Chairlift

Last week's snowstorms caused a few local avalanches on Mount Mansfield and Mount Washington, but while the seriousness of either should not be taken lightly by outdoor enthusiasts, the power of a full scale avalanche is truly something to behold. In case you missed it, the following footage was taken last weekend at the St Francois-Longchamp resort in France, where a snow slide quickly turned into a full-scale avalanche, taking out a chairlift as wide-eyed skiers looked on. In all, 41 people were rescued from the chairlift by helicopter.

The oldest operating double chairlift in New England is being retired this weekend. Cranmore Mountain will bid farewell to the East Double Chairlift, installed in 1955, on Sunday with a going away party featuring ski historian Tom Eastman. A new triple chair, purchased from Wachusett Mountain, will be installed in time for next season. Here's a bit more from the press release: The East Chair, known for its bright red chairs, is a favorite among Cranmore skiers and ski history aficionados alike.

Looking for love in all the wrong places? Get it right for a change. Black Mountain's annual chairlift speed dating event takes place Saturday at the Jackson, N.H. ski area, where skiers and riders will have the chance to meet someone while riding the double chairlift up the mountain with another single. Whether you choose to ski down with him or her is entirely up to you. "Our self-proclaimed 'love consultants,' Mitzi and Karen, will be at the registration desk sharing dating advice and offering up some special questions to help you get started on your lift ride," Black...

Last week's snowstorms caused a few local avalanches on Mount Mansfield and Mount Washington, but while the seriousness of either should not be taken lightly by outdoor enthusiasts, the power of a full scale avalanche is truly something to behold. In case you missed it, the following footage was taken last weekend at the St Francois-Longchamp resort in France, where a snow slide quickly turned into a full-scale avalanche, taking out a chairlift as wide-eyed skiers looked on. In all, 41 people were rescued from the chairlift by helicopter.

A 7-year-old boy was critically hurt after falling about 60 feet from a chairlift at a Northern California ski resort. It happened Sunday at the Sugar Bowl ski resort west of Lake Tahoe Resort spokesman John Monson tells KCRA-TV in Sacramento (http://bit.ly/vQ9Ifo) that the boy was practicing with the resort's ski team when he fell from the lift. The boy was taken to Renown Medical Center in Reno, Nev., where he had surgery to relieve pressure in his skull from a head injury.

UPTON -- The family of John Streetcq said today that the teen, who was fatally injured in a fall from a chairlift Wednesday night, was an experienced skier who "died doing what he loved to do. " Street, 18, was with his fellow Nipmuc Regional High Schoolcq ski team members when he apparently suffered a seizure and fell some 25 feet to the icy ground below at the Ski Wardcq ski area in Shrewsbury Wednesday night shortly before 7 p.m. ...

All active and retired members of the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines, Coast Guard, and National Guard and their immediate families can ski free this Friday at Sunday River in celebration of Veterans' Day. Proper ID is required, of course. For all others, lift tickets will be just $29, Thursday-Sunday, and the Maine resort plans to remain open daily after tomorrow, when it hopes to open the T2 and Upper Sunday Punch trails and Locke Mountain Triple chairlift Thursday. Sunday River and Killington are currently the only two ski areas open...

Visit Bermuda this winter for a golf or spa getaway, or to dig your feet into the island’s pink sand beaches and every third night will be free at participating hotels. Choose from 15 properties, ranging from luxury resorts to boutique hotels to family-run inns, including Cambridge Beaches Resort and Spa, Fairmont’s Hamilton Princess or Southampton hotels, Fourways Inn, Granaway Guest House and Cottage, and Surf Side Beach Club Hotel. Rates are $125 to $460 per night. Your free night includes the room rate only, not any resort fees or gratuities.

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. - Spooks and goblins are taking over Cranmore Mountain ski area for the Ghoullog, the haunted mountaintop tour on Friday and Saturday evenings until Halloween. Under cover of darkness, the frightful trip to the top begins with an unnerving walk to the quad chairlift along a spirit-filled walkway. While that may be enough to raise goose bumps on some visitors, it isn't until you get to the summit that things truly go bump in the night. Creepy costumed actors patrol the forest and surroundings to prey upon all who dare venture...

Non-matter of the day: chairlift etiquette. The other day I was conversing with a friend as we rode a quad chair on a six-minute ride, and we got into some remarks about business generally, and ski business in particular. We were not talking loudly, but about halfway up a woman said, "It sounds like you guys are working. " This was a curious ice breaker, and neither of us knew quite what to say. Was this person implying that we should not be working, or at least not working in her presence?

