Making life a holiday with interesting vacation and adventure ideas.

Reporter Jeannette J. Lee of Associated Press, has written an informative article in HeraldNet, about the Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood, Alaska, and the efforts by its wealthy owner, John Byrne III, a self-professed ski junkie from Utah, to encourage snow lovers to abandon the classic slopes of Whistler, Deer Valley and Aspen and head to the far north.

Jeannette J. Lee reports that this long-time niche venue for locals and adventure skiers, is undergoing a $25 million expansion, including refurbished guest rooms, to lure larger groups of winter vacationers, particularly families, to its peaks.

Negotiations are underway to open hundreds of acres of raw terrain in the Chugach Mountains to skilled off-piste or backcountry skiers and snow-boarders but beginners are also being catered for, with a new conveyor-belt lift and snow-making machines. It seems the competition on the slopes is getting hotter.

Labels: Alaska, Canada, Chugach Mountains, Girdwood, ski, skiing, snowboarding

The first forecast of the American ski season from the Boulder-based Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC), which started up operations this week, indicates that a few inches of the white powder could pile up by Wednesday morning. It seems that colder temperatures, along with a dusting of snow this week, could significantly improve the outlook for Skiing during Thanksgiving in western Colorado. The best chance for snow being Tuesday night.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center has upgraded its website with more archived reports on avalanche accidents and a Google Maps platform offering information on avalanche problems and travel recommendations.

More information from the Aspen Times.

Labels: 2007, Aspen, Boulder, Colorado, ski, skiing, Thanksgiving, USA

If your taking a vacation or short break in the USA, make the most of your vacation with the very popular Go Card visitor passes which offer great savings. A single pass gets you unlimited general admission to top attractions for one low price and they are available at the following destinations:

• Boston


• Chicago


• Los Angeles


• Miami


• Oahu


• Orlando


• San Diego


• San Francisco


• Seattle


• Powder Passport

Powder Passport is a special pass for snow junkies and allows you to Ski 18 Mountains with 1 Pass for 1 Low Price! Ski in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and New York. Use any day of the 2006-2007 Season!!

Understandably, these are proving popular with the locals.

Labels: attractions, mountains, offer, pass, passport, saving, ski, USA, vacation

At last, the Alpine ski resorts are now covered in snow. Heavy snow has been falling falling across Europe with snow as low as 800 metres or 2,600ft.

Here are links to snow reports provided by ultimate-ski.com for some popular European ski resorts:

Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France
Les Arcs, France
Verbier/Val de Bagnes, Switzerland
Mayrhofen, Austria
Monterosa, Italy

But beware, heavy snowfall does not come without danger, watch out for avalanche alerts.

Labels: Alps, European, ski, snow reports, snowboard