Sugar Bowl Resort and KidZone Museum Partner for Caboose Kickers Terrain Park Series

Donner Summit, CA - Sugar Bowl Resort has partnered with KidZone Museum to host four children’s terrain park competitions throughout the 2011/12 winter season. The first competition is on January 8, 2012 from 11:00 – 12:00pm in the Caboose Terrain Park. The competitions teach kids terrain park safety, and introduce them to a safe but competitive skiing/riding atmosphere, ultimately having fun while competing for great prizes.

Competition entry fee is $15 and participants receive half price lift tickets and a free BBQ voucher. Prizes for winners include Dynastar skis, a Flow snowboard, a Giro helmet, jackets from M3 and Vans and other prizes. Registration for all competitions begins at 9:00 am in the Judah Lodge. All kids 12 and under are welcome to compete and must wear a helmet.

Other competition dates are scheduled for February 12, March 18 and April 15, 2012. More information on these events is posted at KidZone Museum or can be found at SugarBowl.com. Sugar Bowl Resort and KidZone Museum are excited to once again partner this season for this great series of kid’s terrain park competitions.

Heli-Skiing Operation Oldest and First in Colorado

Telluride, CO - Imagine stepping out of a helicopter at one of the highest elevations in North America and gliding down the mountain - carving through knee-deep snow. This is the stuff a Powder Hounds' dreams are made of. This is Helitrax.

Thirty years ago this concept became reality when four local backcountry ski partners combined their talents and enthusiasm for ski mountaineering with a generous dose of can-do optimism, and launched Telluride Helitrax. Established in 1982, Telluride Helitrax is Colorado's original and premiere Heli-Skiing and Snowboarding Guide Service.

"We were a bit ahead of our time," said Guide and Co-Founder Mark Frankman." There was no airport, and very few people had ever heard of Telluride - the helicopters and pilots were of the Vietnam and Korean war era."

Today, the Telluride Helitrax crew are experts at providing small group, customized, backcountry adventures. The professional guides and pilots utilize state of the art helicopters, ski equipment and safety procedures to lead guests through the spectacular San Juan Mountains. Helitrax accesses the highest heli-skiing terrain in North America. Staggering peaks and breathtaking mountain beauty surround the expansive alpine bowls, gladed slopes and classic couloirs.

Happy Holidays from Loveland!

Georgetown, CO - Happy holidays from everyone at Loveland Ski Area! We got an early holiday gift of 4 inches of new snow today just in time for the holiday weekend. While the forecast is calling for sunshine for the next few days, you can still enjoy a White Christmas with friends and family on the slopes of Loveland. Even Santa is taking time out of his busy schedule to make some turns at Loveland! Be sure to keep your eyes out as he skis around the mountain this weekend. For the holidays, we will be running the lifts from 8:30am until 4pm everyday starting on Saturday, December 24th through Monday, January 2nd.

Celebrate The Holidays At Timberline!

Government Camp, OR - The lodge is beautifully decorated for the holiday, and an extra special meal in this spectacular setting can provide just the right ingredients for a memorable holiday with friends and family.

New Year's Eve Celebration
Ski in the New Year at Timberline! This Timberline tradition allows you to night ski on New Year’s Eve until 12:30 a.m., and enjoy a spectacular midnight fireworks display (weather permitting) all for the price of a regularly priced lift ticket. If you prefer to ring in the New Year indoors, Timberline Lodge is offering one of its most special holiday meals of the year; a 5-course dinner prepared by Executive Chef Jason Stoller Smith and his top-notch culinary team. The second seating of the New Year’s Eve dinner is followed by the classic rock sounds of Bob Voll and the Too Loose Band. Enjoy a complimentary champagne toast and dance away the night inside the magical interior of Timberline Lodge. It will be a New Years Eve you’ll never forget.

