Panorama (BC), Canada - I was beginning to wonder if it was really worth getting up in the middle of the night for the coach trip to R.K. Heli-Ski at the base of Panorama Resort, an Intrawest resort outside of Invermere, British Columbia, and 2 hours from the comfort of my bed in the...
Mansonville (QC), Canada - In 1960, Canadian construction magnate Fred Korman had a vision to develop a ski resort on Owl's Head, a shark tooth-shaped monadnock on the shores of Lac Memphremagog in Québec, a few short miles north of the Vermont border. He purchased and developed the land, and by 1965 two chairlifts...
Teton Village, WY - Excitement. Anticipation. Anxiety. Fear. These are the overwhelming sensations that best describe my first encounter with the "Terror of the Tetons." Jackson Hole is, for the most part, a hardcore skier's mountain that makes most of America's ski areas seem lame by comparison. It is no coincidence that the most...
Assiniboine Pass (BC), Canada - We awoke to heavy snow in Lake Louise, but our rented Dodge Neon got us through Banff and down to Canmore, where we boarded a chopper bound for the Mt. Assiniboine Lodge. n The Lodge is nestled in an intervale situated 7,000 feet above sea level, bounded by Wonder...
Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanon is only a stone's throw away from my home, a mere 100 miles across the Med. It should therefore come as no surprise that, throughout my life, stories from my neighboring country have been featured daily in the news: War, fighting, killing, and despair. Waves of people trying to escape...
January 16, 1997. It was a beautiful day at Smugglers Notch. There was a clear blue, sunny sky and the temperature was about 20 degrees. I had shed several layers, finally finding comfort in long underwear, windpants, hat, goggles, gloves and a windbreaker. In the previous week, it had dumped powder galore. In the...
Charlemont, MA - Exiting Interstate 91 at exit 26 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, Route 2 (a.k.a. the Mohawk Trail) climbs steeply out of the Pioneer Valley, then down to the Deerfield River. The road follows the river through several sleepy hamlets before arriving at one more: Charlemont, Massachusetts, the home to Berkshire East. I shared...
Lac Beauport (QC), Canada - The big eastern snow drought of December, 1998 weighed heavily on my mind as I packed my ski gear. I prepared for my annual pilgrimage from Florida to visit the in-laws in Québec City, and I fretted about what I would encounter once I arrived. My concerns deepened as...
The Monashee Mountains in southeast British Columbia are probably best known to skiers for helicopter skiing, as they're blessed with plentiful and consistent snow (about 700 inches annually) falling on large and varied terrain (up to 8000 vertical feet from peaks to valley floors). A heli-ski guide once told me that 90% of the...
Cyprus -In our days, when people hear of the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the usual /images that enter their minds revolve around golden sandy beaches with warm turquoise waters, high-end hotels, hot sun, and perhaps a few might even think of the Cyprus Problem, one of the few remaining unresolved...
