Epic Snow = High Avalanche Danger

Fatalities and non-fatal incidents underscore the need for caution

In a recent post, I ooh-ed and ah-ed and cheered the prodigious snowfall that the West has enjoyed this winter. At the end of my post, I added the caution, "All that snow does mean avalanches are a real hazard, so this is a time to stick to resort skiing and riding. Save the backcountry until conditions are more stable. And, if you're driving, make sure your car is fitted with adequate snow tires, possibly chains, emergency gear and a level-headed driver." Now, I'm elevating the caution to a red-flag warning.

Colorado

I've been skiing at Snowmass for a few days, under idyllic conditions: blue sky, sunshine, no wind, superior snow conditions. But every once in a while, the boom of avalanche-control explosives can be heard as the resort's patrollers and snow-safety crew blast dangerous snow depositions and cornices, presumably on the backside steeps, before they can slide on their own and harm anyone.

Amazingly, not all avalanches occur in the backcountry or steep inbounds areas. At Snowmass' heralded new Base Village, I watched a series of harrowing slides unload from a brand new condominium building's metal roof directly onto the Sneaky's Tavern terrace, where visitors were having lunch. If those huge chunks of sun-softened wet snow had fallen on anyone's head, the result would not have been pretty. Quick-thinking managers emptied the tables, cordoned off the danger zone (right) and before long, dispatched workers with shovels up to the roof to push the remaining snow off the edge.

Given this unfortunate design, they are going to have shoveling teams at the ready after every significant snowfall. Think about it: A snow-loaded, south-facing metal roof + bright sunshine = problems like this afternoon's. Imagine what this will be like in spring when generous March/April snows are typically followed by warm sun.

The developer, Related Westpac, is proud of such high-profile projects as Time Warner Center in New York City, CityPlace in West Palm Beach, Florida, and other places far from ski country. Did they hire architects from Miami or Phoenix? Didn't the Town of Snowmass Village building inspector alert them to the ill-conceived combination of design and materials?

Wyoming

Meanwhile, following inbounds slides in Utah and California earlier this winter, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has experienced far more catastrophic problems from several inbounds avalanches. Laramie Bowl reportedly slid to the ground, and just two days after Dave Nodine, a 31-year-old local was killed in an inbounds slide, the Headwall released, and tons of snow ran straight into the lodge at the top of the Bridger Gondola. A site called Skiing the Backcountry posted a report about Nodine's death and a second report with dramatic photos of the snow damage to the restaurant. Stephen Koch has also premitted me to post photos like the one on the right. For more images, see his blog. Fortunately, this avalanche happened around 9:30 a.m. If it had released three hours later, the restaurant would have been filled with skiers who lunch. According to the resort's official press release on the incident:

"At approximately 9:30 am this morning, after JHMR Ski Patrol had completed one
avalanche hazard reduction route and were getting ready to conduct another, the
Headwall slid naturally from the southeast aspect above the Bridger Restaurant.
This incident took place before this area of the mountain had been opened to the
public. A search for potential victims took place and everyone has been
accounted for. This incident is under full investigation and a more detailed
report will be released at 4p.m. At this time, JHMR will remain closed until
further notice."

Followup news report: The day after I posted this item, the Jackson Hole News reported more extensively on the Headwall slide that damaged the Bridger Restaurant:

"The Headwall avalanche that raked the Bridger Restaurant building...trapped or hit seven ski patrollers...Five patrollers were slightly injured in the incident, which tore the railing and glass shields off the restaurant deck, burst through doors and windows and piled snow 8 feet deep inside. The avalanche roared down the Headwall slope at 9:26 a.m. after being provoked by a ski patrol bomb, resort officials said. It piled snow about 30 feet deep around the mid-mountain restaurant building and sent patrollers and other workers scrambling to free colleagues.

"Airborne snow that eddied around the corner of the building pinned or partially pinned four patrollers among scattered furniture on a patio. The blast knocked down two other patrollers who were hiking up to the building. Debris shuttered a seventh, and his search dog, inside the ski patrol room in the restaurant building until workers cut through an interior wall to set them free.

"The slide ran two days after an in-bounds avalanche below the Paintbrush
trail buried and killed 31-year-old David Nodine, of Wilson. Nodine skied off
the trail into an area unofficially known as Toilet Bowl with a friend when the
slide ran; patrollers found him within six minutes using a transceiver and
uncovered him within another four minutes. Bridger-Teton National Forest
avalanche forecaster Jim Springer and resort President Jerry Blann on Tuesday
fleshed out details of the Headwall slide, including how Blann dug out veteran
ski patroller Larry Detrick, who was buried up to his neck."

Remarkably, but perhaps on lawyers' advice, other than one "incident statement" following the Headwall slide, the resort's website makes no mention Nodine's death or of the avalanche that slammed into the restaurant and could have killed some of its own patrollers too. The Mountain Dining page still lists restaurants at the top of the gondola. Perhaps the resort cleaned out the snow and fixed the mess fast, but Nodine is gone, and there is no word about the injured patrollers.

British Columbia

The Vancouver Sun reported that eight snowmobilers are missing from a group of 11 buried in an avalanche in southeastern British Columbia in the Harvey Pass area, about 25 miles south of Fernie, on Sunday afternoon. According to the report, "The group had reportedly split into two when seven of them were buried in an avalanche at about 2 p.m., said Fernie RCMP. As the other four tried to dig them out, they were hit by another avalanche, which buried the entire group. All of the men, who are from nearby Sparwood, B.C., were wearing avalanche beacons. Police said two of the buried riders managed to dig themselves out within 20 minutes and used their avalanche beacons to locate a third man, who was rescued after another 20 minutes of digging." Three safe; seven bodies reportedly recovered on Monday and the final victim still missing. The search had to be called off because of darkness and continuing high danger.

Just a week ago, in Grand County, Colorado, two of four snowmobilers riding up a steep slope near Gravel Mountain in the Arapaho National Forest. One was a 38-year-old firefighter and paramedic and the other a 19-year-old.

These are examples of the differently types avalanche-caused fatalities in the West this winter, so please, skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers, be careful. For my part, I'm sticking to the groomers.

Two-for-One Seats for Obese Passengers in Canada

According to a Reuters report, obese passengers may still occupy two airline seats for the price -- on flights within Canada, that is. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday. The Canadian Transportation Agency had previously ruled that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" are entitled to have two seats for the price of one.Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet appealed, but in declinng to hear the appeal, the ruling sands. This is the second ime Canada's airlines lost on this one. The Federal Court of Appeal heard the case and decided in favor of super-plus-size passngers back in May,

Oh, What a Beautiful Winter!

With Western resorts are wallowing in snow, skiers and riders don't "need no stinkin' palm trees"

Never mind Santa Claus. Praise the snow gods who showered Western skiers and snowboarders with the best gift of all: snow, prodigious quantities of snow, especially in the southwest. In Colorado, Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort got 19 inches on Wednesday and more than 36 inches over a three-day period. Wolf Creek saw 29 inches over two days. Telluride received a record 21 inches of white gold.

Nearby in crow-flight miles but a long way by road, Silverton Mountain snared 40 inches, bringing the season's total to nearly 200 inches. Avalanche hazards forced road closures -- a blessing, in a sense, because it gives the area time for snow control before it is expected to reopen on Saturday, December 27.

Taos Ski Valley is New Mexico's new-snow leader, with 9 inches. Snow totals are more impressive farther north and farther west, not just in Colorado. In Utah, new ranged from a "modest" 12 inches at Sundance to 28 inches in Deer Valley. Jackson Hole, Wyoming (lower photo, right, on Christmas morning) and Montana's Whitefish Mountain (formerly The Big Mountain) were each blanketed with 17 inches in 24 hours. Sun Valley, Idaho, got "only" 7 inches overnight, but the 48-hour total measured to 22 inches. Similarly, Schweitzer, Idaho's most recent 2 inches was the literal icing on the cake that saw 28 inches in the last 72 hours, most of it in one phenomenal 24-hour, 25-inch dump. California's Lake Tahoe resorts, like Heavenly (right), have been digging out, packing down and wallowing in the two feet of snow that fell on Christmas Day.

All that snow does mean avalanches are a real hazard, so this is a time to stick to resort skiing and riding. Save the backcountry until conditions are more stable. And, if you're driving, make sure your car is adequate snow tires, possibly chains, emergency gear and a level-headed driver.

For my part, I'm planning to head to Snowmass tomorrow. I'll report.

Season's Greetings

And much happy, healthy & safe traveling.

Viscape's List of Top Travel Blogs

Travel Babel named as one of Viscape's Top 15 for 2008

Viscape (short for "Visualize Your Escape") has included this blog on its list of the top 15 travel blogs of the year. I'm thrilled to be included on the site describes itself as "a social marketplace for travelers, owners, and real estate professionals to come together to network, exchange ideas, conduct business, meet and organize trips around vacation properties and second homes." Of their selection, they wrote "Viscape really wanted to gear this to individuals sharing their passions and travel experiences, but some of the 'big dogs' in travel blogging can’t be ignored. (Ah..hem… National Geographic being the biggest)! Happy reading and happy travels!"

Here's the list of their 15 selected travel blogs and Viscape's comments on why they selected these:

1. National Geographic Intelligent Travel - "... they use those already extensive resources to create an entertaining and very informative blog about the known and unknown places of the world."
2. Traveling Mammas - "...great tips on great (and not so great) places to visit with children and how to have the best family vacations [by] four ladies [who] are a true traveling inspiration!"
3. Brooke vs. the World - "Brooke is a 25-year-old traveler from central Illinois on an extended journey to see the world....she made a promise to spend a large part of her life experiencing cultures other than her own."
4. Everything-everywhere - "[Blogger] Gary Arndt has... one goal in mind: see everything there is to behold....See what he sees through both words and photographs."
5. Travel Babel - "Claire Walter is a travel writer and began blogging in 2006. Now, she shares with her readers the latest news and trends of the travel industry."
6. Olga the Traveling Bra - "Want a good laugh, but still be informed?...Specializing in travel adventures that won’t disappoint!"
7. Killing Batteries - "Leif Petterson’s blogs are more than just fun and educational to read; they’re hilarious as well...."
8. The Perrin Post - "Travel tips from Conde Naste Traveler Magazine’s Wendy Perrin.... consumer news editor. She writes a practical advice column...[and] features on a wide variety of travel topics."
9. The Lost Girls - "Three twenty-something New Yorkers who ditched their media jobs to embark on a yearlong, round-the-world journey in search of adventure and inspiration."
10. LA times Daily Travel Deals Blog - "Hand-picked advice about travel deals and steals from some of the most comprehensive globe trotters on this side of the equator!"
11. Gas.tron.o.my - "If trying new food dishes is one of the sole reasons for visiting new places, then you should be reading Gas.tron.o.my...."
12. Travel Betty - "All about fearless travel for women! ...Travel From pampering to roughing it, [Travel Betty is] an experience collector [who] desires to be the old woman with the good stories. To her, travel is freedom."
13. Candy from Strangers - "Join the ever-lasting search for the best piece of chocolate or perhaps lollipop. Malena, a candy lover (like us) travels all around the world searching for the next best piece of candy...."
14. Delicious Baby - "...Take advice from Debbie, someone who can help make travel with your kids exciting (she has two delicious children of her own) and more enjoyable for everyone."
15. Viscape - "Are you visualizing your escape this minute? Well, Viscape can help you find the perfect place to stay or go on your next vacation. Read all about the latest trends in the real estate and the travel markets."

Bad Air Year

The year 2008 has not been kind to airlines -- or passengers

The Colorado media has, of course, been reporting extensively on the crash-and-burn of Continental Flight 1404, which had just taken off from Denver International Airport bound for Houston International. "DIA Crash Injures 38," the Sunday Denver Post page-one headline trumpeted. "Plane Mishap Hurts 38," wrote the kinder, gentler Boulder Camera. The Boeing 737 airliner accident was all over the airwaves all weekend long. The plane veered off the runway, shed an engine somewhere along the way, burst into flames and came to battered and bruised rest near an airport fire station.

It got me thinking about how cavalier many of us travelers tend to be about reading the safety in instruction card that shows where emergency exits are located, and whether or not we are the best passengers to wrestle with the emergency door, should the plane need to be evacuated. It also got me thinking about what a tough year 2008 has been for air travelers. Here are just a few of the incidents and accidents I've blogged about this year:

• With uncharacteristic snow and ice this week in the Pacific Northwest, service has just about come to a halt at Sea-Tac International Airport, with the most flight cancellations in 30 years, according to tonight's "ABC News." On the other side of the country, New York airports were reporting delays of up to five hours, as well as dozens of flight cancelations, as was Chicago's O'Hare, which is a chronic winter mess.
• Close to home, Denver International Airport became less international when United dropped its Denver-London nonstop just seven months after inaugurating it, and Lufthansa halted its Denver-Munich nonstop after 1 1/2 years of service.
• Elsewhere just this year, America's skies are no longer plied by TED (United's low-fare airline), Mesa Airlines (a Delta commuter partner), SkyBus (based in Ohio), Aloha Airlines (based in Hawaii) and ATA (based in Indiana). Denver-based Frontier is still flying, but under Chapter XI bankruptcy protection.
• As aviation fuel prices rose over the spring and summer and the recession of 2008 began taking hold, other airlines trimmed flights, mothballed aircraft. bumped more passengers than ever and began charging (or charging more) for checked luggage, curbside check-in, inflight food and even soft drinks, more desirable seats, flight changes and other formerly included services. Av-gas is down, but these add-on fees largely remain in place.
• The Transportation Security Agency has reportedly terminated 465 screeners for pilferage since May 2003. The TSA has demonstrated ineptitude, even wehen there is no malfeasance. you can read some terrible but true TSA tales here and here. The agency also introduced an intrusive full-body scanner at some US airports.
• Violent an anti-government protests in once peaceful Thailand resulted in the closure of airports in Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi and elsewhere for more than a week in late November and early December. Protestors belonging to a group called the People's Alliance for Democracy took over Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport , using the electricity and water and stranding more than 300,000 would-be air travelers, including 240,000 foreign tourists.
• Heathrow's highly anticipated Terminal 5 had such fatal computer problems that instead of a grand opening, it was a grand fiasco. At least 250 British Airways flights were canceled, stranding thousands of passengers and separating 15,000 or 20,000 pieces of luggage from their owners.
• XL Travel and its charter airline went out of business. XL had been a major player in Britain's tourism industry.

