Jul 13, 2008 — With some right-wing pundits comparing Barack Obama to leisure-suit-era President Jimmy Carter, it seems appropriate a group calling itself the Society of Leisure Enthusiasts is urging people to get out of Denver during the Democratic National Convention next month.

Citing an expected record crush of...

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Jun 1, 2008 — Few things go together in life better than sand and kids.

There is no more relaxing family vacation than one spent encrusted in silica, its fine granules infiltrating every piece of gear and clothing you brought on your trip. I even think it’s good for the digestive tract of toddlers, in small doses, of course.

But the problem we have here in the...

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Mar 21, 2008 — It’s impossible to visit the town of Taos without encountering the legend of Ernie Blake. There are coffee table books, posters, and inevitable references to one of skiing’s most eccentric men who, in 1955, installed Taos Ski Valley’s first lift with the help of a mule and 16 men from the nearby Taos Pueblo – and without the help of...

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Feb 19, 2008 — Somewhere through the fog of exhaustion I heard a thin voice of complaint. Behind me, once again, my overweight classmate Chris had stopped to catch his breath. I turned to look back and he dramatically collapsed into the snow.
“Oh my god, I’m so tired,” he said.
“C’mon man,” I said, trying to make my teenage voice sound as grown-up – and...

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Dec 15, 2007 — CORDOVA, Alaska – The longer we stood on our skis on the parking-spot-sized landing zone atop an unnamed pinnacle of rock and ice in southeastern Alaska’s Chugach Mountains, the louder and more insistent my inner voice became: “Just where the hell are we supposed to ski?”

By the time I vocalized my concern to our Points North...

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Dec 10, 2007 — MONARCH MOUNTAIN SKI AREA – Parents who complain it’s tough to get their teenagers off the couch and out from in front of the Xbox need to meet Peter Teterwak of Colorado Springs.

I encountered teenagers Teterwak and his buddy, Max Verhaeghe, also of the Springs, on the 15-minute trudge up the Mirkwood Basin Access Road into Monarch...

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Oct 22, 2007 — SILVERTON MOUNTAIN – Halfway up the Stairway to Heaven - skis on my shoulder, heart pounding hellishly in my head – it hit me that three hours of sleep, an undisclosed number of a beers the night before and the first vestiges of a head cold are not the best ways to prep for skiing 20 inches of new snow at the state’s most challenging ski area.

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Apr 3, 2007 — LAMOILLE, Nev. – The Come Line in the remote Ruby Mountains of north-central Nevada is a 2,000-vertical-foot mine shaft of a ski run where the chief chemical extracted these days is adrenaline.

It’s the signature run of Ruby Mountain Helicopter Skiing (RMH), and double entendre aside, the Come Line lives up to its billing as one of...

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Mar 11, 2007 — DRIGGS, IDAHO — These are the moments when good planning comes in handy.

Gloves? Check. Hat? Check. Parka? Check.

It seems that weather, like most things in the expansive Jedediah Wilderness east of Driggs, can be unpredictable. It may not feel like the appropriate time of year for a three-day snowstorm, but in...

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Mar 10, 2007 — LECH-ZURS AM ARLBERG, Austria - The ski-shop owner – I think his name was Luigi – shrugged in mock exasperation. “It’s the Italian way,” he chuckled unapologetically.

It was an epic powder day at Sestriere Colle in Northwest Italy – the first significant snow in a month and a half – and not only did Luigi not have any fat or even...

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