Posts Tagged ‘heavenly’
North America Snow Update
North America’s 2010-11 ski season is off to a great start with many areas opening early and reporting healthy snow falls.
Among the resorts already open are Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mountain Colorado; Snowbird in Utah, Killington on the East Coast in Vermont and north of the border Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta. Whistler has announced it will open nearly a week early, later today, thanks to the great pre-season conditions there.
In California, Mammoth is the latest to open (On Thursday 11th November) with more than 2,000 people arriving to enjoy skiing and boarding down from the 11,053 foot summit via Cornice Bowl. Six lifts were operational and 2,000 vertical feet (about 650 metres) of vertical terrain were open on a base of 18 to 36 inches (45 to 90cm).
First Chair 2010 - Mammoth Mountain
How do you decide?
Hurrah for autumn! There’s a chill in the air, the first frosts make the world look white again, and in the Ski Independence office we start each day with a barrage of emails with photos of early snowfall. It’s also the time of year that suppliers from various ski resorts come to visit and remind us why theirs is the best ski resort!
It’s an exciting time for all the reservations team – we spend all day, every day, all year long spouting off all kinds of statistics and facts about snow and skiing, but at times we forget just how awesome getting out onto the snow really is. The visits from our overseas friends not only enable us to put faces to names and re-inforce our good relationships , but also remind us exactly what we’re missing when we’re sat behind our desks (thanks guys!) and we really appreciate the considerable effort it take to come to Edinburgh to see us. Read the rest of this entry »
TGR Light The Wick Premiere
Last Thursday night Vail Resorts hosted the UK premiere of the new Teton Gravity Research (TGR) film, Light the Wick at the 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London. Ski Independence was the official travel partner, having collaborated with Vail Resorts on the night’s big prize giveaway – a seven-night trip for two to Breckenridge, Colorado, including flights, accommodation and transfers.
Things kicked off at 7pm with a DJ providing the soundtrack to an impressive still photo slide show from the previous year’s TGR adventures, and plenty of shots to whet the appetite for skiing from Vail Resorts’ six ski areas: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Heavenly. By 8pm 500 eager ski and snowboard fans were assembled, and after t-shirts were thrown into the crowd and winners of rucksacks, goggles & ski clothing had been announced, it was time for the main feature.
First 3D Ski Film
Teton Gravity Research is proud to announce the London premiere of their newest HD and 3D ski film, Light the Wick, which is hosted by snowusa.com.
TGR writes of the film: Read the rest of this entry »
Vail Resorts Announce EpicMix
Vail Resorts have just announced the launch of EpicMix, a new online and mobile application which allows skiers and snowboarders to digitally capture their ski experience and will completely transform the holiday experience for skiers and snowboarders this year at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly.
An radio frequency-enabled chip embedded in Vail Resorts’ EPIC season passes will automatically track your lift rides, calculating vertical feet skied and days on the mountain and will recognize special achievements and accomplishments by granting you commemorative, collectible digital pins. EpicMix will have hundreds of available digital pins for a multitude of unique experiences available at each resort. Read the rest of this entry »
On the shores of Lake Tahoe…
Last week I was lucky enough to visit South Lake Tahoe, compliments of our partners at Vail Resorts. If like me, you’ve never been to Lake Tahoe, it is quite unlike other ski resort you’ll have ever visited. Here’s an account of my trip which I hope will provide you with a good insight to what lies on the shores of Lake Tahoe…
There are a couple of travel options for Heavenly – you can either fly with United Airlines to Reno, via San Francisco and then take a 1 hour bus transfer to Heavenly or you can fly to San Francisco with British Airways, and hire a car. The drive from San Francisco to Heavenly is about 3 ½ hours. To allow for maximum flexibility when in resort I opted for the latter option and hired a car. The drive was much easier than I had anticipated. When you leave the airport, heading north on the 101, you aim for the Bay Bridge, then keep on the I-80 East and that is all there is to it. Just keep an eye out for the signs/lanes for South Lake Tahoe and there you are. It was a very easy, and an enjoyable drive.
Epic Skiing With Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass
Ski 5 resorts in 5 days across two states… is it possible? The answer is yes – as I found out in back in March when I hit the slopes with Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass.
Back for winter 2009/10, the Epic Season Pass is valid for unlimited skiing all season at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, as well as Heavenly in California; perfect for long stays, or for people visiting the States twice during the 2009/10 season.
