Archive for the 'Ski & Winter' Category
Historic Wyoming ski resort reopens; hopes for more snow
March 11, 2010 8:57am
More than five years after shutting down, Sleeping Giant, a ski area about 50 miles west of Cody, Wyo., and three miles from Yellowstone National Park, has reopened under new ownership. But the resort in the Absaroka Range is having another problem: skimpy snow.
The ski area, with 180 acres and a 900-foot vertical drop, reopened this season with three lifts, including a triple chair purchased from California’s Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. Sleeping Giant is one of the oldest ski resorts in the U.S., dating to 1938, and one of the few that is run by a nonprofit organization.
Hamilton Bryan, executive director with Yellowstone Recreations Foundation, which manages Sleeping Giant, said he thinks spring storms will add to the meager snow base, which was 16 inches as of this week.
“Historically, we can get a pretty good dump toward the end of the season,” he said.
The resort is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays through Mondays. Adult lift tickets are $29 per day.
— Benoit Lebourgeois, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Photo: Peter Craig jumps over a rail during the Giant Rails & Bails Festival at Wyoming’s Sleeping Giant ski area in February. Credit: Hamilton Bryan / Yellowstone Recreations Foundation
Heavenly deal for skiers: Third night free at Lake Tahoe
March 1, 2010 5:57am
If you have yearned to enjoy Lake Tahoe’s powder but thought its resorts would leave you penniless to buy lift tickets, this deal lets you rest easy.
Deal: Heavenly Mountain Resort’s “Spend March in the Mountains for Just $75” deal gives you free lift tickets and lodging every third day and night at either Lakeside Inn & Casino, Blue Lake Inn or Big Pines Mountain House, based on availability. Prices begin at $75 per person per day.
Dates: Valid daily, including weekends, until April 18.
Winter Olympics: $10 souvenir mittens are a hit with visitors
February 21, 2010 6:58am
Canada is the new red, and those notoriously popular souvenir mittens for the 2010 Winter Olympics are almost as ubiquitous as the Canadian flag up here. At $10 a pair, they are being bought up by visitors in unexpected numbers. Other than a torch, they are the ultimate Games souvenir.
The Hudson Bay Co., which is carrying the mittens, originally planned to sell 1 million pairs. It hit that mark in December, and now sales are nearing 3 million pairs. The mittens are available at the Olympic Superstore in Vancouver and at Hudson Bay and Zellers stores across Canada.
But here’s a tip: You don’t need to visit Canada to get them. You can buy the actual red mittens with the tiny Canadian flag online. While Southern California doesn’t call for mittens very often, they would be a sure hit on visits to Mammoth or Big Bear.
— Chris Erskine, deputy Travel editor, Los Angeles Times
Photo: Souvenir mittens for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Credit: Copyright VANOC / COVAN
4th night free: Ski Utah, relive the 2002 Olympics and save
February 19, 2010 5:58am
If the Winter Olympics in Vancouver have you hankering for the slopes or wishing you knew the finer points of curling, check out this deal, which gives you an extra night’s sleep near ski resorts and the 2002 Winter Olympic Oval (now known as the Utah Olympic Oval). Drop in to skate and yes, even curl, at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, about 20 minutes away from Salt Lake City, or schuss away at the Brighton, Solitude, Alta and Snowbird ski resorts.
Deal: Marriott’s “Ski Utah! Stay Three, the Fourth is Free in Salt Lake City” offer is just what it says: You get the fourth night free when you stay four nights in a row. It’s good for standard rooms, priced between $109 and $219 per night, at two locations: Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown and Residence Inn Salt Lake City Cottonwood.
When: Valid Thursdays through Sundays through March 31, subject to availability.
Winter Olympics day trip for $300 (and change)
February 15, 2010 1:30pm
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OK, here’s a mini-adventure. How about a day trip from Los Angeles to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada? Stay with me here —no, I don’t mean literally. I mean bear with me for a better bargain than you might imagine.
Here’s the itinerary I’ve set up for you:
6 a.m. Flight departs LAX ($260 round trip).
10:30 a.m. Cab ride to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver (about $20).
11 a.m. 550-foot-long zip line ride through downtown (free).
Noon. Rubbing elbows with Olympic mascots and fans in downtown Vancouver (free)
1 p.m. Lunch at Japa Dog cart (pictured above) at Burrard and Pender streets, the best hot dog west of Chicago (about $9)
1:30 p.m. Tour of Canada Pavilion on George Street (free).
3 p.m. Walking tour of Granville Island, stop at Swiss Pavilion there (free).
3:30 A cup of coffee from Tim Hortons, a favorite local chain (about $4)
4 p.m. Return to airport ($20)
5:30 p.m. Depart Vancouver (YVR) for LAX
That’s a lot of activity for one day. But for a little more than $300, you’ve sampled the Winter Olympics. You can throw in a quick event — say, curling or women’s hockey — for an additional $50. Those are about the only events that have tickets still available.
