Best Ski Places

By Glenn Rigby Snow skiing is a whole lot of fun. I've only had the opportunity to fly down a snow-covered mountain a few times, mostly when I was younger, and I plan to do it again in the not-too-distant future. Granted, I did fracture my leg on the last run of one of our trips to the Poconos almost 20 years ago. The fracture wasn't too bad, which is good because we were pressed for time to catch our flight back to Florida. When we arrived, we went to a doctor who asked me how I did this damage to my leg. I told him skiing, to which he responded, "You fractured your leg water skiing?" "No," I told him – "Snow skiing." "Snow-skiing?!" the dumbfounded doctor incredulously asked in wild disbelief. We then explained to him that we just arrived back to Florida from Pennsylvania, and he set my leg in a cast. You may find yourself pondering, "So where are some other good places to ski." Well, lots of places have mountains and snow, two key elements in this exciting pastime. * China * Austria * Canada * The U.S. * Argentina * Chile The list goes on and on – those were just a few examples. I will briefly highlight a few interesting spots. Chile: El Colorado ski center is 39 kilometers from Santiago. It has a snow-making system to guarantee snow throughout the season, as well as receiving an average of 5 meters of snow per year. This center, together with La Parva and Valle Nevado, forms the biggest and best ski area in South America. Austria: Hinterglemm is a resort (and village) in the Saalbach-Hinterglemm region. This is a combination of the two villages whose names combine to form the one. Of the two, Saalbach is larger and is Austria's second most popular tourist destination, just behind Vienna. It boasts more than 125 miles of slopes and more than 60 lifts and cable cars. There are also snowboard-only runs and a snowboarding park. China: Yabuli ski resort is located in Heilongjiang province in Northeastern part of China. All 11 of its trails exceed 0.6 miles (1 kilometer), and trail No.5 is the longest trail in Asia (3 miles). Additional activities include: Ha'erbing Ice & Snow Festival of Art: Every year, the Art Snow & Ice Festival is held in Harbin from December to March, with the ice sculpture and snowing statues, with other performances and lamp show. The list truly could go on and on, but these were a few fun spots to point out.