On a ‘bluebird day’ in Colorado, you’ll step outside to cloudless blue skies, brilliant sunshine and dazzling white snow on the mountains. It’s the kind of day that skiers and snowboarders revel in, and that seems to be the norm on North American slopes.
And while Colorado may have the highest profile of all America’s ski regions, there are plenty of alternative options for those looking for fresh slopes, each with its own challenges and personality.
California and Utah, for instance, rank high on the hit-list of snow-hounds heading for North America. Snow in California? Yes, you heard right. It may be synonymous with surf culture and beaches but California is also home to around 30 ski resorts – so you can surf, then drive to the ski-fields in the same day if the mood takes you.
There are ski regions throughout California, with the best-known areas, arguably, at Lake Tahoe, Mammoth and Big Bear. In northern California, Lake Tahoe, with 15 downhill and four cross-country resorts, boasts the highest concentration of ski resorts in the United States.
Just four hours drive from San Francisco, the ‘Big Blue’ – as Lake Tahoe is affectionately known – is astoundingly beautiful. It has an average 10 metres of snow and 300-plus days of sunshine a year and, at an altitude of just 1,897 metres above sea level, it is easy to acclimatise. The second deepest lake in the United States, Lake Tahoe never freezes over, so skiers and snowboarders get the exhilarating feeling of skiing right down to a lake renowned for its crystal-clear water and vivid blue hue.
Heavenly Resort in South Lake Tahoe has just opened a new tubing lift, giving access to a new four-lane tubing area at the top of the gondola at Adventure Peak. If you have kids, they may not want to leave... at least, not until they head off to try the evening Snow Cat Tours on offer at nearby Kirkwood Mountain Resort, exploring scenic ridgelines by the light of the moon and stars.
Not only is it home to famous granite karsts and stunning waterfalls, but California’s Yosemite National Park also encloses the state’s oldest ski resort. Badger Pass Ski Area celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2010 and is a great place to learn to ski or board, with 85 per cent of its downhill slopes dedicated to beginner and intermediate-level skiers.
In ‘Ski Town USA’, the century-old Colorado town of Steamboat Springs, Stetsons and cowboy boots are as common as beanies and ski suits. Colorado’s western heritage is strong, even on the slopes. In fact, if you turn up on Mount Werner’s slopes for the chance to ski with former Olympian and World Champion Billy Kidd, now director of the Steamboat ski program, you’ll almost certainly find he’s wearing his trademark Stetson. A sign at the top of the gondola tells you if Billy is skiing that day, and you can join him for a run down Heavenly Daze.
Famous for its ‘Champagne powder’, an expression coined by local rancher Joe McElroy in the 1950s to describe the dry and fluffy snow found here, Steamboat Springs has an average 8.7 metres of snowfall every season.
Kidd was the first American man to win an Olympic medal in skiing – a silver, at the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. He has called Steamboat home since 1970, but is not the only Olympic skier who lives here: the former silver mining town has so far produced 54 Winter Olympians, more than any other town in North America.
Skiing started here on Howelsen Hill, the oldest ski area in Colorado, where the sport was introduced in 1913. The first Winter Carnival was held the following year, and it’s taken place every February since.
Mount Werner, with 1,176 hectares of permitted terrain and 164 named trails to suit skiers of all levels, is one of six mountains from which skiers and snowboarders can choose – the others are Sunshine Peak, Storm Peak, Thunderhead Peak, Pioneer Ridge and Christie Peak.
Mavericks Superpipe at Steamboat Springs, the longest in North America, is 198 metres long, 15.2 metres wide, has 4.6-metre walls and a five-metre radius. Steamboat’s terrain park features an outdoor sound system, a variety of rails and Mini-Mav, a miniature version of the superpipe with 1.5-metre walls, designed for novice riders.
Over the past four years, more than AU$34.5 (US$30) million has been spent on improvements to the Steamboat Ski Resort area, adding enhanced terrain to challenge all levels of ability, faster and more comfortable chairlifts, and off the slopes, a host of new restaurants to try. Last season, Steamboat also poured AU$2.88 (US$2.5) million into – among other things – expanding its Kids’ Vacation Center, opening a new first-aid base facility and enhancing its already top-grade snowmaking system.
