Free Republic

<p>DENVER – The Colorado ski town of Breckenridge has voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana.</p> <p>Early returns Tuesday night showed the proposal winning with 72 percent of the vote.</p>

- Resort Opening Earlier Than Ever Before - The 2009-2010 season at the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort is underway, the earliest the resort has ever been open. Unseasonably cold nighttime temperatures and aggressive snowmaking efforts have produced snow on Chair Three, Rabbit Peak, the only lift and trail scheduled to open. “There are many skiers and snowboarders who love to jib on our freestyle terrain features, and we expect many families to take advantage of this great opportunity to learn the sport and have fun so early in the season,” said Base Operations Manager Craig Baldwin. * snip...

The snow is flying across the portions of the Colorado Rockies above 6,500 feet. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for tonight into Wednesday afternoon. Snowfall

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., March 30, 2009 – Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki opened the 23rd annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here last night, encouraging more than 400 participants he said had found their way “to the top of the mountain in search of miracles.” Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, center, chats with participants in the 23rd annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic at Snowmass Village, Colo., during a March 29, 2009, “Taste of Aspen” celebration that kicked off the six-day event. Among participating veterans are, left, retired Army Cpl. Allen Babin, an 82nd Airborne...

more than 400 severely injured veterans – 34 of whom hail from Colorado – will take part in the 23rd National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic from March 29 through April 3. It is the largest adaptive event of its kind in the world. Hosted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and co-sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), the clinic teaches veterans with disabilities in adaptive alpine and Nordic skiing, and introduces them to a number of other adaptive recreational activities and sports. It’s open to U.S. military veterans with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic...

Friday, March 27, 2009 Print ShareThisCanadian extreme skier and base jumper, Shane McConkey, died Thursday following a ski-base accident that ocurred while filming his latest movie in Italy, the Inquisitr reported. McConkey, 39, experienced problems in the air after jumping off of a cliff in the expectation that he would be able to detach his skis and deploy his parachute, thus enabling him to glide safely to the ground, according to the Inquisitr. According to a witness, one of McConkey's skis failed to detach causing him to spin out of control and ultimately prevented him from deploying his parachute, the...

Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson was killed by a blunt trauma to the head and her death was ruled an accident, the city Medical Examiner reported Thursday. Richardson sustained an epidermal hematoma - a blood clot that forms upon impact and starts growing between the brain and the skull - after wiping out Monday on the bunny slope while skiing at a Canadian resort. "This is a very treatable condition if you're aware of what the problem is and the patient is quickly transferred to a hospital," Dr. Keith Siller of New York University Langone Medical Center said. "But there is...

<p>OTTAWA (AFP) — A Canadian lawmaker on Thursday said the government was "irresponsible" for not mandating newer standards for safety helmets on ski slopes after several injuries and deaths, including actress Natasha Richardson.</p> <p>"The recent serious brain injuries on Canada's ski slopes are tragic reminders that these brain injuries are preventable," opposition MP Hedy Fry said in a statement.</p>

The death of Natasha Richardson has sparked a debate about whether it should be mandatory for skiers and snowboarders to wear helmets. There's been a sharp rise in the number of people wearing helmets after several high-profile ski accidents this winter and some compulsion has already come in. However, the medical evidence is not conclusive and it's not thought any widespread compulsion is imminent in the Alps.

Natasha Richardson died Tuesday, a day after suffering a head injury in a Canadian skiing accident, a source close to her family told OK!. She was 45. The magazine said on its Web site that Richardson's loved ones decided to take her off life support Tuesday after she was declared brain dead. "The family is devastated," the source told OK! The British-born actress was the daughter of stage and film great Vanessa Redgrave and the late director-producer Tony Richardson. She also was the sister of actress Joely Richardson and the wife of Northern Irish actor Liam Neeson, her co-star in...

CRITICALLY INJURED IN SKIING ACCIDENT ### Actress Natasha Richardson is brain dead - after falling in a ski accident in Canada - and is now on sad journey home to New York, friends told The Post today. Richardson, who was being treated at a Montreal hospital, is being transported to New York this afternoon so her mom Vanessa Redgrave, two children and other loved ones can say goodbye before she's taken off life-support, friends said.

Actress Natasha Richardson, 45, has been reported as 'brain dead' after spending the past 24 hours in a critical condition. Although many reports have not yet confirmed, Time Out New York is reporting that close friends and family have been informed of the sad news. Natasha, wife of fellow actor, Liam Neeson was involved in the accident whilst on a holiday break in the Quebec resort of Mount Tremblant. Natasha and Liam have been married for 15 years, and have two sons aged 13 and 11 that survive her as well as her sister Joely Richardson and mother Vanessa Redgrave.

