ski resorts
July 3rd, 2009 at 05:41pm
Under ski resorts
If you ask someone in the UK about their best ski vacation experiences there is a good chance that a catered ski chalet would feature prominently. Over 40% of all ski trips are in catered chalets. Ask a US skier and it is unlikely that they would have ever heard of a catered ski chalet. Americans have gotten used to the standard lodging choices of condos and hotels but ski chalets, let alone catered ski chalets, are not even on the radar!
So what’s it all about? Well, ski vacations are healthy, outdoor, fun, active and frequently exhausting holidays. Transplant yourself from the office to the Rocky Mountains and spend your day exercising at altitude and by the time the day is done you don’t have the energy left to do anything. Tramping back to your condo, with kids in tow with a decision of making dinner for the family or heading out for dinner where the kids will most likely fall asleep at the table is daunting.
Imagine the option to return to your chalet with an eager friendly staff preparing dinner for your family group, with a kids menu for young ones and a relaxing 3-course dinner party for your adult family and friends. You don’t have to dress up, you can even come to the dinner table in your robe if you like. The menus are healthy and occasionally indulgent, but best of all you don’t have to shop, cook and clean up. You are 100% on vacation!
The same can be said for the full-breakfast laid out in the morning. While you are searching for your child’s missing ski glove or boots your group is enjoying a home-cooked breakfast and getting the low-down on where to ski from the knowledgeable chalet staff.
With over 20 luxury homes to choose from, Moving Mountains in Steamboat Springs, CO has nailed the concept down. You can chose from full-service or economy catered options for your lodging property. It’s great value either way. Vacation home rentals are the fastest growing lodging option out there. With privacy, five star amenities and more square footage for your dollar it’s not hard to see why families finish their vacation vowing that there is no other way to do a ski trip. With a catered package on top you can have your cake and eat it!
Robin Craigen, Moving Mountains Chalets
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By admin
December 19th, 2008 at 01:58pm
Under Attractions+ ski resorts
An American giving concerts in an ice cave on instruments made of ice. The tunes ring clear, cold and tender, like a touch on a thin glass vase.
Innocently we swing on our skiers off the top of the Schnaltaler glacier- 3212 meter above sea level, and just 200m away from the top ski-lift exit we see a small snow-heap pointing to an attaction on a flag: ICE MUSIC – where the “I” is shown as a musical-key.
So we stop and take off our skis, walk into a cave – past a plastic-bucket on which a hand-written sign asks the visitors for a donation of 5 Euros. Since we don’t really know what the donation is supposed to be for, we just ignore the bucket and find ourselves in an Odeon. Around 35 tourists stand there in klirring cold in their skiing suits and heavy boots – some styropore cushions are supposed to keep our behinds warm when we sit down.
Everything in here is made of either snow or ice. The walls, the bar, the stage, and – the musical instruments.
Tim Linhard from Colorado is the only human on the planet making acoustical musical string instruments out of ice and giving concerts with them, right up there on top of the mountain and glacier. A violin, a cello, guitars, even drums and other percussion instruments and a xylophone.
Each instrument is lit from the inside and shimmers in changing lights between red, green or blue. To be precise – the strings of the instruments are of steel, and the neck and chin-holder made of wood. The bows are made of the usual materials – whatever they may be – in normal instruments.
We need to wait a little, because the violin has a piece of ice broken off and must be fixed. Soon enough they start to play, and like magic the tunes come. One tourist couple is swaying to the music in a tight embrace.
The tunes are absolutely clear – but somehow “cold”.
Tim says, “the longer we play, the better the sound becomes. Playing is like a massage to these instruments – the ice kind of relaxes in its tension. This requires a certain and more flexible playing technique, and the tone become ever softer as we go on.”
Next Tim plays the ice-flute – he is wearing rubber gloves, the kind that you wear for washing up – the “glaciophone” sounds as if drops were falling into an underground lake. It is eerie and makes the fine hair on my under-arms stand up – so strange; surprisingly, the walls of the cave- although shining – are dry – you cannot even see the breath of the people, although it’s so cold, about minus 5 degress Celsius.
It’s certainly the best fridge of the world and the best place to store those musical instruments.
In case you’d like to imitate this idea, better be prepared. Tim started his experiments with ice-violins in 1982 – the sites were too strong, and the instrument burst into 1,000 pieces.
Meanwhile, Ice Music determines Tim’s life – he even played in front of the Swedish Royal couple once and produced some CDs.
20 volunteers are helping Tim in his endeavour; for 4 months they work 16 hours per day in the Ice-Theater. Anita Stange-Mantovani is one of them, an independent violin-builder from Munich. She is fine-tuning her ice-Stradivari – and she is responsible for static and measurement of all instruments. She takes her annual leave to help Tim with his glacier-project, without getting a penny – just like the other 19 people.
