High Falutin' Ski Bum : Important Info
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Weekly Flavor
- Mario:
Space Juice, Long Trail Brewing, VTExcellent limited double IPA
- Brian:
Herradura AnejoUltra premium, 100% agave tequila barrel aged for 25 months.
Ski News
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Ski Areas Undergoing Major Renovations
The competition to attract skiers and riders from the world over
has made continual upgrades and additions nearly a requirement for
top-tier ski resorts. That means more lodging, upgraded base areas,
new villages and on-mountain improvements like new terrain and lifts.
For a sampling of what's coming and in honor of Renovation Week here
at Curbed, we've rounded up eight major renovations currently in the
works across ski country.Taos Ski Valley
It was just over a year ago that the Taos Ski & Boot building at
the ski area’s base was torn down to make room for some of the changes
coming to Taos Ski Valley. Now, The Blake hotel is rising in its
stead, with a projected opening of this fall. But the new hotel is
only one part of the larger base area redevelopment plan that will
eventually reshape the entire Taos experience, including lodging,
resort services and commercial offerings.Yellowstone Club
The exclusive Yellowstone Club is adding an aptly titled Village
with 48 new residences situated next to its base area. With floor
plans that go from 2,000 square feet to a palatial 8,000 square feet
or more, these units will be spread across the club's core area, with
access to residents' lobbies and underground parking. Ranging between
two and six bedrooms, the residences will feature views of Lone Peak,
Eglise Mountain, and the Gallatin Range, with many having private
balconies. Of course, all four dozen of these new residences will have
access to Yellowstone Club’s lodges, dining, bars and 2,200 skiable
acres of members-only powder.Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
It turns out that the Teton Lift that debuted last season is just
the start for new on-mountain improvements at Jackson Hole Mountain
Resort. This past winter, the resort announced that it would be
building a new gondola, the Sweetwater Gondola, to improve its
capacity to keep people moving out of the base area and eventually
provide access to a yet-to-be-built ski school for the tots. The new
gondola and its eight-person cabins will cover 1,276 vertical feet in
seven and a half minutes, starting from between the Bridger Gondola
and the Teewinot High Speed Quad with a mid-station in the Solitude
area and terminating near the Casper Restaurant. It’s slated to open
in time for the 2016-17 season.Squaw Valley
With the movement to incorporate Olympic Valley dissolved, Squaw
Valley’s plans for a complete re-imagined base area village only have
to get approval from the county. Right now, the project’s
environmental impact report is in the comment period with Placer
County. If the project is fully approved, it will mean a significant
increase in lodging, commercial space and attractions' and that’s
exactly what some people are upset about. Don’t forget there’s also a
base-to-base gondola connecting Squaw Valley with Alpine Meadows still
in the works, too.Whistler Blackcomb
The resort is putting $8 million into new on and off-mountain
improvements at Whistler Blackcomb for the next season, including a
new upper and lower deck at Roundhouse Lodge that will add 6,000
square feet of space and 160 new seats. In the somewhat more distant
future, Whistler is also planning for $345 million worth of
improvements to its facilities. Dubbed Renaissance, this mega plan
will include new attractions, lodges, facilities and transform the
Blackcomb base area.Big Sky
It’s going to be a busy summer for lift replacement at Big Sky.
After announcing that the Challenger Lift, which was shut down
mid-season, would be replaced this summer with a fixed-grip triple, it
came out that the aging Lone Peak Triple also will be upgraded. A new,
detachable six'seater bubble lift will be constructed in place of the
old triple that currently provides access to the Bowl. And if that
wasn’t enough, the long abandoned Stagecoach Lift project at what was
once the independent resort of Moonlight Basin is rumored to be
completed this summer, as well.Moonlight Basin
The completion of the Stagecoach Lift at Moonlight Basin will
provide mountain access for two new projects around Ulery Lake. The
Timbers development is on one side of the lift, with access to the
Wildwood ski-way, and the Lake Cabins will be built around the shores
of Ulery Lake. Homes in The Timbers are available now, while it’s
still too early to place reservations for the Lake Cabins
project.Mt. Bachelor
The Oregon resort is investing $6 million in a new lift project
that will add 635 acres to Mt. Bachelor's current 3,700 acres of
lift-accessed terrain, making it the fifth-largest ski area in the
country. The new Cloudchaser detachable quad lift will ascend 1,448
vertical feet and is slated to open in time for the 2016 holiday
season. -
Jay Peak owner fights SEC over Vermont projects
Attorneys for a Miami businessman asked a federal judge Monday to
allow him to resume operating projects around a Vermont ski resort
that a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit charges amount
to a massive fraud on hundreds of investors. Ariel Quiros did not
violate any securities laws as the SEC claims in a civil lawsuit over
the Jay Peak Resort projects, his attorney David Gordon said at a
hearing Monday in Miami federal court. The seven-phase project
includes a hotel, a biomedical research facility and rental cottages.
