Beirut, Lebanon – Lebanon is only a stone’s throw away from my home, a mere 100 miles across the Med. It should therefore come as no surprise that, throughout my life, stories from my neighboring country have been featured daily in the news: War, fighting, killing, and despair. Waves of people trying to escape the … Continue reading The Sweets of Lebanon
January 16, 1997. It was a beautiful day at Smugglers Notch. There was a clear blue, sunny sky and the temperature was about 20 degrees. I had shed several layers, finally finding comfort in long underwear, windpants, hat, goggles, gloves and a windbreaker. In the previous week, it had dumped powder galore. In the woods, … Continue reading Mind Games: An Unplanned Night in the Vermont Woods
Charlemont, MA – Exiting Interstate 91 at exit 26 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, Route 2 (a.k.a. the Mohawk Trail) climbs steeply out of the Pioneer Valley, then down to the Deerfield River. The road follows the river through several sleepy hamlets before arriving at one more: Charlemont, Massachusetts, the home to Berkshire East. I shared the … Continue reading The Beast
Lac Beauport (QC), Canada – The big eastern snow drought of December, 1998 weighed heavily on my mind as I packed my ski gear. I prepared for my annual pilgrimage from Florida to visit the in-laws in Québec City, and I fretted about what I would encounter once I arrived. My concerns deepened as I … Continue reading Le Relais
Cyprus –In our days, when people hear of the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the usual /images that enter their minds revolve around golden sandy beaches with warm turquoise waters, high-end hotels, hot sun, and perhaps a few might even think of the Cyprus Problem, one of the few remaining unresolved conflicts … Continue reading Cyprus: Where Sun, Sea and Skiing Merge Into One
The Monashee Mountains in southeast British Columbia are probably best known to skiers for helicopter skiing, as they’re blessed with plentiful and consistent snow (about 700 inches annually) falling on large and varied terrain (up to 8000 vertical feet from peaks to valley floors). A heli-ski guide once told me that 90% of the heli-skiing … Continue reading Spring in the Monashees
Bansko, Bulgaria – Bansko, Bulgaria… Skiing is not the first thing to spring in the mind upon hearing these names. Yet, the truth is that hidden in Bulgaria there are several little skiing paradises for the adventurous skier to discover. I was treated to the experience of a skiing trip to Bansko Ski Resort, located … Continue reading Bansko