What's new at hot ski destinations, from Oregon to Maine

NEW YORK -- This month's issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine is recommending 11 ski destinations from Oregon to Maine. They are:

• Sun Valley, Idaho, which the magazine says is launching its first gondola this winter for the ride 2,000 vertical feet up Bald Mountain.

• Park City Mountain Resort in Utah, where you can reach the High West Distillery and Saloon's bar and tapas restaurant on skis via the Quittin' Time run.

• Rossland, in British Columbia, described as a "no-stoplights, no-Starbucks former mining town" with incredible backcountry.

• Northstar-at-Tahoe in California, with a new Ritz Carlton and a new gondola to complement the deep Sierra snows and tall ponderosa pines.

• Mount Bachelor in Oregon, where daily lift tickets this season will be priced $49, $59 or $69, depending on lift-serviced available terrain and weather factors such as visibility, wind, precipitation and temperature.

• Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, where only 10 percent of the mountain will be closed to the public during the Olympics.

• Sugar Bowl in the Lake Tahoe-Truckee area, where a new Olympic sport, called skicross, will be featured on a new course in a pre-Olympics show, Feb. 1-17. The sport involves four skiers at a time down a course with banked turns and jumps -- think Moto Cross on skis.

• Jay Peak Resort in Vermont, which is opening a new luxury hotel this season, the Tram Haus Lodge.

• Cannon Mountain, in New Hampshire, which this season will provide shuttle transportation to Mittersill, an abandoned ski area that can now offer backcountry skiers access to ungroomed terrain.

• Saddleback in Maine, where the owners have been increasing skiable terrain and improving facilities, and will open a new glade this winter.

• Snowmass in Colorado, described as an alternative to the "hustle and bustle of downtown Aspen."

AP