Keystone, CO – A full moon rose above the ramparts of the Continental Divide, as the rental car engine whined up one side of Loveland Pass and down the other. It’s a good thing that I remembered to feed the gerbils that ran on the treadmill used to power the tiny foreign subcompact. When the … Continue reading Night Moves
Steamboat Springs, CO – The Tugboat Grill & Pub in Steamboat’s Ski Time Square was quickly filling with après-ski revelers as I joined Steve Rakowski at the bar, lamenting the lack of new snow. A local for the past 14 years, Steve was equally frustrated that it hadn’t snowed significantly in two weeks, and no … Continue reading Purrr-fect Cat Skiing in Colorado
Reno, NV – What comes to mind when you think of Nevada? Likely it’s the kitsch and neon of Vegas, but it might be dry deserts, lonely roads, houseboats on Lake Mead, missile ranges, Wayne Newton, or even legalized prostitution. But skiing? Not in most people’s heads. Nevada is a desert, after all … right? … Continue reading Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe: Betting on Nevada
Missoula, MT – Spokane International Airport seemed a long time ago. Located very nearly on the border between the Mountain and Pacific zones, it was a whole time zone away. Grinding up the long, switchbacking gravel access road to the resort in the gathering darkness in our trusty rental Subie Outback, I thought back a … Continue reading Montana Snowbowl: Hardcore Hospitality
by Leigh Daboll Whitefish, MT – Let’s face it – there’s a bold statement contained in the above long-winded title. Nevertheless, after 30-odd years of skiing and visits to several score of North American ski resorts, I can at least feel somewhat qualified in making it. And, quite frankly, I can’t think of a more … Continue reading “The Best Danged All ‘Round Ski Resort in America”?
My introduction to Japanese skiing took place roughly 27 years ago in front of a television set in Warren, Vermont, my hometown in the United States, and also home to Sugarbush Ski Area. My father, a transplanted Austrian who had emigrated to North America to become a ski instructor, had not yet adopted the American … Continue reading Introduction to Skiing in Japan
Minneapolis, MN – There’s one thing any die-hard skier will notice as he or she gazes out the porthole window of their plane on the final approach into the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport: it’s damned flat out there. My eyes scanned from one horizon to the other for any skiable topographic features, and unfortunately I … Continue reading Bright Lights, Twin Cities