Some of the work has not been started or is only partly complete.The SEC contends Quiros misused some $200 million in investor money
and improperly diverted about $50 million for his personal use. The
money came from foreign investors in the federal EB-5 visa program,
which allows permanent U.S. residency for those who finance projects
that create a certain amount of jobs. The SEC is seeking an
injunction barring Quiros from operating companies related to the Jay
Peak projects, which would be taken over by a court-appointed
receiver. The SEC also has frozen most of Quiros' assets. -
Tweet
about first snowfall at Perisher Resort in AustraliaLink to Perisher Resort
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Change Comes to Alta
Last week, the Salt Lake Tribune reported expansion plans proposed
at Alta, news that sounded the alarm for many diehard skiers there.
The proposed developments intend to update the ski area's aging
infrastructure and include a tram to the top of Mount Baldy, new and
replaced chairlifts, more parking spaces, and a restaurant expansion.
Alta submitted a Master Development Plan Update to the U.S. Forest
Service in December 2015, the ski area operates on a USFS special use
permit. After accepting the update, the USFS has now initiated their
review in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.
Public comment will be accepted on the matter until May 26th.
Topic #52: Dude Where’s My Yacht ?
- Saturday: Great time at Gosling's Party at Henry's
in Jersey City! - Sunday: At Brookfiekd Place and great weather for being
outside and watching some yacht racing! -
The
America’s Cup needs New York, but it did not need this weekend’s
courseNew York really is an iconic place and one which has a special
connection with the America’s Cup that dates back 165 years to when
the New York Yacht Club won the inaugural match and took the trophy
back from Britain across the Atlantic. There is a wonderful room at
the New York Yacht Club that houses scale models of all the boats to
have raced in the America’s Cup since that first match-up in 1851 (the
New York Yacht Club held on to the trophy for well over 100 years).
The America’s Cup has got incredible heritage and it is important to
bring World Series races – as well as perhaps the main event one day –
back to some of these places where it already has traction and to an
audience who understand and appreciate it: New York, the Isle of
Wight, Newport Rhode Island, and so on.Our (UK) team, Land Rover BAR, are working to finally turn the
165-year losing streak around. Sadly, the race organizers and harbor
authority were forced to put the course between the imposing Freedom
Tower in Lower Manhattan and the Goldman Sachs building in Jersey
City. In terms of topography for disturbing wind flow this is
probably the most disruptive it could be and in my opinion the last
place on earth you would want to put a race course.As competitors we have a problem. We have to accept the trade-off
between maintaining the integrity of the racing and helping to promote
our sport in front of new audiences.On the other, wearing my sailor’s cap, I have to say that Sunday’s
racing was about as frustrating as it gets. It is one thing if you are
exhibition racing but these World Series races matter, the points go
towards the America’s Cup proper in Bermuda next summer and, as we saw
from Oracle’s 9-8 win last time out, every single point counts.Related
2013 Article: The Boat That Could Sink the America’s Cup
Details some recent history of team Oracle, the new boats, a fatal
crash in 2013, and the history of the America's Cup as a pissing
contest for old rich men.Related : Cool Video
of America's Cup from Brookville Place Tweet - Result of the NYC America's Cup Races
- Emirates Team New Zealand : 20 points
- ORACLE TEAM USA : 18 points
- SoftBank Team Japan : 16 points
- Groupama Team France : 14 points
- Land Rover BAR : 12 points
- Artemis Racing : 10 points
Dan LeFever from Castle Brands was a great host representing Gosling's!
Henry's was a great venue in Jersey City, great view, food, and
amazing drinks.
Giveaways, love the hats, tasty Rum Swizzles and Dark & Story's
Great environment over at Brookfield, lots of people, sunny day.
Around The Horn
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Daron Rahlves Wins Arctic Man Challenge
Legendary ski racer Daron Rahlves took home first place in this
year's Arctic Man Challenge, the mountain madman's relay race that
combines skiing, snowmobiling, and, of course, plenty of debauchery.
With 15,000 attendees camping out in RVs, tooling around on sleds,
grilling reindeer, and drinking beer out of their backcountry packs,
Arctic Man is Alaska's answer to the Burning Man.The Arctic Man Challenge takes place on a 5.5-mile course that runs
the length of two peaks and valleys. The skier or snowboarder begins
atop a peak, bombs down 1,700 vertical feet in a mile and a half,
picks up a tow rope behind their partners' sled at about 40 mph, and
ascends 2.2 miles up another mountain. From there, the racer rockets
down another 1,200 vertical feet to the finish line. -
Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News
Facebook workers routinely suppressed news stories of interest to
conservative readers from the social networks 'influential
"trending " news section, according to a former journalist who
worked on the project. This individual says that workers prevented
stories about the right-wing CPAC gathering, Mitt Romney, Rand Paul,
and other conservative topics from appearing in the highly-influential
section, even though they were organically trending among the
site's users.Several former Facebook "news curators," as they were
known internally, also told Gizmodo that they were instructed to
artificially "inject " selected stories into the trending news
module, even if they weren't popular enough to warrant
inclusion-or in some cases weren't trending at all. The former
curators, all of whom worked as contractors, also said they were
directed not to include news about Facebook itself in the trending
module."Depending on who was on shift, things would be blacklisted or
trending," said the former curator. This individual asked to
remain anonymous, citing fear of retribution from the company. The
former curator is politically conservative, one of a very small
handful of curators with such views on the trending team.In other instances, curators would inject a story-even if it wasn’t
being widely discussed on Facebook-because it was deemed important for
making the network look like a place where people talked about hard
news.Related
2014 Article: Facebook Tinkers With Users’ Emotions in News Feed
Experiment, Stirring OutcryThey have been up manipulating users for years.
