lightweight material.

8. Phone friendly fingers in gloves are the latest rage. Ski glove companies like Gordini make Smart Gloves with a zip-out lined finger for touch screen operation. So you no longer have to freeze your finger to answer a phone call, text your ski buddy, cue up another song, or take a photo on top of the ski mountain. Cool…or toasty as the case may be.

9. Goggles are going Star Trek, as companies like Zeal and Smith Optics roll out the next generation of genius goggles. The Smith I/O Recon has an LCD screen inside the goggle lens with GPS, vertical tracking, weather stats, you can even video your skiing, record your air time, and check your email when connected to your smart phone. These sophisticated goggles are about $650 so I am not sure what a hot seller they will be. Besides, it sounds like visual overload – you are supposed to be skiing.

10. Stay tuned for more ski fashion trends. Aspen Fashion Week is going on right now, ski designers Obermeyer, Heli Hanson, Killy, Dale of Norway, and SKEA will be featured on Aspen’s Snowstage for those who want to be in the know. Of course, some fashion cycles flop, like the reintroduction of the one-piece ski suit (aka: ski onesie, jumpsuit, fart bag) a few years back.

Now, if we could just stage a few alpine ambush makeovers on the New England slopes, to help out the guy wearing his NASCAR jacket and jeans, and the gal in her flannel pajama pants and a Belichick Patriots hoodie – probably not the best choice for snow sports.

Photos by Greg Burke, and courtesy of Rossignol and M Miller

Sugarloaf is a big mountain, with a big fan base. At 4,237', Sugarloaf Mountain is the tallest ski summit in Maine, rivaling Stowe at 4,395' and Killington at 4,241'. If you have never skied this massive mountain in Carrabasset Valley, well, you can't say you’re a Sugarloaf since___ then, can you?

The Loaf is the closest thing to a ski cult I have ever encountered. There are some rabid Mad River Glen lovers, and some absolute Alta enthusiasts, but their bonds seem more of an old school, anti-snowboard society. Loafers are extremely devoted, even defensive, about their downhill ski resort. They all sport the iconic blue and white Sugarloaf triangle sticker on their cars, their helmets, their boot bags. They travel with extra stickers and plaster them in prominent, even peculiar, places to prove their love. I have seen Sugarloaf stickers at ski areas around the globe. A few fiercely loyal Loafers have what looks like the black diamond Sunday River logo sticker, but upon closer inspection it reads "Someday Bigger."

What spawns this Sugarloaf love? What drives downhillers to drive hours to this remote resort, to endure extreme weather, to ski steep firm terrain off the exposed summit?

Here is my stab at the recipe for this Sugarloaf passion. It is certainly one part history. The Bigelow Boys and Amos Winter were determined to build a ski hill here, and much labor and love made Sugarloaf happen in 1951. The first trail, Winter's Way, remains a testament to their hard work, and events like the Sugarloaf Schuss from 1952, continue. Sugarloafers have a ball, literally, at every milestone, sometime they serve the authentic, intoxicating 1951 Grand Lake Stream punch (the Kool-Aid of Carrabassett?). Most importantly, these crazy ski families haul back (ski trail pun) to Sugarloaf every weekend and school break, a tradition kept for generations. The ski décor repeated in most condos consists of retro Loaf photos and wooden skis mounted to walls. A few flush Loafers paid fortunes for defunct gondolas and Spillway chairs at auction for haute interior design.

The love of the Loaf is also undeniably one part terrain. When the snow is right (like right now) and the snowfields are blanketed in white, Sugarloaf is awesome. When that is not the case, you sharpen your edges and carve (or skid) down Gondi line, a long unforgiving charge down the center of the Loaf’s face where the 1965 gondola passed.

Every racer worth his salt has competed on the headwall of Narrow Gauge (like Bode Miller), and you are no bump skier if you have not skied Bubblecuffer top to bottom – no stopping. Over the years, trails have been widened, Eastern glades in Brackett Basin have been opened, pipes, parks and boardercross courses have been added (with two time Gold medalist, native Seth Wescott’s support), but most of Sugarloaf's terrain and trail names remain - legendary.

The rest of the Loaf’s formula must be the people. Sugarloafers are a community (sorry if I said cult before). They queue up long before the quad starts churning, place their skis in the lift line to mark their spot, then walk around in ski boots socializing with fellow Loafers till opening bell. They ski in predictable patterns, a few warm up laps on the Superquad, then to Spillway (now the new Skyline Quad – but many still call it Spillway), to King Pine and Timberline when it opens. They ride t-bars when the wind puts chairlifts on hold. They wear crazy outfits for White World Week, Easter, and Reggaefest. They have spirit, they are infected with Sugarloaf-ism, which is clearly contagious - even in outdoor quarters. Every time I write about Sugarloaf, my inbox fills with comments, criticisms, and cult-like kudos.

Here is my tip (Sugarloafer since 1993), go now, ski the Loaf in March and April, when the winds calm, the sun comes out, the recent snow has piled up, and the events crank up. This is when Sugarloaf rocks. You may find yourself bragging about bagging The Gauge and Gondi by 9, craving Bag burgers by noon, and slapping Loaf logo triangles on your car. You can still become a Sugarloafer since 2012.

Photos by Greg Burke

A bang board sounds like a terrain park feature you bonk with your skis or board. But no, the original bang board was a solid oak plank located at the top of Gunstock Mountain's 1935 rope tow. The rope tow slipped through a drilled hole in a wooden board just prior to the bullwheel. If skiers had not let go of the fast moving rope in time, or their gloves or coats got caught, they would bang into the board. How's that for an aptly named, primitive but effective safety device?

Skiing was a hearty sport back in 1935 in New Hampshire, according to Carol Lee Anderson, author of "The History of Gunstock." But you did not have to pay for your lift ticket unless you survived the rope tow and made it to the top. "Tickets could only be purchased at the top of the tow, so if any injury occurred on the way up, liability was not an in issue." Already skiing had earned the reputation as a risky sport, put into the same insurance liability category as a roller coaster according to Anderson.

That original rope tow, known as "Gunstock's Ski Hoist," was the country's second following Suicide Six's rope tow in Woodstock, Vermont. Gunstock's rope tow was made of 6,200 feet of rope that traveled at 30mph, carrying only four skiers at a time, according to Anderson. Talk about earning your turns when and if you reached the top, and did not smack the bang board. Even a successful tow ride tended to shred the crude leather ski gloves or woolen mittens if your grip wasn’t super secure.

