Great Snow Conditions Launch 2010

Happy New Year -- and happy powder season across the snowbelt.

My friend Maja has been in St. Moritz, Switzerland, over the holidays. On Wednesday she wrote, "winter wonderland! ..snowing snowing snowing...." On Thursday she wrote, "December 31st, St. Moritz..and it's snowing like crazy! I wish all my friends a great New Years Eve bash!!!!!! To a fab 2010!" And yesterday, on New Year's Day, she wrote, "Happy New Year!!!!!! What a spectacular start! Love 1.1.2010! Fab Skiing! tons of powder, blue skies, GREAT fireworks ... evening another snow storm.... true winter wonderland.....I am feeling like a winter princess..... a great 2010 has begun! Happy New Year, cheers cheers cheers!" Thanks, Maja. I just wish St. Moritz had a current snow conditions picture on its website or that the site had a more straightforward to obtain to copy here and share with everyone.

My pal Nancy wrote from Maine, "Gotta Love This Snowstorm! It's great for the ski industry!" Hey Nancy, it's great for all of us who like to slide on snow. The photo at the right was taken at Sugarloaf, Maine, a happy fresh-snow scene repeated across New England. Vermont ski areas reported 3 to 9 inches of new snow, which in the Northeast is a major dump. Most Vermont areas were in the 2- to 5-inch category, but Mount Snow, in the southern part of the state reported 9 inches! If true, Mount Snow must had its own micro-weather system, because New Hampshire ski areas also welcomed 3 to 5 inches of new snow, and Jiminy Peak in northwestern Massachusetts reported just 1 inch.

But what of the Rockies? I went to Snowmass between Christmas and New Year, skiing on beautifully groomed snow on three cold, clear, wind-free days. It started snowing on the evening after day three, just as I was leaving. My son, Andrew, teaches skiing at Purgatory near Durango in southwestern Colorado. He tole me that they got about a foot in the days leading up to New Year, that conditions have been great there too, and that he, his ski school colleagues and their clients are eagerly awaiting their next powder day.

The biggest snows (and the best January deal) might just be at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The resort clocked in 19 inches of snow since Wednesday morning and is expecting  huge storm that is forecast to hit the Tetons over the weekend, bringing another one to two feet of new snow. And the resort has an amazing January deal. The ‘Buy 2 Get 2’ airline offer from any departure city in the country, amounts to half-price fares on any airline for a group or family or four or more. Book before January 15 and travel by January 31. Combine that with lift/lodging packages starting at $81 per person, per night, and it's hardly worth staying home.

On the other side of the soaring Tetons from Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee has snared three feet of snow in the last three days. Th images are awesome, but I'm not skilled enough to download one and post it, so click here and be dazzled.

And if you don't ski, snowboard, cross-country ski, skate-ski (a dynamite exercise) or snowshoe, January is the time to do it. Learn a Snowsport Month features dynamite deals that generally include very affordable instruction, equipment and lift tickets or trail passes. Each participating ski resort or cross-country center sets its own program.

Ten Terrific Terminals

MSN.Travel spotlights notable new terminals that recently opened or are about to open

"9 Amazing New Airports" is the headline on a story on msn.travel. The story itself proceeds to name 10 fabulous new structures. I guess the headline writers can't count very well, but the list is interesting. Indeed, nine of the 10 that writer Harriet Baskas selected, while amazing and dramatic, aren't entire airports but rather individual new terminals at existing airports. (The exception is Branson, MO's new airport, opening next year.)

Perhaps I'm splitting hairs when I should simply be grateful that there are inspiring spaces that we pass through by the millions every year en route to or from our aircraft -- or while we wait in security lines, wait for our flights to board or wait for our luggage. Of course, the waiting doesn't usually take place in the sublime soaring spaces that are the best parts of the terminals that Baskas identified. The website showcases them in a slide show. More likely, we're in snaking security lines or sitting in crowded departure lounges. (Baskas does include useful information on amenities that help us pass the time.)