Freestyle World Cup Skiing Returns to Lake Placid and Wilmington

Wilmington, NY - American skiers Hannah Kearney (Norwich, Vt.) and Ashley Caldwell (Hamilton, Va.) will try to defend their World Cup crowns when the FIS Freestyle World Cup returns to Lake Placid, N.Y. and Whiteface Mountain, in Wilmington, N.Y., Jan. 19-21. Lake Placid is one of only five U.S. sites selected to host a World Cup event this season.

Action begins Thursday, Jan. 19, at Whiteface, when Kearney begins defense of her moguls’ World Cup crown and France’s Guilbault Colas tries to hold off a deep men’s field and capture his second World Cup win on the mountain’s Wilderness Trail. Competition on 240-meter long course begins at 9:15 a.m. with the women’s qualifications, followed by the men’s qualifications at 11:35 a.m. The women’s semi-finals are scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. and the men’s semis start at 2:20 p.m. The medal rounds start at 2:40 p.m. for the women and eight minutes later men’s finals is slated to begin.

Action will move over to the Olympic jumping complex both Friday and Saturday night, for two exciting evenings of aerial competitions. The 18-year-old Caldwell, a 2010 Olympian, will begin defense of her World Cup title, when she and the rest of the international field twist, flip, summersault and soar into the evening skies, some as high as 60-feet. The fun begins both nights 7 p.m.

In addition to the exciting action, there will be bonfires, music, giveaways and plenty of food and drinks provided by Centerplate. Saturday’s jumping will also conclude with a fireworks display.

Tickets to the aerial competitions are $15 for adults and $9 for juniors and seniors. A lift ticket and skis are required to view the mogul events Whiteface.

Grand Opening of the Red Barn

Highmount, NY - The Red Barn Bar located in the Lower Discovery Lodge will be holding its grand opening on Saturday, December 24th.

The Red Barn bar was created and built by Belleayre Mountain employees as a representation of the Catskill Mountains. The main inspiration behind the bar was farming, specifically dairy farming. All of the horse tackles and farm implements used to decorate the Red Barn were donated by local community farmers.

The main sign for the Red Barn bar was fashioned from steel, a strong and permanent fixture. No paint was used in the coloration of the sign. Chemical reactions caused by vinegar and bleach, heat reactions and a touch of copper and brass were used to create the polished look of the sign.

Woodwork and framing was done primarily by Cassie Merwin with help from Raphael Santiago. The steel work was done by Darren Morgan and Donny Bush. When asked about the look of the bar, the employees said that the look evolved on its own.

Join Belleayre staff and friends for the grand opening which will include holiday drink specials and a BBQ out on the deck (weather permitting).

All Alpine Lifts Open at Sun Peaks Resort

Sun Peaks, BC - The West Bowl T-Bar opens at Sun Peaks Resort on Saturday, December 17. The opening of this lift means all 11 lifts at Sun Peaks are now officially operational for the Winter 2011-12 season. With the West Bowl opening on Saturday, over 100 alpine runs are available for skiing and snowboarding at Sun Peaks. The entire Nordic trail system is also groomed and track-set for cross-country skiing. Fresh snow has fallen throughout the week and EnviroBC is forecasting more flurries for the weekend and into next week.

Sugar Bowl To Open Additional Lifts and Terrain this Weekend

Donner Summit, CA - With recent colder temperatures allowing crews to operate snowmaking around the clock, Sugar Bowl Resort will reopen this weekend with additional lifts and expanded terrain, including the Mt. Lincoln Express quad, effectively serving up 1,500 vertical feet of top-to-bottom skiing and riding. In addition, the Switching Yard Terrain Park will make its season debut with numerous features, accessed via the Emigrant Gap trail off the Jerome Hill Express quad. All told, Sugar Bowl will operate five chairlifts with 16 trails, providing ample terrain for all levels of ability. With improving conditions and additional terrain, resort operators recently announced that Sugar Bowl will remain open seven days a week moving forward, beginning this Saturday, December 17th. Chairlifts in operation will be Jerome Hill Express, Christmas Tree, Nob Hill, White Pine and Mt. Lincoln, with additional lifts and terrain openings moving forward as weather and conditions permit.