Skiing at Gunstock has come a long way since rope tows and the first chairlift in the East in 1938, a single chair built by Maine-based Hussey Manufacturing, which was the second chairlift in the country to Sun Valley, Idaho.

Today, skiers ride Gunstock's Panorama high-speed quad to the scenic summit, you can ski or snowboard down, or Zipline the entire descent in three speedy sections. The downside, nowadays you have to pay before you ride. "The History of Gunstock" is a great read, full of anecdotes of Gunstock's evolution, quoting legendary locals, Olympian Penny Pitou, and Torger Tokle - the Norwegian ski jumper.

Tokle is revered for his long-standing record of soaring over 250-feet off Gunstock's Nordic jump in 1941. This February marks the 75th anniversary of Gunstock's 70-meter, dedicated as the Torger Tokle Memorial Ski Jump. Gunstock Mountain's Historic Preservation Society is currently restoring all four Nordic ski jumps, the 10, 20, 40 and 70-meter.

We tend to believe today's young jibbers, jumpers and freeskiers are pushing the sport by going bigger and better than their predecessors, but it’s worth looking back at our alpine ancestors and their ski survival skills and ingenuity that brought us the sport we continue to loved today. Gunstock has been a trend setter in skiing from first lifts and ski jumps to today’s Big Air Bag and the longest Zipline tour in the Continental US. Thankfully, there is no wooden bang board at the base of Gunstock's Zipline, just lots of springy rubber stoppers.
Rope Tow Photos courtesy of Bob Arnold, his grandfather Fritzie Baer was GM at Gunstock 1950-59

Gunstock Photo by Greg Burke

Yesterday at Wildcat, the wind howled and blew the 6-9 inches of fresh snow around in furious whirls as we skied down the un-crowded slopes. The strong winds must have kept most skiers at home on this otherwise sunny and super scenic day at Wildcat, because there were no lift lines on a February vacation week Sunday, even with a fresh coating of snow.

Despite no lines, Greg and I were glad to have a gentleman join us on the Wildcat Express quad, for his companionship of course, but also his help weighing down the chair in the brisk wind at the 4,062' summit. I immediately noticed the 80+ Ski Club patch on his jacket, and struck up a conversation during our lift ascent (it's what I do). Frank Davis, of Madison NH, admitted he gets about 40 days a season, lots of runs too. He was "bummed" that if Wildcat's speedy summit quad went on wind hold, he would not get his usual 26 runs.

I told Davis that was an impressive number of ski runs in a day at any age. He said he had just spent the previous week at Stowe Vermont, and skied 133 runs in five days, tracking a whopping 273,000' vertical. Davis said, "I was skiing with my grandkids (ages 25 and 27 by the way), and I told them there is no time for stopping, we do our talking on the chairlift."

Davis was going to ski Loon the following day, he had all the deals worked out on where to ski, and when. I asked him what was his secret to skiing so vigorously at 80? He replied, as our chair ride ended, "It’s all in the genes." Then he smiled and said, "Just don’t wear ‘em too tight."

What can I say; Davis was my inspiration for the rest of the ski day. The wind would not die down, but we did not either. We skied all of Wildcat’s scenic, well groomed runs (all with clever cat names like Bobcat, Feline, Cheetah, and Catnap), and a few soft snowy glades off Wild Kitten too. After all, it would have seemed wimpy if we had let the wind gusts keep us from getting our 20,000+ Wildcat vertical, if an eighty year old guy can do it.


Photos of Wildcat by Greg Burke Feb 26, 2012

My ski friends ask me how to pack for a ski vacation out west, or even just a two hour drive to the mountains. Apparently the task of ski packing causes serious stress for some skiers. What you pack, and what you leave home, has a big impact on your ski trip. Forget your goggles and you are shelling out serious dough for a replacement pair - no last minute deal for dummies.

Here are some of my ski packing tips and tricks:

Ski resorts are not fancy, so you can get by with one pair of pants and a few après ski shirts, or ski sweaters. Wear boots with good treads for walking around the (hopefully) snowy resort. If you are marginally fashion conscious, make sure everything you pack matches. I recommend a lot of black, its slimming, hide stains and looks slightly dressier than blue jeans. Always pack that swimsuit, there is a reason every ski hotel gift shops sells swimsuit for $80, because everyone forgets this small, easy to pack but easy to omit, hot tub essential.

If you are flying to your ski destination: I recommend carrying your ski boots on the plane (stuffing ski socks or gloves inside). I wear my ski jacket and have my goggles, gloves, the absolutely essentials handy, so that if (or when) the airline loses my luggage - I only have to rent skis. Make sure your ski and boot bag are well labeled with your name and cell number, plus the address and phone of your destination inside and outside your luggage. I have had my gear delivered at 4am to our ski condo because I provided this detail, and therefore did not miss any ski time despite delayed bags.

Check your big heavy ski boot (having moved your ski boots into your carry-on) with your ski stuff, and après ski clothes, but carry on your essential toiletries in the requisite ziplock for TSA inspection. On your trip home you can put your ski boots back in the checked boot bag, as their arrival home is not as imperative as it is for your ski trip.

Look into renting skis and compare the cost difference versus airline bag fees. If you are bringing your skis and poles, use rubber bands or Velcro straps to keep skis together tightly, then stuff extra ski clothes around them as padding – bag theses items in plastic so that the binding grease doesn’t ooze out onto your outfits.

If you are driving to the ski resort: Call ahead to see if your accommodation has a kitchen. Bringing a pre-made dinner, breakfasts, snacks and drinks, saves time and money during your stay. Hauling frozen lasagna only to find you have no oven however is a bummer.

Bring a small packet of clothing detergent, your necessary power cords for phones, etc.

See, that was not so hard. Think of the fun you will have once you are packed and hitting the snow.

Ski Bag Contents:
ski or snowboard boots, ski socks
hat or helmet
mittens/gloves
googles/sunglasses
neck warmer or balaclava
base layer –thermal long undies, and a fleece layer
wind and waterproof ski pants and jacket
season pass or lift ticket coupons
hand/toe warmers, lip balm, sunscreen, energy bar

Photo by Greg Burke

Fate and fall line magic were at play when it comes to my ski love story. You could say it all started when my stepfather rode the Gunstock chairlift with my future father in law back in 1978. During that long double chair ascent, my stepdad bought a ski lodge in Vermont, basically sight unseen. So our family packed and moved to Smugglers Notch Vermont to run the Red Fox Alpine Lodge. It was several years later that I met Greg, the son of the aforementioned chairlift real estate broker.

I will never forget the day at Smugglers Notch when Greg and my eyes met. I was too young at that first brief encounter, 16, still there were stars, that magic feeling. Time passed, I grew up a little, but I did not forget him.

I ski instructed at Smuggs during my college years at UVM. That’s when I saw him skiing, making powerful smooth arcing turns below me as I rode the Madonna chair. Who’s that? I asked, and wouldn’t you know it was Greg again, the man destined to be my forever Valentine.

One of our first dates we skied at Stowe. The sun was high that spring day, the moguls were soft, and my knees were weak (as the saying goes) not just from the many runs we took on the Front Four. It’s all history now, but one thing remains true, skiing is our glue. Even teaching our kids to ski was something we tackled together, the fun, the tears, the stress, the expense, and the joy of seeing them excel and love skiing as we do.

Skiing is such a romantic sport, at least for me. It’s exhilarating facing the winter elements, gliding down a spectacular snowy mountain with that someone special. As I think of our best moments together, many have been on a ski mountain somewhere. It’s not always a perfect sunshine, fresh snow day; we have skied in the rain, the howling wind, we even got lost in Zermatt. Skiing challenges us both, there are lots of ups and downs, just like a marriage.

We both love skiing, and sharing that passion has been a significant part of our romance and the fate that keeps us on track. There are many ski places we have yet to visit, and our mutual bucket list will bring us there together. I hope you find your forever ski mate. I know I am “waxing” too romantic, but Happy Vertical Valentine’s Day.

If you are not first, you are last. This is the mantra around my competitive family. It applies to suppertime, and certainly skiing. On a powder day, or a perfect corduroy morning, there is nothing that compares to being on that first chair, looking down at untouched snow, knowing you are about to beat everyone else to the goods. You will get to leave your signature in the snow before the bed heads and the stragglers hit the slopes.

I am hooked on first tracks at Sunday River; it is like having your private ski mountain. I have experienced first tracks in perfect cord, on squeaky talcum powder snow fresh from the Sunday River guns, and last Friday six inches of dry light fluffy snow. The conditions for first tracks are usually the best of the day, and the camaraderie is high quality too. You are in company with others who prioritize skiing, and you get to meet Sunday River management – perhaps even the GM. Dana Bullen is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, and a great skier to boot.

Sunday River charges $25 per person for First Tracks on weekend and holidays, you must have a lift ticket or season pass as well. Once you have signed up at least 24 hours in advance, you get to load the Chondola to North Peak at 7:15am for 45 minutes of privileged skiing, typically on Spruce Peak, prior to the lifts opening to the public at 8am. First Tracks skiers and riders also get a cool sticker for bragging rights, and a coupon for hot cocoa in the lodge. When you take a break at 10am, after ten laps, you see the sea of skiers arrive. You can just imagine they are wondering who tracked up the trails already, while you reflect on your early exclusive runs.

Saddleback has Ski with Management at 7:30am on Sundays, no charge, no sign up, just show up with a valid lift ticket or pass, enjoy freshly groomed or freshly fallen snow, followed by coffee and pastries with your new friends.

Sugarbush has first track cat skiing at Lincoln Peak for $75, up to 12 skiers and snowboarders board the Lincoln Limo snow cat at 7am for private skiing prior to the lifts opening.

First Tracks is like the backstage pass of skiing, you should be an expert or advanced skier or rider to keep up with the enthusiastic group. You will be on the mountain with patrol and usually some major players from ski area management. Of course, you have to drive to the ski resort at dawn, but when you board that first chair and the early sunlight is sparkling off the fresh snow awaiting your ski signature, it’s worth every second stolen from your pillow.

Photos by Greg Burke of Sunday River First Tracks

Over a million skiers and snowboarders were glued to their TVs this weekend, and 70,000 fans were on their feet witnessing the four days of live action at Aspen’s Buttermilk Jan 26-29. The Winter X Games are huge, certainly bigger than ski racing in the U.S. Launching huge tricks and flips in a halfpipe, and sliding down frozen staircases and rails, is apparently more entertaining than chasing sticks down a slippery ski slope.

If you missed the party on snow in Aspen, here are highlights. Shaun White made redheads (like me) and snowboarders everywhere proud when he five-peated his Gold medal performance in Snowboard Superpipe with a perfect score. He launched a double cork 1260 with an injured ankle, impressive or insane; this is why people watch these games.

Norwegian Torstein Horgmo who won Snowboard Big Air last year brought an even bigger triple cork 1440 to this year’s event to earn silver, but Canadian Mark McMorris’ backside triple cork mute 1440 earned Gold.

U.S. Tom Wallisch won the Men's Ski Slopestyle, and David Wise won Skiing Superpipe with a switch double flip, the first American to win this showcase event since Tanner Hall in 2008. Wallisch and Wise were referred to as the old men on the podium at age 24 and 21 respectively. Yes, the Winter X Games is a decidedly young fresh venue where skiers and riders launch crazy twisting inverted flips, with the occasional big crash. The snowmobile double backflip crash by Justin Hover (hover - ironic name) was particularly harrowing.

The most somber moment during this Winter X Games came during a Sarah Burke tribute, just a week after her tragic superpipe ski accident in Park City, Utah. Many of the 200 athletes at the X Games dedicated their performances to Sarah, who was favored to win Gold, with purple ribbons and “I ski for Sarah” stickers. Her Canadian teammate and friend, Roz Groenewoud won the Women’s Ski Superpipe event, and said after her emotional victory lap, “I definitely felt like I had Sarah with me.”

This was the 16th Winter X Games, and more gnarly events continue to be added, like street style inspired ski and snowboard events. Winter X Games first started in 1997 at Big Bear in California. The following two years were held at Crested Butte, Colorado. Then Winter X Games moved east to Mount Snow, Vermont for two seasons. Ever since 2002, the Winter X Games have been held at Buttermilk in Aspen, Colorado.

If you missed the mayhem, and death defying tricks in Aspen over the weekend, put the 4th Dumont Cup at Sunday River on your calendar March 23-24, 2012 to see top freeskiers compete.

Photo by Greg Burke

I know everyone has football on the brain for this weekend, but ski season is finally here. Thursday night’s snow in the White Mountains, Maine and northern Vermont dumped almost a foot of snow. Friday morning skiing at Loon was the best of the season, with about 10-inches of soft fluffy snow blanketing the groomed trails for those fortunate skiers.