P.S. on December 24 - More Air Travel Woes

The Christmas Eve travel news on cnn.com's home page included:

• 18 passengers treated at scene after exposure to de-icing fluid, and fumes send seven Alaska Airlines crew members to the hospital [in Seattle]
• AirTran jetliner skids off runway in Moline, Illinois, TV station reports
• Weather delays Christmas Eve flights across country

P.S. II on December 26 - Still More Air Travel Woes

Now it was Southwest Airlines' turn to do an airport slide. Southwest Flight 688 leaving snowy Chicago's Midway Airport for snowfree Los Angeles slid off a slick taxiway today (Friday) and got stuck snow along the shoulder. Ninety-eight people were aboard, and there were no injuries.

P.S. III on December 27 - Partial Blackout at DIA

A power outage on Saturday, December 27, affected Denver Interational Airport, not the three concourses (or, as they are now called, gate terminals) and not the control tower -- but, you guessed it: the security area, which lost power. The Transportation Security Administration screeners had to do manual security checks, meaning that everyone was patted down or wanded, and all carry-ons were opened. The delay to pass through security was reported to be about 45 minutes. The airport estimated that 155,000 travelers were expected to pass through DIA on Saturday. Oh, the humanity!

P.S. IV on December 31 - The Year's Airline Casualty List

The Cranky Flyer has helpfully posted a list of all the airlines that he knew to have gone out of business in 2008. As a wrote initially, it has been a bad air year.

Frontier Introduces Three-Tier Fare Pricing

Frontier now offers a more customizable fare structure

Denver-based Frontier Airlines (route map right) has introduced air fares on three price tiers that it cleverly calls AirFairs: the "economy" fare with nothing included (no checked included and no flexibility to change tickets), the "classic" fare (including two checked bags, snack and drink, and in-flight television) and the fully refundable "classic plus" with checked luggage and in-flight entertainment also included.

The "classic" fare starts at about $20 more than the "economy" fare and includes two checked bags and an in-flight movie, which the airline reminds passengers is a $46 saving right there. Higher tiers also net more points for members of its Early Returns frequent-flyer program.

Take only a carry-on and bring your iPod, and "economy" will probably suffice. Traveling on business and need tun-on-a-dime fare flexibility, and "classic" or "classic plus" might be the fare for you. The new fare structure was soon compared (favorably) with Southwest's flexible "business select," "anytime" and "wanna get away" fares. To book it, you have to buy your ticket from the Frontier website, because Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity and other booking sites display only one fare class for each flight.

Meanwhile, sometime on Tuesday, Denver International Airport expects its 50 millionth passenger of 2008 to travel through. The city is planning to make a big deal of this, with Mayor John Hickenlooper planning to greet whoever that person might be and pass out commemorative items of some sort to passengers on hand. Despite the recent erosion in air travel, this will be a record year for DIA. In 2006, a record 49.8 million flew in or out of DIA.

Southwest to Start Service to New York in '09

Leading low-fare carrier braving LaGuardia in -mid-2009

Southwest is planning to start service to New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in June 2009. Since, IMO, LaGuardia is one of the worst, most congested, most unfriendly airports in the country, this might just put a damper on Southwest's high customer approval ratings. LGA, Newark (EWR) and JFK International, New York's major airports, among them are credited or blamed for something like 70 percent of the flight delays in the entire country. That's is the reason that Southwest has for years avoided New York, flying no closer than Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP), which is 50 miles from Manhattan. That's twice as far as Denver International Airport is from downtown Denver, and about the same distance as DIA is from Boulder.

Southwest, which reportedly is planning to fill the void at LGA when ATA went belly-up, is being quite coy about announcing which airports will be on the other end of the new routes. ATA's gates became available, and Southwest grabbed them -- not that there's all that much competition right now with airlines folding like a deck of cards in a poker game.

Delta and Virgin America Offer WiFi to Some Flights

Two carriers now offer broadband WiFi on domestic flights

Following its introduction late last month on Virgin America, Aircell’s Gogo inflight WiFi service debuts today on on one Delta Boeing 757 and on five MD88 planes that fly the popular shuttle routes between New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Boston’s Logan International Airport and Washington's National Airport. Until December 31, access on Delta is free. On both airlines, the regular cost is $9.95 for flights shorter than three hours and $12.95 for flights three hours or longer.

State Department Warnings: What's in a Name?

Decoding US government warnings to international travelers from the US

Unrest and violence cause travelers -- especially Americans -- to reconsider international travel plans. Ten percent more Americans visited India in 2007 than in 2006, but with the recent terrorist attacks in Mombai (aka, Bombay) in which six Americans were among the 170 people killed, that number is likely to drop. Ditto travel to Greece, which welcomed 12 percent more international visitors in '07 than in '06 but has recently been plagued by riots in Athens, the capital, and concurrent strikes by workers at the Acropolis and other popular tourist sites.

Violence, of course, is volatile, and the US State Department doesn't always get it right. There were periods when visitors shunned London (Irish Republican Army attacks), central Europe (in the era of Germany's Bader-Meinhoff faction and other far-left terrorist groups) and parts of Spain (Basque separatist violence), as well as countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America when when wars, political unrest, assorted insurgencies and government policies made them unwelcoming. Consider that under Augusto Pinochet, Chile was not a desirable or safe tourist destination, now it is, while up north, not too many Americans visit Venezuela under Hugo Chavez or neighboring Colombia with its drug cartel-related violence. And US citizens have been forbidden or discouraged from visiting Cuba for nearly half-a-century, yet those who have visited report Cubans to be warm and welcoming -- and their visits to be incident-free.

The US State Department updates and issues travel advisories ranging from subtle warnings to outright recommendations to stay away from certain nations. When deciding on your risk-tolerance in light of these advisories, consider that the US government has also been telling air travelers in this country that the threat level is at "orange" just about since the color coding system was unveiled in 2002. That annoying Department of Homeland Security recording has played so incessantly since then that it has become just so much airport background noise -- and I don't think too many travelers pay much attention.

So it is with some skepticism that I share the State Department's definition of its country-specific evaluations for Americans contemplating travel abroad. These are updated on the department's website. Country-by-country evaluations are useful because they are not as simplistic as the "Department of Homeland Security's terror alert is orange" that we hear at airports.

• Travel Advisory - This is the general category of perceived threats that could affect Americans traveling to specific regions, countries or cities.
• Travel Alert - A threat that the State Department believes is of relatively short-term duration, including upcoming elections, hurricane or typhoon threat or other short-term situation.
• Travel Warning - Chronic violence, including such obvious destinations as Afghanistan and Iraq, where the situation so inflammatory and "potentially dangerous for Americans that we want them to know about that," Michelle Bernier-Toth, director of the Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management, recently told Gannett News Services. Well, duh!

Bernier-Toth also explained that assessing situations is a "very collaborative process between our embassy and consulate, between various bureaus and offices within the department. . . Sometimes we tell people to consider the risk of traveling, sometimes we say you should defer nonessential travel or all but essential travel and sometimes we just recommend you don't go. The best way to figure out what kind of danger you're facing is to read the specifics of the alert."

