LONDON — December 09, 2011 - Amelia Hempleman-Adams, a 16-year-old schoolgirl whose father was the first Briton to reach the South Pole solo and unsupported, has become the youngest person to ski to the bottom of the world.

She joined her adventurer dad David Hempleman-Adams on the two-week, 97-mile trek to the South Pole from explorer Ernest Shackleton's Farthest South Point. Shackleton's granddaughter Alexandra Shackleton had met with Hempleman-Adams before the trip and had given the young expeditionist a photograph of her grandfather to take to the Pole.

The nine-strong party completed the journey at 0130 GMT Friday after a final 14-mile push.

"I'm really proud to have actually made it and just really happy," the younger Hempleman-Adams said by satellite phone from the Pole.

"It's really exciting to be able to achieve something like this.

"It hasn't quite sunk in yet that we've actually made it because it's been such a tough journey but I'm sure it will in the next few days.

"We arrived here and we all just hugged each other and congratulated each other and it was really nice to finally get here."

The teenage explorer took her homework with her but her father removed some of it from the sledge, saying it would be too heavy.

Appropriately, she did manage to take along her geography work, "but by the time you get into the tent at night it's too late to even think about doing anything", she said.

Hempleman-Adams spent time training for the expedition in a frozen food storage facility in southwest England.

Guinness World Records said the record for the youngest person to trek overland to the South Pole without the use of dogs or motorised vehicles was set by Canadian Sarah Ann McNair-Landry, who was 18 when she reached the Pole on January 11, 2005.

She made the 680-mile kite-assisted trip as part of an unsupported expedition led by her mother.

"At 16, Amelia could be on course to break the current Guinness World Record," a Guinness World Records spokesman said.

"We look forward to hearing from Amelia's party so that we can look into verifying this feat."

Hempleman-Adams said seeing what her father's expeditions were all about had been her aim, rather than rewriting the record books.

"I didn't really do it to go out and get a record. I just wanted the experience, especially with my dad. I'm really proud to finish it," she said.

source: www.google.com

December 9, 2011 - As nighttime temperatures dip below freezing, area ski resorts are making preparations for the big crowds soon to arrive.

Blue Mountain Ski Area in Palmerton planned Thursday to power up its snow guns sometime after sunset to be ready for a Dec. 16 opening.

Although Bear Creek Mountain Resort and Conference Center in Alburtis has yet to decide on an opening date, it expects to start making snow in the next few days , spokesman Ryan Werst said.

"We're set for the season," he said. "We're ready to begin."

And that translates to jobs for a lot of Lehigh Valley residents. Bear Creek will have 1,400 employees on its payroll at the peak of the season. Blue Mountain, which is a much bigger ski area than Bear Creek but does not have a hotel, has between 900 and 1,000 employees.

The two resorts will serve roughly a half-million visitors under normal winter weather conditions.

That's a good deal of economic activity, and it hinges on one thing: the temperature. The mercury has to dip below the freezing point at night — something that's in the forecast — for artificial snow-making.

Real snow isn't even necessary any more. A snowstorm only makes it more difficult for customers to reach the mountain, although it does have the benefit of whetting the appetite of skiers and snowboarders.

Blue Mountain, for instance, has 1,000 snow guns capable of laying a two-foot base over 164 skiable acres in a matter of days. (All told, Blue Mountain, with Pennsylvania's highest vertical drop of 1,082 feet, has 39 trails, including two news ones.)

Indeed, advancements in snow-making technology have transformed Pennsylvania skiing in recent decades. Snow guns run on pressurized air, which is made by electric-powered compressors. The newest snow guns at Blue Mountain are 10 times more energy efficient than some of the older models.

Bear Creek, too, has upgraded its equipment this year. It spent $360,000 on a new trail grooming machine for better maintenance of its steepest slopes.

Visitors will also notice new amenities at both of the Lehigh Valley's ski resorts. Blue Mountain renovated its ballroom and added an outdoor pub. Bear Creek built a new patio.

