Headline News
Here comes the latest news...Alaska style.
We wade through the news to find the gems that will help you plan your adventure travel vacations.
Delta Vacations: Companion Flies Free to Caribbean, Mexico and Ski Destinations
Talk about making it tough to decide whether to go on a cold-weather or a tropical-weather vacation! Book a four-night or more package through Delta Vacations to the Caribbean, Mexico or certain ski destinations and your companion flies free (one free ticket per package).
Reservations must be made by Jan. 29, 2007, so hurry up and figure out where you want to go. Travel is valid through July 31, 2007, which means you have time to take a ski trip and a beach trip, if you're so inclined. A heads up to the men: If you're trying to figure out what to do for Valentine's Day, this could be your ticket to another year of bliss. Valentine's Day in the tropics and then ripping the pow-pow in March at a coveted resort sounds pretty nice, doesn't it?
Abercrombie & Kent, The Nature Conservancy Host Trips to the World’s Last Great Places
We'll admit that the locations for these trips are out of our realm of experience, but we think these all sound fascinating, so we're sharing information because both organizations are recognized worldwide. Luxury-travel company Abercrombie & Kent (A&K) and The Nature Conservancy, a leading conservation organization, have created an innovative partnership to create conservation adventures in some of the world’s most awe-inspiring places: Brazil’s Pantanal, the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, Southern Africa, and the Peruvian Amazon.
"Guests will experience the beauty of these remarkable destinations, and then delve beneath the surface to see them through the eyes of Conservancy experts," said George Morgan-Grenville, president of Abercrombie & Kent. "These adventures offer the signature A&K experience—a unique adventure highlighted by luxury and authenticity—in some of the biologically richest and yet most threatened places on the planet."
Bryce Canyon Winter Festival Spotlights Winter Outdoor Activities and Recreation
If you've never visited the Utah desert in winter, you've missed one of the most spectacular sites—or should we say "sights"?—on Earth. At about 8,000 feet above sea level, winter means the red sandstone hoodoos, fins, arches and spires of Bryce Canyon are veiled in snow. The Bryce Canyon Winter Festival, scheduled for Feb. 17–19, 2007, is the perfect reason to put this trip on your itinerary.
The Bryce Canyon Winter Festival, held every year over Presidents Day weekend, offers the chance to learn about and participate in a wide variety of winter recreational activities including cross-country ski tours, ski waxing clinics, snowshoe tours and races, archery clinics, ski archery competitions, kayaking demos (in an indoor pool), GPS clinics, backcountry safety clinics, night sky and astronomy programs, photography clinics and contests, and snow sculpture contests.
American Whitewater Team Completes First Legal Upper Chattooga Descent in 32 Years
The first legal descent of the upper Chattooga River in more than 30 years was made Jan. 5–6, 2007. A team of kayakers and canoeists organized by the river-stewardship organization American Whitewater took two days to explore the river, which forms the border between South Carolina and Georgia, traversing countless rapids and small waterfalls as they traveled through a remote and beautiful valley. What they found echoed the findings of the first exploratory paddling trips made more than three decades ago, which inspired the U.S. Congress to designate the Chattooga as a Wild and Scenic River in 1974. Their photos and stories reveal a forbidden national treasure tucked away in the mountains of North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina.
While the entire Chattooga River has long been recognized as a classic whitewater run, the U.S. Forest Service has prohibited paddling the upper reaches for more than three decades. An appeal of this prohibition by American Whitewater resulted in the U.S. Forest Service acknowledging that there was no basis for the prohibition. The appeal decision triggered an analysis of the ban that included allowing a single small team of paddlers to make a single descent of the river to document its long-forgotten public value as a recreational paddling destination.
New B.C. Resort Plans 2007/08 Opening, Buys Helicopter and Snowcat Skiing Operators
Revelstoke Mountain Resort, a new resort under development on Mount MacKenzie in Revelstoke, B.C., announced a $22-million gondola and high-speed quad chairlift contract with Leitner Poma Canada Inc. that will make the new resort North America’s longest skiable vertical at 6,000 feet (1,829 meters).
With phase one of lift installations beginning in spring 2007, the first eight-person gondola and high-speed quad chairlift will be operational by fall 2007/08, in time for the official opening of this proposed $1-billion resort. The gondola will initially take skiers from the upper village to an elevation of 5,577 feet (1,700 meters), while the high-speed quad will begin at 5,233 feet (1,595 meters) and rise to 7,365 feet (2,245 meters). In 2008, the gondola will be extended, creating North America’s longest vertical descent with 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) of lift-serviced ski terrain.
World's Biggest Winter Carnival Provides Perfect Reason to Celebrate Winter in Québec
Leave it to the Québécois to host the world's biggest winter carnival, Québec Winter Carnival, set for 17 long, cold days from Jan. 26 to Feb. 11, 2007. If you want to sound more like a francophone, call it Carnaval de Québec. And that's one of the joys of Québec: No matter how much you stumble over the French pronunciation, you'll get smiles and nods—and toasts if you happen to hold a drink in your hand—making you feel good about trying to immerse yourself in the culture.
It can be darn cold this time of year in Québec City because it's alongside the St. Lawrence River, but the residents have a joie de vivre that is absolutely contagious. Think Mardis Gras in the winter. If you can't beat the cold, have FUN in it! The official mascot, a snowman named Bonhomme Carnaval, wanders the venues making sure you have a grin on your face. Just be careful: If you're a friendly lady, he might hit on you, as all good Frenchmen do!
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