Facebook revealed that it had manipulated the news feeds of over
half a million randomly selected users to change the number of
positive and negative posts they saw. It was part of a psychological
study to examine how emotions can be spread on social media. -
Snowchasers Ski Dirt Slopes in Iran
There have been a slew of snow-free films in the last few years,
from Candide Thovex proving he doesn’t need snow to this edit during
the California drought. Now, a group known as the Snowmads have filmed
themselves skiing dirt spines in Iran. "It’s the driest I’ve ever
skied, definitely", says Markus Ascher, an Austrian skier who’s
traveling with the Snowmad crew (and their old fire truck) in search
of pow.Check out the video from some serious dirt shredding. You can catch
a glimpse of the Snowmad truck in the flick too. -
Brazil Ponders an Erotic Theme Park, With No Sex Allowed
Erotic sculpture park? Check. Bumper cars designed like genitalia?
Check. Snack bar serving aphrodisiac recipes? Check. Sex on the
premises? Uh, better not.Entrepreneurs in Brazil are seeking to build an adults-only theme
park called ErotikaLand near the city of Piracicaba, about two
hours' drive from Sao Paulo, and they hope to open its doors by
2018. But the project is setting off debate over public displays of
sexuality in Brazil, where Carnival celebrations feature scantily clad
dancers and thousands of short-stay love motels strive to please an
exacting clientele."We cannot be known as the capital of sex, " Matheus Erler,
a member of the Christian Socialist Party who leads the Piracicaba
City Council, told reporters. He said he was worried that the park
would attract “debauched individuals.”The businessman in charge of the project, Mauro Morata, tried to
ease some local concerns when he made clear that the park would be
built outside the city limits. Still, municipal leaders in Piracicaba
and nearby Sao Pedro have maneuvered to block the project. Mr. Morata
says he is pressing ahead anyway with his search for an acceptable
site, and emphasizes the project's economic upsides: 250 new
jobs and thousands of visitors who can afford $100 apiece to get
in.As for the racy theme, the investors behind ErotikaLand say the
park will promote a healthy approach to sex. Parkgoers will be able to
tour a museum exploring the history of sexuality, and employees will
promote condom use. The park will have a "sex playground, "
but it will feature a labyrinth, Ferris wheel and water slide.What the customers cannot have, the investors say, is any actual
intercourse – at least, not in the park."This won’t be a place for nuns, but it’s not like we're
trying to recreate Sodom and Gomorrah, " Mr. Morata said. "If
attendees want to take things to another level, they can go to a
nearby motel – which we will operate. " -
Soccer Club Debuts Crazy Flayed-Body Uniforms
Have you ever wanted to watch humans who have been skinned alive
play soccer? Well, I'm sorry to say that will probably never happen
and you have some seriously concerning personal preferences about
soccer and humans. It's not all bad news, though. You can get the next
best thing thanks to Club Deportivo Palencia and their horror-show
uniforms. Behold: Mr. Slim Goodbody, but instead of one weirdo singing
and dancing about digestion, it's 11 guys playing soccer.The players seem particularly thrilled with the new kits, which,
again, depict the human body sans skin, yet still emblazoned with the
club crest over the heart and a sponsorship over the chest. It's all
very dystopian when you think about it. I don't know who the ad
wizards are on this one, but I can tell you this: they didn't just
drop the ball conceptually, they misfired on the execution, too. As
you can clearly tell by the shorts, these are not full kit
wankers. -
Celebrate Leeroy Jenkins Day by reliving one of the internet’s finest videos
(May 11th)It's hard to remember, but there was a time when the name “Leeroy
Jenkins” didn't elicit knowing nods and sage murmurs among every
living human on the planet. But it's true: It was 11 years ago today
that an impetuous World Of Warcraft player was caught on camera
bellowing his name, storming into battle, and getting himself and his
entire team killed in a glorious mélange of chaos brought on by his
impulsive action. Today we honor that fallen hero by watching-some of
us for the 11,000th time-the beautiful behavior that sent him plunging
forever into the annals of meme history.The good people at Cheezburger have put together an assortment of
the many pop-culture memorials to this headstrong gentleman. These
include game company Blizzard's subsequent recognition of Leeroy with
an official trading card, mini figurine, and even naming an
achievement after him. But there's also advertisments, mentions on The
Daily Show, and—perhaps most fitting of all for such a seemingly
trivial moment—immortality as a clue on Jeopardy! -
Hill Farmstead Brewery 2016 Festival
Hill Farmstead Brewery's 2016 Festival of Farmhouse Ales will take
place on August 13. Tickets for the event will go on sale between May
11 and 25 in a lottery-style format. Winners will be drawn on May 26
and sent an email confirmation. Each ticket will cost $100 and limited
to 2 tickets per purchase.