Skiing

Two weeks ago, S. and I decided to have a romantic weekend away. So we went skiing in Vermont. The weather was pretty bad Friday and Saturday, which meant a late arrival at the B&B we were staying, and a lot of closed lifts Saturday.

To get us from the airport to Stowe, the ski-area, we'd rented a car: a very dull and boring Dodge Neon. But when we (finally) got to the car rental place, they had a PT Cruiser waiting for us! Not quite the car you normally take to the ski hill.

The B&B was cute, breakfast great (loved the pancakes). Could see the skiarea from our bedroom window (only Sunday, when it was sunny). The 50 cms (20 inches) of snow really made it pretty, and the little town of Stowe was nice. Went to Swisspot for a nice fondue dinner Saturday night. Sunday afternoon we drove straigt from skiing to the airport, and, with some delay and a detour, made it safely back to Philly.

Having tried another skiresort, it's time for my highly subjective ski resort ranking:

1. Showdown Montana, USA. No liftlines, no manmade snow. Just great skiing!
   
2. Bridger Bowl, Montana, USA. Fantastic in new powder. OK when groomed.
3. Sunshine, Alberta, Canada. Hell's Kitchen: best tree-run ever (black diamond).
   
4. Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. Back bowls are great. Tree-runs too.
   
5. Stowe, Vermont, USA. Fresh powder=really good. Groomed="let's go for a hot chocolate."
6. Treble Cone, New Zealand. Back bowl was good. More snow would make it great.
7. Perisher Blue, Australia. Pretty going skiing for "down under".
8. Trysil, Norway. Some good runs. Not enough snow.
   
9. The Remarkables, New Zealand. Great potential. With enough snow.
10. Norquay @ Banff, Alberta, Canada. Icy.
11. Coronet Peak, New Zealand. Runs are not too bad. Snow was.
12. Cardrona, New Zealand. Oh dear... never again.