A Guide to Chile's Northern Ski Resorts by Tony Crocker Santiago, Chile - North American skiers and snowboarders looking for a summertime fix cast their gaze toward the Southern Hemisphere. While skiing is available in Australia, New Zealand and even South Africa and Lesotho, the biggest resorts and most dependable snow cover lie in South America. Santiago, Chile's capital city in the country's central valley and one of Latin America's most modern metropolitan centers, is the most convenient gateway to Southern Hemisphere skiing. Skiing from Santiago doesn't require a connecting flight when flying from North America, as New Zealand and Argentina ski resorts do. Chile also offers more flexibility and choice among ski areas than Argentina. In September 2007 I divided my time between Los Andes, an hour from Santiago and a little over an hour down the hill from Portillo, and the interconnected ski resorts of Valle Nevado, El Colorado and La Parva, located an hour and a half from Santiago. From Los Andes I also sampled two days with Valle El Arpa snowcat skiing.

Vail, CO - The Wildwood Shelter atop Vail Mountain is a fitting location to pay tribute to one of the Colorado ski and snowboard resort's founders; it is where Eaton and Pete Seibert arrived after their notorious hike up what is now Vail’s legendary original Back Bowl. A celebration of life service for Eaton, who passed away at his home this spring will be held on Saturday, Aug. 16 at 11:30 a.m. outside at Wildwood Shelter. The service will be immediately followed by a reception at Wildwood.

I recently watched a very interesting TV documentary detailing the building of Ski Dubai and the attached mall. When it finally got to the snowmaking, it was amazing to see...

Mt. Gilboa, Israel - In the wake of the success of Ski Dubai, planners in Israel are preparing for the Middle East's second indoor ski and snowboard resort.

Snoqualmie Pass, WA - The Summit at Snoqualmie has received the green light from the United States Forest Service to begin the installation of a new high-speed quad chairlift, named Silver Fir Express. Located just east of The Summit’s Central Base Area, the new Silver Fir Express will replace the current Silver Fir triple chair, originally installed in 1988. Construction is expected to be completed in November, allowing the chair to open to the public in time for the start of the 2008-09 ski and snowboard season.

Lynchburg, VA - A portion of Liberty University's 5,000-acre mountain range will be receiving a makeover in the coming months with the construction of a year-round ski slope to be known as the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Center.

Broomfield, CO - Vail Resorts, Inc. today announced the appointment of Derek Koenig to the position of senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Koenig will assume responsibilities for the Colorado-based ski and snowboard resort company’s corporate marketing and sales functions, including pricing and research, e-commerce, marketing services, corporate communications, strategic alliances, central reservations, and domestic and international sales. He will also ensure coordination of the company’s marketing efforts in its Hospitality and Real Estate divisions. Koenig will begin his new position on Aug. 25.

Henniker, NH - New Hampshire's Pats Peak Ski Area will enter its 46th consecutive ski and snowboard season under the same local family ownership in 2008-09. This winter, guests at Pats Peak will find increased snowmaking capabilities, 100% night skiing, new rental equipment, and a new gladed terrain area as well as a ticketing system upgrade, additional seasonal lockers and a new food service option.

Lake Placid, NY - After an extensive multi-million dollar transformation, the upscale High Peaks Resort has debuted on the Main Street site of the former Lake Placid Hilton in the ski resort village of Lake Placid, home to both the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games.

Race highlights from the 3rd Fluidride Cup at Mt Hood. Feature the top five riders.

Vidlogs of skateboarding and other activities.

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Bike riding is an excellent complement to hiking for keeping fit during the dry months. It is a relatively inexpensive activity, although you can spend a lot of money...

Billabong Pro Jeffrey’s Bay / July 10 - 20, 2008 / J-Bay, South Africa // DVD Teaser: The Path // Jack Johnson / Eisbach, Munich /// Billabong Pro Jeffrey’s Bay July 10 - 20, 2008 / J-Bay, South Africa Five events done and dusted, four wins for Kelly Slater already. Welcome to shralp surf! episode 60. After Snapper, Bells and [...]

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North Conway, NH - Krissy Fraser, formerly of Attitash Mountain in Bartlett, N.H., has been named Group Sales Manager at Cranmore Mountain Resort in North Conway.

Tel Aviv, Israel - IDE Technologies (IDE), equally held by Israel Chemicals of the Israel Corporation and the Delek Group, is enlarging its core operations by introducing a unique refrigeration technology for producing man-made snow. Relying on its proprietary technology, which is used for additional applications such as thermal energy storage for building and district cooling, district heating, and deep mine cooling, the company has begun marketing snowmaking to the global ski and snowboard resort industry.

Park City, UT - With less than five months to go before he's back on the slopes of the World Cup circuit, Scott Macartney of Crystal Mountain, Wash. is so deep into his summer training, one has to wonder if he has time for much else. According to the man himself, Macartney still has time to fit in some cooking, language critiques, and even a little bit of hockey.

Hackensack, NJ - A new fitness program that uses yoga techniques to create dedicated workout routines for skiing enthusiasts is coming to DVD in August from BayView Entertainment.

The continuing rise in the cost of airline jet fuel has forced air carriers to scrutinize the profit margin on all scheduled routes. It is sure to follow that they...

London, UK - The Ski Club of Great Britain has teamed up with snowsports apparel brand Helly Hansen and Snow+Rock stores to present a lecture and visual tour with American extreme skier Chris Davenport at the historic Royal Geographic Society in London, October 17th.