Looking for love in all the wrong places? Get it right for a change. Black Mountain's annual chairlift speed dating event takes place Saturday at the Jackson, N.H. ski area, where skiers and riders will have the chance to meet someone while riding the double chairlift up the mountain with another single. Whether you choose to ski down with him or her is entirely up to you. "Our self-proclaimed 'love consultants,' Mitzi and Karen, will be at the registration desk sharing dating advice and offering up some special questions to help you get started on your lift ride," Black...

UPTON -- The family of John Streetcq said today that the teen, who was fatally injured in a fall from a chairlift Wednesday night, was an experienced skier who "died doing what he loved to do. " Street, 18, was with his fellow Nipmuc Regional High Schoolcq ski team members when he apparently suffered a seizure and fell some 25 feet to the icy ground below at the Ski Wardcq ski area in Shrewsbury Wednesday night shortly before 7 p.m. ...

A 7-year-old boy was critically hurt after falling about 60 feet from a chairlift at a Northern California ski resort. It happened Sunday at the Sugar Bowl ski resort west of Lake Tahoe Resort spokesman John Monson tells KCRA-TV in Sacramento (http://bit.ly/vQ9Ifo) that the boy was practicing with the resort's ski team when he fell from the lift. The boy was taken to Renown Medical Center in Reno, Nev., where he had surgery to relieve pressure in his skull from a head injury.

Sugarloaf will open for skiing and riding today at noon. Skiers and riders will have three miles of skiing on Pinch, Upper Tote Road, and Lower Tote Road serviced by the SuperQuad chairlift for 1,750 vertical feet of manmade snow. Tickets will be $29 for the limited terrain which is recommended for advanced skiers and riders only due to the early season conditions.  This is a feather in Sugarloaf's ski cap given warm weather patterns, and demonstrates the advancements in snowmaking in recent years with parent company Boyne's investment.

All active and retired members of the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines, Coast Guard, and National Guard and their immediate families can ski free this Friday at Sunday River in celebration of Veterans' Day. Proper ID is required, of course. For all others, lift tickets will be just $29, Thursday-Sunday, and the Maine resort plans to remain open daily after tomorrow, when it hopes to open the T2 and Upper Sunday Punch trails and Locke Mountain Triple chairlift Thursday. Sunday River and Killington are currently the only two ski areas open in New...

Visit Bermuda this winter for a golf or spa getaway, or to dig your feet into the island’s pink sand beaches and every third night will be free at participating hotels. Choose from 15 properties, ranging from luxury resorts to boutique hotels to family-run inns, including Cambridge Beaches Resort and Spa, Fairmont’s Hamilton Princess or Southampton hotels, Fourways Inn, Granaway Guest House and Cottage, and Surf Side Beach Club Hotel. Rates are $125 to $460 per night. Your free night includes the room rate only, not any resort fees or gratuities.

WAITSFIELD, Vt. - As a late-season snowstorm raged in Vermont's Green Mountains, taps rang out from the base of Mad River Glen's historic single chairlift. It was Easter Sunday 2007, and the ski area's Single - a historic structure that had come to define the Mad River Glen experience - was on its last run. Ken Quackenbush, the ski area's longtime general manager, boarded the last chair to the summit that day and sat huddled under a vintage woolen poncho, the kind given to skiers over the years to keep them warm on the lonely 12-minute ride to the top. "It was...

Sugarloaf will open for skiing and riding today at noon. Skiers and riders will have three miles of skiing on Pinch, Upper Tote Road, and Lower Tote Road serviced by the SuperQuad chairlift for 1,750 vertical feet of manmade snow. Tickets will be $29 for the limited terrain which is recommended for advanced skiers and riders only due to the early season conditions.  This is a feather in Sugarloaf's ski cap given warm weather patterns, and demonstrates the advancements in snowmaking in recent years with parent company Boyne's investment.

BAD TÖLZ, Germany - Where I’m from in New England, the biggest sled run in town is called Suicide Hill. Steep, and a couple of hundred feet long, this locally infamous slope doles out a handful of twisted ankles and bruised egos each year. That’s why I was shocked when Steffi, my Bavarian girlfriend, upon seeing it for the first time, chuckled and said, “Oh, that’s how we used to sled when we were babies.’’ She then described a fantastical vision of the Alps, where serpentine mountain roads are converted to hourlong sledding runs - called “rodelbahn’’ - and mid-mountain pubs supply fresh beer to...

SANTA FE - If you’re looking for a different brand of skiing this winter, buckle up for a trip to New Mexico. It’s back to the future here in the snowy reaches of the southern Rocky Mountains, where 37 peaks tower more than 12,000 feet above the vast Colorado Plateau. Nearly a dozen large and small ski areas cling to as many alpine valleys. Locally-owned, these hometown outfits are as different from each other as they are from the ski industry’s big boys, the corporate-owned resorts that depend on selling vacation real estate.