Sure as hell we are so fascinated when we leave the cave, that we forget to throw some money into the plastic- bucket when leaving. No wonder Tim is fighting with his finances – he should take a marketing-consultant.
To find your way to the Ice Music cave – travel via Innsbruck (Austria) to Meran, there in the direction of Reschenpass (Zemez), and shortly after Naturns go left to the Schnalstaler Glacier Lift-Station. It’s about 70km distance from Meran.
The author, Brigitta Vetter, is publishing the site eerietravelsecrets.com where you can find further stories about travels off the beaten path in Europe as well as overseas.
By SK
November 17th, 2008 at 02:07pm
Under ski resorts
US travelers who want to ski but don’t want to pay out for overseas flights will find a huge range of options in the Sierra Nevada this year.
Many of the winter resorts there have upgraded facilities including a new Olympic level run being developed at the Sugar Bowl, which tourists will be able to access in between Olympic athletes’ training sessions. There’s also a new chairlift at Boreal and surface lifts to two new peaks at Kirkwood, plus another to the top of its bunny terrain. The Flying Jenny lift at Mount Rose has been extended further up the peak and the lift at Northstar at Tahoe has been nearly doubled in length to the new Martis Camp.
There’s a new daily Horizon Air flight from LA International to the Mammoth airport, removing the need for skiers from the Bay Area to drive for 7 or 8 hours to reach the slopes.
There are many new or improved runs at the Donner Ski Ranch, Heavenly, Mammoth, Mount Rose, Northstar at Tahoe and Ridge. Other new attractions include a Munchkins Ski program at Alpine Meadows for children as young as 3 years old; the Bear Tracker at Bear Valley which features a 14-person snow cat to the “secret stashes;” a new restaurant, Baxter’s Bistro & Lounge, in the Northstar Village; a Web-based interactive radar application at Sierra at Tahoe allowing guests to compare weather patterns at the base with those at the summit; and private runs led by certified back country guides at Squaw Valley.
All in all, if skiing is your thing, you could do worse than give Sierra Nevada a shot this year.
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By admin
November 15th, 2008 at 07:29pm
Under ski resorts
Niseko is one of the hottest ski destinations in the world with consistent falls of around 16 metres (640 inches) of light dry powder per season. It could be the best snow you will ever experience.
Frequent fresh powder is delivered consistently via cold frontal systems that flow across from Siberia. These unique weather conditions and temperatures produce snow with a mere 8% water content, resulting in some of the driest powder snow in the world. You will find it difficult to make a snowball most of the time the snow is that dry.
Niseko consists of 4 resorts: Annapuri, Higashiyama, Hanazono and Hirafu; these areas offer spectacular skiing and snowboarding for all levels. Wide groomed runs or off-piste with open powder bowls, drops, chutes and fields of trees, there is something to satisfy everyone’s desires.
The Niseko United lift pass covers all four areas providing guests with over 48 km of ski runs serviced by 38 lifts. The longest run is a leg burning 5.6 km long. The resorts vertical measurement is 1,000 meters and comprising of 30% Beginner, 42% Intermediate and 28% Advanced.
The four-person high speed Hirafu Gondola lifts you 500 vertical meters to the mid station of the Hirafu ski area in under ten minutes. Lifts operate from 8:30 am to 9:00 pm everyday offering exceptional value for money with 12 and half hours of time on the mountain available. Niseko boasts one of the largest night ski areas in Japan, providing plenty of terrain runs and an amazing experience. Night temperatures drop only slightly from those during the day so there are no excuses.
Most lift lines don’t exist except for those public holiday’s when you can enjoy the company of the local skiers and boarders on the mountain, keep a good eye on them and you might find some secret local lines that you would not have thought possible so close to a groomed run. Park riders are catered for with three terrain parks offering table-tops, rails, spines and half pipes.
Experience Japanese cuisine, especially fresh local seafood in Hirafu and Kutchan, and enjoy the romantic surrounds of one of the numerous Onsens at the end of a brilliant day. Eating options on the slopes are abound with seventeen restaurants serving a vast array of Japanese cuisine and western style food.
At the end of an exhilarating day why not relax in one of the 16 local hot springs known locally as onsens, and then head out to celebrate or dine choosing from over 50 bars and restaurants in Hirafu?
To ensure your convenience while on your powder holiday of a lifetime it is imperative that your Niseko accommodation is conveniently located near the main Niseko Hirafu Gondola and close to restaurants and services that you require during your holiday.
Bradley J Davis is a frequent visitor to Niseko and not to mention a ripping snowboarder.
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By Bradley J Davis