If Blue Mountain and Bear Creek open next week, that will be about a week or so later than normal. Though in past years, the resorts have opened as early as Thanksgiving weekend and as late as January.

At Blue Mountain on Thursday, the slopes were green, except where tire tracks had turned up brown mud in the grass. Yet, in the shadows of adjacent bushes and trees, a dusting of white was the telltale sign of recent snow gun test runs.

"We're ready as soon as Mother Nature complies," said Blue Mountain marketing manager Heidi Lutz.

source: www.mcall.com

December 11, 2011
Reporting from Sequoia National Park—

After Barry Ohm met mountain guide Dave Beck, Ohm knew he had to ski across the Sierra.

Ohm, a seasoned climber who was living in South Lake Tahoe in 2009 when he took a winter survival class from Beck, was enthralled with Beck's tales of skiing in the "old days."

Ohm took a series of wilderness ski-camping courses, and in May 2010, he signed on with Alpine Skills International to ski the Sierra High Route, which runs through Sequoia National Park and wilderness areas of the Inyo National Forest. The six-day mountaineering traverse crosses nine mountain passes at elevations from 10,500 feet to 13,000 feet.

Carrying a 40-pound pack, Ohm skied the route, which begins in Wolverton, on the west side of the Sierra, and covers about 40 miles before ending near Independence. It leads skiers over high ridges, glaciated plateaus and cirques. The route also features spectacular alpine views and long downhill runs on what is usually fun-to-ski corn snow.

"It was something of a rite of passage for me," said Ohm, 50. "If you've skied the Sierra High Route, it's sort of like you have done something that — while not exactly elite, perhaps — is certainly respectable."

Otto Steiner, an Austrian immigrant, pioneered the traverse in 1931. Starting in Wolverton and traveling alone, he completed his crossing in three days. For good measure, he threw in an ascent of Mt. Whitney, elevation 14,505 feet and the tallest peak in the lower 48.

Beck popularized the traverse in the 1970s and inspired Alpine Skills owners Bela and Mimi Vadasz to begin guiding the route in the early 1980s. For Ohm, who learned to climb on the big rocks east of San Diego, time stood still while he was on the traverse.

"This wasn't so much about skiing steep couloirs for me," he said. "It was getting away and traveling across the mountains with a small group of friends." He used light alpine touring gear with bindings that lift free at the heel for climbing and can be secured again for more controlled descents.

Ohm has hiked the John Muir Trail, where he encountered as many as 20 people a day. "But this was a much better experience because there were no other people besides our small group," he said.

"It was quiet and pristine. We were up at 13,000 feet and if you saw a bird, it was a big deal. I've backpacked all over the Sierra, but this was the best."

He said the hardest part was mastering the skill needed to ski with a pack on his back. Nor was it easy, at the start, to "skin" up 2,000 vertical feet on his alpine touring skis. (Ohm used synthetic skins of nylon fabric strapped to the bottom of his skis to gain traction on the snow.)

"Then there were some spots on a few places where it was really steep, and I had to 'survival ski' down the pitches," he said.

Ohm enjoyed the long 3,000-foot descent on corn snow in the Super Bowl down to Mahogany Flat. But he said the best part of the trip was covering long distances on his skis.

"Truth be told, at least 60% of the trip is skinning up slopes and touring," he said. "It's not like at a resort with lifts. Only 30 to 40% is downhill skiing, and you had to work for it.

"The trip was all about going across a major mountain range on skis, which is a fabulous way to travel. People forget how big the Sierra is because it is so accessible. But it has 14,000-foot peaks and huge expanses of wilderness."

Peter Leh, who has been guiding the High Route trip for 30 years, said people who want to do the Sierra High Route should consider Alpine Skill's two-day Sugar Bowl to Squaw Valley tour to learn and practice its ski camping system.

"You need to be a solid skier, in good shape and preferably have some mountaineering skills," Leh said. "It's demanding, but a spectacular trip if you're up to it."

Sierra High Route tours take place the first or second week of May when freeze-and-thaw cycles create ideal spring "corn snow" conditions, also known as "hero snow." It is relatively easy to ski on.

