Come Play in the Park – Chicago Week 2010 in Park City

Chicago Metroploitan Ski Council’s are hitting the slopes in park City this coming March for Chicago Week. Find out more on this once-a-year event.

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Ski News- Spring 2009

Michigan

Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville recently opened Crystal Spa, which offers a full menu of services including massage, body treatments, facials, manicures and pedicures. Other features include a meditation lounge and outdoor meditation garden with hot tub (available year-round), manicure and pedicure area, and locker rooms with heated floors, steam rooms and infrared saunas that use less power while providing deeper tissue penetration than traditional saunas. The 18,500-square-foot, LEED-certified facility also has a fitness center with state-of-the-art cardio and strength-training equipment, indoor pool with lap lanes, hot tub, and an indoor and outdoor motion studio. The spa has 12 treatment rooms and a variety of treatments to choose from. Contact: 231-378-2000, crystalmountain.com.

Minnesota

Lutsen Mountains in Lutsen has made some recent new additions. A new triple chair lift increases the uphill capacity on Eagle Mountain by 30% and provides express service to Eagle’s North Face expert runs. The Plunge, the near vertical drop on the North Face of Moose Mountain, has re-opened and is the steepest run in mid-America with a 90% slope and winch-cat grooming. Eagle Ridge Resort has added a two-bedroom, one-and-a half bath luxury suite with convenient ski-in/ski-out access as well as 12 new one-bedroom luxury condos with upgraded features such as Silestone countertops, steam showers, stainless steel appliances, fireplaces and private balconies. There are also three new spas in the Lutsen area that offer a variety of services, including massages and other treatments. Contact: 218-663-7281, lutsen.com.

Wisconsin

The remodeled Historic Stone Chalet at Granite Peak, at Rib Mountain State near Wausau, features a new upstairs lounge area with mountain views, two stone fireplaces and weekly entertainment. The chalet also has additional downstairs eating, plus new changing areas and restrooms. Also new at Granite Peak is the large outdoor patio with a fire ring and an outdoor grill serving bratwurst on Saturday nights and holidays. A second high-speed lift is planned for 2009-2010, with ski-in/ski-out resort lodging planned for 2010-2012. Contact: 715-845-2846, skigranitepeak.com.

WEST

California

North Lake Tahoe businesses and organizations are planning a large-scale, season-long celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1960 Olympic Winter games held in Squaw Valley and along Tahoe’s West Shore from Homewood to Tahoma. The Olympic Heritage Celebration, which takes place Jan. 8-17, 2010, will have planned events including races, celebrations, parades, interpretive tours and reenactments. The anniversary event will also provide awareness and fundraising for the Squaw Valley Olympic and Winter Sports Museum, which is in the planning stages. Contact: 1960winterolympics.com.

Northstar Resort in Truckee has made many improvements for skiers and riders. Enhancements include an extension of ski trails and the express quad lift on Lookout Mountain, new snowmaking systems, tree thinning for improved glade skiing, increased lift capacity, and the widening of the ski area boundaries which increases the resort’s acreage by 414 acres to a total 2,904 acres. Also available for guests at the resort are 150,000 square-feet of retail space at the Village at Northstar, which has 35 unique shops, galleries and dining options. When guests want to wind down, they can visit Balance Holistic Health at the Village, which offers services including massage, aromatherapy, yoga, thai chi and other wellness therapies and classes. Contact: 800-466-6784, northstarattahoe.com.

Kirkwood Mountain Resort in Kirkwood has added two new lifts that will give access to 700 acres and 1,350 vertical feet of skiing and snowboarding. There is also a lift for beginners called the Wonder Carpet lift in Timber Creek Base Area, which helps newcomers learn how to ski at their own pace and is a great place for the family to ski together. Contact: 800-967-7500, kirkwood.com.

Canada

Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH) in British Columbia is offering visitors a deal for the 2010 season. If guests book with a deposit by June 15, 2009, they will receive a guest lodge credit of CAN $100/day booked. For example, if a guest booked a seven-day trip, he would receive a credit of $700. The credit can be used for anything visitors choose, including the bar, massages, extra heli-skiing meters and the shop, and is good at 11 of CMH’s 12 lodges. Contact: 800-661-0252, canadianmountainholidays.com.

