From: mwallace@nyx.cs.du.edu (Mark Wallace)
Subject: The Colorado Skier - Trivia 4
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix @ U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 15:41:54 GMT



Subject:  THE COLORADO SKIER - TRIVIA 4


Greetings from THE COLORADO SKIER


This is part of a series on Skiing and Ski Area TRIVIA.  It is posted 
separately from our companion series on "The Lost Ski Areas of
Colorado".  That series will continue independently.  This new series
will continue as long as we can think of ski area trivia questions and
as long as you keep reading them and give us feedback.


THE COLORADO SKIER TRIVIA - EDITION #4


EDITOR'S REMARKS:

 A.  A reminder for those who haven't been with us thru all of the
     various "COLORADO SKIER" articles:  By our definition, a "ski
     area" always means a "lift-served" ski area, unless otherwise
     noted.

 B.  E-Mail vs Posts.  If you want to answer a trivia question or
     suggest new questions, continue sending E-Mail directly to Mark. 
     If, however, you have a lot to say about a trivia subject, such
     as expounding on the best bump run in the East, please POST the
     article.  To protect your privacy, we will not re-post an article
     sent to us via E-Mail.  We will sometimes paraphrase your trivia
     answer, e.g., "the dumbest answer came from Joe, in Chicago, who
     guessed Iowa".

 C.  Some of the data in this post was obtained from "The White Book
     of Ski Areas", which is copyrighted by Inter-Ski Services, Inc.



1.  TRIVIA 3 ANSWERS - QUICK LOOK


 a.  Name any ski area in KANSAS.

       Answer:  MONT BLEU, in Lawrence, KN


 b.  What is the most new SNOWFALL ever recorded at a ski area during
     a single storm (when, where, how much)? 

       Answer:  189 inches at MT. SHASTA SKI BOWL, CA, 13-19 Feb, 1959


 c.  Which ski area has a steam powered TRAIN transporting guests
     between its two base areas?  

       Answer:  LOON MOUNTAIN, in Lincoln, NH.


 d.  Which three states have the MOST operational ski areas?

       Answer:  New York, Michigan, California


 e.  What is the LOWEST base altitude of any U.S. ski area?

       Answer:  70 feet at YAWGOO VALLEY, Rhode Island



2.  TRIVIA 3 ANSWERS - DETAILS


 a.  Kansas - When we talked about obscure ski areas in Nebraska and
     Missouri, lottsa folks had heard of them and some folks had even
     skied at 'em.  For Kansas, however, no one even guessed an
     answer.  (Although Mark guessed "yes" before we changed the
     wording of the question!)   There actually have been two areas.

     MONT BLEU, in Lawrence, operated from about 1967 to 1983.  The
     stats:

       Vertical Drop:   230 ft
       Lifts:  1 T-bar, 1 rope tow

     GREENWOOD HEIGHTS, in Beaumont, operated from about 1967 to 1971. 
     The stats:

       Vertical Drop:  158 ft
       Lifts:  1 chairlift, 2 T-bars


 b.  Snowfall - The official record for one snowstorm in the U.S. is
     189 inches in seven days in 1959 at MOUNT SHASTA SNOW BOWL, CA. 
     That ski area was later destroyed by an avalanche around 1978. 
     There is now another ski area on Mt. Shasta (MT. SHASTA SKI PARK)
     but it was built at a different, lower, location.  The U.S.
     record for snowfall in 24 hours is 76 inches at Silver Lake, CO
     on 4 April, 1921.  There is a "Silver Lake" next to St. Mary's
     Glacier, west of Denver.

