The Luggage Blog

Jackson Hole, WY

Area Profile
Teton Village, Wyo., and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort rise from a great “hole” or basin 12 miles northwest of the town of Jackson. Skiers and riders do their things on 2,500 acres of in-bound terrain and taunt the mountain’s 4,139-foot vertical (the greatest continuous rise in the U.S.) There are two mountains: Apres Vous and Rendezvous. and an open backcountry gate system giving skiers and free-heelers access to more than 3,000 additional acres of high-country magic. There are 111 named trails and many other unnamed routes known to skiers who have skied here for years. Twelve lift systems serve the mountains and snowboarding is allowed on 100 percent of their terrain.

Lodging Profile
The Jackson Hole Valley has over 10,000 units available for guest accomodations - everything from backcountry yurts to luxury hotels. The Four Seasons Resort in Jackson Hole is a favorite, boasting 125 rooms, 40 unit Residence Club, and 17 slope-side penthouse suites. The Crystal Springs Lodge is also new and has 18 condos available. Ski in/ski out lodges and condo units are available at the base of the ski area: luxury properties to a backpacker hostel. Full range of accomodations in Teton Village. Additional accomodations available in the town of Jackson, located ten miles away.

Services Profile
Restaurants, lounges within walking distance, many of both in Jackson. Ski shop, boutique, specialty, drug, liquor, cleaners and post office at area. Clinic at area, St. John’s Hospital, 12 miles. Kids Ranch for ages 2 months-5 years. Ski and snowboard school for ages 6 and over. Ski and cross country rental and repair available at slope and in Jackson. Ski classes offered for racing, cross country, powder, Junior and children, steep camps, women’s camps and snowboard camps. New this year: the new Bridger Restaurant atop the Bridger Gondola (Elevation 9,095’) will have incredible valley views of Jackson Hole and the famed on-mountain Corbet’s Couloir to the south.

Area Recreation Profile
Climbing, mountaineering, biking, kayaking, rafting, paragliding, fishing, sightseeing, tram rides, hiking, horseback riding, and concert with various musical genres.

Stowe Mountain, VT

Area Profile
Stowe, the granddaddy of all eastern ski resorts, provides quality skiing and riding for all levels of family and abilities. The area’s lift system includes a gondola to shuttle guests between Mount Mansfield and its “sister” mountain, Spruce Peak. This inter-mountain transfer lift provides transportation to and from the slopes at the bases of Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak - formally linking the two. The Poma ten person standing gondola spans Vermont’s Route 108. The length of the ride between the two mountains is approximately 1,500 ft., with a minimum travel time of 1.5 minutes. The lift is capable of moving 3,400 people per hour to and from Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak.

Lodging Profile
The Inn at the Mountain and Condominiums is the only slope side lodging and offers a number of amenities including fine dining, tennis, swimming, and a fitness center. Stowe is home to more than 60 lodging properties.

Services Profile
On-mountain dining and more than 60 restaurants to choose from in town. Retail shops, rentals, lessons, childcare from 6 weeks to 6 years, and ski and snowboard school.

Area Recreation Profile
An 18-hole golf course, tennis, skate park, alpine slide, and gondola rides are available.

Breckenridge Mountain, CO

Area Profile
Breckenridge is a great mountain town and an equally great ski town. A vertical rise of 3,398 feet and 28 lifts, including two high-speed six SuperChairs and seven high-speed quads. The longest trail - Four O’Clock - is 3.5 miles long. All that terrain, professional grooming, and down-home atmosphere make it easy to see why this area is such a favorite. An 8-passenger gondola links the town to Breckenridge Ski Resort, calling it - the BreckConnect™. It runs visitors between the town and the ski resort’s base area at Peak 8.

Lodging Profile
Breckenridge offers a host of unique lodging options, including spacious hotels, quaint bed and breakfast inns, comfortable homes and condominiums - something perfect for every taste and budget. Tiger Run RV Resort has a hookup available.

Services Profile
Free trolley and shuttle service to the resort and throughout the county. Free guided mountain tours and free video analysis available with intermediate and advanced ski lessons. The Breckenridge Ski & Ride School offers lessons and programs. Activities in and around town include live theatre, movie theatres, shopping along Main Street, historic tours, and gold mining. Over 100 restaurants in town, seven restaurants on the mountain, and nearly 40 bars and nightclubs nearby.

Area Recreation Profile
Hiking trails, horseback riding, canoeing, mountain biking, river rafting, fly fishing, and a Fun Park containing slides, maze, climbing wall, and chairlift rides for sightseeing, biking and hiking.

Vail Mountain, CO

Area Profile
Vail offers virtually everything a die hard powder junkie could crave. From the Lionshead cruisers to the famous Back Bowls. Blue Sky Basin is a “must ski.” The Bavarian-like Village at the base is pedestrian friendly and charming. The shopping is upscale. The scene - trendy and charming all at once. Vail boasts three distinct areas of the mountain, each with their own features and fortes, including four terrain parks, seven bowls, and 5,289 acres of freeride terrain. At seven miles wide, finding fresh tracks is as easy as finding elbow room. I

Lodging Profile
More than 150 lodging options provide for all tastes and budgets including hotels, bed and breakfast inns, homes, and condominiums. There are also a number of quaint villages and towns nestled in the Vail Valley, where you can find the perfect place to stay with exactly the ammenities you’re looking for.

Services Profile
Vail/Eagle County Airport is located 30 miles west. Shuttles (Vail owns Colorado Mountain Express) and car rentals available. Lessons and rentals available. Movie theaters, 111 restaraunts, nightclubs, bars, retail outlets, and spas. Child care available for children 2 months - 6 years.

