‘Tis the season for winter escapes and few places do snowy holidays better than Switzerland. Choose your adventure, from an intimate, luxury getaway in the quiet Val d’Anniviers to an affordable winter package and adrenaline-fueled fun in Zermatt, here are five reasons to pack your bags.
Better still, discover how you can win a free 1-week Swiss winter holiday.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Fun in the Terrain Park at Bigrock Ski Area
a guest article by B&B expert, Marti Mayne
When you think of skiing, most minds wander to Colorado, Utah or British Columbia. Yet for many New Englanders, the travel and expense of heading out west make this dream trip tough.
Having lived in Maine his whole life, my 50-something husband had never been to Aroostook County, the largest county east of the Mississippi, and equal in size to Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. So we packed up the kids and headed to “The County” for a ski vacation.
Renowned as hosts to the 2011 World Cup Biathlon, this is Nordic skiing paradise, with two world class biathlon facilities within an hour of one another. Yet, no one thinks of Aroostook, which they call the Crown of Maine, for alpine skiing.
Read on and we’ll let you in on a secret about a treasure of a family skiing area where lift lines are non-existent and lift tickets start at $8.00. Be sure to watch the video at the end too. Click here to learn about Maine’s secret skiing destination.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
With plenty of energy still left after a day of skiing, Kim Han Fuller plays in the snow with Clay Brook Hotel & Residences in the background.There’s no sugar coating it. Sugarbush is one sweet ski resort for the whole family.
Our family ski experience there started with “May I help you carry your skis?” and ended with “have a great day!” I later learned the young men and women in the blue jackets are referred to as “Sugar Sherpas,” and it’s clear their role is to ensure you start and finish the day with a friendly greeting. This is just one of the many details that go into making Sugarbush Resort one incredible skiing experience for everyone from families to couples, skiers to boarders and first-timers to old-timers.
We visited Sugarbush on Martin Luther King’s birthday weekend after a blizzard dumped two feet of snow two days earlier. We anticipated crowds, and indeed we joined the exodus of skiers and boarders making “the big schlep” from the parking lot to the lodge. Yet with its campus of base lodges, ski school buildings and ticket sales locations, once to the base we were easily able to find a place to sit, stow gear and suit up, even with six of us.
To read more, visit EasternSlopes.com
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Meet K2 designers and try unreleased test skis and prototypes for the 2011-2012 season. This limited adventure from Canadian Mountain Holidays is perfect for people who love heli-skiing and testing new products.
Join CMH Heli-Skiing and K2 Skis this winter (March 12 - 19, 2011) and be among the first to test out K2’s upcoming line of 2011-12 skis. You will have access to a variety of unreleased K2 test skis during a Heli-Ski week with CMH. K2 designers will be on-hand with prototype skis, and they will gather your valued feedback on an assortment of performance metrics of each ski model you choose to take for a ride.
The designers will then take your comments back to the K2 Headquarters and fine-tune the skis with your comments in mind. Your reward for all this hard work? A free pair 2011-2012 K2 skis once they are released in the fall of 2011.
Get more Heli-Skiing details at Canadian Mountain Holidays
Source: The Adventure Collection
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Top 10 Ski Rental Home Destinations:
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
My brother and his family relocated to Sandy, UT, this year and you can bet I’m happy to have a guest room within shouting distance of some of North America’s finest ski mountains! Check out what’s new and improved at Utah’s 13 ski resorts this winter…
Utah ski resorts have been busy adding new terrain, on-mountain enhancements, luxury accommodations, programs and packages to complement the destination’s astonishing accessibility and 500 annual inches of The Greatest Snow on Earth®. Entering the 2010-11 winter season, Utah’s resorts boast some of the most significant resort improvements in the US.
NEW TERRAIN
The Canyons Resort has added new terrain to the southern end of its resort property. Iron Mountain, adjacent to Dream Peak, will open 300 acres of northwest facing terrain. Ten runs ranging from intermediate to advanced intermediate will be cut and nearly 300+ acres of naturally gladed tree skiing will be available. The new terrain brings the resort to 4,000 total skiable acres and makes it the fourth largest ski resort in the US.
Park City Mountain Resort added three new Adventure Alley runs allowing intermediates the thrill of skiing or riding through the trees. The Resort has also continued to glade Crescent Ridge, enhancing the advanced skiing experience.
Powder Mountain brings 1,000 additional acres of expert chutes and bowls to the 2,000 acres of terrain already in use by the Snowcat Powder Safari.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".