Sources close to Tony-award winning actress Natasha Richardson tell FOXNews.com that the 45-year-old actress is brain dead, and being transported back to New York City before she is to be taken off life support. Richardson's condition deteriorated following a skiing accident on a beginner's trail at the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec, Canada. Richardson, who is married to actor Liam Neeson, had been reported in serious condition with a head injury by multiple outlets.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski suffered a serious knee injury while skiing and will be confined to a wheelchair for several days, her aide said Tuesday. The Alaska Republican tumbled as much as 300 feet at the Alyeska Ski Resort south of Anchorage, according to the ski patrol. "I've been skiing all my life, and this was just one of those unfortunate accidents that can occur on the slopes on any given day," Murkowski said in a statement Tuesday. The senator tore two ligaments and cartilage in her left knee and underwent an MRI exam in Washington...

JANUARY 6--In a bizarre incident that will surely lead to litigation (or an out-of-court settlement), a skier at Colorado's ritzy Vail resort was left dangling upside down and pantsless from a chairlift last Friday morning.

Edgy snowboard graphics test liberal Vermont By Aimee Picchi Globe Correspondent / January 5, 2009 BURLINGTON, Vt. - For Nicole Zarrillo, seeing a snowboarder with one of Burton Snowboards' new Playboy designs at a Vermont ski slope underscored the reasons why many Vermonters - including her boss - are protesting the new men's snowboards. "When you really think about it, it's a young man standing on top of a naked woman's body," said Zarrillo, 38, an office manager for a nonprofit based in Burlington, also home to Burton's headquarters.

Up to 4 feet of snow and drifts exceeding 6 to 8 feet are frosting southwestern Colorado. It's still falling today, even after 40 inches of snow was reported over the past 24 hours at Silverton. A blizzard warning ended at noon for the West Elk and Sawatch ranges and the western San Juans. The National Weather Service says the total snow accumulation from this storm in towns such as Telluride could be 18 to 36 inches by late afternoon. A winter-storm warning will end at 6 p.m. today for much of the rest of the southwestern mountains. Travel has...

ASPEN — The snow in Aspen just keeps on coming, but it may be too cold to enjoy it by Saturday. A winter storm that dumped up to a foot of snow on local ski slopes over the past two days has moved out, but another system is headed for Aspen Friday night. So are plummeting temperatures and a brutal wind chill. On the heels of the winter storm warning that expired Friday morning, the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for the northwest mountains of Colorado, including Aspen and Snowmass, starting Friday evening. It extends until...

New South Wales in Australia has experienced unseasonably heavy snowfall, as summer approaches on the continent. The weekend's cold snap has provided the best snowfall of Australia's ski season, which is now drawing to a close.

Skiing, local real estate likely to suffer scientists say VAIL, Colorado — If greenhouse gas emissions aren’t curtailed, climate change will reduce Eagle County’s snowpack by 57 percent by 2085, according to a new report. “The state’s most popular tourist activity is at risk from climate change,” said the report, published Wednesday by the Center for Integrative Environmental Research at the University of Maryland. The report, “Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Colorado,” does not paint a pretty picture for skiing — and the attendant industry of real estate — over the next century. The “snow season” could become 30...

Stuck, lost and hobbled in the German Alps, a quick-thinking Colorado Springs woman hooked her bra to a mountainside supply line, which alerted rescuers to her whereabouts just as they were giving up the search. "We're going to have a party for her every June 19, and give her some new bras," Elana Bruinsma, said Monday morning of her sister, Jessica Bruinsma, 24. The white sports bra has become the talk of the Berchtesgaden area of Germany near the Austria border.

Aspen Mountain will be open to skiers and snowboarders this weekend, according to Jeff Hanle, spokesman for the Aspen Skiing Co. “Yes, we are going skiing,” Hanle said, though he could not confirm the details. The Skico previously indicated it would consider opening the mountain this weekend, which coincides with the Aspen Food & Wine Magazine Classic. It's unusual but not unprecedented to have skiing on Ajax mountain this late in the season, after Independence Pass already has opened for the summer. But highway crews only last week re-opened the 12,093-foot pass after a particularly snowy winter. Arapahoe Basin, which...

