Jetsettersblog

Baobab Expeditions
CONTACT: Richard Pfaeffli
TEL: 303 260 6489
: enquiries@baobabexpeditions.com
www.baobabexpeditions.com

DENVER, Colo.—Skiing season is approaching and Baobab Expeditions, a company that specializes in taking modern-day explorers on expeditions around the world, offers customized skiing and snowboarding vacations for winter sport enthusiasts of all skill levels. In addition to offering hassle-free trip planning with seamless high-end service, Baobab offers private multi-country winter sport journeys that can include private air transportation and luxury accommodation in destinations throughout Europe, Canada, and the US.

These ski expeditions take visitors to some of the most renowned winter sport destinations in Europe, Canada, and the US such as St. Anton, Lech Zürs, Kitzbühel, Chamonix, Megève, Alta Badia, Bormio, Cortina, Grindelwald, St. Moritz, Zermatt, Banff, Tremblant, Whistler, Aspen, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Telluride, and Vail. Visitors can choose from a selection of notable luxury hotels while enjoying the distinctive après-ski cultures. Ideal snow, lots of sunshine, and an extensive selection of terrain make these vacations ideal for both beginners and expert skiers alike. People can also choose from a wide range of activities including ski-tours, parapenting, ski-doos, cross-country skiing, heliskiing, and sky diving. Baobab offers several different types of expeditions: Traditional, Multi-Resort, Guided, Specialist, and Eco-Camp.

Traditional

Seasoned skiers and snowboarders are always on the lookout for new and undiscovered terrain, and the traditional trips give them the opportunity to discover everything from extreme vertical powder, or gentle rolling slopes. Whatever the ability level, there is a traditional ski holiday available.

Multi-Resort

Baobab’s expert guides escort skiers from resort to resort by plane, helicopter, train, or 4×4 people carriers. This option is ideal for vacationers who crave the diversity of visiting several world-renowned ski destinations in a period of a week or two. Baobab ensures that transfers are as comfortable and as speedy as possible, so that visitors can spend more time on the slopes.

Guided

This option insures that an expert guide goes along for the ride to make skiers as comfortable as possible. Not only are the experts on the snow with specific knowledge about skiing in the destinations, but they can tell travelers where to go, eat, sleep, sightsee, and they will even help with equipment rentals.

Specialist

More travelers are looking to fulfill dreams and experience the remoteness and beauty of the mountains; coupled with the thrill of carving out original tracks across fresh, virgin expanses of mountainside. Baobab offers exhilarating heliskiing, freeride/backcountry, ski touring, or snowshoeing expeditions. There is nothing more exciting than pushing past personal boundaries.

Eco-Camp

Winner of the 2005 Responsible Tourism Awards for Innovation, the eco-camp Whitepod is not just another hotel, but an unforgettable mountain experience. These distinctive pods are pitched around a central chalet, offering all of the services of a hotel in an unprecedented atmosphere. Far from the crowds and boasting the highest standard of style, comfort, and service, Whitepod offers a truly unique accommodation experience. Inspired by the desire to create a haven of beauty and tranquillity, Whitepod is ideal for those seeking to restore tired bodies and jaded spirits. Dine on delicious, yet traditional foods carefully prepared by the resident chef; playfully engage in the myriad activities on offer with the experienced guides; luxuriate to a deep tissue massage at the on-site Spa; and rejuvenate with a peaceful night’s sleep in your very own white pod.

For more information about Baobab Expeditions ski vacations, visit the website at www.baobabexpeditions,com  or contact Richard Pfaeffli at 303 260 6489.

Designed for the world’s most passionate powder skiers and snowboarders

GOLDEN, British Columbia – Rivaling the luxury of chartering a spaceship to the moon, buying a personal robot or a fire engine red Ferrari, is a season ski pass worthy of the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalogue. For $100,000, passionate skiers and snowboarders can purchase a pass that provides season long access to the world’s most expensive powder experience. The Platinum Heli-Skiing Season Pass, just launched by Great Canadian Heli-Skiing (GCH), offers skiing aficionados unlimited vertical access to the best powder skiing in the world.