The first architecturally significant terminal that entered my consciousness was the Eero Saarinen-design TWA Flight Center (top photo, right) at New York's Idlewild Airport (now JFK International Airport). Inspired by the wings of a bird in flight, the terminal seemed large and futuristic when it opened in 1962. It was a time when air travel was a glamorous adventure, and Saarinen's grounded concrete bird conveyed that feeling.

The last time I went inside the terminal was in the waning days of TWA. I was changing planes at JFK, checked in my bags for an international flight and with time to spare, walked back to TWA and wandered in. Once a busy and glamorous space, the terminal had become shabby with security screening facilities cluttering the middle of the space. After TWA went out of business, the terminal was threatened with demolition. Fortunately, it was saved, and has now been creatively incorporated into fast-growing JetBlue's new terminal (bottom photo), scheduled to open next month.

Of Baskas' list of beauties, three terminals (Changi, Heathrow, Beijing) opened in the first three months of 2008, and four have opened or should be opening during the last three months of the year. Here are her choices:

• Heathrow Airport's (LHR) Terminal 5, which stumbled into operation in March 2008
• Beijing Capital International Airport's (PEK) Terminal 3, also opened around the same time
• Singapore Changi Airport's (SIN) Terminal 3
• John F. Kennedy International Airport's (JFK) American Airlines Terminal, which opened in 2007
• JFK's Terminal 5 (Jet Blue), scheduled to open on October 22
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport's (DTW) North Terminal, which just opened last week
• Raleigh-Durham International Airport's (RDU) Terminal 2, scheduled to open October 26
• Indianapolis International Airport's (IND) new terminal, scheduled to open November 11
• Branson Airport (BBG), scheduled to open in May 2009
• Madrid Barajas Airport's (MAD) two-year-old Terminal 4

Delta and Northwest to Wed -- Maybe

Proposed merger clears government hurdle

The Federal Aviation Administration has reportedly accepted plans of a merger between Atlanta-based Delta Airlines and Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines into a combined carrier that will retain the Delta name. It is expected to happen, and the European agency that also had to sign off on this has already done so. Then again, as Yogi Berra famously said, "It ain't over till it's over." Remember that Northwest at one point was going to merge with Houston-based Continental, but that never happened -- although numerous other airline mergers have been consummated since then. In any case, if/when approved, combining daily operations will take 15 to 18 months to combine the carriers daily operations. Share holders are supposed to vote on the merger this Thursday.

The merger may be good for shareholders, it probably won't do a lot for the flying public (because nothing lately has been good for the flying public) and it will be another blow to employees, some of who would surely be terminated. Thomas Kochan, an MIT professor whose who studies the airline industry, said that US airlines eliminated 100,000 jobs between 2001 and 2005 alone, and that airline bankruptcies have also decimated 16 pension plans covering 240,000 employees nationwide. Northwest employees belong to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, while other than pilots, Delta is primarily a non-union carrier. The US Justice Department alone can block mergers on antitrust grounds, but Congress has the powder to protect pension benefits. The current administration and recent Congresses have seemingly been more sympathetic to corporations and their shareholders than to workers, retirees or travelers on common carriers.

13 Airlines Shut Down in 2009

Small and little-known airlines around the world grounded forever

Thirteen airlines that were flying a year ago are no longer in the air. From Air Comet (Spain) to Zambian Airways (Zambia, naturally), the Cranky Flyer found a baker's dozen carriers that folded in 2009 for a number of reasons. None of these have the global importance of, say, Pan Am, but each had a niche. Some were operationally unsound and were shut done by their respective national aviation authorities. Others succumbed to mismanagement and financial failures. Cranky wrote about the often-checkered history of each and what finally did it in. A tombstone graphic accompanied each writeup. Although I never heard of most of these doomed carriers, the stories made for interesting reading -- a must for anyone who vacuums up airline trivia.

Travel Thumbnail #3: Leadville is Fine Fall Destination

This is the third in a series of periodic reports on specific places I've visited -- and which you might want see to as well. Post a comment or let me know directly what you think of this Travel Babel feature.