So the skiing this weekend should be fantastic after groomers have had a chance to smooth out Mother Nature’s gift into perfect corduroy. I predict many people will skip skiing, instead glued to their TVs, or going to the package store to gear up for Sunday’s Pats game. But if you are a core skier, I suggest you can do both, ski and still be ready for Sunday’s kick off against the Ravens at 3pm.

Playoff football is the best possible après ski. With high speed quads, you can have your 10-15 runs, be done by noon and home in time for football. Ordering pizza and putting your Pats jersey on does not take that long. Find a seat on the couch with a beverage in hand and nachos nearby after your own thigh burning work out on the white slopes that morning. Gronkowski and Brady will be taking care of pre-game preparation at Foxboro, so go ski and enjoy the snow, now that fresh powder and the AFC Championships are finally here…

photo by Greg Burke

Turns out the Hollywood moguls love Wyoming just as much as skiers. Celebs like Harrison Ford, Sandra Bullock, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel like hiding out in Wyoming. Dick Cheney lives here too. The stars are drawn to the same attraction as we are, the postcard-perfect scenery of the Grand Tetons and big mountain skiing, but the cowboy culture of no tolerance for paparazzi has them staying.

We discovered our own heavenly hideaway while skiing Wyoming, it’s called Amangani, and it’s amazing. Arriving at Amangani is like reaching your private hideaway above the spectacular Teton Valley of Jackson. This new west hotel is tucked on a mountainside, perfectly blended into the landscape with low-profile architecture of natural stone and wood. The concierge and management team welcome us by name and whisk us into a grand three-level lobby of soaring redwood, flagstone and glass that frames the beautiful setting. As if on cue, a herd of elk graze outside.

Despite my excitement, I lower my voice in this spa-like atmosphere, as we tour the 40-suite resort. Our spacious suite has all the latest luxuries in an art-deco new meets west motif, plus a private balcony, extravagant bath with slate walk-in shower and soaking tub all framed by floor to ceiling windows to the valley and aforementioned elk.

We put on our fluffy robes and head to the spa for the awesome outdoor heated pool and hot tub with distant views of the ski slopes of Snow King and Jackson Hole.

After a spa soak, it is time for après ski drinks from the Zinc Bar in the expansive lobby with two grand fireplaces. There is also an inviting fireside library stocked with games, DVDs and guidebooks to all the other Aman Resorts. Amangani is one of 19 posh properties spread across 13 countries.

Dinner at Amangani Grill is truly haute cuisine above 6,000’. Native bison, elk, and steelhead trout prepared by a James Beard award-winning chef, served in the dining room with yet another fireplace, fantastic artwork, and more windows on Wyoming.

The next morning, we could take the complimentary shuttle to ski legendary Jackson Hole, just 20-minutes away, where Amangani has an exclusive Ski Lounge for your boots and gear. But after skiing Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee for several days, we decide to ski Snow King Mountain in town. Dating back to 1939, Snow King is Wyoming’s first ski area, and still the steepest ski resort in the country with a real retro feel. A double chair takes you 1,571’ vertical to the summit where you ski 40-degree trails of soft snow, providing sensational views down to the town of Jackson and the Grand Tetons beyond. There are no groomers, blue or green trails, off Snow King’s 7,808’ summit.

Whether you ski, shop the wild west town of Jackson, or roam with the wildlife in the nearby National Parks and Elk Refuge, you know you have Amangani (translation: peaceful home) to retreat to at day’s end.

Wyoming is addictive, it’s hard to leave. I see why so many New Englanders and the Hollywood set have moved here for big mountain skiing, serious snow (it’s snowing heavily as I write this), gorgeous Grand Teton scenery, cowboy culture, no crowds. There are so many reasons you should ski Wyoming.

Photos by Greg Burke

Grand Targhee doesn’t make most skiers’ must-visit list, that’s just one reason this Wyoming ski area is a must. Among others: 500+ inches of snow annually, stunning Grand Teton scenery, a low-key friendly vibe, and one of the best après ski bars I have seen in years.

Grand Targhee is a big small ski resort. Targhee has big mountain skiing on 2,602 acres of wide-open terrain from groomed bowls to powder runs, plus a plethora of steep chutes. But Grand Targhee’s base is a small, humble ski village where you can be one of the lucky few staying in only 100 lodging units. Otherwise the nearest towns of Alta, Wyoming, and Driggs, Idaho, are 12 miles down a curvy access road, where you find more lodging – but we loved the convenient casual atmosphere of staying on mountain.

Grand Targhee is the antithesis of Jackson Hole, just an hour away. Targhee’s three mountain peaks offer everything from long groomed cruisers to moderately pitched bowls, to avalanche chutes. Targhee doesn’t have any fancy hotels, but doesn’t get lines for first lift either, just friendly locals and incredibly soft snow on 2,270’ vertical.

We did laps on the Dreamcatcher high speed quad and the Blackfoot double chair on Fred’s Mountain, admiring the amazing Grand Teton at 13,770’ that dominates the skyline. Next we skied Peaked Mountain’s short but exciting chutes and broad Medicine Bowl served by the Sacajewa Quad. On a powder day at Targhee, a frequency, you can be getting freshies all day. If all that’s not enough, Targhee also has 600 exclusive acres of cat skiing.

Staying on the mountain in the compact village, we could enjoy après ski at Targhee to the fullest. For family activities, there is snow tubing, snow biking on fat tires, snowshoeing, Nordic trails, or just soaking in the outdoor heated salt water pool and hot tub. If your kids are 12 and under, they stay, ski and eat free when you buy an adult ski and stay package for three or more nights. Targhee even organizes game nights and movies for kids during the week, so parents can enjoy The Trap Bar. The Trap is everything you picture in a ski bar, nothing fancy, just fun people dancing in ski boots to live music, a retro setting with a view of the ski slopes.

Dining at Grand Targhee is limited to a few places, but The Branding Iron serves delicious Kobe beef, soups and salads, while the Snorkel makes a serious breakfast burrito. One night, we took Miller’s Sleigh Ride Dinner for an authentic horse drawn sleigh through the snowy forest to a wood fired yurt where cowboy Miller himself served us heaping plates of steak, Wydaho potatoes and homemade scones drizzled with honey butter. For entertainment, Miller tells stories of the rodeo and ranching. I recommend you dress warmly and BYOB, this is no Disney ride - this is the real deal.

After a few days, we felt like family. Grand Targhee is a special place with plentiful snow and super nice people. I should also tell you that you ski free with any North American ski pass when you book three or more nights lodging at Targhee this winter. There are so many reasons why you should ski Grand Targhee. Oh, and it’s snowing there right now…

Photos by Greg Burke

Pfft. Yeah, but what's the vertical?