Lift tickets will be $67 for adults (ages 23-59); $55 for young adults (13-22) & seniors (60-69); $25 for children (6-12) & super seniors (70+); and, as always, kids five and under ski for free at Sugar Bowl. Skiers and riders can save on lift tickets every day of the season by purchasing a Daily CORE Pass, just $19, which offers direct-to-lift convenience, resort-wide charging privileges, points-based perks and $15 off the window lift ticket rate. General Admission is also in effect every day through December 23rd, offering guests with a qualifying ticket (all-mountain, ages 13-69) and season passholders (ages 4 and up) free basic rentals for the day and a free lesson at any level of ability. The Mountain Sports Learning Center will open The Den this weekend, providing a kid-friendly, all-in-one learning pavilion that kids love and parents appreciate.

Skier access to Sugar Bowl this weekend will be via the Mount Judah portal only.

Eldora Mountain Resort’s Corona Lift and Additional Trails to Open on Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Nederland, CO - On Wednesday, December 14, Eldora’s legendary Corona Bowl is scheduled to open. This will add significantly more skiing and riding to Eldora’s current line up of open terrain and exceptional conditions. The trails anticipated to open on Wednesday are Corona Run, Around the Horn and Wayback.

With the recent upslope storms on the Front Range of Colorado, Eldora is experiencing some of the best early winter conditions in recent years. Early snowfall helped allow the Corona Lift and additional to open ahead of schedule.

Cold temperatures throughout December have also allowed Eldora’s state of the art snowmaking system to operate consistently.

Eldora currently has a 28-inch base of packed powder and machine-made snow. Lifts open daily at 9:00am and remain open until 4:00pm.

Crested Butte to host Ski Mountaineering North American Championships in January

Crested Butte, CO - Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) is pleased to announce the resort will play host to the 2012 International Ski Mountaineering Federation’s (ISMF) GORE-TEX® Brand North American Ski Mountaineering Championships presented by Arc’teryx, part of the COSMIC series and also known as the Crested Butte Ski Mountaineering Race. This is a new event designation for the sport of Ski Mountaineering in North America, and CBMR is rising to the occasion with a more technical course, including a class-five boot pack ascent. The ISMF North American Championships take place at CBMR on Saturday Jan. 28 and Sunday Jan. 29, 2012.

“The Crested Butte Professional Ski Patrol is proud to be part of such a uniquely challenging event in North America,” says Bill Dowell, Ski Patrol Director for CBMR. “It is a great opportunity to highlight some of our extreme terrain on the upper parts of the mountain and showcase the skill and expertise of our technical rigging personnel. We look forward to working with the ISMF crew and CB Mountain Guides to put on a safe and exciting event this year and in the future.”

CBMR has been included as a race stop on the COSMIC series tour for the past five years (and part of the Rando Rally for five years prior). It is one of the longest-standing venues with exceptional race success. The North American Championships course will follow a similar path to previous years’ races, however the new route also will include a technical class-five assent up The Guides Ridge to the peak of Mt. CB – a rarely attempted route during the winter months. CBMR Ski Patrol and Crested Butte Mountain Guides will assist with installation of a fixed route line, and with safety during the race. The new course is being modeled after European Championships race courses to enable North American athletes to prepare for worldwide competition.

The ISMF North American Championships Ski Mountaineering race begins and ends in the CBMR base area and competitors will face over 5,000 feet of vertical elevation gain and loss, focused on much of CBMR’s most technical terrain. The race is open to individual competitors; no teams allowed in this event.

The ISMF North American Championships takes place at CBMR on Saturday, Jan. 28 with a Sprint race and the Individual race on Sunday Jan. 29, 2012; both races start in the CBMR base area.