The Place: Leadville, CO

The Story: Leadville was one of the greatest of all Western boomtowns. The first short boom followed the discovery of gold in California Gulch that lasted from 1859 until 1865. Leadville's bigger, longer boom began with discovery of silver in 1873, increased in 1877 when a smelter was constructed there, began tapering off in the early 1880s and was dealt a dreadful blow in the silver crash of 1893. In between, fortunes were made from mining (rags-to-riches-rags Horace A. W. Tabor with the Little Pittsburg and Matchless Mines), Charles Boettcher (hardware in Leadville, later banking), David May (clothing in Leadville, eventually May D&F, now part of Macy's) and Meyer and Benjamin Guggenheim (bookkeepers at AY & Minnie Mines, later banking). Margaret "The Unsinkable Molly" Brown, Doc Holliday Bat Masterson, the Earps and Oscar Wilde all have a place in Leadville history. At its peak, Leadville boasted a population of 40,000. It is is the highest incorporated city in the US and currently has about 2,700 residents.

My Trip: Kinfolk from Washington, DC, were in Breckenridge this past week using one of their timeshare weeks. By the time I was able to break away to spend a day with them, they had gone fishing and driven the gorgeous Boreas Pass Road on the route of the old Denver South Park & Pacific (DSP&P) Railroad between Breckenridge and Como. The road is not plowed and closes by November 1, so this was a good time for them to drive it.

Neither is a hiker, but both are history buffs, so I suggested an excursion to Leadville. If the weather was good, we could stroll along Harrison Avenue, the history-filled main street, and if it got cold, rainy, windy or even snowy, I figured that we could head for the fascinating National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum that provides such insight into the mining history of Colorado and elsewhere.

For most of out time there, the weather was lovely with bright sun and minimal wind. Such attractions as the Tabor Opera House and the Healy House were already closed, the opera house for the season and the house museum for the remainder of that quiet day. We sauntered along with the visitors' center walking tour map in hand, admiring the 19th-century buildings and talking about what once was there.


I couldn't resist a sweet treat from Hundley's (below left), the souvenir and gift shop where Charlotte Hundley has been turning out fabulous fudge since she and her husband, Keith, opened the doors in 1985. I shared! We stopped for a light bite at the Provin' Grounds Coffee and Bakery (right), a warm, welcoming, off-beat cafe. The two are roughly kitty-corner from each other -- Hundley's at 623 Harrison Avenue and Provin' Grounds at #508.








We then drove south on US 24, passing the imposing hulks of Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive, Colorado's two highest mountains, and then turned west onto Colorado 82 to Twin Lakes for some mountain and foliage views across the lake (below).








We retraced our tracks through Leadville and continued to the top of Tennessee Pass to pay homage to the imposing memorial (below) to the 10th Mountain Division troops who where housed at nearby Camp Hale and trained as ski troops at what it is now Ski Cooper, a small, snow-sure ski area at whose entrance the memorial stands.


Unsurprisingly, it did start to rain as we drove back over Fremont Pass, where the mammoth Climax Molybdenum Mine (below) is being readied for reopening. At the end of a satisfying scenic day, we stopped for dinner at FoodHedz World Cafe in Frisco before I returned to Boulder and they drove back to Breckenridge.

Cost: Visiting Leadville is, of course, free. Some attractions do have an admission charge, and some are seasonal.

More Information: Leadville-Twin Lakes Chamber of Commerce, 809 Harrison Ave., Leadville, CO 80461; 719-486-3900.

Leadville is south of Interstate 70, via US 24 from Minturn, Grand Junction and the west or Colorado Hwy 91 from Copper Mountain, Denver and the east. From Colorado Springs, Salida or the south, take US 24.