HT: @ozskier

Taking another page out of the Disney handbook, ski resorts are adding thrill rides to their on-mountain offerings. First it was fuzzy mascots to make the kids feel comfy at otherwise cold, unfamiliar ski camps - like Mickey Mouse in the mountains. Now mountain coasters, ziplines and canopy tours are popping up on trail maps like moguls on Outer Limits in March.

The reality: zip lines and mountain coasters are less expensive than fancy high-speed quads or gondolas, and the fun factor for families is an added amenity to your alpine vacation. Besides, with today's high-speed lifts, you can easily bag enough ski runs by 1 p.m., leaving the afternoon to pursue other sensations with your kids that don't involve further burning of the thighs.

Jiminy Peak, Okemo, Cranmore, and Attitash have added mountain coasters to their alpine operations. These open-concept two-seater cars ride on a metal track, you head straight up the hill on the rail then descend at speeds of 20-plus mph (with your own hand brake) down the twisty, turning steel track. Basically, it's a ski area roller coaster. The ride is short, about 5-7 minutes, but promises to be exciting at $9-$15 a pop. Okemo's "Timber Ripper" is thought to be the fastest, dropping 375 feet vertical, and reaching speeds of 25 mph.

Look for zip lines and canopy tours at Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Loon, Wildcat, Smugglers and Bretton Woods. Cable lines run from tree-to-tree in the ski area forest canopy, and you are harnessed in for your descent from platform to platform. Zip excursion range in price from $25 to $110, and can take one hour to three, depending upon the length of the tour  - Bretton Woods' is the most scenic and longest in New England, descending 1,000 feet.

So, now you can have your amusement park adrenaline rush in ski country. Look for ski and stay packages that bundle these activities, or discounts for pass holders in their inaugural season, and add a little zip to your ski trip.

Photo by Greg Burke For more of Heather's family ski tips go to www.familyskitrips.com

I had a great season skiing in India with Allen Taylor, but despite all the fun we had, something was missing. I've been skiing at Stowe for the last four years, and in that time the mountain has come to feel like home. I was pretty bummed that I'd missed out on skiing at Stowe this year when, out of nowhere, this freak storm swung through and hammered my favorite hill. Suddenly, all the pow I was sorry I'd missed was back in town.

After several phone calls back and forth, we decided on an early start, and prepared ourselves to hike until our legs didn't work. Below is just a sample of what we found, the full trip report, is HERE.

Eric just posted Allen Taylor's video, but there was a lot more to those days than was shown in the movie.

I had recently resigned myself to the fact that it was a low snow year, and had begun to start making plans for more summer-like fun. "Where did I put my mountain bike and do those climbing shoes still fit?" had become pressing questions. Just as I was starting to to accept the hard truth that summer was just around the corner, April decided to get its act together.










I hope you've enjoyed the privilege of skiing the snow that's fallen in the alpine over the last few days. If you haven't though, don't worry, there is a fairly major storm forecasted for the middle of this week!

These, and many more, photos can be found on the Famous Internet Skiers website, or by clicking HERE

The skis have been put away for the summer (OK, they're still in my car). But Allen Taylor's recent video of events on Mount Washington over on Famous Internet Skiers isn't going to aid in the marital bliss that is pledging the yard work will finally get done in lieu of any skiing to be had.

I mean, the grass isn't that high, right?

MTW Spring '10 from Allen Taylor on Vimeo.

By Sam Lozier, Boston.com Correspondent

Ski blogger Sam Lozier has returned to the U.S. after spending a chunk of this winter skiing in India.

For what turned out to be our final ski objective in India, Amit, Allen, and I decided to go for a peak that would get us over 5,000 meters. Amit was a little fixated on the number, and the peak he wanted to hit seemed like it had good skiing as well, so we all got on board.

Shittadar Peak, more boringly known as Friendship Peak, is near the head of the Solang Valley. By Himalayan standards, even Kullu Valley standards, the Solang Valley is quite accessible and small. Within the upper Solang Valley, Shittadar Peak is the smallest and most accessible of the prominent summits ringing the valley, so what we went through to get up it should give you a good idea of the enormity of the peaks in the local area, and the Himalayas at large.

Allen, en-route

A late, 9 a.m. start, got us out the door and up the road past the Solang ski area by 10 a.m.. With our poorly maintained bikes beginning to lose power and overheat, we rolled to a stop at the mud pit that was the end of the road, and began hiking up the Solang Valley towards Beas Kund.

It was getting extremely hot, to the point that I was sweating profusely in light, rolled up, soft-shell ski pants, and a sleeveless shirt. As we skinned in, we observed some large snow rollers, and a massive rock fall across the valley, both sides of dangerous warming of the snowpack.

Allen and Amit breaking trail up towards Beas Kund

Allen in his really cool hat.

Slaving away under a hot sun.

I wasn’t kidding, there we’re some really huge snow rollers. This one was up to my elbow.

Allen, clearly forgetting how much work skinning is.

On the home stretch. This location definitely had the views!

After several hours, and a few thousand feet of pleasant skinning, we arrived at a flat, protected spot near the base of Friendship Peak and began building our campsite. Due to several weeks of warm temperatures and bright sun, there was not enough snow to build a snow-cave, so we resorted to a snow trench and a tarp. As we planned to wake up at 1 a.m. to start hiking the next morning, and weren’t going to get much sleep anyway, our accommodations weren’t much of a priority to us. As we’d gotten into camp early that day, we spent the afternoon eating, melting water, and enjoying the view up and down the valley. After several, lunches, snacks, and dinners we were finally in bed by 9 p.m., dosing off to sleep to the sounds of increasing winds and the tarp snapping in the breeze.

Yurt, Chalet, Condo; call it what you like, but it wasn’t that bad.

We tried to burn this image into our brains in preparation for a pre-dawn start in the morning. Shittadar peak is the tall snowy thing in the middle.

Due to the steepness of the valley, we lost direct sun at 4 p.m., even though the sun doesn’t set until almost 7:30.

Another good view from our Yurt.

Amit, shown here sporting a wonderful goggle tan, really liked our kitchen. We even had granite counters!

Sunset across the valley.

One last pot of water to melt before bed. (photo: Amit Paul)

Two alarms were required to wake us in the morning, but when we finally did wake up the air temperature and wind were both surprisingly mild. We sat in our sleeping bags for almost an hour scarfing down peanut butter and nutella sandwiches before finally getting out the door and starting our hike at 2:15 a.m.