Amid increasing concerns about the warming of the planet, ski resorts across the Northeast are reporting some of the best snowfall levels in recorded history. Waterville Valley in New Hampshire had a top-five year in terms of snow accumulation, with 192 inches having fallen to the slopes so far. A recent snowstorm on Mt. Mansfield, the home of Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont, boosted the season snow total to 367 inches, making this ski season the snowiest in the last 10 years. For those who reject the popular consensus that the world is on the brink of a global warming...

Dozens of homes have been evacuated and a 5-mile stretch of Colorado 82 in western Colorado has been closed due to heavy smoke from a brush fire. The 100-acre brush fire is burning at 1265 County Road 100, and is threatening several homes and a school, said Tanny McGinnis, spokeswoman for the Garfield County Sheriff's Office. She said a horse farm and a private school have been evacuated. Two buildings have been damaged and one person has been transported with injuries... Firefighters from Carbondale, Basalt and Glenwood are at the scene.

A 50-vehicle pileup has closed I-70 in both directions at mile marker 195 on Vail Pass. The initial accident occurred on the westbound side of I-70 at mile marker 189 in Eagle County. The eastbound lane has also been closed at this time to allow emergency vehicles to access the scene. According to dispatch, there are numerous injuries and several possible amputations. There has been a mutual aid request for backup and many patients are being transported to St. Anthony's Summit Medical Center for treatment. "So far we have one patient in critical condition and two more patients just arrived...

Leads continue to trickle in more than a month after Bergen Catholic graduate Alphonse "Mike" Barbiere went missing during a Colorado ski trip. But there is still no sign of him. "It still just remains a mystery," said Assistant Chief Greg Morrison of the Breckenridge Police Department. Six members of a search and rescue group spent Thursday searching along the Blue River. "A lead came in and we followed up on it," Morrison said. "But we did not find anything." The 5- to 7-foot snow drifts have been melting over the past week, but a storm Thursday into Friday was...

Former ABC News correspondent John McWethy was killed when he skied into a tree at Keystone Resort Wednesday, the Summit County Coroner confirmed. McWethy, 61, was skiing on an intermediate trail when the accident occurred. Witnesses said he missed a turn and slid chest-first into the tree shortly after 10 a.m

To many college students, a perfect weekend in Colorado is found on the snow-covered slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Whether you ski or snowboard, the only things you need are a jacket and a ride to the mountain. However, if some Colorado lawmakers have their way, the drive to the ski resorts could become more costly. Anyone who has been to the slopes, especially on the weekends, knows that the worst part of the day is the traffic along I-70. From the large trucks to the vans full of out-of-state tourists who don't know how to drive on snow, the...

(01-28) 12:52 PST LAKE TAHOE -- The president of a San Francisco green technology company was killed while skiing at the Homewood Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe, authorities said today. Tyler A. Palmer, 37, was found unresponsive at the base of a tree about 1:52 p.m. Sunday, the Placer County Sheriff's Department said. Skiers found Palmer on the Hobbit Land ski run, head-first in the well of a tree. Hobbit Land is a black diamond run, signifying it is for advanced skiers, according to the resort's Web site. Medics tried to revive Palmer, without success, and he was pronounced dead...

Michigan lawmakers push helmet requirement for skiers, snowboarders by CLAY TAYLOR | Capital News Service Saturday January 26, 2008, 9:34 AM LANSING - Downhill skiers and snowboarders without head protection may find a hefty fine waiting for them at the bottom of the slope. A new bill by Rep. Bob Constan calling for mandatory helmets comes fast on the heels of a fatal skiing accident in December. Clare Dougherty, 13, of Canton Township died from a head injury on Shanty Creek Resort's Schuss Mountain in Bellaire. She was pronounced dead on arrival at Kalkaska Memorial Health Center on Christmas Day....

MEXICAN HAT, Utah—A chartered bus ran off a wet road and rolled 41 feet down an embankment in far southeastern Utah, killing eight passengers who were returning home from a ski trip, authorities said Monday. About 20 others were injured. The Arrow Stage Lines bus was southbound on State Route 163 when it failed to negotiate a curve, went off the road and rolled over several times at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, said Trooper Cameron Roden of the Utah Highway Patrol. "When the vehicle was overturning, the roof of the bus split open and multiple occupants of the vehicle were ejected,"...