I am scheduled to visit Egypt with the Society of American Travel Writers in February, and have read the State Department's assessment, I'm willing to accept the risk

Travel Babel on Elliott's Top 50 List

Recognition by a leading travel blogger: How sweet it is!

Last year, I was honored that award-winning travel journalist and travel blogger Christopher Elliott included Travel Babel on his list of the 20 Most Inspiring Travel Blogs of 2007. This year, he combined his list of his favorite individually written travel blogs (like this one) and "most influential" travel blogs, which were mostly staff-written or corporate blogs within the travel industry.

For 2008, Elliott has compiled a list of "50 Travel Blogs I Can't Live Without." His list is an eclectic mix of or corporate and independent blogs, and he describes his methodology as being "simple. I looked at every travel blog I follow from my RSS reader and identified the ones I read the most." I'm pleased as punch that Travel Babel is again on his list. I'm familiar with some of the other 49. In fact, I have links to several of them on the newly reorganized list to the left. Now, I have to click on those I don't know that I'll also start following.

Thanks, Chris -- again -- for the recognition.

Affordable Family Skiing Includes Freebies for Kids

Free kids' lift tickets, lodging, air fare and/or rentals ease the family skiing budget

I'm spending the weekend at Steamboat, the Colorado resort that pioneered Kids Ski Free, which offers free skiing/riding, lodging and even rentals for children 12 and under on a one-to-one basis with a full-fare adult with a stay of five nights or longer. Several years ago, the resort sweetened the offers still more with a discounted teen ticket for youngsters. Childcare and ski school are not included in the Kids Ski Free program. The latest added benefit is that kids also fly free to nearby Yampah Valley Regional Airport on American, Northwest and United. If you happen to be coming to Steamboat on the January 16-18, check out the resort's Family Snow Fest during that weekend. For details, call 877-237-2628 or 970-871-5252.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Aspen/Snowmass has partnered with Frontier with an unprecedented Kids Fly Free/Stay Free offer. Children 12 and under fly, stay and rent free with a minimum three-day, four-night package from "select" cities with Sunday through Thursday arrivals. This package cannot be booked online but only though 800-214-7669, with a December 23, 2008, booking deadline.

Sun Valley has a similar program in which children aged two to 11 fly free to Ketchum/Sun Valley on Horizon Air's nonstops from Los Angeles or Seattle when booked in conjunction with "a qualifying lodging package during selective travel dates." Youngsters 15 and under also ski and stay free in a participating Sun Valley Company property during January 4-31 and March 1-30, 2009. Off-peak fares are available Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Fares higher on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The air tickets can be purchased until the end of the promotional period.

Up in the Canadian Rockies, two children 12 and under ski free with two paying adults with a package that includes seven nights' of economy-style accommodations in Banff or Lake Louise, and lift tickets for the three resorts that participate in the SkiBig3 group: Ski Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise Mountain Resort. The package is available all season long except for the December 20 through January 4 holiday peak. Call 877-754-7080 for reservations.

Inn at Lost Creek is a Bright Green Hotel

Back-of-the-house tour reveals Telluride hotel's commendable green initiatives

When I checked in after dark to the Inn at Lost Creek in Telluride's Mountain Village a week ago yesterday, I was appalled at the excess illumination in my room. As I wrote then, every single light in my little suite was blazing. I called housekeeping the next morning and asked for some electricity restraint, and as requested, only the foyer lights were turned on during subsequent evenings' turndown service.

But even better was the impact that even a enviro-rant like mine produced. The inn's sales and marketing manager, Karl Chase, told me that because of my alert, the inn would in the future add a question about additional energy conservation efforts in the pre-arrival questions that are asked of incoming guests. Perhaps both Lost Creek management and I got a big hit of good eco-karma from that one.

He also invited me on a back-of-the-house tour to show how green the hotel is -- and it seems to me to be "very green." When the hotel was built 11 years ago, it was tightly constructed with Pella low-E double-paned windows (obvious to any guest who looks), an energy-efficient, thermitic water heating system and other mechanicals that were state of the art for its time and have held up well.

Other green practices that this behind-the-scenes tour revealed:

• Restaurant 9545 uses eco-friendly compostable/recyclable containers, including sugarcane-based clamshell to-go boxes and utensils instead of plastic (top photo)


• No disposables used in the employee break room
  
• Linens that are no longer usable by a first-rate hotel donated for resale at the Second Chance Humane Society shop in nearby Ridgway


• Cleaning rags are stained or frayed restaurant napkins, dyed so they don't reappear in the restaurant


• As lightbulbs burn out, they are being replaced by CF bulbs; the "always-on" hallway lights are have been the first to be replaced; hotel is stockpiling CF replacement bulbs (center photo) but not discarding those incandescents that still have some life left in them


• Cleaning chemicals are green and also bought concentrated in bulk, mixed at the hotel and refilled into reusable spray bottles to keep excess packaging out of the waste stream (bottom photo)


• The executive boardroom, a small conference space, has outside windows so groups can opt for daylight rather than turning on all the lights all the time


• Low-flow toilets in all bathrooms


• Flex-fuel shuttle vans


• Trash separated and recycled

I appreciate Karl's taking the time to show me these green practices, and I urge environmentally concerned travelers anywhere to go beyond simply reusing linens to help the hotel business be as evironmentally-oriented as possible. Don't be shy about asking what a property's green practices and let hotel management know that these practices are important to you. You probably won't get the kind of tour that I did, but hotel managers will answer your questions and listen to your concerns. IMO, there is no more responsive a business than the hospitality industry -- especially at higher-end hotels. Repeat business and word of mouth are important to them.

With CNN in the background as I write this, reporting on the current crisis in the auto industry, I have to say that if only the Big Three had been as proactive and also paid as much attention to what the public wants as the hotel industry, execs wouldn't be begging Congress for a bailout right now.

Billions Spent to Annoy Travelers

Transportation Security Agency's multi-billion-dollar budget mostly spent on passenger screening

Just a few days ago, I wrote a post on an inexplicable lapse in the TSA screening process that I personally experienced at Denver International Airport, the world's 10th busiest airport and the fifth busiest in the US, and the overzealous screening at tiny Telluride Regional Airport just three days later. This morning, I began to wonder how much this inconsistency is costing taxpayers.

The TSA's 2007 budget was $5.3 billion, 80 percent of which went to passenger screening (and annoying) at the nation's airports. In no other country that I have visited recently are passengers required to remove their shoes, toss bottled water, take laptops out of briefcases, limit carry-on toiletries to 100 ML or less and display said toiletries in a clear plastic, zip bag of a particular size (one quart).

Admittedly, $5.3 billion (or maybe more by now) is a fraction of what we have spent to invade and occupy Iraq ($500 billion or so since 2003), bail out insurer AIG ($85 billion) or on the proposed bail-out (thus far) for the Big 3 auto companies ($15 billion, but that's supposed to be repaid). It's also an awful lot less that the National Park Service allotment of $2.4 billion to preserve, protect and revitalize our great national treasures or the pathetic $145 million with federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

When Congress reconvenes in 2009, write to your Senators and Representatives -- whether continuing in office or newly elected -- if you think these priorities are as lopsided as I do.