Colorado

Telluride Ski Resort recently unveiled its Revelation Bowl and Lift on the east side of Gold Hill. The bowl is for advanced and expert skiers and riders and offers a vertical drop that is now one of the largest in North America, at 4,425 feet with 3,845 vertical feet lift-served. Along with a 400-acre expansion this year, there is a new Bear Creek Overlook observation deck at the base of the bowl where skiers and riders can relax and enjoy the view of Telluride Valley. The resort has also opened two new luxury hotels, the Lumière Telluride and Capella Telluride, as well as several new restaurants. Contact: 970-728-6900, tellurideskiresort.com.

Idaho

Sun Valley recently relocated its Sun Valley Nordic Center to the new 58,000-square-foot Sun Valley Club in the backyard of the world-famous Sun Valley Lodge. The new center offers cross country skiers a number of new features, including a restaurant, indoor and outdoor bar, men’s and women’s lockers and lounges, equipment storage, repair and rental. There are also two outdoor heated pools, ice-skating, elegant dining, exclusive shopping and village ambiance. The Sun Valley Club is located one mile east of the Sun Valley Village; free bus service is available. Contact: 800-786-8259, sunvalley.com.

Utah

The Canyons Resort in Park City has made several improvements for this season. A new ski lift called the Frostwood Pulse Gondola transports guests staying in the Frostwood area to the base of the Flight of the Canyons gondola. As part of the Iron Mountain expansion plans, the new Timberline Lift will go from the base of Tombstone to a half mile below the DreamCatcher lift and will be used to access Tombstone from the DreamCatcher area at the end of the day. In order to open up more tree skiing and riding, trees will be gladed in areas such as Mystic Pines off of Peak 5. Snowmaking will be increased by 30%, and the grooming fleet has increased by 25% with an upgrade of snowmaking and grooming equipment. In the next year the resort will begin construction on an 18-hole golf course. Contact: 435-649-5400, thecanyons.com.

Wyoming
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village opened its highly anticipated aerial tram in mid-December. Better known as “Big Red,” the tram can carry 100 passengers and soars 4,139 vertical feet in the air in nine minutes until it reaches the 10,450-foot summit of Rendezvous Mountain. The tram comes after two years of construction and claims the longest continuous vertical rise in North America. At the summit, hiking trails can be found in every direction, and Corbet’s Cabin will be open all summer, with beverages and snacks available to enjoy on the deck while taking in views of the Snake River Valley below. A new viewing station at the top will allow for 360 aerial views of Wyoming and Idaho. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort will open for the summer season on May 23. The aerial tram will operate daily until Sept. 27. Contact: 888-333-7766, jacksonhole.com.

EAST

Maine

Mt. Abram Ski Resort in Bethel has more than doubled its skiable terrain with a new policy called “Boundary to Boundary.” Skiable and rideable terrain has gone from 250 acres to 650. There are groomer trails for every level rider as well as 400 more forested acres packed with powder stashes, steeps and cliff drops. The new policy means riders and skiers can’t lose their ticket for skiing off the trails in the trees. Contact: 207-875-5000, mtabram.com.

Vermont

Stowe Mountain Lodge recently opened and is located at the base of Spruce Peak Mountain in Stowe. The lodge offers skiers and snowboarders the opportunity to take advantage of the slopes without having to wait in any lines. Guests are able to send their equipment from home through the resort’s ski valet service and have it waiting for them when they arrive. The resort will also bring up the equipment to the chairlift or gondola whenever guests are ready to ski. Other services include “ski sherpas” heating ski boots and tuning equipment as well as lift tickets, lessons and rentals being secured in advance. Contact: 800-253-4754, stowemountainlodge.com.

Airboarding takes slope-sliding to a whole new level at Smugglers’ Notch Resort, “America’s Family Resort.” A-shaped and similar in size to a water raft, an airboard is an inflated sled steered by shifting body weight from side to side, thereby engaging the urethane grooves on the underside that act as edges. A wrist strap keeps the device connected to the rider in case of a tumble. Legs and feet can also influence the airboard’s downhill path. There are sizes for adults and kids. The afternoon family activity at lift-served Morse Highlands starts with a short instructional class. Guests must be 10 years old, 48 inches tall and wear a helmet. Smugglers’ Notch is consistently rated No. 1 in family programs by SKI magazine. Contact: 800-419-4615, smuggs.com.