Olympic Valley, CA – A number of ski resorts across the U.S. will mark the annual return of the Perseid Meteor Shower next month with special events and festivities atop the mountain.

In California, friends and families can camp under the stars on Monday, August 13 and watch the night sky light-up from one of the best viewing location in Lake Tahoe. Squaw Valley’s Perseid Meteor Shower Campout will take place at High Camp at elevation 8,200 feet, where guests watch the spectacular meteor shower and enjoy amazing views of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Sierra Nevada.

The Perseids come every year beginning in late July and stretching into August. Among the many nights of the shower, there is always the one night that the viewing of the shower is at its best. This year, that evening falls on Monday, August 13. On this night, sky watchers can witness colorful fireballs, occasional outbursts and long hours of gracefully streaking meteors.

Perseid Meteor Shower campers can upload Squaw’s Aerial Tram between 4:20 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. After setting up camp on the mountaintop, there will be an informational briefing on telescopes with meteor shower viewing beginning at 10 p.m. In the morning campers will enjoy a continental breakfast from 6:45 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. before downloading on the Tram.

Prices for Squaw’s Perseid Meteor Shower Campout are $79 for adults and $54 for kids and include the Tram ride, professional stargazing instruction, camping and continental breakfast. Reservations are required by calling (800) 403-0206.

In the East, officials at Quebec’s Mont-Sainte-Anne have scheduled their on-mountain show for Friday, August 10. from the summit of Mont-Sainte-Anne during a special evening hosted by astrophysicist Robert Lamontagne, who will stage a conference on the Mayan prediction of the December 21, 2012 apocalypse.

The resort’s gondolas will operate that evening from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., with the last lift up the mountain loading at 10 p.m.   Specialists from Le Naturaliste Shop will be on site with telescopes for the public to use.   Those who find the exact number of stars hidden between the ski resort’s Summit and La Crête lodges will be eligible for various prize drawings. Planespace, a 360-degree projection of the sky with music and images in a giant planetarium, will open at 7:30 p.m., and Lamontagne’s conference will begin at 9 p.m.  Those who are hungry will find a BBQ at the summit all evening long.

Mont-Sainte-Anne’s entire event is offered at the price of a regular round-trip gondola ticket, C $20 including tax for adults and free for both children age 6 and under and for those with an unlimited 2012 winter season pass. Reduced rates for families, seniors and those ages 7 to 17 are also available.

Should cloudy skies prevail,  Mont-Sainte-Anne will reschedule their event for Saturday, August 11.

The panoramic gondolas will be operating from 6pm to 1am [last lift up at 10pm].

>From 7pm: Specialists from Le Naturaliste Shop will be on site with telescopes for the public.  

>From 7:30pm: You have to visit Planespace, it is a 360 degrees projection of the sky with music and images, under a giant planetarium with comfortable seating.

>9pm: Robert Lamontagne’s conference: The Mayans, Nibiru and end of the world in 2012 – Myth or Reality? According to the Mayan calendar, the end of the world is scheduled for December 21, 2012. The astrophysicist will debate it.  

>New this year, participate in the Star’s quest! Those who find the exact number of stars hidden between the Summit and La Crête lodges will be eligible for different draws.

>Hungry? A BBQ service will be open at the summit all night!

>How much? The entire event is offered at the price of a regular round-trip gondola ticket, only $20 [tax included] for adults and free for children 6 and under and winter members with an unlimited season pass [2012]. Family rates, seniors and for 7 to 17 are also available.

* Please take note that the event will be post-poned to the following day if the sky is cloudy.