Beyond skiing
Oh what fun there is to have when skiing is a bore!
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By Christy Oglesby
CNN
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Trekking through the woods, on snowshoes made for one. Sleighing in the fields, seeking different fun. Bright balloons to soar. Snow mobiles for rent. Oh what fun there is to have when skiing is a bore!
Everybody sing!
Sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells," the above verse is a catchy little ditty that could be titled "When You Get Tired of the Slopes or If You Never Planned on Hitting Them in the First Place, Ski Resorts Offer Lots of Other Activities." A long title, but you get the point. And wintry retreats across the country are playing that tune.
New high speed chair lifts mean less time waiting and more time on the slope. This combined with ski resorts hoping to maximize profits and the diversification of the family vacation have all contributed to a growing assortment of amusements at ski resorts that don't involve long strips of fiberglass, poles and gravitational pull.
Perfect powder on one day could be the precursor to four days of thawing, said Steven Preston, director of sales and marketing for the Hilton Resort at Lake Placid, New York, location of the 1980 winter Olympics. A resort's financial survival depends on properly entertained visitors who want to come back, he said.
"We have got to do something because of the weather," Preston said. "By the time they make reservations and the time they arrive, there might not be any snow. But there is still plenty to do all the time."
Speedy chair lifts have whacked the waiting time between turns on the slopes, and that means skiers get in more runs and wear themselves out sooner.
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"One of the major rules of skiing is 'If you are tired, don't go skiing' because you could get hurt," said Bobby Foster, director of marketing for Premier Resorts in Park City, Utah. Consequently most resorts offer a variety of post-slope or never-got-on-the-slope activities.
If vacationers want to get around on their own, their options include snowshoeing, snowboarding, ice-skating, hot air ballooning and cross-country skiing.
Snowshoes, broad plank-like boots, allow people to hike around in the snow without sinking into the powder. Hunters and trappers used to wear them to get around. And snowboards are like skateboards without the wheels that allow boarders to whisk over snow banks and through "pipes," raised curved walls that resemble open tubes. Cross country skiing burns hundreds of calories an hour without taxing participants' joints as they glide over the snow.
If you want to enjoy the snowy clime voluntarily on your duff as opposed to being forced there by clumsiness, resorts offer just as many options. Some, such as sleigh rides featuring candlelit dinners, are of the romantic bent.
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Others include sledding, tubing, snowmobiling and horseback riding. Many resorts take the tubes and their riders back to the peaks eliminating the arduous trek back to the top and increasing the time for play.
Squaw Valley USA in Lake Tahoe, Utah, has added dog-sled tours to its sleigh ride choices, said Katja Dahl, the resort's director of public relations.
While choices abound, Preston said, a recent industry survey indicates 65 percent of people who go to ski resorts aren't there to ski. "They come for rest and relaxation," he said.
And if you've ever wondered why boutiques and stores abound in resorts, Foster says there's a reason. Besides resting and relaxing, he said, "The number one non-skiing activity is still shopping."
