The Valdez School for Wayward Girls The first-ever all-women heli-skiing camp in Alaska’s central Chugach Range attracted a motley crew of diehard skiers. Valdez may never be the same. With the Alaskan sun still burning at 8 p.m., soft-spoken Karen, an actuary who works on retirement plans, assessing financial risk and calculating pensions, climbs up […]
The Great Rad North
October 18, 2012 By
Exploring Red and Fernie, British Columbia means radical skiing among snow ghosts and moss-covered pines. Even in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined such a place. Mountains where you ski among 20-foot ghosts and moss-covered pines on downy peaks high above a sea of clouds. A land where the moon shines brighter than […]
Living to Loaf
October 16, 2012 By
Why go West when you can ski bum in Sugarloaf, Maine? The top station of Sugarloaf’s ancient gondola has all the character of a meat locker. On one hoarfrosted, snow-splotched wall, a sign reads: If you go through this gate, you need to know: This terrain is unlike anything you have skied in the East. […]
Llama Trekking with Kids
November 4, 2011 By
Backpacking Near Silverton, CO, with Four-Footed Friends It was a sublime moment. Deep in the woods, the fire had burned down to glowing coals. Our sticky-faced children munched contentedly on perfect s’mores, the marshmallows uniformly toasted and gooey. Pine cones popped in the fire. And nearby, the llamas grazed quietly in the bushes. We were […]
Thrills, Chills, & Other Placid Moments
May 26, 2011 By
In the Olympics, people do insane things on snow. In Lake Placid, mere mortals can, too. “Welcome to the six-man bobsled,” said the brakeman. “Climb aboard.” Bobsleds look so high tech and shiny on TV, but when you’re sitting in one — this one in Lake Placid, anyway — they seem about as high tech […]
Flights of Fantasy
October 13, 2000 By
Skiing the Glades at Mont Sutton, Quebec Everyone in the lift lines was chatting away in French and kissing each other on both cheeks. Smack, smack.The lift mazes, fashioned from wooden fences, wound up to ticket-checker booths that were little log cabins trimmed in red. Sixties-vintage chairlifts with wonky metal safety bars came barrel-assing out […]
