If You Want Some Snow, Just Head For The Hills

It may be wet in the cities, but there’s still plenty of snow for cross-country skiers. Some opportunities:

White Mountain Adventures in Alberta is offering 3- and 6-day cross country ski packages in Banff National Park, suitable for beginning to advanced skiers.

Among the options is an overnight ski tour to Skoki Lodge, one of Canada’s most famous backcountry lodges, which is reachable only by ski. For information, call (800) 408-0005 or (403) 678-4099.

Rendezvous Outfitters in the North Cascades community of Winthrop offers hut-to-hot crosscountry skiing in the Methow Valley. For information, call (800) 682-5787 or (509) 996-2148.

Groomed cross-country ski trails are available this year in the North Cascades National Park at Stehekin, at the northern head of Lake Chelan.

The North Cascades Stehekin Lodge is now open year-round, but the lodge and the community remain accessible only by boat or floatplane. For information about the lodge, call (509) 682-4494.

More ski stuff: World champion freestyle skier Lauralee Bowie is bringing her Ski Adventures Camp to Lake Louise, in Alberta, this winter.

The clinics, for women only or mixed groups, are intended to sharpen the techniques of students while developing their confidence to ski in any conditions.

Three-day packages, which run through April 9 and include accommodations at Chateau Lake Louise, are approximately $365 (U.S.) per person. For information, call (800) 341-1888.

The annual slalom snowboard races at Mount Baker are Friday through Sunday. Slalom gates are set on alternating walls of the halfpipe, so racers actually ride up the walls to race around the gates. For information, call (360) 734-6771.

Ahoy, maties: Rosario Resort, on Orcas Island in the San Juans, is hosting a smuggler’s weekend next weekend. Festivities include the arrival of the tall ship Lady Washington, a food fair and carnival, Super Bowl party and costume ball with dinner and dancing.

The cost is $135 per person, based on double occupancy, and includes one night’s accommodation. For reservations, call (800) 562-8820 or (360) 376-2222.

Short takes: Bits and pieces from around the Northwest:

The annual Ground Hog Feed (typically, about 2,800 pounds of pork sausage are consumed) is Feb. 4 in Tonasket; call (509) 486-2760.

Good news for visitors this summer to Glacier National Park; the Park Service now says that closures for improvements to Going-to-the-Sun Road will occur at night, not during daylight hours.

Repairs to parts of the 70-year-old road are scheduled to begin July 5; the road will be closed in the vicinity of Logan Pass from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., seven days a week.

Whale watch week along the Oregon coast is March 18-25 and the state of Oregon is looking for volunteer whale watchers, who will need to be trained beforehand. for information, call Mike Rivers at (503) 563-2002.

January 31 is the deadline for early booking discounts on 11-day cruise/tours offered by Gray Line of Alaska. The tours, May 12 through Sept. 15, include a week’s cruise along the Inside Passage and a rail trip to Denali National Park; prices begin at $975 per person, based on double occupancy. For more information, see a travel agent or call ((206) 281-3535.

Bring money: Triple Creek Ranch, near Darby, Mont., is offering guests daily snowmobile trips into the Bitterroot National Forest through Feb. 20. Rates at this deluxe ranch range from $495 to $695 per couple, per night (no, those numbers are not typographical errors). For information, call (406) 821-4664.

MEMO: Send information about travel opportunities around the Pacific Northwest to: Travel Editor, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.