Club Colorado  

Last week Colorado Ski Country USA was at the Nexus of the winter sports universe as the SIA Snow Show took place in Denver, the On Snow Demo happened at Winter Park, and X-Games 14 went down in Aspen/Snowmass with record attendance.
The show was closed to the public so if you who didn’t have the opportunity to explore the show room floor, we put together a little vignette of the products that were at the show. For those of us with product addictions, being on the floor of SIA was like being a 22 year old medicinal marijuana user who just moved to Denver.
To put things into perspective, 800 brands were shown, 1.3 million lbs of stuff was brought into the convention center, 14 acres of carpet was laid down, and somewhere between 15,000 and 19,000 people attended (the number changes depending on your sources).
Look for these 2010-11 product lines in stores this fall – until then – feel free to indulge your addictions.

Article written by and shared with the permission of: Amber Johnson

The only bad thing about Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort is the long haul to get there.

That’s also why it is so great.

Make the seven-hour drive from Denver to Durango’s remote enclave in southwestern Colorado and you’ll feel like you’re in the frosty equivalent of Shangri-La. With 1,325 acres of snow-dusted terrain, the San Juan Mountains are arguably Colorado’s most beautiful range.

I skied Purgatory 10 years ago and my only memory is a jarring wipe-out that had me seeing snow.

And a lot of stars.

Much has changed at this premier family-friendly resort since then. If you look at Purgatory’s marketing materials, there is a common theme: new. The new Purgatory Village base facilities include a new village plaza, gorgeous new Purgatory Lodge, new and improved retail shops and a new mountain Activities Center. (continue reading…)

Article written by and shared with the permission of: Aimee

Over MLK day weekend, my family and I were lucky enough to be hosted by Winter Park resort,
as part of a group effort from Colorado
Ski Country USA to show off how families can have fun at resorts all over Colorado.

From the get-go I was honest with them about my lack-luster skiing abilities. I mean, seriously – have you SEEN the Terror On The Mountain video? Grace, agility + snow are not words meant to be in my vocabulary. (continue reading…)

There is new snow in Colorado Ski Country USA – lots of it. The SIA trade show and the World’s Largest Apres Ski and Ride Party take place this week. And, there is still a week left in January Learn to Ski and Ride month. The stars could not be in any straighter alignment for honing your on snow skills.

We asked our resident ski technique guru, and Colorado Ski Country USA’s 2009 Ski Instructor of the Year, from Winter Park, Julie Pierce, to pull to together a little cheat sheet of ski tips. Below, Julie has outlined several bits of advice for beginners, what to do when skiing bumps and what do to in powder (will come in handy this week).

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Article written by and shared with the permission of Amber Johnson.

The stakes were high for my 3-year-old son Bode’s first time on skis at Loveland Ski Area. The child was, after all, named after World Cup skiing sensation Bode Miller.

Better to live up to that than my namesake Forever Amber, a novel about a 17th-century prostitute. (continue reading…)

One score, minus seven years ago, Colorado Ski Country USA launched the 5th Grade Passport Program to provide the means to introduce all 5th graders to skiing and snowboarding in Colorado. All you had to do to qualify was be in 5th grade. Simple as that, just make it though the 4th grade, and you were eligible for a full season of skiing on the 5th Grade Passport. Today, CSCUSA has helped introduce more than 200,000 families to Colorado skiing with the popular program, and we are offering it again this year.

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We’ve had a few questions about the GEMS card and just announced that the 2009-10 Colorado GEMS card is now for sale, and have already sold a handful of them. They go for $10 each and the money collected from sales of the card goes right back into the GEMS program. The GEMS is its own unique little program within the Colorado Ski Country USA organization and the GEMS resorts have a somewhat cultish following.

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