     In our recent memory, there has been 3 to 4 feet of new in one
     burst which was enough to shut down Wolf Creek Pass (highway) and
     the ski area.  We also recall a 5 to 6 feet dump which shut down
     MAMMOTH MTN for several days.  A very quick scan of our data base
     for WOLF CREEK shows numbers like 24-27 inches for 24 hour dumps,
     and 85 inches for a single storm.  We also noticed several 30+
     single-day figures for Utah and Calif areas.


 c.  Train - There is a narrow gauge steam (steam, definitely steam)
     train operating at LOON MTN, NH.  It was built originally to haul
     skiers from the far reaches (west end) of the parking lot to the
     base area.  When the new West Basin base area opened, the train
     became a shuttle between the two base areas.  As far as we know,
     it is still operating.  Can anyone confirm?  [the very obscure
     hint that The Colorado Skier had ridden the train, relates to our
     admitting in a previous article that once we were "The New
     Hampshire Skier"]

     Three people supplied the correct answer:  CHUCK of Boston, MIKE
     from somewhere in the east, and STEVE of Beverly, MA.



 d.  Ski areas per State:

           State                # (91/92)
          -------               ---------

          New York                 48
          Mich                     40
          Calif                    38

          Wisc                     33
          Colo                     29
          Penn                     26
          
          Quebec                   41
          Ontario                  38

   No one got them all right, including us.  In fact, no one got even
   2 right.   The guesses, by count:  Colorado 6, California 4,
   Vermont 4, New Hampshire 3, and 1 each for Michigan, Minnesota,
   Pennsylvania, and Utah.  No one guessed New York!


 e.  Lowest Base Altitudes - Documented

        YAWGOO VALLEY, RI          70 feet
        BLUE HILLS, MA            100
        CAMDEN SNOW BOWL, ME      100
        MT. SOUTHINGTON, CT       100


     Unofficial
     ----------

     1)  ATLANTIC FORESTS in Amesbury, MA, claims a top altitude of
     330 feet and a vertical drop of 300.  If those data are correct,
     their base altitude would be 30 feet.  [Note:  The altitude of
     Amesbury is 27 feet.] 

     2)  BRADFORD is located in a suburb of Haverhill, MA, altitude 45
     feet.  It is possible that the Bradford base is under 100 feet.


  The guesses included:

   o  YAWGOO VALLEY from MIKE (again).    MIKE WINS!
   o  BLUE HILLS, MA
   o  PROSPECT HILL  (unknown base altitude but located in the town of 
       Waltham, MA, altitude 79 feet.  The area is now closed.)
   o  NASHOBA VALLEY, MA which has a base of 220 feet.
   o  MT. ALYESKA, Alaska, which lists a base of 275 feet.
   o  "100 feet"  (got to tighten up on the question wordings!)
   o  VAN CORTLANDT PARK in NYC, altitude estimated at 50 feet.  We 
      have no data on this area - anyone else out there know anything?



3.  NEW TRIVIA QUESTIONS

 a.  Which is the highest lift-served ski area in the U.S.?

 b.  Which is the highest lift-served ski area east of the
     Mississippi?   [thanks, Danny]

 c.  How many single chairlifts left in the U.S.?  Where?

 d.  Which was the last ski area to operate a single chairlift in
     Colorado?

 e.  Name any ski area in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, or Texas.


 Bonus Question:  In the prolog to the James Bond movie "The Spy Who
 Loved Me", Bond is seen skiing along a snow field with the bad guys
 in hot pursuit, guns blazing.  The snow field ends abruptly at a
 cliff.  Bond skis off the edge, falls into the abyss and then pops a
 parachute, in the British flag design.  Question:  Who was the
 stuntman and where was the "gag" (stunt) filmed?

 Double Bonus:  There are several exciting skiing sequences (e.g.,
 motorcycle chasing skier on a bobsled run) in the James Bond movie
 "For Your Eyes Only".  The skiing shots were filmed by an action
 photographer with a last name famous in the ski industry.  Who?



4.  THE GREAT "SKI AREAS I HAVE SKIED" CONTEST

   JOHN, who works in Bethesda, MD claims to have skied in about 12
   states and 3 provinces.  He wants to know if anyone has skied at
   more ski areas than he has.  He wanted to count only ski areas with
   over 1000 feet of vertical but we will compromise and make it
   easier.  Send us the total number of (lift-served) ski areas you
   have skied, your estimate of the number of areas over 1000 feet,
   and the number of states (and provinces) skied.  [Note:  If you're
   not sure of vertical drops, ask and we will look them up.]     From
   the Colorado Skier staff:


       Skier              Total        > 1000         States
      -------             -----        ------         ------

      The Colorado          40           38             7
      Mark                  37           35             7


      [Mark wanted to mention that in one glorious season he skied 17
      resorts in 3 states.  Our record for one season is 14 areas.]



