Tag: America

USA – Copper Mountain

Copper Mountain was referred to as the best ski slope in North America by the US Forestry Service, for its amazing resources and ability to cater for beginner, intermediate and expert skiers. Based only 120 KM from Denver airport and with 160 metres of pure skiing fun, Copper Mountain is the only place to go skiing in America.

With a 3 Kilometre base and a summit of nearly 4 kilometres it is no wonder the slope is big enough to handle over 30,000 visitors on a monthly basis. With twenty two lifts the Copper Mountain is renowned for its 6 man high speed lift, 5 doubles, 5 triples, surface chairs, quad lifts, tubing zone and even quad lifts that can travel in excess of 40 kilometres per hour.

The upper lifts close at 1500 every evening, meaning you get 30 minutes to complete your last run before your days skiing is over. Opening at 9am in the morning Monday to Friday there is no excuse for not getting an early start. At the weekends the lifts open around a half an hour earlier, making it much easier to fit more skiing into your day.

In total Copper Mountain covers two and a half thousand acres, and stands nearly 800 metres tall. With 125 trails in total, 18% cater for expert skiers, 36% for advanced skiers, 21% for beginners and 25% for intermediates. The snowfall in Cooper Mountain is also something to be reckoned with; the total snowfall in November to April of 2005/2006 was 283.58, with March appearing to be the best month for snow. Although April to November provides the best snow, Copper Mountain also has an avalanche machine keeping the slop active for around 12 months in the year. This machine works by releasing a gas that turns water into snow. The machine provides genuine powdery snow that can even be altered to be icier, or softer to meet the needs of the skiers.

The Copper Mountain is set to be active for 12 months of the year, as of some point in the next two years, whilst plans are also unveiled for an indoor facility. The massive success of Copper Mountain is said to be partially attributable to hosting world snowboarding events, and also offering other activities such as snow tubing which is becoming increasingly popular, as well as snowshoeing, hiking, biking and snowmobile vehicles.

When I last visited Copper Mountain major regeneration work had just begun. They had started re-building the lift, their were hotel and lodging developments, and they have even started investing in real estate. From what I understand you will be able to buy a property overlooking the amazing slopes in a small amount of time. They had also seen the importance and the market that exists for training skiing. When a facility has the best training facility, new skiers are more likely to come along, learn how to ski at Copper Mountain and then come back year after year. They have built a complex that will house and support their training team, and they intend to offer lessons for a great price to encourage people to learn how to ski at Copper Mountain.

Copper Mountain is also home to freestyle snowboarding facilities which are becoming increasingly with teenagers looking to get started in winter sports. The snowboarding facilities include ramps, half-pipes, jumps and runs, whilst also being flood light, allowing the facility to operate much later than when the lifts stop functioning.

If you have never been to Copper Mountain then you will soon realise why it is rated as the best Skiing facility in America. Did you know that many film scenes have been completed on this mountain? It may also surprise you to know that this is usually completed when there is no snow on the mountains, and an avalanche machine generates snow in the absence of a any skiers or tourists.

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Tremblant In Canada

Tremblant is based in Canada and has over 90 runs servicing millions of skiers each year. With 13 state-of-the-art ski lifts and a selection of choices for both snowboarders and skiers Tremblant attained its reputation through daring, varied runs catering for a selection of abilities and preferences. With its longest run being 6km long, you cannot help but picture Tremblant as the skiing capital of Canada.

Tremblant has also recently had 18 acres of quality, freestyle snowboarding playground custom built. With jumps, rails, ramps and half-pipes those who are familiar with this should be sure to check it out should the visit. With 94 slaloms, the Tremblant management team have been sure to cater for all levels with 31 intermediate slopes, 17 slopes for novices and mountains worth of expert, countered terrain.

Standing 870 metres tall, and with snowboarding and skiing facilities on all four faces, it is no wonder the 628 acre facility is considered the home to Skiing in the area. The facility allows for natural snow between November and April however this does not set anyone back for the other months of the year. The revolutionary Avalanche system actually turns water into snow in an instant.

So how does the system work? In Tremblant there are 885 guns, that spray a cooling gassy chemical onto the snow and the coverage is able to not only turn water into snow in minutes, but also maintain organic snow forever. The amazing system ensures that the temperature is just right: not turning the snow to ice. The revolutionary system is also used to alter the temperature of snow for big events, however its main advantage is 365 day snow, for the people of Tremblant.

The Tremblant Lift system can carry over 27,000 snowboarders and skiers per hour, whilst the Gondola and quads also aid the in the massive effort of lifting millions of people up the mountain each day.