Despite trying to memorize what the route looked like during the previous afternoon, we encountered several route-finding challenges. The slope we intended to start the day on turned out to be too steep and icy to skin, so we abandoned our original plan in favor of a more direct route up a chute. Once at the top of the chute, we were faced with a strange, rolling yet slowly climbing, slope in front of us that, as we hiked along, continually defied all estimations of scale, especially in the total darkness of a moonless Himalayan night.

Me, getting my skis on my backpack in preparation for bootpacking. (Photo: Allen Taylor)

Himalayan sunrises are pretty cool.

Me (to Amit): You know, this trip really surprised me, I would have thought the Himalayas would have been colder
Me (several hours later, pictured above), eating those words with an extra big spoon.

Booting up the steep, icy, slope. We left crampons and axes at home to save weight, which turned out to be a questionable move.

After four-and-a-half hours of climbing by headlamp, just as the first rays of pre-dawn light were brightening the sky and the wind, which had been gaining force all morning, reached the height of it’s strength, we came to the base of slope too icy to skin and even a little sketchy to boot pack up. As we got our gear ready for the hike, I began to get intolerably cold, but Allen graciously lent me his mittens, saving my day. At the top of the steep, icy pitch, we found that we were, in fact, not yet at the ridge, but still about a hundred meters below it. Another fifteen minutes more, and we were finally (FINALLY!) on the ridge, in the sun, and, unfortunately, also the wind. We sat around for a few minutes, trying to warm up before setting off up the ridge forwards the summit.

Not 10 minutes further, we crested a ridge and were shocked to learn that we were still not on the summit ridge, but that we were, in fact, on a lesser ridge that abruptly ended in the middle of a large face that we would have to boot up (too steep/icy for skinning) for at least another thousand feet before gaining the summit ridge.

They say it's better to lead than follow. That’s especially true when you have to follow this walking view ruin-er. (Allen, gaining the false summit ridge.)

Allen, following Amits skintrack towards the final open slope.

Up to this point, we’d been moving pretty quickly, and gaining altitude at a headache inducing clip. By the time we got to the snow slope though, we were at a crawl. Somewhere on the slope, we crossed the 5,000 m mark, and to make it more challenging, the snow we were climbing was extremely crusty, necessitating time-consuming rest-stepping. When we finally reached the real summit ridge, we were all feeling the effects of altitude in the form of fatigue, headaches, and a mild dizziness. After a short rest we pressed on though, to a high point at 5,100 m, where we stopped for lunch. The summit lay another hundred meters higher, but the steep, exposed snow below it would have taken at least another two hours to climb in our condition. We decided that since the snow below us was already starting to warm, it would be smart to eat lunch at our current location and enjoy great skiing, rather than push on to the summit and therby expose our self to the dangers of thin air, and late afternoon snow.

Check out the rest of the trip report over on Famous Internet Skiers.

 

Off the hook.

That sums up our weekend at Sunday River. You see, I was chillin’ with my new freeskier friends Jossi Wells, Peter Olenick and Tom Wallisch (codename: T-crack) at Sunday River’s Second Annual Dumont Cup. Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day at Sunday River for me, my kids and a thousand other frenzied fans. The pro-am event, hosted by Bethel’s own Simon Dumont, was a huge hit – literally, given the slope style venue featuring two monster jumps.

Young kids went crazy as Dumont tossed out giveaways of his trademark Empire gloves along with cans of Red Bull, Salomon swag, and Target gift cards. But the craziest aspect of the event was the monster air and huge tricks the competitors performed as the afternoon, and the spring day, heated up.

The finals included the top 10 qualifying amateurs (narrowed from a field of over 100) competing with Simon’s famous freeskier friends Justin Dorey, Gus Kenworthy, Mike Riddle, Wells, and Wallisch - the winner of the first Dumont Cup last year.

As a parent, I find the inverted air these ski athletes get is plain scary. This is definitely a “don’t try this at home” situation. But it’s truly impressive to see the acrobatics they perform while launching high in the sky.  And they look like they are genuinely having fun (yikes), both the pros hanging out with their fellow X Game guys, and the amateurs savoring the opportunity to perform for, and against, their idols.

The winning trick came from amateur Alex Schlopy, who beat out the pros with a switch double 1440 (I believe that’s a backward double flip with four full rotations on skis in mid air). Dumont did not compete in the finals, leaving the field open for second place finisher Joss Christensen and Wallisch in third. Perhaps he was being gracious, or he was saving energy to sign autographs for the growing number of fans.

Aside from the daring Dumont Cup, there was very good coverage of carve-able corduroy on all eight peaks at Sunday River. Ski season is far from done my friends.

For more family ski articles by Heather Burke, go to www.familyskitrips.com. Photos by Greg Burke

By Sam Lozier, Boston.com Correspondent

Ski blogger Sam Lozier has returned to the U.S. after spending a chunk of this winter skiing in India.

After our two-day traversing tour, we were very eager to ski something challenging, and even more eager to ski without an overnight pack. We set our sights on an awesomely tall chute that we had spotted from across the valley during the traverse.

(note, a few of the photos are smaller than others due to the loss of the originals)

A 2:30 a.m. wakeup got us, after an hour long, pitch-black, motorcycle ride, into position to start hiking up a large chute just to the south of Solang. We left our bikes at the ski area and hiked up into a maze of boulders in our street shoes. Having found a “distinctive looking” boulder, we changed into our ski boots and hiked on. We pressed on at a tediously slow pace through punchy unsupportive snow crossing a fairly major stream several times before finally reaching a point that we could skin. At 7:30, after three challenging hours of hiking, we finally reached the base of the main chute. Due to icy snow, we were forced to transition to crampons.

When viewing the photo I prefaced this trip report with, it’s easy to imagine boot-packing up a thin, steep chute for a couple of thousand feet. It wasn’t until we had switched to crampons that we began to understand the magnitude of our undertaking. Parts of the chute that looked like they might be thirty feet wide from across the valley turned out to be 150 yards wide once we were in them, our proportions were equally far off regarding the height of the chute as well, turning a decent-sized day trip into a monstrous proposition.

At 11:45 a.m., after hiking for seven-and-a-half hours up the chute in increasingly rotten snow, we decided to turn around and head down. Our slow progress was exposing us to the rockfall and avalanche hazard that would further increase as the day went by. We’d made it to 4,222 meters after having hiked for over seven hours and climbed just under 6,000 feet. Looking at a map later, we learned that the peak the chute reached the summit of, was just under 5,000 meters, and that even with our enormous run, we were still nowhere near the top of the almost 8,000 feet of vertical that the chute could offer.

