Ski Areas

It's no secret that lift tickets prices keep rising. It's also true that clean air and blue skies are part of what makes skiing in the Southwest great. Appropriately, the American Lung Association of New Mexico is offering a 10-pack of lift tickets to New Mexico and Colorado ski areas for $125. Yes, that's $12.50 per lift ticket! Not only is this a great deal on lift tickets it also benefits the American Lung Association of New Mexico.

You and your favorite ski area have a problem and that problem is trash. First, trash on ski slopes is shameful. Littering fouls the same mountains that we are privileged to ski and board. Trash is also a problem as ski areas must haul away piles of boxes, bags and wrappers to landfills. Even if your ski area is built over a trash incinerator, the trash you throw away has a carbon footprint coming and going from the snow.

What: 24th Annual Tony Forrest Telemark Workshop
When: January 29 & 30, 2011 from 10 am - 3pm
Where: Ski Santa Fe, 505-992-5084

There are a lot of worthless (and nearly so) 'Green' books on the market. Drop by your local bookstore and browse the 'eco' section. It's amazing to see publishers continue to pump out pretty, but vague, books designed to latch on to the Green bandwagon. After trading emails with Auden Schendler, the author of 'Getting Green Done', I decided that I should read at least one more 'eco-book'. Now, I'm quite glad I did.

Can a ski area grow and be green? Must a ski area expand to remain competitive and attract skiers and boarders? Does proposing a development plan make a ski area less environmentally friendly? These aren't rhetorical questions, they apply to ski areas worldwide. For example, Taos Ski Valley has presented a 10-year Master Development Plan to the Forest Service. As Taos Ski Valley operates on Forest Service land the public is invited to comment on the development plans. So, here are a few of mine.

Autumn rainstorms make for a cool and melancholy day. But, rain in town often means snow in the mountains. The ski season may still be weeks away, but seeing snowy peaks can get me in the mood. Ski movies and ski swaps also get me excited for the upcoming season. Read below for the time, date and places for Matchstick Production's newest ski film THE WAY I SEE IT and the Santa Fe Ski Team's Winter Gear Swap.

WHAT: THE WAY I SEE IT by Matchstick Productions
WHEN: Friday, November 5, 6:00 & 8:30pm
WHERE: CinemaCafé, 1616 St. Michael's Drive, Santa Fe, NM

It's been quite a while since I've brought home a report card, but I remember it pretty well. A report card with all 'A's was great (although rare), but grades lower than 'B' were cause for a long conversation with my parents. The '09/10 report cards are out for ski areas in the Western United States. Unfortunately, I feel like it's time to have a long conversation with the ski areas in my state. The nearby ski areas have earned no 'A's, a few 'B's and one 'C'. Not a stellar grade point average for my area.