This winter season, owners of the pass will have the luxury to choose to ski every day in the heart of the world’s premiere heli-skiing belt, British Columbia’s Interior Mountains. Passholders will have a personal powder concierge to keep them up-to-date with conditions and forecasts, and to assist in the pursuit of a perfect powder day – the choice is whether to heli-ski everyday or only on select days. For the entire heli-skiing season, December 26 to March 28, and even during the sold out peak season of February, this exclusive ski pass surpasses all heli-skiing bookings and guarantees a seat on one of GCH’s powerful A-Star B2 Helicopters every day.

Sounds good but you can’t spend everyday heli-skiing this winter? Or maybe looking for something a little more affordable? Then you might be interested in a Bronze, Silver or Gold Season Pass, ranging from $13,000 for eight days to $70,000 for 48 days.

 These passes also allow you to book last minute and offer the flexibility of shorter duration trips but multiple visits during the same season. Each Season Pass will offer additional perks when booking rooms as well as “front of the line service” on repeat visits. GCH also offers two- to six- day heli-ski tour packages, ranging from $2,786 to $10,309. All packages include the most unlimited guaranteed vertical access and smallest groups in the heli-skiing industry – an unheard of 4:1 guest to guide ratio.

“The Platimum Heli Season Pass was designed for our more serious skier who felt a single heli-skiing holiday was simply not enough,” said Greg Porter proprietor of Great Canadian Heli-Skiing. “This unique pass will make multiple heli-skiing holidays simpler for international visitors and single-day trips an option for locals and Albertan skiers.”

Group/Corporate Heli-Skiing Season Passes are also available for companies, friends and families. Whether a family of four, a group of eight college buddies, or a successful company showing its appreciation to its clients and employees, a Group/Corporate Heli-Skiing Season Pass will offer some of the most memorable moments that the ski tradition can offer.

So what kind of skier would buy the Platinum Pass? “An international man of leisure” jokes Porter. “A Heli-Skiing Season Pass is a lifestyle; it defines and expresses who we are. There are only an elite few for whom the Platinum Season Pass could be reality, however we have already sold Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Corporate/Group Season Passes, and Silver and Bronze Personal Season Passes this season.”

For more information on the new Platinum Season Heli-Skiing Pass or other season passes, call 866-424-4354 or visit www.canadianheli-skiing.com.

Great Canadian Heli-Skiing is located between Golden and Revelstoke BC in the heart of the world’s heli-skiing belt. The company offers helicopter assisted guided skiing in the wilderness mountains of the Purcell and Selkirk Ranges.

 In 1988 Great Canadian Heli-Skiing pioneered small group heli-skiing and honors this tradition of service to this day with innovative offerings of unlimited vertical and season passes. Great Canadian Heli-Skiing and its guests are truly one of a kind.

Whistler Blackcomb received over 5 centimetres of snow in the alpine overnight making Whistlerites wonder if Mother Nature forgot a season. The first day of fall, Whistler Blackcomb mountain tops are covered with at least six centimetres of snow. With 65 days until the winter ski season and 79 days until the opening of the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola on December 12, the countdown is on.

“It’s so exciting to see snow in the alpine this time of year,” says Stuart Rempel, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Whistler Blackcomb. “The excitement and anticipation of winter really starts to build and the first significant snowfall in the alpine sends the excitement level through the roof. It jogs people’s memory of how great last season was and everyone gets stoked for the season ahead.”

The Whistler Blackcomb snowmaking department has been busy preparing the snowmaking fleet over the past couple of weeks. More than 260 snow guns have been readied for when the temperature drops to minus 2 degrees Celsius. With the forecast turning cooler, the snow guns are now set to blast snow to complement Mother Nature’s efforts.

There are lots of ways to prepare for the upcoming winter season including buying new gear, and taking advantage of some early booking incentives for passes and accommodation in Whistler.

• The Whistler Blackcomb early booking packages offer the best deal of the season. Book your winter package by November 15 and save up to 30 per cent off accommodation and lift tickets. Families can save even more, as kids 12 and under can stay, ski & rent and get airport transfers for free. Details can be found at

www.whistlerblackcomb.com/deals_packages/packages/earlybooking.

• Season passes and EDGE Cards are on sale at early bird rates until Oct 13 for season passes and November 21 for EDGE Cards. Visit www.whistlerblackcomb.com/tickets for more information.

• Whistler Blackcomb’s Turkey Sale, offering up to 70 per cent off all ski and snowboard related gear, is happening October 10-13.

www.whistlerblackcomb.com/todo/events/detail/turkey_sale 

The official Whistler Blackcomb Snow Report recording will begin for the season in November but keep your eyes peeled on whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/cams for the current mountain weather status.

The Lonely Planet imprint is synonymous with all that is hip and groovy in the travel world, so we’re thrilled to report that Canada has made the list of the Top 10 Countries for 2009 in LP’s Best in Travel: 2009 -

756 of the World’s Hottest Trends, Destinations, Journeys, and Experiences , arriving in bookstores in October.

Which means that Canada’s mountains, lakes, coffee shops and cultural festivals will soon be overrun by earnest, cool-hunting hipsters who literally hang on every word and to-do list which the influential Australian publishing company produces each year.

But, don’t take it from us. Here’s what the LP editors had to say: “Canada is too polite to say so, but it’s ready to be fêted.

Winter or summer, Canada is a land of action, with an insane amount of terrain to play on.”

Can’t-miss cultural festivals include the world-famous Festival de International de Jazz de Montreal in Quebec, not to mention the Ford World Men’s Curling Championships next April in Moncton, NB, and the rootin’ tootin’ Calgary Stampede in Alberta.

And after they’re done with our fair country, where will the backpack-toting hordes be heading next?

Off to Oman, Rwanda, Georgia (the one that borders Russia, not Florida), Bangladesh, and Kyrgyzstan, with stopovers in Greenland and Peru.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com

www.canada.travel

Official Opening December 12, 2008

Whistler Blackcomb’s PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola will officially open to the public December 12, 2008. This engineering marvel is set to become a new Canadian tourism icon, and will forever revolutionize the way visitors experience this four-season resort.

“This spring we had to move massive amounts of snow so it was a slow start but we have been able to stay on track with each construction phase,” says Rick Temple, PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola Construction Manager. “To be at this point in construction at this time is unheard of. Typically for a lift installation you are fighting the weather in November to get things done. However due to the incredible work by everyone involved we are ahead of schedule. We are very excited to have our official opening day announced and are looking forward to the day when our guests can experience this gondola.”

The arrival of 28 Sky Cabins, including two with glass floors, and the completion of the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola ropework has set the stage for what will be the biggest construction milestone of the lift installation – the first Sky Cabin to cross the record-breaking 3 kilometre/1.88 mile, unsupported span between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.

Through October and November load testing will take place as well as evacuation training and simulations, and operator training. The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola will also be examined by the British Columbia Safety Authority through their Passenger Ropeways Safety Program which regulates the safety of lifts.

“There is always a ton of anticipation for the winter season and being able to announce the official opening for the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola gives our guests something else to look forward to this winter, a definitive date to mark on their calendars,” says Dave Brownlie President and Chief Operating Officer of Whistler Blackcomb. “We know that on December 12, the way our guests use Whistler Blackcomb will be changed forever and we are extremely excited for that day to come.”

Construction progress of the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola is captured daily via webcams, and weekly via photography and construction blogs on the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola microsite at www.whistlerblackcomb.com.

Canada remains a favourite for families looking for a great skiing or snowboarding holiday and there is still the opportunity to travel this season, with there even being some accommodation available for the February half term and Easter school holidays.

Families will find Canada an ideal destination, with resorts such as Big White, Panorama and Tremblant well suited for those with children.

These resorts, along with a number of others across the country, offer a great welcome, compact purpose-built villages, as well as excellent facilities for learning and improving skiing and snowboarding skills.

Accommodation is of a high standard, as is service in restaurants and on the hill. Canada makes a great location for learning to ski or snowboard, with high class tuition in an English speaking environment.

With February half term and the Easter holidays always being very popular travel dates for families the fact that there is still some availablilty during these times means Canada could be the answer for anyone looking for a superb skiing and snowboarding destination at any time this season.

Frontier Ski:

020 8776 8709;

www.frontier-ski.co.uk

Magnificent wildlife, historic towns, legendary wilderness—Alaska and the Yukon offer so much to enjoy. And by going deeper into the interior with Holland America’s cruisetours, you see and do even more in the region’s premier parks.

We’ve been preparing for your visit for more than 60 years with vacations that surpass all others for content, luxurious transportation, excellent hotels and inns and attentive tour director services. We offer a range of unique activities at each remarkable destination, and many of our cruisetour itineraries include leisurely two-night stays. Perhaps most important, group sizes are limited so you enjoy a truly intimate experience that we call “Your Personal Wilderness.”

11- to 15-Day Great Land Klondike CruiseTours (1-6) from $1,599*

Visit Denali, Dawson City/Tombstone, the Yukon River and Glacier Bay or Tracy Arm. Options add time at Denali and Kluane plus the exclusive White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad from Carcross to historic Lake Bennett.

10- to 13-Day Great Land Wilderness CruiseTours (7-10) from $1,499*

Affordable cruisetours visiting Denali, Fairbanks, the Alaska Highway and Glacier Bay or Tracy Arm. Options add extra time in Denali and Kluane.

11- to 20-Day Glacier Discovery CruiseTours (11-29) from $1,199*

Includes 7 days of cruising featuring Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier plus land travel to Denali. Options add Kenai Fjords cruising, Alyeska, the Arctic or Homer.

Budget Truck Rental will offer customers who book a one-way Budget Truck rental online and pay for it with any American Express Card a $50 American Express branded reward card. Budget Truck Rental’s fleet includes cargo vans, 10-foot trucks, 16-foot trucks with ramps, 16-foot trucks with lift gates and 24-foot trucks. All trucks feature automatic transmissions and have free 24/7 roadside assistance.

For more information, visit www.budgettruck.com/get50

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - For the second consecutive year, the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks, AK, will host the 2009 U.S. Distance Cross Country Championships at Birch Hill the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association

The event will hold the final 30 and 50k events prior to Olympic selection events beginning. The entire U.S. Cross Country Ski Team is expected to compete and will feature World Cup winner and native Alaskan Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK) as well as Olympians Chris Cook (Rhinelander, WI), Kris Freeman (Andover, NH), Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA) and Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT).

“The Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks race organization has earned an outstanding reputation for putting on events,” said USSA Nordic Program Director John Farra. “They did a great job this year, and we are looking forward to another great championship series in Fairbanks. The snow and the weather were perfect this year, and we expect the same in 2009.”

The event, which will take place at the Birch Hill Recreation Area five minutes from Fairbanks, will also be a part of the Tour of the Golden Heart ski festival. The event includes two days of competition from the nation’s best distance cross country skiers on Birch Hill’s 30k of groomed trails.

The NCSF, which hosted the 1977, 1995 and 2003 Junior Olympics and a FIS Men’s Cross Country World Cup in 1984, is excited to be a part of the national event again.

“Racing is just a part of what the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks does, and we do it very well,” NSCF President Dan Johnson said. “We are thrilled to have the U.S. Ski Team coming to town for a visit, and excited to have the opportunity to host another set of National Championship events at Birch Hill.”

2009 U.S. Distance Cross Country Championships Schedule:

March 27 - Women 15km Pursuit, Men 30km Pursuit
March 29 - Women 30km Classic, Men 50km Classic marathons

Air Canada intends to begin offering live Internet service in flight starting next spring under an agreement with Aircell. Air Canada intends to begin operating Gogo by spring 2009 aboard Airbus A319 aircraft on select flights to the U.S. West Coast and will be accessible by customers with a standard, Wi-Fi equipped laptop or Personal Electronic Device (PED). Initially, the Gogo system will be powered by Aircell’s existing network and only available in the U.S. in order to make Air Canada’s rollout fast, economical and simple.

Upon successful completion of the initial phase, Air Canada plans to extend the system throughout its North American and international markets as Aircell’s coverage network expands. Aircell looks forward to the licensing and rollout of a Canadian Air-to-Ground network to make Gogo available in Canada and facilitate Air Canada’s future fleet-wide deployment.

For more information, visit www.aircell.com