Big Snow & Big New Lift at Whistler

Peak2Peak gondola a technological wonder and a skier's dream

The new Peak2Peak gondola that will be inaugurated on Friday, December 12, links two on-mountain stations on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, for the first time enabling people to ski/snowboard both mountains in a day without having to return all the way to Whistler Village. As if to bless the new lift (right, photo by Ian Anderson), the snow gods have been depositing fat white flakes on North America's biggest resort.

This state-of-the-art Doppelmayr 3S tri-cable gondola is a transport lift like no other. Its 16 Sky Cabins cross 2.73 miles (4.4 kilometers) from mountain to mountain. Between its farthest-apart beefy towers, built to withstand wind and weather, is the world’s longest unsupported span: a stunning 1.88 miles (3.024 kilometres) above Fitzsimmons Creek. It is also the world’s highest lift of its kind crossing the valley floor at a maximum of 1,427 feet (at 436 meters). The cabins were unveiled in September, and load testing began on October 1. Since then, skiers and riders have been salivating.

A Super Launch for a Super Lift

I wish I were going to the Peak2Peak launch but can only be there vicariously via a live webcast of launch ceremony -- and so can you. It will be transmitted beginning at 10:30 a.m. PST on http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/webcast. The official ribbon cutting is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at the gondola terminals on both mountains.

The first cabin to take off from Blackcomb to Whistler will ferry 22 locals who were nominated as "the most deserving" in the resort's Ride of Their Life contest. In the first cabin from Whistler to Blackcomb will be auction winners who bid for the places, with auction proceeds going to the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation that supports community organizations throughout the Sea to Sky Corridor. The day will be full of festivities from breakfast to "grand" après-ski celebrations.

America's Healthiest Airports

What makes an airport healthy? Health magazine has some answers and has published a list

According to Health magazine, it seems to be a combination of factors that contribute to physical health and mental health by offering "nutritious food, special relaxation zones, walking paths, the latest safety technology, and a whole lot more." Other pluses: noise reduction, children's play areas and environmental stewardship. The opportunity to move around, to eat food that's not bad for you and to be in a stress-reducing place contribute greatly to an airport's health factor.

In a piece called "America's Healthiest Airports," the magazine selected the America's top ten -- and the links I have used are to the magazine's evaluations and descriptions, not to the airports' own websites:

1. Phoenix Sky Harbor
2. Baltimore Washington International Airport
3. O'Hare International (Chicago)
4. Detroit Metropolitan
5. Denver International (right)
6. Washington National
7. Dallas/Fort Worth International
8. Logan International (Boston)
9. Portland International (Oregon)
10. Philadelphia International

Of course, living in Colorado, I am more familiar with DIA than any other airport. Recently opened in the main terminal is the Vertical Mile Market (right), bright and inviting and offering some not-so-great-for-you snack foods but also far more healthy options than the newsstands. You'd never know from the food-court lines at various fast-fooderies that DIA does have healthy options, but they do exist.

The B Gates (aka, Concourse B), offer the most healthy options (be sure to choose wisely) including Cantina Grill Express, Itza Wrap! Itza Bowl!, Jamba Juice, Que Bueno! Mexican Grille, TCBY Yogurt, and Wolfgang Puck Express. TCBY also is in the main terminal and at the C Gates. For those who like to walk, the B Gates are also along DIA's longest concourse, so once through security, passengers can take a nice long hike there. Another walking opportunity is to use the skybridge rather than the train to reach the A Gates and to walk from the main terminal to A instead of using the moving walkways to approach security.

True TSA Tale: Read It to Believe It

Does TSA stand for Transportation Security Agency - or for Totally Screwed "Ap"?

A few weeks ago, I posted my experience of having a mostly used-up tube of sunscreen confiscated because a Transportation Security Agency screener said that a 100-milliliter container is the limit for a carry-on item, not the 110 ML I had with me -- even though there was nowhere near 110 ML of lotion in it. That was only irritating. My more recent experience was amusing, astonishing or horrifying, depending on how you view the entire process of airport security.

Early on Thursday afternoon, I checked in at the Great Lakes Aviation counter at Denver International Airport for a flight to Telluride. I didn't really look at my boarding pass, and neither, evidently, did the TSA agent charged with comparing boarding passes with picture IDs. Because of heavy regional snow, I was eventually switched from the cancelled Telluride flight to one going to Cortez. In the process of changing flights, one of the several podium agents who looked at my original boarding pass finally noticed something odd and asked, "Who is Christopher Weber?" I had no idea who he was other than being an alphabetic neighbor, coincidentally with the same initials. Mostly, I was astonished that I had passed TSA's so-called security procedures and a couple of gate agents before anyone noticed that I could not possibly be Christopher Weber.

After that DIA underperformance, the screeners at Telluride Regional Airport (TEX, right), from which I flew yesterday, made up for it with excessive zeal. At this time of year, the only commercial service is Great Lakes' two daily flights using 19-passenger Beech 1800 aircraft. Four (4) TSA screeners were on duty for a daily passenger count that cannot possibly exceed 38. Of the 11 or 12 of us on my flight, three of us were "selected" for extra screening. Our checked bags were opened and riffled through, as were our carry-ons. Many items removed from our luggage were swabbed for explosives or some other lethal substance. We were all patted down. I guess that quartet had to justify their underworked existence at TEX at this time of year.

After we were all cleared and were waiting to board the Denver-bound flight, I started telling someone about the Christopher Weber mix-up at DIA. A fellow sitting within earshot said, "Was that on Thursday? I'm Christopher Weber, and when I got to the airport, Great Lakes told me that I had already checked in."

Season's First Turns in Telluride

My 2008-09 ski season has begun in brilliant sunshine and on well-groomed snow

Telluride is one of my favorite places in Colorado -- not just one of my favorite places to ski but one of my favorite places. Period. The downtown, a National Historic District, is an immaculately preserved jewel. Boutiques, restaurants, nightspots and way too many real estate office line the broad main drag of what was once a gritty mining town, but the beauty of the box canyon still eclipses the glitter of the businesses. The lifts serving the original ski terrain were strung right on the outskirts of town. Further ski terrain expansion began in a stellar glacier-carved basin where the new resort development called Mountain Village has taken shape.

A handful of runs above Mountain Village are currently open -- a very limited percentage of Telluride's expansive 2,000 acres of terrain. I don't usually travel this far to ski for a weekend, but I am happy to be here -- really happy. I know that resorts closer to Denver/Boulder have more terrain open and a deeper base, but I also know that weekend traffic along I-70 is horrific as snow-starved Coloradans head for the high country -- and back again.

This morning, I made my first turns of the 2008-09 ski season on Telluride's immaculately groomed runs under the big blue dome of the Colorado sky. The resort is making snow like crazy, and a storm is forecast early this coming week. During the first part of any winter, a few perfect runs that invite setting skis on snow are all I ask for. Later, I'll be looking for morem terrain -- and Telluride will soon offer it.

29 Lights is 28 Too Many

Hotels' excessive lighting isn't luxury -- it's wasteful



I am currently in a lovely small suite at the Inn at Lost Creek in Telluride's Mountain Village. Getting here (where it hasn't been snowing) from the Front Range (where it snowed a storm) was an odyssey that I might blog about some other time. Unfortunately, despite my constant asking about it after I had been reticketed to Cortez instead of Telluride, my checked bag is still in Denver and will (hopefully) join me tomorrow.



The folks at the inn could not have been nicer, more sympathetic and more dismayed at my luggagelessness, but when I opened the door to my room, I got annoyed. Really annoyed. The foyer, the living area, the kitchenette and bathroom have, among them, twenty-nine (29) light bulbs, and every single one of them was on -- and had been for who knows how long. Twenty-eight of these bulbs are incandescent, including five on a table lamp. Only one, above the kitchenette, is fluorescent. And the TV is turned on to an audio station.



The inn is a congenial boutique property with 29 suites. If every one is occupied, 29 x 29 = 841 light bulbs burning for countless hours when no one is in the rooms in this property alone -- and that doesn't count lights in the lobby, hallways, underground parking garage, restaurant, spa and elsewhere --to say nothing of Christmas lights that will doubtless appear soon . IMO, it is a misplaced notion of luxury. And the little refrigerator, which the inn had thoughtfully stocked to tide me over, was cranked down so far that the half-and-half and eggs were frozen, and the appl

and pear had the consistency of popsicles.




This is not the first time I've been appalled at excessive use of electricity -- and it's not the first time I have complained about it. I have been told that hotel rating services require some of this nonsense in order for properties to earn that extra star or diamond. This is a wasteful and outdated practice. I have a sign on my mantlepiece asking me to opt in or out of fresh linens every day in the interest of environmentalism. There should be something comparable when it comes to lights. I'm calling housekeeping tomorrow to ask them to restrain themselves.

Villa Trapp Derailed in Salzburg

Salzburg turns down plan to open the Von Trapp family's former Austrian residence as a hotel

After the 1965 "Sound of Music" film became a hit, so many visitors to Stowe, VT, came looking for the mountain property where the Trapp Family Lodge was located that local youngsters began sporting T-shirts reading, "I Live in Stowe and I don't Know the Way to Trapps." Perhaps taking a cue from the Vermont experience, the Austrian city of Salzburg denied permission for the former Trapp family residence to open as a small, 14-room hotel to be called Villa Trapp in what the Associated Press described as "a quiet, upscale Salzburg neighborhood."

Residents reportedly were concerned that tourists would cause traffic jams and become a neighborhood nuisance, which is quite astonishing considering that they film came out more than 43 years ago. Then again, Salzburgers are very away of the film's enduring appeal. Sound of Music tours to the sites where scenes were filmed remain among the most popular in Salzburg.

Reuters added another layer to the tale, reporting, "In Austria, visitors can get married at the villa, which was home to the real von Trapps from 1923 to 1938 before they fled the Nazi takeover of Austria. Nazi Germany's security chief Heinrich Himmler used the villa, just outside Salzburg, as a home close to the Austrian Alps until 1945. Some opponents of the hotel have accused the developers of wanting to build a memorial to Nazism." The developers reportedly plan to mitigate the traffic impact but have seemingly not addressed the concern about Nazi era glorification.

Winter is High Season for Stormwatching

Tofino is the best place for observing mammoth Pacific Coast storms in luxury and comfort

Here’s a wet and wild winter option to languishing on a tropical beach, swatting golf balls on a palm-studded course, cruising calm seas on a big ship or even skiing through down-soft powder snow. If you lust for a combination of excitement and raw natural beauty, think about heading into the teeth of wild winter weather. For a growing cadre of stormwatchers, nothing but nothing beats the Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island off mainland British Columbia's coast.

There you will find the only stretch of the island’s central coastline with a year-round paved road. Between forested mountains and lakes to the northeast and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest stretches a sliver of Pacific Rim National Park Preserve, known for its fine-sand beaches, rocky headlands embracing scenic bays and coves, and rainforest hiking trails cut through thick old-growth red cedar and Western hemlock.

The Pacific Rim Highway, a two-laner flanked by these towering, moss-draped trees, runs right through the park with Tofino on one end and Ucluelet on the other. These funky hamlets just 25 miles apart enjoy some of western Canada’s mildest winter temperatures and experience some of its heaviest rainfalls and most potent storms. What the 3,000 or so locals endure has made these towns meccas for winter stormwatchers, who treasure this dramatic and remote area to watch Pacific storms roll in with power, fury and wild beauty.


More than 130 inches of average annual rain falls on this part of Vancouver Island, which is nicknamed the Rain Coast. Of that, 20 inches can pour from the skies in a single storm. Even in relatively tranquil periods between storms, impressive swells roll onto shore, crashing against rocky headlands, sliding over the wide beaches, littering the white sand with whiter oyster and clam shells, fringing the tideline with seaweed and rearranging the driftwood.

Eight-foot waves are not uncommon. Add wind and rising tides, and when all the elements of waves and weather converge to create the proverbial perfect storm, waves have been known to crest to 30 or 40 feet, occasionally more. Driftwood isn’t limited diminutive sticks and ordinary-size logs, but includes enormous tree trunks cast upon the beaches and piled into bayheads like spilled toothpicks. Beneath the turbulent waves lie nearly 250 shipwrecks, sunk over two centuries, in the so-called "Graveyard of the Pacific."

A dozen significant tempests, give or take, hit this coastline each month during storm season, which kicks off in late October or early November and shifts into high gear in January and February. In midwinter, you’ll see curtains of rain, buckets of rain, horizontal sheets of rain, sprays of rain shooting through the salt-kissed air – but rarely snow. It is improbably romantic, whether you prefer to share the raw and invigorating experience of the outdoors, protected by fetching fishermen’s slickers that lodges lend to guests, or to snuggle in the warm, dry coziness of one of the handful of inns and lodges that remain open. Even from indoor comfort, you will be mesmerized as wave after wave washes up on the beach below, crashes onto a nearby cliff, and sprays your double-paned window. You might also luck upon nature’s light show from a winter electrical storm.

During low tides and calm periods, there’s nothing finer than an invigorating walk, either on a trail or directly along the shore. Step onto a beach as the tide goes out and gaze out at the restless sea and down by your feet to examine what the water has deposited on the sand. Still, it is imperative to keep a cautious eye for changing weather, and retreat when the ride begins to change. Beaches can be especially hazardous during a true winter storm, when massive drift logs ride the waves and jumble onto land and pile up like Brobdinagian Pick-Up Sticks. Except during the most potent storms, when hoteliers and innkeepers caution guests to stay inside, you can don heavy-duty raingear and venture out into the weather, staying on marked trails and staying off wet rocks.

The best stormwatching spots include designated safe areas along the well-named Wild Pacific Trail that snakes along the top of sea cliffs and Big Beach, a relatively sheltered, horseshoe-shaped strand near Ucluelet. Radar Hill, crowned by remnants of a long-abandoned World War II installation at nearly 500 feet above sea level, provides a stunning panorama of coves, bays, breakers and clouds but can be terribly windy during a howling storm. Perhaps best of all is the Amphitrite Point Lighthouse overlooking with views of Barkley Sound, Broken Group Islands and the open sea. The operating Canadian Coast Guard Station (below), a squat, square signal structure, is a coastal a landmark at the tip of the peninsula below Ucluelet.

In late February and early March, gray whales begin migrating northward along the coast, and stormwatchers begin to give way to whale watchers. An estimated 20,000 gray whales – the entire North American population of this awesome species – pass close by on their 5,000-nautical-mile journey from mating and calving lagoons of the Sea of Cortes between the Mexican mainland and Baja California, to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. That’s one heck of a commute – and it happens just off-shore of Vancouver Island. Most grays are gone by May, but some spend the entire in Clayoquot Sound, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve just northwest of Tofino.

The rocky headlands jutting out toward the sea offer fine vantage points for spotting these splendid marine mammals, and during the Pacific Rim Whale Festival (Mar. 14-22, 2009), free public viewing stations are set up at Amphitrite Point Lighthouse, and charter boat and floatplane operators from Ucluelet and Tofino begin their season. The festival features 70 events, ranging from a seafood chowder cook-off to an art show.

Wildlife viewing is not restricted to whales. Bald eagles overwintering in this area can often be spotted in sheltered harbors, where they perch on trees or pier pilings in the harbor. The region’s black bears do not go into deep hibernation, so it is not uncommon to see bears even in the wettest weather. By March, you can often spot a bruin or two on skunk cabbage growing in roadside ditches or marshy areas.

Tofino was a fishing town, while Ucluelet’s economy was once based on logging. First Vietnam-era war protestors and later eco-activists added a layer of idealism to the pragmatic working-class popular, which still is only about 3,000 people spread between the two towns. Local business signs now indicate such enterprises as “Massage therapy,” “art gallery,” “fishing charters” and “whale watching trips” now form the base of the local economy.

These days, the economy is tourism-based. Of the several properties that stay open in winter especially for storm-watching and whale-migration season, the first among equals is the Wickaninnish Inn (above), an upscale Relais & Chateaux property that offers a polished version of down-home hospitality. In December, rooms starting at $200 a night -- less than half of summer season rates when there's much less excitement. With a first-rate restaurant and on-site spa, the inn's early storm-season pricing fits into the "affordable luxury" category. It closes Jan. 2-8 before reopening for high storm-watching season, when room rates are $100 or more higher per night. The reservations number is 800-333-4604.

Skiers Thankful for Thanksgiving Weekend's Big Snows

Serious storms begin rolling through Western mountains

Just a few days ago, I expressed cautious concern about early-season snow conditions, happy that snow was beginning to fall and hoping for more. This weekend, my wishes were fulfilled, and while Boulder received just a dusting of snow on Friday night and Denver a few more inches, some ot the Colorado mountains have been slammed. Other than the miserable Sunday night drive that home-bound skiers endured, the heavy snowfall, mostly in the central mountains, is putting a smile on skiers' faces.

Here are the 48-hour snow totals for Colorado ski areas that are currently open:

• Arapahoe Basin, 21 inches
• Aspen Mountain, 17 inches
• Beaver Creek, 11 inches
• Breckenridge, 8 inches
• Copper Mountain, 14 inches
• Crested Butte, 13 inches
• Keystone, 6 inches
• Loveland, 32 1/2 inches
• Telluride, 8 inches (right, Nov 28)
• Vail, 13 inches
• Winter Park, 9 inches

Utah had gotten those storms a day or so earlier, and Alta, a powder capital, has all seven of its lifts running and 74 or its 116 runs open. But the unrivaled US snowfall leader is way up north. Alyeska Resort, AK, measured more than 117 inches of new snow over the past week, pushing the snowfall total for the season over 200 inches. The mountain reports almost spring-like conditions that it says "are more reminiscent of early spring than they are in December, with several feet of deep soft snow covering all elevations of the mountain."

Note: A day after I wrote this post, Alta retreated and now has four lifts and 55 runs available. The operational rollback might be weather related -- or perhaps only because midweek traffic tends to be slow between Thanksgiving and the Christmas-New Year's holiday period.

Luxury No Longer Means Security

Upscale hotels in unstable places and luxury cruise ships at sea are obvious targets for attacks
There isn't a day that goes by without press releases appearing in my inbox about yet another luxurious, deluxe, multi-star hotel or resort in some picturesque and/or exotic place. The recent attacks in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, were just the latest high-profile targets that appeal to first-world travelers to developing nations. Reporter Keith Bradsher's New York Times feature called "Analysts Say It Will Be Difficult to Shield Luxury Hotels From Terrorist Attacks" began:

"For decades, luxury hotels have been oases for travelers in developing
countries, places to mingle with the local elite, enjoy a lavish meal or a dip
in the pool and sleep in a clean, safe room. But last week’s lethal attacks
on two of India’s most famous hotels — coming just two months after a huge truck
bomb devastated the Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan — have underlined the extent
to which these hotels are becoming magnets for terrorists."

Left to my own devices, I'm more of a three-star traveler (OK, maybe four-star in third-world nations) than a five-star traveler. However, when I attend a Society of American Travel Writers convention or am on other tourism-related assignment or trip, I do find myself in unaccustomed luxury. A small part of me enjoys being treated like visiting nobility, but mostly, I am embarrassed by the ritzy glitz in places where so many people have so little. I know that tourism brings jobs (including jobs as security guards) and money into developing countries, but still, such opulence and extravagance are clearly an affront to many. When clashing political ideology or religious zeal are added to the volatile socio-economic mix, the result in these mean times is predictable violence. People die, property is destroyed and another door to international understanding and peace on the planet is slammed shut.

The Times piece discussed security precautions that hotels are taking, which should be of interest and some comfort to travelers heading for potentially dangerous places. Meanwhile, CNN reported that the 'Nautica,' an Oceania Cruises ship (left) en route from Rome to Singapore, outran pirates off the coast of Yemen over the weekend while in an area patrolled by anti-piracy craft. The cargo ships and oil tanker that have recently been seized by pirates were off the coast of Somalia. Smaller private yachts have also been seized.

"The 'Nautica' was in an area patrolled by international anti-piracy task forces when two small skiffs appeared to try to intercept it, Oceania spokesman Tim Rubacky said. The ship took evasive maneuvers and accelerated to its full speed of 23 knots or 27 mph. One of the smaller craft closed to within 300 yards and fired eight rifle shots at the cruise ship, he said, but the ship was able to pull away. . .'The 'Nautica' escaped without damage or injury to its 684 passengers and 400 crew, and arrived safely on schedule in Salalah, Oman early on Monday morning,' Rubacky said."

As disturbing as these reports are, personally, I don't want to stop traveling because "something" might happen. Last June, I visited Oklahoma City, the mid-America capital of Oklahoma where Timothy McVeigh, a US Army veteran and security guard, masterminded the massive explosion that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 2000. Also that month, my car was broadsided by a speeding motorcyclist on a rural highway in western Colorado. I just hope, in the interest of global sanity, that the attacks will stop and efforts to build a more peaceful, more tolerant world will recommence.

