Sugar Bowl
Blue skies and sunshine make for great early season conditions with top to bottom skiing on Mt. Lincoln. Lift tickets are only $46 for adults, youths, and seniors! Please ski and ride with caution and watch for unmarked obstacles out on the mountain. Please access Sugar Bowl through the Gondola Entrance.The National Weather Service Forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies today with a high of 42 and light winds.
Judah Lodge Grand Opening this Saturday 12/17 At last, the new Mt. Judah Lodge is ready for action. Check out Sugar Bowl's newest digs. We've got a great new bar, pizza oven and expanded seating. We'll be showing the new Tough Guy Productions Telemark movie "Sessions" on Saturday night at 7pm. Tickets available in advance for $6 at the Backcountry in Truckee, Java Summit Sports or at Sugar Bowl. sugar Bowl

***
California Snow
The California Gold Pass is an ultimate ski/ride pass, which is good at 32 alpine and nordic resorts in California and Nevada. The Gold Pass is good all season with no blackout dates. Most importantly, it is fully transferable, so you can share it with your friends, family, clients and employees. The Gold Pass is an ideal way to enjoy the Sierras for the 2005-2006 snow season.
The Gold Pass is good for one (1) lift ticket or trail pass at one (1) ski area every day from the start of the ski season through the end of spring. Only one (1) person may use a Gold Pass each day . To use the Gold Pass, skiers and boarders must present it at the resorts' Special Tickets or Guest Services window where the Gold Pass number is logged by a special ticket agent and a lift ticket is issued for that day.
California Snow

Photo credit: SVSC Siberia
California Office of Tourism


***
The Resort Company
Beaver Creek - Vail - Steamboat
It's snowing all across the Rocky Mountain region TODAY. Vail, Beaver Creek and Steamboat's record breaking snow conditions continue! All 3 resorts feature powder runs for the adventurous & perfectly groomed runs for those a little more easy going!

Vail Mountain surpassed its all-time historical cumulative snowfall record with year-to-date snowfall of 141.25 inches, or nearly 12 feet of snow. The prior record of 140 inches was set during the 1985-1986 winter season. In November alone, nearly 84 inches of snow fell on Vail Mountain, fully 26 inches above the ski resort's historic average of 58 inches for the month. With the recent round of storms that have pounded Colorado's Rocky Mountains, skiers and snowboarders at Vail have been enjoying more than nearly four feet of fresh powder in the past seven days. Mountain operation crews have been working around the clock to expedite the opening of terrain and lifts. In addition to the Back Bowls that are now open, resort officials will open Blue Sky Basin on Friday, Dec. 9, making it the second earliest most extensive opening of bowls in the resort’s history. More than 4,600 acres of the resort's terrain will be open on Friday.
Mountain Statistics
Beaver Creek
Conditions: Packed Powder
Snowfall in last 24 hours: snowing.
Snowfall in last 7 days: 5in.
Mid-Mountain Base: 28in.
% of Terrain Open: 83%

Steamboat
< Conditions: Powder
Snowfall in last 24 hrs: snowing
Snowfall in last 7 days: 5in.
Mid-Mountain Base: 42in.
% of Terrain Open: 100%

Vail
Conditions: Packed Powder
Snowfall in last 24 hours: snowing
Snowfall in last 7 days: 5in.
Mid-Mountain Base: 34in.
% of Terrain Open: 88%

Snow.com

***
IOC
16 December 2005

The International Olympic Committee is pleased to communicate the IOC Internet Guidelines for written press and other non-rights holding media, which will apply to the XX Olympic Winter Games – Torino 2006. These guidelines will help those written press and other non-rights holding media wishing to develop Olympic-related web activity in connection with the upcoming Olympic Games.
Olympic Organization

Alpine Skiing: World Cup in Val Gardena and Alta Badia» Italian weekend for the men’s Alpine Skiing World Cup. A weekend promising a spectacular show and enchanting landscapes: super-G and downhill in Val Gardena on Friday and Saturday, giant slalom in Badia on Sunday. It simply can’t get any better: the real champions will triumph. Impossible to cheat. To get a confirmation, it is enough to take a look at last year’s super-G ranking list: Walchhofer, Maier, Raich, Miller and Svindal. Clear? Crystal clear: the absolute best. Tomorrow, it is likely that the winner of this poker of athletes will come out, perhaps with the addition of Rahlves, who has done brilliantly so far, and of an old fox like Aamodt. For the record, in the two super-G competitions held so far, the best performances have been those of Svindal at Lake Louise (ahead of Raich and Rahlves) and Austrian Reichelt at Beaver Creek (second Guay, third Lanzinger) in a competition which, however, was affected by the bad weather...
The Olympic Torch Relay started in Rome on the 8th of December and for two months will travel across national territory. The celebrations will expand through 600 communities of all the Italian regions until February 10, 2006, when the last, mysterious, torchbearer will light the XX Olympic Winter Games’ cauldron.

Photo: IOC Media, “© 2006 IOC”

Torino 2006


***
Sugarloaf

We've got 6-7 inches on the ground right now and it's now slowing down. Roemer says up to 13" by tomorrow morning, and that's defininitely looking like a good possibility right now. See his full forecast at
Right now it looks like we'll have 34 trails and eight lifts for tomorrow morning, but that could certainly change depending on our final snow tally.
Maine Day : Ski Every WEd for $26.00, Details at, Sugarloaf

***
Stowe Vermont
Stowe’s Grand Opening celebration of the NEW Spruce Mountain Experience! When: Saturday, December 17th, at 10am
Where: Base of the NEW "Sensation" quad chairlift at Spruce Mountain

What: The Spruce Mountain Grand Opening is a celebration and acknowledgement of Stowe Mountain Resort’s most recent lift, trail and snowmaking improvements, over 30 million dollars worth. At 10am, the ceremony begins with a few brief speeches regarding the new experiences being offered on Spruce Mountain. Shortly afterward, the new lift will be officially loaded, and the gathering of ticket and pass holders will be invited to ride to the top.
If you enjoy delicious food, you should also make plans to join us for the Grand Opening Tasting at the completely renovated Cliff House on Monday, December the 19th, from 11am to 2pm, at the top of the Gondola. It's a great opportunity to see the transformation for yourself, enjoy complimentary Champagne and tasting plates, and perhaps stay for lunch atop Mt Mansfield.
Stowe

***
Snowbird Utah
Mineral Basin & Alta Connection are OPEN!

11,000’ peak, 3,240’ vertical, 2,500 acres of terrain & over 500” of annual snowfall
photo: snowbird Marketing
This morning
20°F Hi: 27° Lo: 15° F
Events
Dec-13
Tangerine Dream - TGR Movie
Dec- 14
Higher Ground - Warren Miller Movie
Dec- 15
Adventure Series
Dec- 16
Backcountry Skills Seminars
Dec-24Interfaith Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Santa's Christmas Eve Torchlight Parade & Fireworks
and New Year Eve Torchlight Parade & Fireworks
New Year's Eve Torchlight Parade & Fireworks
The New Years Eve Torchlight Parade & Fireworks is the best way for you and all of your friends and family to kick-off your New Year's Eve celebrations. Join us on the Plaza Deck at dusk for bonfires, hot chocolate and another spectacular torchlight parade. .... What a cool event!!!!!

Need more from "The Bird"
Snowbird