Steamboat Update

Honestly, there's nothing better than a day on the hill where the snow continues to get better with every lift you take. We had 6 inches reported at 5am and 14 new by noon when we finally got up there to ski and ride. Check out this video from one of our favorite tree runs for a better visual of what it means to be "up to our necks" in it!

Without travel plans until April, you may be seeing a few more pictures of Steamboat in place of our travel blog!

2008 Steamboat All Mountain Ski Camp

Powder Powder Everywhere!

Faceshots and jumping abound, our 3rd annual Steamboat All Mountain Ski Camp is sadly behind us! Put on in conjunction with Adaptive Adventures and sponsored by the Steamboat Ski Area, Steamboat Powdercats, and the Wounded Warrior Project, the Steamboat camp sets itself above the rest in the All Mountain series of ski camps by always promising fresh powder for the attendees to play in!

We had about 25 participants, 10 friends and family, 15 coaches, and 35 volunteers make this camp the best we've had so far! Of course, the daily snow dumping didn't hurt either! Despite cold temps and blowing snow advisories, our troops spent 3 days on the ski hill and the last day in the depths of Buffalo Pass' backcountry skiing. We've got one word for all that, SWEET!

12 monoskiers, 5 three trackers, 2 blind skiers, 2 snowboarders and one brain injury came from around the country, including 7 recently wounded vets from Iraq and one from the British Army.

Our favorite event of the year, we couldn't do this without all the huge support we get from Steamboat's lodging, restaurant, ski area, and private business donations.

THANK YOU STEAMBOAT! We'll see you all this time next year!

If you have trouble viewing this video below, check out this one and more on our You Tube page.

SATH World Congress

January 5-9, Orlando FL

This past week we were fortunate to attend the 12th annual SATH World Congress put on by the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality, the ancestral roots of access on the road. SATH has been around since the 1970s and has played a major part in advocating for travelers with disabilities.

The World Congress is quite a different experience that all other disability-related expositions we attend; it is the only one that is completely travel focused for starters. Accessibility liassons attend from major companies all over the world; airlines and cruiselines, travel bureaus and chamber associations, hotels and resorts, tour companies and travel agents, all facets of the travel industry are represented.

Speakers panels and group sessions make up the bulk of this event, a 1/2-day trade show thrown in for networking and information-sharing is but a mere blink on a four-day event that is truly more of a congress than an expo. Although the 350-attendee number sounds low, this is a tight group that spends the week together; breakfast, lunch, dinner and evening activities surround the informative talks and industry panels, making the event more of a family reunion than a continual 10-minute commercial that all other disability expos equate to.

A focus on improving the travels of people with disabilies, the SATH World Congress is more about advocacy and change than anything else. Suggestions, improvements and ideas are brought to the table for improving access among airline, cruiseline, and individual travel aspects of the industry. We're always impressed when we attend this event; the work that goes into bringing experts from all corners of the earth together is inspiring.

Focused until recently on "the mature," our mission at this Congress was to bring Adventure Travel to the table. Our speakers panel and adventure activity side trips was just an introduction to this group, and we hope to continue to work with SATH to include adventure travel as a viable niche to explore, and not to be overlooked.

If you're a travel agent, a traveler, or an industry professional, SATH is a wonderful resource for all, as experts with four decades of experience under their belts.

This Week: the Hartford Ski Spectacular, Breckenridge CO

Tomorrow we head down to Breckenridge, thankfully under clear skies for now, to the 20th Annual Hartford Ski Spectacular. Presented by DSUSA (Disabled Sports USA), this week-long event enables adaptive skiing for all levels, including racing events and instruction, and showcases ski equipment, new techniques and more.

In addition to the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center (BOEC), most instructors will come from Colorado locations: Adaptive Adventures (Evergreen, CO) Challenge Aspen, National Sports Center for the Disabled (Winter Park, CO), Steamboat Adaptive and Vail Adaptive. But instructors will come from as far east as the New England Resorts and as far north as Challenge Alaska!

This event is a very fun and interactive week of skiing, socializing and snacking- the parking lot is always full of activity and chapters of DSUSA and the Wounded Warrior Project making chili and other tasty and warming things for the participants to eat.

We're exciting to attend a couple days of this event again this year, thanks to Action Magazine (United Spinal). Look for our article on the event in one of the upcoming issues (TBA) for photos and stories from this year's participants.

For more information on DSUSA and the Ski Spectacular, visit http://www.dsusa.org/programs-winter-hartford.html.

Opening Day Ceremony: Christie Peak Express

Amidst snow guns a-blaring, a line full of smiles and chilly noses, and muted clapping by gloved hands, the Christie Peak Express opened today as promised- with Craig on the first chair. They even waited until chair #1 came around, its cushioned liner brushed off of fresh man-made snow, roomy enough for six and a speedy ride to the top. The long line of Steamboat locals and Olympians, including Billy Kidd and Nelson Carmichael, was surrounded by staff, fans, and the media.


Super excited to take first chair, despite mechanical difficulties with his binding, Craig made a full, complication-free run down Vagabond to the remodeled base, and immediately called the Revolution factory to replace his ten-year old binding system. Nothing a little duck-tape can't help for the moment, though. The chilly cloud covered day promises snow, so keep your fingers crossed and your dials tuned for more ski season updates!

For full picture sequence, go to our Kodak Gallery.

PRAY FOR SNOW!!

Also see Andy's Straight Talk starting Saturday December 8th and continuing on Thursdays! Click on Snow Report on the newly designed http://www.steamboat.com/ for those.

if the video doesn't load, visit our you tube site for another copy of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlEHuxMXp30