Short Swings!

“Too Darn Hot.” Cole Porter got it right with his enduring 1948 hit. What a summer!

Weather is getting more and more extreme. Hot. Cold. Wind. Flood. I like this church sign:

But I don’t like these pictures taken within a week of each other from near the top of Mont Blanc. Going from snow to lake in such a short time is a bad sign.

I don’t know if there’s much we can do about this any more except attempt to take action to slow the process down and figure out how to make the best of it. 

Waiting for the flurries, I think abut that magical combination of gravity and snow and being waist-deep in light powder.

In the meanwhile, Irving Berlin also got it right with his saucy 1933 song, “Heat Wave.”

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Vail Resorts Acquires Mount Snow, Hunter, Wildcat, Roundtop, Others

Earlier this week, Vail Resorts announced it is acquiring Peak Resorts. The areas comprise many Eastern and Mid-Western signature resorts (Mount Snow, VT; Hunter Mountain, NY; Attitash, Wildcat, and Crotched, NH; Liberty, Roundtop, Whitetail, Jack Frost and Big Boulder, PA; Alpine Valley, Boston Mills, Brandywine, and Mad River Mountain, OH; Hidden Valley and Snow Creek, MO, and Paoli Peaks, IN). The areas will be accessible on the Epic and Military Epic passes.

Alta’s Enduring Butterfly

Contributor Harriet Wallis sent in these pictures of the butterfly shaped snow patch on Alta’s Mt. Superior. The color shot was taken recently. It matches up perfectly with the shot from 1873.

Delta Eliminates $150 Ski/Board Checking Fee

The new policy follows a similar announcement in May by American. Complete checked baggage fee detail, including the new sporting equipment fees: Delta.com

Killington Breaks Ground on New Lodge

Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard resort in Eastern North America , broke ground last week on its 58,000 sq. ft. K-1 Base Lodge.  Slated to open for the 2020-21 winter season, it will be 21,000 sq. ft. larger than the previous structure.

Colorado Has Fewest Obese People. West Virginia Has Most.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 30.1% of US adults are obese as of 2017. The US obesity rate has doubled since 1990 when 15% of the population was classified as obese. The five least obese states are Colorado, D.C., Hawaii, California, and Utah. The five with the most obese are West Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Alabama. Click here for complete list.

2010 Olympic Gold Medal Auctioned for $68,750

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic gold medal belonging to Belarusian freestyle skier Alexei Grishin sold at auction last week for $68,750 according to Boston-based RR Auction. The anonymous winning bidder is a collector from Belarus. The medal is among the heaviest in Olympic history. Each of the 615 medals created for the Vancouver Games features a hand-cropped section of the artwork that ensures that no two medals are the same. 

Live Weather Reports Now Available from Mt. Everest

Researchers from National Geographic Society and Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan University recently installed weather stations on Mount Everest. The two highest are at 27,257’ and 26,066’. To access these high elevation conditions click here.

Good Conditions At South Africa’s Only Resort

At the time of this writing, Tiffindell Alpine Resort, South Africa’s only ski area, has almost 12”. All five lifts are operating and more snow is predicted for this week.

Guadalajara Gets 5’ Hail Dump

A freak early-July storm left 5’ of hail in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. It happened following several days of warm, dry weather.

Surfing On Skis?

Candide Thovex is the French extreme skier who seems set on doing every imaginable thing that can be done on skis. In this short video, appropriately named The Wave, he uses snow skis on artificially-generated surf.