Under a hot sun, we quickly changed over to begin skiing. For a lifetime East Coast skier, the view was amazing. We looked down the valley towards the specks that were buildings near where we’d left our bikes as we prepared ourselves for a lung burning descent of the longest chute of our lives.

Amit, beginning the descent.

Though the hiking was over, the challenges were not. The south-facing start of the chute was characterized by rotten, sticky snow, but as the chute turned abruptly east, it became even worse. Patches remained rotten, but others had developed a nerve-racking crust. A short section of well developed corn in the middle of the chute lulled us into complacency before we hit the worst challenge of the day: several kilometers of blocky, refrozen, and highly irregular avalanche debris clogging the exit of the chute.

Check out the rest of the trip report over on Famous Internet Skiers.

By Sam Lozier, Boston.com Correspondent

Ski blogger Sam Lozier is spending a chunk of this winter skiing in India.

After spending a short time here, we discovered that there isn’t much of significance that can be skied in a single day in the Kullu Valley. The combination of long approaches and high altitude means that by the time you get to the foot of something, it is usually melting away under a midday sun.

 

To remedy this problem, we headed out for an overnight traverse from Gulaba, a military checkpoint along the Rhotang Road, back to our hotel in Vashisht. The plan called for two nights out above 4,000 meters and a significant distance to be covered. We were later told that the same route, a popular one during the summer, takes five days for guided trekking groups to complete.

 

Our tour started with a 7 a.m. taxi ride to snow line near Gulaba. It was so windy when we arrived, and the driver was in such a rush to get back into his warm car that he forgot to ask us for money. We didn’t realize it until a few hours later and got a good chuckle out of his mistake.

 

The first day can be summarized by saying that we had very heavy overnight packs, and that we hiked. A lot. Seriously, like 1,900 meters of vertical with a 50-pound bag. When we finally got to camp, we were at 4,300 meters, and were sucking wind with every step. When we got to the location of our new slope-side lodging at 2 p.m. though, we still couldn’t relax. As a weight, and cost-saving measure before the trip, Allen and I had decided to forgo a tent and rely on our as-of-yet unproven ability to build a snow cave.

 

So, at 4,300 meters, after an exhausting day of hiking, we set out to teach ourselves the fine art of snow camping. Two cold, wet, hours of playing in the snow, and we had completed our slope-side lodging. We had just enough time to eat some dinner (that cooks slooooowly at  4,000-plus meters), watch the sun go down, the stars come out, and finally settle into our cave for the night.

 

Contrary to what is probably popular belief, snow caves aren’t cold; in fact they’re one of the warmest ways to spend a night out in the winter. We had a great time reading and talking for about 20 minutes before our exhaustion caught up with us and forced us to sleep. The warmth of snow caves is both a blessing and a curse. It makes them a delightfully warm refuge from the weather, but it also makes it virtually impossible to get out of one's sleeping bag the following morning.

 

By 9:30 a.m. (a late start for corn snow), we were hiking again, and after 15 minutes of climbing, we began what would become several miles and 1,000 meters of traversing across an entire sub-range. Midway through our day-long traverse we reached what we thought would be our campsite for the second night, but, halfway through digging our second cave, Amit poked his head up and noticed the large black storm clouds rolling in from down the valley.  After a few minutes of hemming and hawing about what we should do, we decided that, based on our experience with thunderstorms in Manali, we should probably take the safe choice and head down .

 

Two more hours of steady traversing, and we reached the tree line somewhere above Vashisht. If I’d known exactly where, this post would probably end here, but instead we got to have hours more fun.

 

What made this next part so interesting (read: horrible) is the fact that above Vashisht lies under an almost interrupted wall of cliffs. At points it’s impassible, at others its confusing and dangerous, but passable. At one poorly marked spot, there is an actual trail that drops from tree-line, far above Vashisht, right down into the town.  Since we had no map, and close to no idea where we were, we relied on the time-tested technique of trial and error to find our way home.

 

After three hours of skiing down promising chutes, getting cliffed out, and climbing back out, we stumbled across a clear-cut patch of forest, and a slightly worn, scarcely-a-goat-path, trail, just as the sun went down.  Thankful for our luck, that had saved us from spending the night out on the steep, unprotected slopes (we had left snow line behind at this point), we blazed down the precipitous 1,000-meter trail, back to our hotel where we promptly fell asleep after over 12 hours of constant motion.

 

For photos from the journey, click here.

 

Read and see more of Sam's work at www.famousinternetskiers.com

 

By Greg Petrics, Famous Internet Skiers

This weekend was the venerable Stowe Derby: A race from near the summit of Mount Mansfield, Vermont all the way down to the town of Stowe. The race takes the competitors from the alpine terrain of Mount Mansfield down nearly 3,000 vertical feet via Stowe Mountain Resort's thrilling Toll Road trail, and then links several of the cross country trails through the valley to the town of Stowe. The best equipment for the job is often cross country skis, but telemark skis have proved to be quite effective as well in recent runnings of The Derby.

Needless to say, each and every one of the Famous Internet Skiers was eager to participate, but unfortunately none of us owned cross country or telemark skis. Since we didn't want to make fools of ourselves in the actual event, we decided that we would instead run our own private race just before the official race. Whoever completed the course the fastest would win a six-pack of Rock Art Vermonsters. We decided we'd do it the old fashioned way too, and ascend the mountain ourselves rather than take the chairlift. The guide book we picked up insisted that route up the Toll Road was gradual and easy to navigate, but we must have gotten off on the wrong foot or something. From the very beginning we found the route treacherous and extremely difficult to navigate. Needless to say, before too long we were lost.

Click here to see a larger version (opens in new tab/window).

The grooming of the Toll Road was simply atrocious! The powder was so deep! How are skinny ski skiers supposed to schuss this safely (say that ten times fast)?


The result of the 75-100 cm of snow from the storm on Wednesday February 24 was astounding to see. Trees that are 3-7 meters high in summer were reduced to bumps in the snowpack.


Despite the beauty however, Christian the Curmudgeonly splitboarder started to get nervous. "I don't think this is Toll Road guys," he said. "This looks more like a blue square, and the I'm pretty sure the Toll Road is a green circle!"


Ben wasn't worried though, and assured everyone that the top of the Toll Road trail was just ahead. Before too long though he started to get nervous too... The terrain was quickly becoming more like a black diamond; maybe even double black diamond :-o !!!!


GULP... I don't know how anyone does this on cross-country skis.