"Last year, we were cutting turns until after 6 p.m. because the sun was still out," Leh said. He sometimes logs as many as 25,000 vertical feet on the traverses because he climbs high to get long ski runs, often after setting up camp in the afternoons.

"It's like the mountainside has been groomed baby-bottom smooth," he said. "And besides the incredible scenery, the fantastic skiing conditions are one of the main reasons I keep coming back year after year.source: www.latimes.com

I love skiing, write on it often, and typically take four to six major ski trips each winter. I love the snow, the sport, the après, the ski towns – everything about it except the hassle.

Now that most major airlines charge $35 each way for the second checked bag, the hassle factor is even higher, since there is no way to stow skis or a snowboard in your suitcase. In fact, a pair of skis is probably the lightest thing you might check all year long, but they are still going to whack you for $70.

Cost aside, there are plenty of good reasons not to bring skis on a ski trip. One is conditions: despite the explosion of so-called “all mountain” skis, there is no ski that is the best on hard pack, groomers and a powder day. Renting gives you the option to switch whenever you want – every day if needed – to maximize equipment and match the best skis to the current conditions. Also, ski technology improves every season, so why drag your 3-year old models when you can benefit from the most current technology.

Even if you are wedded to your favorite skis, you can rent them. Unlike golf clubs or other highly customized equipment, if you have any major brand of ski and binding, you can usually find exactly the same thing at a ski resort – except probably better tuned and in better shape.

For all these reasons, it has been years since I brought my skis with me (on the other hand, I would not leave home without my boots!).

But last winter I tried something new: instead of arriving at my destination and heading straight to the ski shop to fill out forms and wait-in line, I had the rental shop come to me, in the form of Black Tie Ski Rental Delivery. I was staying at the Osprey hotel, a Rockresorts property slopeside in Beaver Creek village, and I sat at the hotel’s wonderful lobby bar sipping a cocktail at the appointed time (7PM). My skis arrived right on time, so all I had to do was vacate my stool for a few minutes while he went over my options. I had chosen the high-performance package, so he brought three different models from that category and explained the variations and let me pick one. He then fitted the bindings to my boot, and dropped the skis at the hotel’s ski concierge. I hadn’t even finished my drink – hard to beat that convenience.

But I did not get to appreciate the full advantage of Black Tie’s services, because I was not traveling with kids. A good friend who rents a house at Deer Valley each winter with his three young children always has skis and boots delivered to the house, and the small price difference between that and seeking a budget shop is more than made up for by the convenience.

“You just got off the plane from a long trip, with all this baggage and three young kids who don’t really like to fly, and you met the property manager and got the keys and got into the house. The last thing you want to do next is try to load them all up in the rental car and take them to a crowded shop where they are fitted one at a time while the other run around looking for trouble, and you might have to wait an hour for help. If you don’t have a rental car, you have to drag all the stuff back. No way. The van comes to our door, they bring everything, even helmets, they can do the boots and skis for one kid at a time while the others play Angry Birds on the iPad and I have a beer. It is the only way to go.”

Black Tie also rents snowboards, and services 35 major North American ski resorts, including all the big Western destinations: Vail/Beaver Creek, Park City/Deer Valley/The Canyons, Whistler, Aspen/Snowmass, Mammoth, North & South Lake Tahoe, Breckenridge/Keystone, Crested Butte, Steamboat, Telluride, Winter Park and Big Sky. The delivery is free, the prices are on par with better shops, and to celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary this year, they are offering across the board 10% discounts even in high season, and 20% in shoulder seasons. They carry name brand new equipment for all terrain and ability levels from the likes of K2, Nordica, Volkl, Dynastar, Salomon, Rossignol, Atomic, Burton, Armada, and they also stock their vans with all the little things families forget on ski vacations, from lip balm to gloves to goggles, and they rent helmets too. It’s best to book your gear packages online in advance, especially during peak holiday periods like Christmas or Presidents Day.source: www.forbes.com