Travel Blogger Explores Bereavement Fares

Ability to travel affordably to a death or other family emergency depends on the airline

Mark Ashley, a writer and frequent traveler whose Upgrade: Travel Better blog follows the in's and out's of the fickle air travel industry, recently had to fly to Germany for his 99-year-old grandmother's last days. He explored airlines' bereavement fares and wrote a lengthy post called "Bereavement and Compassion Fares: Firsthand Experience" about his findings. Among them: international compassion fares are easier to obtain than domestic ones; most such fares (Continental excepted) must be booked over the phone; and airlines have different policies regarding required documentation. His column on this topic is worth bookmarking, should the need arise.

Thanksgiving is Over; Let Winter Begin

After a mild fall, Colorado ski resorts are welcoming winter

This evening, the live telecast by Denver's "9News" of the lighting of the City and County Building finished off with light, wet snow falling on the streets of Denver. News anchors rejoiced about the perfect time, and skiers and snowboarders are rejoicing after a long, mild, dry autumn.

Snow or no, the City and County Building and other locatations in downtown Denver will be aglow until the middle of January. This glorious, gaudy display that has been a Denver tradition since 1932. Also, Union Station, nearby Larimer Square and the entire 16th Street Mall are festively illuminated for the holidays.

Colorado Mountains Cooling Off and Getting White

Current Colorado snow reports are finally somewhat encouraging too. Vail Resorts Inc.'s Colorado ski resorts (Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail Beaver Creek) reported 3 to 6 inches of snow in the last 48 hours. Moving southward and westward, accumulations have been greater. Aspen Mountain, hosting the Winternational ski races this weekend, and Snowmass (skiers loading onto the six-passenger chairlift shown at right) reported 7 and 8 inches respectively. They are two of the four areas operated by the Aspen Skiing Co. Wolf Creek, located in southern Colorado, was the state's snowfall leader with 13 inches in the last 48 hours. I am writing this on Friday evening, and Saturday morning's snow reports will show greater totals.

Great Snow Conditions in Europe

So far, this is shaping up to be a season of big snows in the Alps. Resorts in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland have reported up to a meter (39 inches) of new snow in the past five days. Although Europeans have no Thanksgiving to provide a psychological kick-off to the season, more than 200 ski areas across Europe have already opened or are opening this weekend, including Zermatt, Switzerland, with 100 miles of pistes and Espace Killy, France with 187 miles of pistes in neighboring Tignes and Val d'Isere. When Americans think of European winter resorts, the Alps come to mind, but the Pyrenees and Scandinavia, especially Norway, also offer downhill skiing. There too, resorts are starting off with abundant snow.

Hawaii Promotes the Obama Connection

Visitors are reminded of President-Elect Barack Obama's Hawaiian heritage

In June 2007, when Barack Obama was a fast-rising star on the US political landscape, I was in Hawaii and took a fabulous, fascinating Hole in the Wall Food Tour that led to the real, multi-cultural mosaic of Honolulu. You can read about the tour here. In that post, I didn't mention that as we were driving back to the the highrises of Waikiki, Matthew pointed to a Baskin-Robbins dipping store and said that Obama had worked there as a teenager. Then, we didn't stop to take a picture. Now, perhaps the Hole in the Wall tour includes a pilgrimage to that dipping store too.

Mainlanders have made much of of his African-American roots, but in Honolulu, he's still considered a local. Now, Hawaii Convention & Visitors Bureau, which promotes the state's tourist interests, is pointing out just how Hawaiian the former senator from Illinois and soon-to-be president of the United States is -- and the information the bureau is disseminating even references the Baskin-Robbins that Matthew pointed out. The CVB writes:

BARACK OBAMA’S HAWAII

“You can’t really understand Barack until you understand Hawaii.” ~
Michelle Obama

Hawaii will always be home for President-elect Barack Obama. There can
be no doubt that growing up in this idyllic, multicultural setting was a major
influence in shaping who Obama is today.

KAMAAINA: LOCAL AT HEART
The Hawaiian word kamaaina means someone
who is native born or who has lived in Hawaii for some time. When Barack Obama
returns to Hawaii with his family, he comes as a kamaaina, a local who knows
where to go, where to eat and what to do. Here are a few places Obama has
visited on his trips back to Oahu:

ACTIVITIES:
• Pearl Harbor - Chief historian Daniel A. Martinez gave the Obama family a tour of the USS Arizona Memorial.
• Hanauma Bay – Located on the southeast coast of Oahu, this is Oahu’s most popular snorkeling destination. This is also near Sandy Beach, one of Obama’s favorite beaches growing up, as well as the Halona Blowhole, near the area where his
mother’s ashes were scattered.
• Nuuanu Pali Lookout – This scenic spot atop Oahu’s Windward peaks was the site of a fierce battle lead by King Kamehameha I.
• Golf – Obama has played rounds at Olomana Golf Links and Luana Hills
Country Club.
• National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl – One of the country’s most prominent national cemeteries for the armed forces. Obama’s grandfather is buried here.

FOOD:
• Plate lunch - Like most locals, Obama frequents the restaurants of Kapahulu on the outskirts of Waikiki. He’s been known to get a local style plate lunch from the Rainbow Drive-In and the 24-hour Oahu mainstay, Zippy’s.
• Shave Ice – The Obama family likes to cool off with a shave ice, the local version
of a snow cone. Matsumoto Shave Ice on the North Shore is a famous shop and spots like Waiola Shave Ice in Kapahulu are popular with locals.

New York Times: The Hawaiian Plate Lunch
SF Gate: Where Would Obama eat?

OHANA: BARACK OBAMA’S FAMILY
Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961
at the Kapiolani Hospital for Women & Children in the city of Honolulu on
the island of Oahu. Honolulu is home to the majority of Hawaii’s diverse population and it was here at the University of Hawaii that Barack’s father and mother, Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham, met.

Raised in Hawaii until he was six, Obama spent four years in Indonesia
after his mother remarried. Obama returned to Hawaii at age ten to attend the
prestigious Punahou School, where Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, and golf phenom
Michelle Wie also attended. Far from a Presidential hopeful, Obama dreamed of
becoming a pro basketball player, playing on the state championship basketball
team.

Obama lived with his maternal grandfather and grandmother, Stanley and
Madelyn Dunham, a few blocks from school in the neighborhood of Makiki, just ten
minutes away from Waikiki. He spent his youth enjoying picnics at the scenic Puu Ualakaa State Park near his home and Kapiolani Park in Waikiki as well as body surfing at Sandy Beach on the eastern tip of Oahu. He even worked at a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream on South King Street that still exists today.

Obama continued on to Columbia and Harvard Law but made frequent visits
back to see his ohana, or family, in Hawaii. His mother, who earned a Ph.D. in
anthropology at the University of Hawaii, died of cancer in 1995. More recently,
Obama’s grandmother “Toot,” short for tutu (Hawaiian for grandmother), passed
away in Hawaii just one day before Obama was elected the 44th President of the
United States.

Honolulu Advertiser: Barack Obama: The Making of a Presidential Candidate

ALOHA: THE SPIRIT OF OBAMA

Beyond Hawaii’s natural beauty, the islands are a place of incredible
diversity. Dating back to plantation days, Hawaii has been home to a multicultural mix of people. It is this culture of acceptance and aloha that has had a profound affect on Barack Obama and will continue to influence him in the future.

“What’s best in me, and what’s best in my message, is consistent with
the tradition of Hawaii.” ~ Barack Obama

Time: My Chance Encounter With Obama in Hawaii