5.  TRIVIAL STUFF

 a.  TAN-TAR-A.  Besides HIDDEN VALLEY, there was a second ski area in
     Missouri.  It was located in Osage Beach, MO on the grounds of
     the giant (978 rooms) Marriott Tan-Tar-A resort.  Next time you
     are at the Marriott, check around for a ski slope and some old
     lifts and report in.  The area operated from at least 1965 to
     about 1981.   The stats:

       Vertical Drop:  120 ft
       Lifts:  1 T-bar or Poma, 1 rope tow


 b.  "I've Got The Money, I Want to Know Where to Live"

     HAROLD, who reaches us from "CMU" (Central Michigan?, Carnegie
     Mellon?) suggested a serious question.  Where can he live, with a
     real job, in an affordable decent size town (over 20,000) with
     some kulchur, and still be adjacent to a major ski area?  

     ANSWER:  There is only one answer to that question, and it is
     Salt Lake City.  SLC has a metro area population of 1 million,
     has a symphony orchestra, and a pro basketball team, as well as a
     major university (Utah).  There are engineering (e.g., software,
     electronics) jobs in the region.  Alta, Brighton, Snowbird, and
     Solitude are all within 10 miles of the city limits, and Deer
     Valley and Park City are only 30 miles away.

     So what do you think?  Let's hear it for other choices [Please
     POST your answers so Harold can read them.]  Other choices might
     include Provo, Orem, and Ogden.  For the record, Aspen, Vail,
     Stowe, and Mammoth Lakes are all under 20,000 population and are
     certainly not affordable.  Bend, Oregon, pop. 20,000 (our dream
     choice) is only 22 miles from Mt. Bachelor.



6.  SKI AREA NEWS

 a.  KILLINGTON opened on 30 September and then closed after 3 days. 
     They reopened on 19 October and have managed to remain open. 
     Their closest call came on 24 Oct when the temperature was 50
     degrees, they announced thin and bare spots, and dropped the
     price to $10 for a day or two.  

 b.  All of this time Killington has had just one double chair and
     half a run open, with a vertical drop of 791 feet, and were
     charging $25.  This is great publicity for Killington, being the
     only ski area open in the country, but would YOU pay $25 to ski
     one run?      [Note:  There are 6 ski areas in Colorado - and
     more in Utah - which charge $26 or less when their entire
     mountain is open.]  

 c.  Killington opened two more lifts and runs on 2 November and they
     now charge $30.

 d.  Meanwhile, Colorado had a very warm fall and for the first time
     since 1979, neither Keystone nor Loveland opened in October. 
     They both opened on 3 November with Wolf Creek following the next
     day.  Vail will open on 6 Nov and Breckenridge on 7 Nov.   For
     $25, at Vail, you get 2 quad chairs, 2800 feet of vertical, and
     250 acres of trails.   [Note:  We never intended or wanted to get
     into a "Killington" vs "Colorado" contest, but the facts just
     keep jumping out at us.]



7.  EPILOG

 a.  Please give your city name in E-Mails to us.  We like statistics
     (had you guessed?) and like to keep track of where the mail comes
     from.  The current numbers:  Colorado  46%, the west 14%, midwest
     and plains 17%, the east and southeast 23%.  Within Colorado it
     is 50% from Boulder.

 b.  We are still working on more of your suggested trivia questions. 
     Keep the faith, yours may show up eventually.

 c.  "Lost Colorado Ski Areas - #6" is coming soon.


     Cheers from THE COLORADO SKIER


  "....  the weather was delightful, clear blue skis, gorgeous aspen
  foliage, ...."      The Colorado Skier - Trivia 3

  "Where can I buy some of those 'clear blue skis'?"
         Richard   (via E-Mail)              ^^^^  


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