Skiing Opus

The Ultimate Skiing Experience

For downhill skiers, “powder snow” provides the ultimate skiing experience. For most skiers however, good powder skiing is a short-lived and infrequent event. Ski areas in some geographic areas enjoy fairly frequent “powder days” but in most areas, powder days are rare and the dryness and depth of snow is often marginal.

In most ski areas too, when powder snow does occur, it is only a matter of hours before it is completely "tracked out”, lumped up and beaten down. Only those few early birds that ride the first chairs in the morning get the ultimate run of the day, in deep, consistent, smooth, untracked snow.

For years, diehard powder snow enthusiasts have headed for the backcountry to “ski the powder” among remote alpine peaks, far from crowded ski areas. Many enjoy the peace and quiet of ski touring and move and ski at a pace governed by their own physical fitness.

Others who may be less ambitious or have less time, but who have ample disposable funds, have headed for the backcountry in helicopters. For about $1000 per day or more, heli-operators offer small groups of proficient skiers 5 to 7 days of guided skiing on huge pristine slopes, high in the mountains. Guests stay in comfortable lodges and spend their days being shuttled back and forth with their guides, with each run on a fresh untracked slope. Heli skiing has its problems. There are “down days” when storms make flying impossible and there is always the inherent risk of all backcountry skiing: avalanche.

Avalanche risk depends on many factors. All reputable backcountry operators provide highly qualified guides who choose areas for skiing and a safe route down the hill. On days of poor weather or unstable snow, guides may avoid alpine areas and restrict their groups to "skiing the trees”. Tree skiing is a fixture of all mechanized backcountry skiing and is preferred by some skiers to the more open “alpine” skiing.

In recent years, a new type of mechanized backcountry ski operator has emerged. Snowcat skiing operators use snowcats to transport skiers and snowboarders into backcountry regions. Snowcats are fitted with a large cab that seats clients in a warm, comfortable environment. A snowcat typically carries a group of 12 clients, two guides and a driver.

Of course, snowcats are much slower than helicopters. They are also much less expensive and guests can expect to pay between $500 and $600 a day, including transportation, lodging, meals, and guiding. As slow as snowcats may be, most clients will wear themselves out every day and get just as much skiing as their group can handle.

The great advantage of cat skiing is that “down” days almost never occur. Clients ski every day and bad weather can often mean extra-good snow. Cat skiing is more relaxed and “laid back” than heli skiing as there is no need to share equipment between groups or to maximize equipment usage. Cat skiing is very “client-friendly”. Each group has a dedicated machine and it moves at the group’s pleasure. Weaker skiers can feel at ease and not “pushed”.

Snowcats provide a relatively quiet, comfortable, warm and relaxed environment in which the trip back up the hill can be almost as much fun as the run down. Guests can “unbutton”, dry out, warm up, converse and browse on sandwiches, cookies, cake and drinks. If a guest gets tired, it’s easy to “sit out” a run and ride down to the next pickup with the cat driver.

Snowcat skiing is more restricted geographically than heli skiing. However, that has a drawback. Since they can operate in a larger area, heli-operators may sometimes be less familiar with changing snow conditions and risk factors than snowcat operators who work in a more restricted area.

Most snowcat operators have ample terrain to consistently provide good snow, even in periods of drought, and to ensure that clients exhaust themselves every day. Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges Ltd. operates in a 95 sq. km area and ski between the elevations of 5400ft and 9500 ft. Monashee Powder Adventures advertises an area of 66 sq. km and operate between the elevations of 7800 ft and 3,000 ft.. Baldface Lodge uses over 140 sq km. Guests need not worry about running out of terrain!

Snowcat skiing provides a wonderful holiday for intermediate and advanced skiers alike. Individuals, family groups, groups of friends, business associates can have a “trip to remember”. Operators with remote lodges offer a real “backcountry” experience, usually with good food and very comfortable accommodations.

Author, Lockie Brown, is retired and lives near Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He has cat skied for about 10 years, taking groups of 12 and 24 friends to different cat ski venues in British Columbia. He now takes his groups to Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges near Golden, B.C. For more information, please refer to the Chatter Creek Web site at http://backcountrywintervacations.com/.

Road Trip Opus

A Mindful Road Trip: The Perfect No-Goal Vacation

It's the beginning of spring break, and we're heading south. That's all we know.

Our family is greatly anticipating what may be our last road trip for a long, long time. There's a lot of excitement in our house right now as we are shifting into a whole new phase for each of us.

My husband is launching a new business. I am writing a book. Our 17-year-old daughter is preparing for college in Nova Scotia in September. Our 16-year- old daughter is heading to Brazil for a year-long Rotary Exchange in July. Our 14-year-old daughter is playing a sport for the first time in her life. Our 13-year-old daughter is considering transferring to an arts magnet school in order to immerse herself in her passion—dance.

This is the end of an era. In a few months, we will never have all four of them living at home again. The next year will bring all kinds of changes, and we feel we need to grab this chance to hit the road together in our trusty, dusty minivan.

It's time for our favorite kind of vacation—the make-it-up-as-you-go meander through undiscovered (to us, anyway) territory. We'll get up really early, jump in the van, and just go. No reservations. No schedule. No destination in mind.

We love this no-goal travel. We learned years ago that the happiest times we spend together are those in which we are free to experience each moment as it comes without planning the next.

Back in 1998, we decided in one day to pack up the kids and take off to India and Nepal for three months. It's not as though we simply quit our jobs and left. That would have been far easier.

We had plenty of responsibilities—we owned two small retail businesses, an import/export company, an old commercial building with a leaky roof, and a house we had just finished remodeling.

We felt restless and ready for adventure, and making the choice to go was instantaneous and unanimous.

We sold one business, liquidated another, put the third in a coma. We found someone to take care of the leaky roof, and another to stay in our house. We yanked the kids out of school and within six weeks of making our decision boarded a plane—six excited travelers carrying six small backpacks.

The girls were 7, 8, 10 and 11. People thought we were insane.

The first two months we spent in India visiting the former host families my husband had lived with during his own Rotary Exchange when he was 16. The third month we had reserved for Nepal. We planned to fly into Kathmandu and spend four weeks on our own. We had no agenda, no reservations, no contacts. We weren't the least bit concerned about it.

From the very first day, it was clear this was going to be a really special experience for our family. We found a clean, friendly hotel, the Red Planet, with a room big enough for six of us. It was $15 a night. Our window faced the rear of a nightclub, and we giggled ourselves to sleep as Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson were blasted from the speakers outside. One of our daughters became quite adept at unclogging the toilet and bathtub drain.

We wandered the curving streets, marveling at the sights and sounds. Each meal was an adventure as we made it a point to invite single diners to join us. We met fascinating people of all ages from around the world.

Highlights include dashing into a tiny Italian restaurant during our first two hours in Kathmandu as we were caught in a torrential downpour—our first rain since leaving Oregon. A hilarious but fairly sleepless night sharing a tea house room with rats. Children, especially young boys, trailing us everywhere we trekked. Breakfast on our roof with a breathtaking view of the Annapurnas. Ducking to avoid spider webs dripping with dew while riding elephants in the early morning. Exploring richly scented temples. Spontaneous dancing in the streets.

We have never, ever laughed more than we did on that trip. I had to use an asthma inhaler—not for any allergies, but because I laughed so hard that I started wheezing! Every single day was full of absolute joy and discovery. It didn't matter in the slightest what we were doing. We were together, we were exploring, and we were having the time of our lives.

Granted, a road trip to southern Oregon isn't nearly as exotic. Still, what we learned in Nepal is the magic of being in the moment. Our kids discovered the power of being present and open to whatever the day may bring.

It's a priceless lesson we feel fortunate to have learned early. That trip was a gift that keeps on giving. It provided a shining example of true mindfulness for our growing daughters.

We're heading south. Our intention? To be together. To explore. And to laugh our heads off.