Headed for Winter Olympics? How to handle money, get around and dress for weather
February 12, 2010 5:09pm
With a very excited, very soggy Vancouver filling up for the Winter Games in Canada, here are some last-minute tips for visitors heading north, with an assist from HSBC, a financial management service that offers tips on banking while on the road:
Money: Most Vancouver establishments accept U.S. dollars and usually offer reasonable exchange rates. Alert your credit and debit-card companies that you plan to use your card abroad, and know your bank’s cash-withdrawal limit before you leave. When using your card at an ATM in Canada, remove it shortly after inserting it because certain ATMs retain your card if it is not removed within 10 to 15 seconds.
Getting around: During the Games, you’ll find road restrictions, increased vehicle traffic and no parking at venues and along key routes. Public transit and walking will be the easiest ways to get around, especially in downtown Vancouver. Taxis are everywhere and easy to obtain, even in the rain.
Four Seasons Whistler: Let the post-Olympics travel bargains begin
February 12, 2010 5:58am
With the Winter Olympics getting underway in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada, the post-Games travel bargains are already hitting the chute. To get the jump on them, grab the phone or hit the Internet during those commercial breaks.
Even the ritzy Four Seasons Resort Whistler, which is charging $1,159 per night and up for rooms during the Olympics, is offering deals for stays after the Feb. 28 closing ceremony, when the world’s top athletes and their thousands of fans desert the slopes. With the deals, room rates can drop under $200 per night.
Deal: “Stay Longer – Third Night Free” is pretty much what it says: If you stay three consecutive nights, the third night is free of charge.
Nightly rates for “moderate” rooms — the name the Four Seasons uses for its cheapest category — range from $251 to $970 pretax, depending on the season. The top rate overall is $8,703 per night for the “Four Bedroom and Den Resort Residence,” in case you were wondering. (Note: I’ve stated prices in U.S dollars, which can fluctuate based on exchange rates. The resort’s website lists prices in Canadian dollars.)
Lake Tahoe: $1 racing and other family fun at Kid-O-Rama
January 29, 2010 12:55pm
Especially for families with active minors in tow, Squaw Valley USA’s Kid-O-Rama will offer tons of unique family-focused activities over nine days next month. Age-appropriate parties and concerts, a “big truck night” and plenty of slope-top fun will color the Lake Tahoe resort during the event running Feb. 13 through Feb. 21.
Among the draws on the first day will be the Dance Party on Ice for skaters at the Olympic Ice Pavilion. Likely tamer will be the Valentine’s Day Cookie Poem Contest (which also runs Feb. 14) at Wildflour Baking Co.
Other attractions: On multiple days, adults and children alike can try out snow-tubing at the Papoose Discovery Center. The Squaw Sessions Teen Camp will be geared to skiers and snowboarders ages 13 to 18. Skiers and snowboarders can take on their parents or vice versa —or even another family— at the Family Ski Racing event on the Ford Recreational Raceway; racing will cost, as it generally does on this course, $1 per run. Read the rest of this entry »
FareCompare’s Ski Vacation Flight Finder: Round-trip flights under $300
January 19, 2010 1:16pm
The FareCompare Hot Deals blog is already a great source of airfare sales, but today its e-mailed newsletter grabbed my attention with a post I missed last Thursday: “Ski Destinations for under $300 r/t“. It pointed out a few airfare sales and led me to its Ski Vacation Flight Finder, a perfect tool for skiers and boarders who want to check out powder in another town.
I love how easy this tool is to use.
First I typed in my departure location, Los Angeles (LAX). Then it delivered 10 ski destinations with flights that cost less than $300 round trip. When you click on the city (I chose Colorado Springs), it takes you to a fare calendar that shows you the cheapest dates to fly. Los Angeles - Colorado Springs was more or less the same price for the entire month of February ($239 Sun-Thurs, $259 Fri-Sat). I tested the dates Feb. 11-15, and sure enough they found me a flight on Frontier Airlines for $239 including taxes (via Orbitz). Wow — it couldn’t have been any easier.
Ski destinations under $300 from Los Angeles:
The other destinations that the FareCompare Ski Vacation Flight Finder found for me were:
Lake Tahoe: Olympic Heritage Celebration and historic trails a reminder of 1960 Games
January 3, 2010 9:57am
As much of the world looks forward to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February, so does Lake Tahoe. But the mountain community is also tipping its hat to the past.
In honor of the VIII Olympic Winter Games, which took place in the region in 1960, the Olympic Heritage Celebration this month will mark the 50th anniversary year. Though much of the activity will be around Squaw Valley, the west shore of Lake Tahoe will be getting attention too. For it was near these shores, 15 miles away from the resort, that the Nordic skiing events took place in 1960.
The so-called Olympic Nordic Trails, single-lane parallel paths upon which Olympians competed, were paid little mind until their uncovering was initiated in 1999 by Tahoe-Truckee resident David Antonucci — who literally began the endeavor in his own backyard.
The efforts of Antonucci (author of “Snowball’s Chance: The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley & Lake Tahoe,” 2009, BookSurge Publishing) and others were successful. Today, about nine miles have been restored, representing about a quarter of the trails, according to the North Lake Tahoe Visitors Bureau. Read the rest of this entry »
