Book Now to Ski Chile Next Summer
If the Chilean resorts of Valle Nevado (tel. 800/669-0554; www.vallenevado.com), Termas Chillan (tel. 866/237-4119; www.skichillan.cl) or Portillo (tel. 800/829-5325; www.skiportillo.com) are in you plans for summer 2008 (winter in the Southern Hemisphere) book and pay by December 31 to lock in 2007 rates for a projected savings of 3 to 7% on the land portion.
New Lift, Improved Superpipe at Squaw Valley
California's Squaw Valley (tel. 530/583-6985; www.squaw.com) has a new high-speed, six-passenger chairlift in the Shirley Lake area and a new in-ground superpipe. Equipped with lights and snowmaking, the Riviera Superpipe is the only night-accessed superpipe in the Tahoe basin.
Cranmore Celebrates its 70th
Cranmore, NH (tel. 800/SUN-N-SKI; www.cranmore.com) headlines its 70th anniversary with $3.30 lift tickets on Dec. 21. Merriment continues through the winter with Cranapalooza, the resort's popular Saturday evening entertainment, and night skiing offers, with $22 lift tickets from 2-9pm. Three lifts operate at night to serve 11 trails for all ability levels and action at two terrain parks. Cranapalooza also features, fireworks, magicians and puppets and s'mores around the fire pit with the C-more, the resort's penguin mascot. New nighttime dinners are served at the Summit-top Meister Hut on select dates.
Mount Snow Spends Millions on Unglamorous But Key Upgrades
Once upon a time, seemingly every ski area had a clock tower, often faux-Alpine. These symbolic structures have largely fallen out of favor but Mount Snow, VT (tel. 800/245-SNOW; www.mountsnow.com), however, not only repainted the 1960s building but also installed a new clock in it. This rehab is symbolic of $4 million in on-mountain upgrades (mainly snowmaking) and $2.5 million to refresh every building, repaint exteriors to harmonize, clarify signage and, happily, completely redo the base-area restrooms.
Improvements in Place at Sugarloaf
Sugarloaf, ME (tel. 800/THE-LOAF; www.sugarloaf.com) spent $4 million on improvements -- the most in a decade -- to increase snowmaking capacity by 20 percent via new energy-efficient guns, enhance grooming, add a moving carpet for beginners on The Birches run, expand the Outdoor Center to include an Olympic-size ice rink and other improvements.
New Chairlift Accesses 1,000 Acres at Crystal Mountain
Crystal Mountain, WA (tel. 360/663-2265; www.skicrystal.com) latest double chairlift from near the lower Northway trail to the top of Northway Peak adds 1,000 acres of challenging lift-served terrain. A related improvement is a new traverse from Elk Pass to Northway Peak. Additionally, the Summit House restaurant was updated and upgraded into a full-service, sit down restaurant featuring a new menu of fresh Northwest cuisine.
Mt. Hood Meadows Upgrades An Original Lift
Mt. Hood Meadows, OR (tel. 800/SKI-HOOD; www.skihood.com) has opened in January 1968 with two lifts. One of the originals, the North Lift, has more recently been called the Yellow Lift. It has been upgraded with new chairs replacing the original center-pole model and adding new restraining bars. Because it directly serves the Stadium Run, it is now called the Stadium Chair.
International Fare at Tamarack
Tamarack (tel. 866/649-6903 or 208/325-1000; www.tamarackidaho.com), a growing four-seasons resort and real estate development in Idaho's Payette Mountains, does Monday Wing Night (25-cent wings and $2.00 draft beer) all evening and Taco Tuesdays ($1.00 tacos and $3.00 drinks) from 4-7pm, both at Seven Devils Pub, and Sushi Night from 5-7:00pm every Tuesday at Morels Lounge.
Swiss Resort Installs High-Capacity Gondola
With the ability to handle 1,600 passengers per hour, the new eight-passenger gondola more than doubles capacity to the top of Verbier's (tel. +41 (0) 27 775 38 88; www.verbier.ch) Savoleyres, a sector of sunny, gentle slopes popular with novices and families. It also speeds access to the Quatre Vallées (Four Valleys) expansive terrain.
Leukerbad Adds Movie Screens to Spa Center
Leukerbad, Switzerland (tel. +41 (0) 27 472 71 71; www.leukerbad.ch), is as well known for its spectacular thermal baths as for its skiing -- maybe more so. The Lindner Alpentherme (tel. +41 (0) 27 472 10 10; www.alpentherme.ch) has an enormous new movie screen right at its big pool showing movie classics, blockbusters and comedies from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. six evenings a week The SFR25 admission includes three hours of swimming and the movie. The bragging rights for such unique apres-ski? Priceless.
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