Utah Company Books South America's Top Ski Areas
Want to keep winter going all year long? Head south. South America Ski Trips (tel. 800/467-5445; http://southamerica.skitrips.com), a Boulder, Colorado-based subsidiary of a Park City, Utah, resort management company, specializes in South America travel, including the continent's leading ski destinations: Bariloche, Portillo, Termas de Chillan and Valle Nevado, all in Chile, and Las Leñas in Argentina.
New Zealand's Cardona Improves Captain's Basin Sector
With a new high-speed quad chairlift, snowmaking improvements, expansion of its popular pizzeria and improvements in the advanced terrain park, Cardrona (tel. +1 (64) 3 443 7341; www.cardrona.com) has upgraded facilities in the Captain's Basin area. The ski area, located near Wanaka, about an hour's drive from Queenstown, operates from June 27 to Oct. 12. Visitors staying in Queenstown who prefer not to drive can book daily transportation with Info & Track (tel. +1 (64) 3 443 7341; www.infotrack.co.nz).
World's Southernmost Ski Area
Ski Cerro Castor (www.cerrocastor.com) and you've got bragging rights for having set boards upon snow at the world's southern-most ski area. Three quad chairlifts, two surface lifts and a beginner lift endearingly called the "Bambi Lift" access 19 marked runs and abundant off-piste skiing. The base is about 600 feet above sea level with lifts accessing a 2,200-foot vertical. Even though it's located so far south, Cerro Castor's treeline is low and its proximity to the sea means that average temperatures hover between -5 and +5 degrees Celsius -- not far from freezing. The season extends from July 9 through Oct. 16. Accommodations abound in nearby Ushuaia, one of the southernmost cities in the world (best know as a departure port for Antarctic cruises during the austral summer). Links to lodging from modest rental bungalows to two five-star hotels are at www.interpatagonia.com/castor/alojamiento_i.html, as well as in Frommer's Argentina destination guide.Kids Free Weeks at Portillo
Portillo
, Chile (tel: +1 (56-2) 263-0606; www.skiportillo.com) offers free skiing, meals and lodging for one child, 12 years or younger, when staying in same room as for seven-day ski weeks on June 21-28, Aug, 30-Sept. 6 , Sept. 6-13 and Sept. 13-20.Zermatt Provides Summer Skiing on a High Glacier
Zermatt (www.ski-zermatt.com) has the largest and highest summer skiing area in Europe with seven ski lifts accessing some 13 miles of pistes and 3,200 vertical feet; the longest run is a 4-miler. The Klein Matterhorn cable car climbs to 12,530 feet to reach the summer ski area, where the lifts begin operating at 7:00am so that skiers and riders can catch the firmest morning snow, which softens to sweet corn by mid-morning.
Northern Italy Boasts One of Europe's Biggest Summer Ski Areas
With access via two cable cars, six surface lifts, some 18 miles of downhill marketed downhill runs a vertical of some 2,200 feet, three cross-country tracks totaling, the Passo de Stelvio (www.passostelvio.net) in the Italian Alps ranks as one of Europe's major summer skiing areas. The base elevation is at 2,760 meters (some 9,000 feet), making it Europe's highest summer ski area. Many national ski teams go there for their annual summer on-snow training. Abundant lodging is available in Bormio (tel. +1 (39) 0342 902424; www.bormio.it/english.htm).
Colorado's Arapahoe Basin to Operate into June
Arapahoe Basin (tel. 970/468-0718; www.arapahoebasin.com) plans to run its lifts well into June. Economical $309 2008-09 season passes for A-Basin only are now on sale and are valid for the remainder of the 2007-08 season. These passes include five non-transferable ski days at Keystone or Breckenridge, one of which can be used through much of the season at Vail or Beaver Creek, and also five unrestricted days at Bear Valley, California.
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