Sunset great ski getaways - includes related articles

Sunset, Nov, 1993

Watch the ski patrollers fly over your head while you're enjoying lunch out on the deck at Aspen Highlands (303/925-5300) and you'll know why it's the place to be on January 7, during the Freestyle Contest. Just to see which cook is also the best skier. Winter Park (303/726-5514) hosts the Chef's Cup, also on January 7.

One of the oldest (and biggest) Colorado events is the Aspen (303/925-1220) Winternational Celebration, complete with parade and fireworks, held January 12 through 16. Another favorite winter carnival takes place at Steamboat (800/922-2722) February 7 through 13. On February 25, Keystone (303/468-2316) hosts a cross-country Moonlight Tour.

On March 12, Silver Creek (800/448-9458) puts on an annual Fireman's Feud Race, which sounds a lot more serious than it is. And from March 14 to 20, Vail (303/476-5601) hosts the 1994 Alpine World Cup Finals--a very serious event, indeed. If you're more in the mood for frivolity, check out the Beach Party Weekend at Arrowhead (800/332-3029) March 26-27.

IDAHO'S SECRET

SILVER MOUNTAIN

The skiing is great and the crowds are non-existent at this resort near Coeur d'Alene

What do Telluride, Crested Butte, Park City, and Aspen have in common? They're all former mining towns that endured many boom-to-bust cycles before turning to tourism for salvation. Now you can add a new name to that list: Silver Mountain.

Silver Mountain is located in Kellogg, Idaho, about 70 miles east of Spokane. Once a small, single-lift ski area, it was transformed in the late 1980s with the construction of the world's longest single-stage gondola. It transports you on a 19-minute ride above part of the old mining town to the ski area.

From here you have your choice of five chairlifts over two mountain peaks that can take you to some of the steepest terrain in the West, or to the smooth, well-groomed novice runs beneath the gondola. Wherever you choose to ski, you'll find few crowds and the runs wide open.

The bed base in Silver Valley is still small, though several B&Bs have sprung up in old Victorians. Patrick's Inn & Steak House, a renovated rooming house built in 1912, is near the gondola base. It has 12 comfortable rooms and a communal hot tub. For complete Kellogg lodging information, call Silver Valley Central Reservations (800/443-3505).

The nearby Coeur d'Alene Resort, one of the finest hotels in the Northwest, has a variety of ski packages that include lodging, lift tickets, continental breakfast, and transportation from the resort to the ski area. Call (800/688-5253) for details. Call Silver Mountain (208/783-1111) for additional information on the ski packages.

DIVERSIONS

VAIL

Did you ever wonder what it must be like to pull 3 Gs in a bobsled race?

When it gets really cold out, Doru Anghel likes to get up early, zip up to about the 10,000 foot level of Vail Mountain on a snowmobile, and begin hosing down one of the resort's 2,900 foot long runs until it is slicker than a squirming trout atop an ice skating rink. When the glassy finish gets so slippery you could roll a marble on it for a mile just by dropping it, the run is ready.