I'll bring my inhaler.

Author, Maya Talisman Frost, is a mind masseuse. Her work has inspired thinkers in over 70 countries around the world. This article appeared previously in the Friday Mind Massage, a free weekly ezine serving up a satisfying blend of clarity, comfort and comic relief. To subscribe, visit http://www.massageyourmind.com.

Vacation Kidding :-) Poem

Vacation In Comfort With Kids

It takes a special person to travel with kids – a parent. Children have their own needs. Their idea of a vacation is more "adventurous" than a parent's. They need constant stimulation and they can get as tired as they are tiring.

There are many top ten type lists of tips for traveling with children: how to ensure they eat well and drink enough, how to dress them for weather variances, how to provide the stimulation they need, how to make sure they don't drive off with the family car and leave you stranded in the Mojave Desert, etc.

This list is how to travel in comfort – without tying the children to the roof rack -- which hopefully will reduce your stress.

Make sure you have plenty of room while traveling.

This is easier said than done. On a plane, everybody is cramped. On a train, everybody is cramped, although a little less so. On a bicycle... don't even try it.

If you are driving, get a mini-van. Sure, you might be more of a "car" type, and you might have resisted buying a mini-van so far. But pick up a rental van for the vacation just to give the kids a little more room for fighting. (Make sure it has a roof rack, just in case.)

Reality check: Cram enough people into a tiny space and watch everybody get stressed and enraged. See my humorous but true article on hippo rage: http://www.thehappyguy.com/hippo-rage.html .

Accommodations along the way can be tricky. Usually it involves a cramped motel for just long enough to sleep, then back in the cramped car (or somewhat cramped mini-van). This is not anybody's idea of a home away from home.

An accommodation alternative is to camp. When not sleeping, you have all the space in the world (unless you have to huddle under the tarp while the storm passes through). I love camping, but not everyone enjoys a good early morning wake-up wrestle with a grizzly as much as I do, so a motel might be required.

Make sure you have plenty of room when you "get there".

My childhood vacations, often involved wandering around lost. Assuming you are actually heading for a destination, make sure to have lots of room when you get there. This part is easy. But it requires thinking outside the box. Forget hotels, motels, and inns. Look for private rental homes.

Probably the biggest destination for families is Walt Disney World in Florida. Good news – Orlando, Kissimmee and the surrounding area is just teeming with private vacation homes for rent. In Florida they call them vacation villas, and they offer all the space of home (without having to fix a leaky sink or oil the door hinges or mow the lawn.) Here are some examples of vacation home rentals in the Disney area: http://www.lastminutevillas.net/Disney-vacation.html.

Sharon Baillie is a private villa owner in the Kissimmee area outside Orlando, just a few miles from Disney World. "Our guests enjoy the spaciousness of our 6-bedroom home ( http://www.lastminutevillas.net/new5beda1pg1.html ). They love the private pool and the private yard in which they can relax," she says. "Parents love the space for children to run around outside, and we leave a box of toys in the garage. So while the parents rest, the children play – and let their parents rest!"

Be prepared for "children being children" events.

Sometimes, stress hits you from behind when the unexpected happens. Like a cut or a scrape ... or a child getting sick. Sharon Baillie told me that is why she tells all her villa rental guests where the first aid kit can be found, and exactly where to go for medical attention. This is particularly helpful for her many guests from abroad who are unfamiliar with the US healthcare system.

She also makes sure her guests are informed about local pollen and viruses in Florida, so that parents can be prepared. Stress is so much more enjoyable when you are prepared for it, don't you think?

Booking tickets to theme parks and making reservations for just about everything in advance, makes the trip less stressful. There is little more difficult than managing young children while trying to get into a theme park or show that requires prior booking.

And to prevent wandering around lost, pick up a AAA Triptik in advance – not that it ever helped us.

Try having your children baby-sat. This might mean bringing along a nanny, such as a grand parent (It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.). The car might be more crowded, but if you've rented a spacious home for the week, it could just be doable. The other option is to hire a local baby-sitter once or twice. Vacation Home owners can set this up for you, and some hotels might be willing to, too.