Fallout from Failed/Foiled 12/25 Airliner Attack

Privacy versus security in the air seem to be tilting toward full-body scan technology

More full-body scanners that "see" through clothing. Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, from which the would-be bomber departed for Detroit, reportedly immediately is beginning to use 15 L-3 Communications' booth-like ProVision scanners (right) that it previously purchased. These scanners are supposed to detect explosives and other non-metallic objects that a metal detector would miss. ProVision uses "active millimeter wave imaging technology" to penetrate clothing and packaging to reveal and pinpoint hidden weapons, explosives, drugs and other contraband. It has the potential over screening more than 400 people per hour.

Changes in attitude. Just last year, the European Parliament voted against using such anatomically explicit devices on privacy issues, but Europeans now seem to be leaning toward their use. Peter van Dalen, vice chairman of the Parliament's transport committee, said that newer technology does not appear to violate travelers' privacy and  urged the installation of the equipment across the 27-nation European Union.

Improved software technology. New devices rather than human screeners looking at the images as as passengers pass through the machines to detect suspicious objects while allaying invasion-of-privacy concerns. Interestingly, it was the left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union that initially objected to the scanners' "virtual strip search," but it is now a Republican Representative, Jason Chaffetz of Utah, who sponsored a successful measure prohibiting whole-body imaging for the primary screening. The bill now goes to the Senate, so as Europeans are poised to increase the use of these scanners, the US might not be following  -- even though aircraft from or bound for the US are thought to be at greater risk. Meanwhile, the ACLU's position advocates "effective security that respects privacy.

Boom times for Rapiscan. The Transportation Security Agency has purchased 150 of its scanners in addition to the 40 now in use at 19 US airports. The company's WaveScan 200 "is composed of a real-time Radiometric Scanner that images electromagnetic millimeter wave energy, an integrated full-motion video camera, on-board computer, and sophisticated, intelligent video detection engine." according to the company's website.Current TSA rules require that images are not visible in a public location, that TSA officers "assisting" passengers is unable to view images and officers who evaluate the images never see the passengers. Passengers may opt for a pat-down rather than a body scan. It depends on which option individuals consider less invasive. At most airports, the scanning machines are for secondary screenings after passengers have cleared pass through a metal detector, they are being used in place of of metal detectors at Albuquerque, Las Vegas; Miami; San Francisco; Salt Lake City; and Tulsa.

Super-sensitive "sniffers" coming. SpectraFluidics has developed sensors can detect minuscule traces of explosives by detecting molecules from a passenger or from luggage. In a test, Spectrafluidics' devices were able to detect PETN, RDX, TNT and ammonium nitrate. PETN has been confirmed as the explosive material involved in the attempted bombing of the Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day. the explosive This is a faster, more efficient alternative to the current swabbing. SpectraFluidics plans to release the system in 2010. It can be a handheld device or a portal like the current metal detectors. The company says that it will be able to retrofit Existing scanning and screening systems. ill balso plans units for retrofitting existing airport scanners and other screening hardware already installed in the market. The goal is real-time detection of trace amounts of explosives in either vapor or solid phase, with minimal user interaction.

Timing is Everything. The people behind Verified  Identity Pass Inc's Clear program, a pre-clearing process that charged customers for a faster approach to TSA security checkpoints, probably regret the timo,g of their enterprise. Clear was launched with great fanfare in 2005 and closed abruptly in June 2009, as I wrote about here. I'm guessing that the principals behind Clear wish that they could have held out until the end of the year, when increased security and longer delays would have provided a new market for their service.

Learn-A-Language Resource

About.com site features links to lessons -- free lessons

I don't speak Spanish and I don't speak Italian, but I "have words" in both -- and I'm always confusing the few things I know in those two languages that I don't speak. And I'm always intending to take some lessons to un-confuse (de-confuse?) myself. In my regular perusal of about.com's Adventure Travel site, I was delighted to see "Find Free Language Lessons Before Heading to Remote Areas or Big Cities," a guide to resources for picking up some basics, for free, before traveling. The languages include the common (French, Spanish, German) to the exotic (Urdu, Romanian, Hindi). The way I see it, if I can pick up the basics for free, it will make that much more available for the trip itself.