Area Recreation Profile
Golf, mountain biking and hiking trails, horseback riding, sightseeing tours, fishing, hot air ballooning, paragliding, rafting, kayaking, wall climbing, mountaineering, tennis, and gondola rides.

Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, Canada

Area Profile
Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains rise up a mile out of the valley with 5,280 vertical feet and more than 8,100 acres of prime terrain. They have 12 alpine bowls, three glaciers and more than 200 marked trails. Average annual snowfall is 360 inches. Whistler/Blackcomb will host a variety of major events for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. It’s about a two hour drive from Vancouver.

Lodging Profile
One hundred and ten hotel and condominium properties with 4,475 units within walking distance of all lifts.

Services Profile
Seventeen restaurants on the mountain and nearly a hundred in the village. Ski shops and rentals with repairs and lessons, complete facilities in village. Nursery for children 2-5 years of age. Bank machines, church services, medical and dental clinics with nearest hospital 35 miles away, physiotherapy and massage therapy, office services, public library, museum, movie theatre, video rentals, indoor tennis courts, spa facilities and beauty salons.

Area Recreation Profile
Offers mountain biking with a bike park, clinics, camps, lessons and rentals, hiking, atv rides, golf, fishing, sightseeing gondola rides, river rafting, jet-boat tours, horseback riding, and camps during the summer months, generally May to October. Indoor tennis, indoor swimming, art galleries, theatres, and sightseeing by helicopter and float planes are available year- round.

Park City Mountain, UT

Area Profile
Like a number of big time ski areas, Park City was once home to miners in search of precious metals. Today, a new breed of searcher comes looking for the area’s legendary snow. Main Street is lined with boutiques, galleries, and restaurants that have managed to blend old with new. Nightlife bustles. The mountain itself is broad and steep, and offers some of the most varied terrain in the Wasatch range. Park City is home base and training site for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team.

Lodging Profile
Approximately 17,000 pillows are available at the base of Park City Mountain Resort and in the surrounding town of Park City.

Services Profile
Located 37 miles from Salt Lake International Airport with free town-wide bus service. Services include four mountain restaurants and several at the base, on-mountain performance demo center, rentals, and apparel, 16 lifts serving 100+ trails, and snow making from top to bottom. With services galore, Park City Mountain Resort has routinely been named among the top 10 family resorts in North America. Signature Five, an all-day instruction program for kids ages 6 to 14, guarantees no more than five children in a ski or snowboard lesson program.

Area Recreation Profile
Alpine coaster, lift-served mountain biking and hiking, lunch served daily on the outside deck and inside at Kristi’s, complete party and banquet facilities at the Legacy Lodge, horseback riding tours, 18-hole miniature golf course, children’s rides and activities at Little Miner’s Park. Tubing, snowmobiling, ice, skating and sleigh rides are also offered.

Steamboat Springs, CO

Area Profile
Steamboat is where Olympic medalist Billy Kidd hangs his cowboy hat and, when he’s in town, you (and many of your new-found friends) can ski with him every day. This is the Wild West and the atmosphere in the village and on the slopes reflects it. Yes, you can wear your cowboy hat when you ski. Be sure there’s a strap under it. The town is as much fun as the mountain, too.

Lodging Profile
Hotels, condominiums, and townhouses available at base and nearby town. Camper facilities located in town, with utilities and convenience stores. Other nearby facilities are Ski Time and Fish Creek Campgrounds within five miles of the ski resort.

Services Profile
Plethora of restaurants at the base and on mountain; over 75 in area. Bars, lounges, discotheques range from R&R and C&W, most offer live entertainment. Ski shop, boutique, specialty, drug, liquor, cleaners, bank and post office at area. Full shoping conveniences within two miles. Nursery/child care available for ages 6 months-6 years. Ski and cross country rental and repair shop available at slope. Special instructions offering classes in racing, freestyle, cross country, deep powder, moguls, snowboarding, disabled, junior and children.

Area Recreation Profile
Biking, two separate golf courses, hot air ballooning, mountaineering, rafting, rock climbing, hunting, ATV tours, and fishing. Also enjoy music, horseback riding, hot springs and water slide.

Whiteface Mountain, NY

Area Profile
Whiteface opened back in 1958 and is dedicated to the 10th Mountain Division. It was the skiing venue of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. The area is serviced by 10 lifts including one gondola, one high-speed quad, one fixed-grip quad, one triple, five doubles, and one Magic Carpet. There are 225 skiable acres. The average snowfall is around 168 inches per year. The resort is the new headquarters for the New York Ski Educational Foundation.

Lodging Profile
Approximately 1,850 rooms are available within a 10-mile radius including the villages of Wilmington and Lake Placid.

Services Profile
There are buses, an airport, car rentals, a variety of restaurants, cafes, bowling, movie theaters, nightclubs, bars, ski shops, retail shops, and gyms with whirlpools and saunas and spas in nearby Lake Placid. There is 98 percent snowmaking.

Area Recreation Profile
Mountain biking, swimming, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, whitewater rafting, horseback riding, golf, boating, and sailing are all available in Lake Placid.

Bear Mountain, CA

Area Profile
Ninety miles due east of Los Angeles in the San Bernardino National Forest, Bear Mountain serves as a haven for a rabid cadre of snowboarders and freeskiers who play in the area’s three terrain parks and pipes along with a double black run sure to get the most adventurous freeskier’s blood rushing. The prevailing vibe is so boarder-centric that the area also fields its own pro snowboard team.

Lodging Profile
A variety of lodging is located on-site including luxury motels, motels, condos, and suites.

Services Profile
Restaurants located throughout the resort along with various stops to snack, coffee bars, repair shop, sports shop and lessons. One hundred percent snowmaking. Big sundeck.

Area Recreation Profile
Golf course is located at the base of the resort with rentals available on site.

Information provided by www.onthesnow.com