When you are single, you can go on adventure vacations. When you are a parent, you get vacation adventures. Here are three of mine: http://www.thehappyguy.com/family-vacation-adventure.html

So there you have it. Three ways to reduce the stress of traveling with kids, so you can actually relax on vacation. After all, isn't that what vacations are supposed to be about?

Written by David Leonhardt, freelance writer, and an online and offline publicity specialist. Contact him at: mailto:info@thehappyguy.com or visit his website at http://www.thehappyguy.com. For Florida vacation villa rentals: http://www.lastminutevillas.net. For Orlando vacation home rentals: http://www.orlandovillaowners.com.

Villa Living Serenade

Ditch The Hotel For A Villa Or Vacation Home

Two visits to Budapest. Two apartments, walking distance from downtown. I did not even set foot in the Hilton. My mother and I saw Budapest like only someone who stays away from the Americanized hotels can. We stayed with the locals. We came to feel the city, not just see it.

Several years later, I returned to Europe on my honeymoon (this time, without my mother). The first two nights in a little village near Schaffhausen, Switzerland, we stayed in the European version of a vacation villa rental: our own unit in a private home, our own balcony overlooking the scenic village, comfort, privacy and peace.

Three weeks of touring brought us to one or two hotels, several bed and breakfasts, and a couple "gasthauses" in Austria and Liechtenstein that felt more like private homes.

"There is no way to compare the comfort and privacy of a private villa with squeezing everybody into an impersonal hotel room," says Stewart Granville, CEO of Last Minute Villas ( http://www.lastminutevillas.net ), a booking site for Florida villas and vacation rental homes. "You have your own space – and lots of it – and you don't have to worry about noise of peeping eyes. Usually you have a private pool, spa, sound system and other luxuries."

Last Minute Villas books some vacation rentals on Florida's Gulf Coast, but mostly in the Orlando area. Typically, theme park visitors stay in the motel strip in Kissimmee. Those with deeper pockets might stay at the Disney World Hotel. Few people realize that a Vacation home near Disney World or in nearby Orlando is even an option.

Fewer still realize how cheap it is. One Florida villa owner describes how he had just checked his guests in to his own Kissimmee/Orlando area villa. Drew was heading out of town, but he missed his flight. With ten people staying in his rental home, there really was no place for him. He checked into a very basic motel, typical of the Kissimmee strip, and realized he would be paying over $200 per night for ten people – or about $1500 per week – for uncomfortably basic motel rooms typical of Orlando and other vacation mecas.

"They stayed in my house for $900 - and they got their own private pool, ensuite bedrooms, laundry facilities, refrigerator and all the things you now take for granted in villas," Drew says. "It really opened my eyes to just what a sweet deal my visitors are getting – and how little motel visitors get for their money, too."

Two years ago, my brother and I rented a private cottage in the Laurentians. We had four bedrooms, enough to accommodate both our young families. We could see two of the neighboring houses, which would be useful in case of an emergency.

We had the television, the stereo, the fire place, fresh raspberries right off the bushes around the house (some blueberries, too!), a screened patio with a private table/bench swing, and a nice big fridge to keep juice, milk and beer cool. We had plenty of space to spread out and a table just perfect for a relaxing evening of cards.

Last summer, we rented a private villa in the Laurentians again, this time overlooking a small lake, and a canoe was supplied.

Why would anybody want to crowd their family into a hotel room? Or even two? I've been spoiled. From Orlando, Florida to Budapest, Hungary, travel in style by staying in a private vacation rental home, no matter where you go.

Written by David Leonhardt, freelance writer, and an online and offline publicity specialist. Contact him at: mailto:info@thehappyguy.com or visit his website at http://www.thehappyguy.com. For Florida vacation villa rentals: http://www.lastminutevillas.net. For Orlando vacation home rentals: http://www.orlandovillaowners.com.