For those of you who get hungry there are also great accessible eateries available at the top of the 870 metre mountain. Whilst most holiday makers will experience the Tremblant as experienced skiers, there are also many options available to the beginners and intermediates choosing to visit Tremblant. With over 40 beginner slopes and over 50 multi-lingual skiing instructors you really have to visit Tremblant to understand its sheer scale. Learning to ski in Tremblant is not only a great idea because of the experience of the instructors, but also because your choices are not restricted at all.

During my first visit to Tremblant I was a keen skier but I had never had the opportunity to snowboard before. During my time in Tremblant I was taught how to snowboard in one day, and by the end of the vacation I was able to attempt challenging runs on the intermediate circuits. Although my experience in skiing was helpful, I felt a lot of this came down to the dexterity of the instructors.

The accommodation in Tremblant is amazing, with 6 hotels all with excellent service and offering amazing luxury to their guests. In a hotel, where you see amazing views onto the massive mountain, you also see firework displays that they put on for the tourists each evening. In case that puts you off, I was assured the fireworks do not make any noise, apart from at the weekends. The amazing Tremblant skiing resort has never hosted a large event, and is firmly known for its ability to cater for tourists, however that has not stopped it, in its quest to host the 2009 open. Having placed a bid, we can all wait and see if Tremblant is successful.

Ski Press Weekly voted Tremlant the best skiing facility for tourists in North America and this is hardly a surprise. With accessible pricing, a massive selection of runs and a lift that can carry over 25,000 people an hour it is hardly surprising.

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An Overview of Death Valley

Describing Death Valley brings a potpourri of superlatives: hottest, driest, lowest. In
1913, the valley hit a record 134 degrees Fahrenheit! But despite its brutal image, Death
Valley is a beloved mecca for geologists and other nature lovers. It also has a colorful
history of ghost towns!

Death Valley measures approximately 3,000 square miles. It spans the border of
California and Nevada and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts
Biosphere Reserve, which is devoted to ecological conservation. The diverse landscape
features desert sand dunes, snow-capped mountains, and a vast expanse of multi-hued
rock. It is also home to uniquely adapted plants and animals. Among the mammals, for
example, are the black-tailed jackrabbit, the long-tailed pocket mouse, and the chisel-
toothed kangaroo rat!

Death Valley is surrounded by several mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevadas, the
Amargosa Range, the Panamint Range, and the Sylvania and Owlshead Mountains.
Encircled by peaks, the valley has the lowest dry elevation in North America at 282 feet
below sea level. (The continents lowest point overall can be found at the bottom of Lake
Superior, but Death Valley contains the lowest spot on dry land.)

The valley is especially noted for its geologic splendor. The cliffs reveal rock layers
spanning from Precambrian to modern times. By studying the layers, geologists learn
about the earths condition in the distant past. For example, layers from the late
Pleistocene reveal that the valley was once filled by a freshwater lake, now dubbed Lake
Manly. The valley was partly filled again during flash flooding of 2004 and 2005. Still, at
that time the water was only two feet deep; before the last ice age, it measured 800 feet!

The 19th century saw many mining camps set up when rock layers revealed valuable
minerals. Men were drawn to gold and silver discoveries in the 1850s, and they mined
Borax in the 1880s. They gave their camps names like Chloride City, Skidoo, and
Panamint City. The mining camps usually became ghost towns within a few years.

In most cases, little remains of these Death Valley mining towns besides stories about
their lively inhabitants. Skidoo, for example, is marked only by a sign. It once had a
population of 700 and is infamous for having the only hanging in the valley. The hanged
man was Hootch Simpson, a down-on-his-luck saloon owner who tried to rob the town
bank. He was foiled and later returned to kill an employee! The townspeople hanged
Hootch that night. In fact, according to legend he was hanged twice: once for real and
once again for the benefit of photographers.

Visitors to Death Valley can ssee a few ghost town ruins, such as those of Panamint City.
Panamint was reputedly the roughest town in America! Its founders were outlaws hiding
from law enforcement. Although 2,000 people eventually resided there, Wells Fargo
refused to open a Panamint bank because of the inhabitants lawless reputations.

Although prospectors left the valley when mining became unprofitable, Native
Americans have lived in Death Valley for more than 1,000 years. Timbisha families, who
are part of the Shoshone tribe, still reside at Furnace Creek. They received 7,500 acres of
ancestral homeland with the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act of 2000. As of 2000,
only 31 people lived at Furnace Creek, setting the record for lowest census in the nation.
Death Valley National Park is open year-round, but considering the summer heat, most
people find the valleys winter climate more comfortable.Since 1933 Death Valley
National Park has offered extensive public works for visitors comfort. These include
developments such as campgrounds, picnic facilities, and hundreds of miles of paved
roads.
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