People upset over a man who sued an 8-year-old boy and his father over a Colorado ski collision have subjected him and his wife to "an electronic tar and feathering," their lawyer said. David Pfahler and Marlene Ambrogio left their Allentown, Pa., home for the holidays because angry people tied up their phone lines with repeated, automated calls since news reports of the lawsuit, attorney Jim Chalat said Monday. Some sent angry e-mails and calls to Chalat's Denver law firm, while others called Reader's Digest, where Pfahler works, and demanded he be fired, the Rocky Mountain News reported. The couple...

ST. ANTON AM ARLBERG, Austria — American skier Lindsey Vonn won't be able to fly home for Christmas because of the World Cup schedule. But the way things are going, why would she want to leave Europe? Vonn won a super-combi Saturday for her second consecutive victory, sending her to the top of the overall standings. And for the second consecutive race, Julia Mancuso of Olympic Valley, Calif., finished third. Stacey Cook of Mammoth Mountain, Calif., finished 13th. According to U.S. team officials, Vonn is the first American woman to win alpine World Cup races on back-to-back days since Tamara...

Boy, 8, sued in Beaver Creek ski collision Man, 60, says he was injured in crash on catwalk at Beaver Creek’s Arrowhead area Scott Swimm, 8, is being sued for a ski collision his father describes as a tap. A Pennsylvania man said tore a tendon in his shoulder in the crash. Steve Lynn Vail, CO Colorado December 20, 2007 EAGLE-VAIL, Colorado — Eight-year-old Scott Swimm spreads his arms wide when he describes the crash he was in with another skier at Arrowhead Mountain in January. “We were literally about this far away,” said Scott, an Eagle-Vail resident and third-grader...

TELLURIDE — A backlash quickly emerged after the Telluride Town Council adopted a resolution last week calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. “It’s huge, unbelievable,” said Telluride Mayor John Pryor. “Ski groups are canceling for the winter. Hundreds of people are bailing. The (town) Web site is flooded with people saying they’re canceling their vacations here.” Pryor called it a “silly initiative.” The council, he told The Telluride Watch, is too busy to weigh in on national global politics. If this was a silly initiative, why did he vote for it? The...

FRANCONIA, N.H. — A cousin of skiing star Bode Miller fatally shot and ran over a police officer, then was killed by a passer-by who grabbed the officer's gun. Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said Liko Kenney shot Cpl. Bruce McKay four times, then ran over him with his car after a traffic stop Friday night.

Astronauts heading to the Moon should learn the art of cross-country skiing, a scientist who flew on the last lunar Apollo mission claims. Harrison Schmitt, part of the 1972 Apollo 17 crew, said it would allow them to explore faster and more easily. Addressing scientists in San Francisco, he said his knowledge of Nordic skiing had allowed him to glide effortlessly across the dusty lunar surface. The US space agency (Nasa) will send manned missions to the moon by 2020. "When you're cross-country skiing, once you get a rhythm going, you propel yourself with a toe push as you slide...

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) - The two dozen FBI agents who swarmed Park City Mountain Resort weren't busting anybody Friday. They weren't even armed - unless you count the sharp ends of ski poles. With the temperature near zero, agents hit the slopes - some on challenging runs, others on bunny hills - in an unusual drive to publicize the FBI and perhaps attract a few recruits. Many skiers and Park City regulars were perplexed or even a bit unnerved. Some thought the whole effort was nutty. Jokes were flying about agents skiing on the public dime, but nobody seemed...

Want low-cost skiing? Try Poland Winter Sports Travel Insurance - Click Here for a Quote A staple complaint amongst skiers and snowboarders is that good resorts, such as the ones in France and Switzerland, have become inordinately expensive and crowded. While eastern Europe might not immediately spring to mind as a skiing mecca, for those sick of the glitzy, expensive and almost always crammed full resorts of western Europe, it may be worth a try. And the Zakopane resort in Poland is one of the jewels in the crown of eastern European skiing. Nestled in a mid-mountain valley in the...

In new ads, ski company says global warming could dry up snow during the next century... The Aspen Skiing Co. hopes potential customers are ready for a snow job. On Wednesday, the company unveiled a new advertising campaign for the 2006-07 season that centers around the message that snow — and skiing — will disappear around 2100 if humans don’t take drastic action to slow global warming. Three full-page ads, which show a melting snowflake imposed over Highland Bowl, will run in SKI and Outside magazines in the next few months. One ad portrays a “certificate of death” for snow....

A new website dedicated to reporting on how climate change is affecting the world's ski areas, glaciers and polar regions has been launched at www.saveoursnow.com. The simple, low-budget site is none-the-less rich in content, which includes: # A database listing what each of the world's top 200 ski areas is doing to fight climate change. # A news archive of relevant stories. # A directory of travel operators who make an effort to counter the increase in global warming their activities generate. # Details of the varying projections of the increasing affects of climate change on the world's mountainous and...