Whether it’s a sunny day or one with heaps of fresh fluff, guests can be the first to enjoy the mountain through Steamboat Ski and Snowboard School’s popular First Tracks program. Instructors guide groups of skiers and riders through Priest Creek for untracked powder runs before others hit the slopes. Steamboat’s backcountry guide service, the Powdercats, offers access to 10,000 acres of pristine terrain on Buffalo Pass, 25 minutes from downtown Steamboat Springs.
At Aspen, arguably Colorado’s most famous – and glamorous – ski resort, the Aspen Skiing Company invested nearly AU$9.2 (US$8) million in on-mountain improvements in 2009-2010. Over the past six years, it has spent nearly AU$150 (US$130) million on new lifts and gondolas, the Treehouse Kids’ Adventure Center, three new restaurants and the new Snowmass base village.
Aspen/Snowmass has also become the only resort in North America to have hands-free radio frequency gate access across its four mountains. Tickets are a plastic card with a chip inside detecting guests as they move through lift lines – so there’s no need to dig in your pocket to find your pass or ticket. A tunnel for skiers is being built on Buttermilk above the terrain park to separate terrain-park traffic and regular skiers.
Aspen/Snowmass continues to be the chosen resort for world-class events, including the ESPN Winter X Games at Buttermilk Mountain.
With more skiers and riders searching for challenging off-piste terrain, Colorado ski resorts hold increasing appeal, with several options for the more adventurous, including heli-skiing, hike-to terrain and cat-skiing. For those who don’t mind doing a bit of hiking to find the freshest powder, plenty of avalanche-controlled, in-bounds, hike-to options are available that help manage the risks of shredding steep terrain and deep powder.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to get at near-virgin terrain without taking the time to hike, you can also take a snowcat ski-and-ride tour. Many Colorado resorts offer guided and unguided tours for skiers of intermediate to expert ability, with access to diverse terrain.
Telluride’s Palmyra Peak is home to more than 80 hectares and almost 610 vertical metres of in-bounds hike-to terrain, including runs The Peak, Tram Shot, Sunrise and Electric Shock. It is also home to Helitrax, a service that allows untracked powder skiing in small, personalised groups on some of the highest helicopter-accessed terrain in the world.
Copper Mountain last year opened Woodward at Copper, the world’s first indoor/outdoor ski and snowboard camp. The 20,000-square-foot Woodward at Copper Barn gives campers access to Snowflex jumps, foam pits, a spring floor, Olympic-grade Flybed trampolines and indoor skateboard features. You can develop your tricks in The Barn, then progress to the terrain parks and Superpipe.
Utah’s largest ski and snowboard resort, The Canyons, is one of the five biggest in the United States, with eight mountains – all part of the Wasatch Range that joins the southern edge of the Rocky Mountains. The Canyons Ski Resort is just four miles from the historic Main Street of Park City, best known as the home of the annual Sundance Film Festival founded by actor and director Robert Redford. The resort has more than 1,400 skiable hectares of diverse terrain, with 146 trails to suit everyone from beginners to extreme skiers and snowboarders.
Since opening in 1997 as the third of Park City’s snow resorts, The Canyons has expanded to include 16 lifts, and is about to embark on more development that will open up hundreds more hectares of terrain over the next three years. Experienced skiers can also take part in the early-morning First Tracks guided ski tour, becoming each day’s first skiers onto the perfectly groomed Aspen-lined slopes.
There’s also plenty to occupy a rest day. Utah Olympic Park showcases the city’s hosting of the 2002 Winter Olympics and has a lot to offer, including a ski museum, a screaming thrill-ride on Xtreme Zip, the world’s steepest zipline, which gives you the sensation of ski-jumping while you’re harnessed safely to a cable, travelling at 80 kilometres per hour. And every day you can venture out again, knowing that each day is likely to offer – as it says on Utah licence plates – ‘The Greatest Snow on Earth’. •
No comments:
Post a Comment