Soon after this point we were all freaking out. The clinometer was showing 48°, and if this was Toll Road, it was far and away the most challenging green circle any of us had ever encountered. Our lucky stars must have been shining exceedingly brightly though: despite the gentle ascent promised in the guide book we had a rope, and we all brought ice tools and crampons. As we pushed up the steep and deep snow, red flags started going off left and right. Then suddenly we all heard that unmistakable and terrifying "WHUMP!" My head shot left in time to catch a glimpse of a shallow slab cracking and propagating several tens of meters across the climb. The hardened sludge from the big snow storm on Wednesday February 24th acted as the bed layer for the ten-or-so wind loaded centimeters. We all took strong stances and dug in as the snow came down just to our left. We were in a strong position, and were prepared for the contingency but there were those below us who may not have been so well positioned. "AVALANCHE!!!" I yelled as the snow thundered down the mountain. As the dust settled, we took count, and were relieved that everyone was healthy and accounted for. A temporarily missing ski was the only casualty. As we clung to our stances no one could believe what had just occurred. The only thing that was certain: If this was Toll Road, the Stowe Ski Patrol needed to do some SERIOUS avalanche control work to get this slope ready before the Stowe Derby could be run safely.

(the crown was approximately 12-16 cm deep, 10-15 m wide)

For several minutes we were forced to hang tight and not trigger any of the hangfire that remained, while below us the missing ski was recovered. In those tense moments we discussed our constantly evolving plan. Should we continue the race or not? Whatever we decided, a significant, but manageable slab remained hanging to the climbers left, and before we could do anything with the slope it needed to be cleared. Ben devised a plan of using ice chunks to trigger the slab, and before long we managed to flush the remainder of the hangfire. With the course clear, we pushed on, and shortly thereafter summited what we assumed was the Toll Road trail. We poked around in earnest, but despite our best efforts we couldn't find any trail signs marking the way of the race. Nevertheless, we decided this must be it, and we all put away our implements of ascent, and were relieved that we could finally don our implements of descent. And, so began the Famous Internet Skiers' version of the Stowe Derby.

Check out the rest of the event on FIS to see what happened during the descent... or click the following picture:

 

By Sam Lozier, Boston.com Correspondent 

Ski blogger Sam Lozier is spending a chunk of this winter in Kashmir, India at Gulmarg.

 

One of my friend's biggest objectives for the trip has been to jump a rather large gap that is directly behind the hotel up on Monkey Hill. The gap consists of a large stump for a takeoff, a storm water collection aqueduct to clear, and a steep landing that leads right up to the back door.

  

Matt Roon skinning up Monkey Hill.

After closely monitoring the snow accumulations during the last storm and manicuring the in-run to the stump several times, Wes was finally ready to hit the jump yesterday morning.  

 

 Wes Roon about to clear the gap jump.

 

A few deep breaths and a three-count later, he dropped straight into the lip, popped hard, and barely cleared the transition to the landing. His brother Matt, watching from above, dropped in right after and carried a bit more speed, allowing him a more generous margin of error and a big more hang time.  

 

 

All told, the jump got hit five spectacular times before we called it a day and went off to go ski powder.

 

Read and see more of Sam's work at www.famousinternetskiers.com

 

By Greg Petrics, Famous Internet Skiers 

 

Every winter in New England there is at least one weather event that truly tests the sanity of The East Coast Skier. Although The East Coast Skier's mountains are quite far north in comparison to resorts in the western United States, they are relatively low elevation, and are close to a warm ocean. Because of this, sometimes there are days in New England when it's going to rain. Monday, January 25 was one of those days. With a brisk wind out of the southeast, temperatures rose into the mid 40's at all elevations, and a soaking rain - heavy at times--doused the heart of The East Coast Skier. In that dark moment the East Coast Skier undoubtedly looked West, and considered a life without soul searching rainy days in January (and delicious real beer) in exchange for a life with reliable, predictable, and great snow (and 3.2 percent beer).

As we have documented before however (see parts one, two or three), VTah is a surprising place. While one day can truly decimate the resolve of even it's hardiest gravity enthusiasts, the next can truly lift them to great heights. On Wednesday, January 27 our own Scott Braaten wrote the following which sums up what occured less than 48 hours after a devastating rain storm slammed the region:

"Its alllllll good. Just got home after what was quite possibly the best powder morning of the season...following what was quite possibly the worst ski day of the season (yesterday).

I definitely under-reported with 6-8 inches this morning... there's a solid foot across the top half of the mountain. Skied everything and it was all blower. Streams and creeks were open and are now filled with 10-12" of snow... as long as you are cautious, its game-on again.

Today was the best of days... un-forecasted powder day with the majority falling after the skiers/riders had left yesterday and even with only 2-3 inches down in the town of Stowe, no one had any idea it would be face-shot heaven up there."

To the East Coast Skier's chagrin, the surprises have continued right up to this very moment. Almost every night since January 27, the Green Mountains have managed to find moisture hidden in the stiff Arctic breeze, and wring it out in the form of pure VTah blower. While the valleys received nearly no snow whatsoever, the mountains became buried by round after round of "nickle and dime" storms--or "magic snow" storms as our own Lionel Hutz likes to say... and of course we decided to go skiing. While other skiers resigned themselves to the groomers for fear of hitting the dangerous ice crust buried beneath the surface, we went out in search of the deepest, softest, and most surprising snow on earth... here's a pictoral record of what we were surprised to find in VTah.

The first day Greg got out with a friend he hadn't skied with in a long time, and both were surprised by the quality and quantity!


After a few tentative turns before the surprise wore off, we decided it was time to rip.


About 28 seconds after the above photo was snapped, Greg sent Ben a text message simply saying: "Waist deep easy." Since the moment of that text message that's been the name of the game. Needless to say, it wasn't long before Ben left the confines of his academic endeavours and joined the party.


On the heels of the first "magic storm (Copyright 2010 Lionel Hutz)", but before the second, a surge of Arctic air blew across VTah and turned its small expanse of alpine terrain into a moonscape.


Although the snow in the alpine had been completely withdrawn by the wind, the sub-alpine had definitely received a few deposits.

The anticipation before Christmas... an untouched snow filled sub alpine gully... the appeal of lingerie...


CHRISTMAS DAY! A TOUCHED SNOW FILLED SUB ALPINE GULLY! A TOUCHED---um... nevermind


A TOUCHED ALPINE GULLY!... oh wait a second! Shoot! We already used that one.


If you want to read some more detail about the events, and see some more pictures click here.

Read and see more of Greg's work at www.famousinternetskiers.com/.