LES CROSETS, Switzerland - Former Swiss skiing star Corinne Rey-Bellet and her brother, Alain, were shot and killed in their parents' home, and police were trying to find Rey-Bellet's husband. The attack late Sunday night, which also left Rey-Bellet's mother hospitalized with serious injuries, occurred in the Swiss mountain resort of Les Crosets, according to the Valais state police. Rey-Bellet's mother was able to call police despite her injuries. Police said the attacker, who fired five shots, fled and eluded a search. Police spokesman Renato Kalbermatten said authorities were trying to find Rey-Bellet's husband, who lived with her and their...

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. - Three members of a ski patrol died after two plunged into a volcanic fissure at the Mammoth Mountain resort and the third fell trying to rescue them, a resort official said. Four other would-be rescuers were hospitalized for exposure to carbon dioxide but were doing well, said Rusty Gregory, chief executive officer of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. The patrol team had been on the mountain after a snowstorms checking on a fence surrounding a fumarole, a natural vent that releases volcanic gas from deep within the Earth, Gregory said. "It's not like they were out there...

Three members of the Mammoth Mountain ski patrol were killed today while clearing snow on the upper mountain after this week's record snowfall, authorities said. The accident occurred in the early morning while the three were performing maintenance work, said Shannon Kendall, a spokeswoman for the Inyo County Sheriff's Department, which investigated the accident. Details of the accident were not available, but authorities said they planned to provide more details in the coming hours. The accident is the latest chapter in a deadly winter in Mammoth. In late January and early February, five skiers died over a seven-day period. Mammoth...

SNOWMASS, Colo., April 6, 2006 – Michael Brickert is a man of three services, three conflicts, two paralyzed legs, and one can-do spirit that's inspired other disabled veterans. Michael Brickert, a retired Air National Guard first sergeant, soars down the slopes during the 20th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, at Snowmass, Colo. Photo by Robert Turtil  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Brickert, 58, of Wise River, Mont., was a Navy diver during the Vietnam War. During Operation Desert Storm, he went from being an Army Reserve drill sergeant to pulling personal security detail. During Operation Enduring Freedom,...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 5, 2006 – When he was undergoing treatment 16 years ago following a near-fatal accident in Germany, Paul Miosek asked Red Cross volunteer Jim Mayer for just two things: a poster of Madonna and a milkshake. Disabled Army veteran Paul Miosek (left) reunites with Jim Mayer, a Department of Veterans Affairs employee and long-time volunteer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, at the 20th Annual Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, in Snowmass Village, Colo. Miosek credits Mayer with opening his eyes to new possibilities while living with a disability. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 3, 2006 – Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson and former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz opened the 20th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here last night, praising participants for their sacrifices and their focus on their abilities, not their disabilities. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz speaks April 2 to disabled veterans at the opening ceremony for the 20th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. Photo by John Sokolowski  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Nicholson saluted this year's 350 participants, including about 50 wounded during operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, for...

Before Scandinavia: These could be the first skiers By Robert Marquand | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor BEIJING – Move over Bode. You may have competition you don't know about - among a sturdy skiing clan in northwest China. They are central Asians, Mongols, and Kazaks, living in the remote Altay mountains of Xinjiang province, where some claim skiing was first conceived. Using curved planks whose design dates back 2,000 years, the Altaic peoples are formidable skiers. They might not win a medal on perfectly groomed Olympic trails. But they can break their own paths, track elk for...

VAIL, Colo., March 6, 2006 – Amputees being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., wrapped up the third annual Vail Veterans Program here yesterday, having taken another step ahead in their rehabilitation and more convinced than ever that they have the support of the American people. Army Sgt. Tim Gustafson, a Tennessee National Guardsman participating in the Vail Veterans Program at Vail, Colo., gets instruction on how to traverse the slopes on a "bi-ski" from Carl Desrosiers, of the Vail Adaptive Ski Program. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The 24...

Rumsfeld Pays Surprise Visit as Wounded Troops Hit the Slopes By Donna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 5, 2006 – Wounded troops participating in the third annual Vail Veterans Program here got a surprise visit on the ski slopes today when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived to cheer them on and congratulate them for their accomplishments. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld poses with wounded troops participating in the Vail Veterans Program just before they begin their third and final day of skiing in the program at Vail, Colo. Photo by Donna Miles   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....