No matter where you are in ski country, the early-season snowfall has been pretty decent. The Pacific Northwest, the Rockies, and the Northeast have all received at least one good wallop from Mother Nature.
But the wintry conditions have not been limited to the continental United States. A blizzard alert, with winds up to 70 miles per hour, was issued for the highest points on the Big Island of Hawaii late last week, dumping a foot of snow atop the volcano summits of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.
Mauna Loa (Hawaiian for "long mountain," elevation 13,680 feet) makes up half the Big Island and is the world's largest volcano. It hasn't erupted since 1984, but is still considered active. Mauna Kea ("white mountain," 13,796 feet) is dormant, and its peak is often mentioned by the few local adventure companies that offer snow sports tours.
Skiing and snowboarding barely registers in sun-soaked Hawaii, but when the rainy season arrives on the Big Island in December, some locals take to the backcountry volcano slopes, which can accumulate "pineapple powder" that resembles what we call "corn snow" in New England. This pastime is largely a renegade endeavor because there are no ski resorts, no lifts, and no marked trails. A four-wheel-drive vehicle or a long, hard hike are the only means up the volcano.
"Typically, I'm not even supposed to talk about skiing to reporters," said Jessica Ferracane, a public relations staffer for the Big Island Visitors Bureau, who estimates she gets one press inquiry a year about volcano skiing. "The tourism office does not condone skiing on Mauna Kea or Mauna Loa."'
But, she added, "That's not to say it doesn't happen."
The slalom was won by Austria's Benny Raich, who finished second overall in the World Cup last season behind Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, who has been sidelined after a horrendous high-speed crash in downhill training at Beaver Creek.
Following the crash on the Birds of Prey course at the Golden Eagle jump - on which racers travel as much as 200 feet - Svindal underwent emergency abdominal surgery and was treated for broken facial bones. Doctors deemed it doubtful that he would return to the race course this season.
But last weekend, Svindal was flown home to Norway in a private jet donated by a Norwegian businessman, where he told a Swiss reporter that he was beginning to walk around.
