Before this weekend, all my best skiing experience had come from either the Alps or the Pacific Northwest (e.g., Whistler, Oregon). I had never skied in the Rockies before. How is skiing in Colorado different from skiing in the Alps? I had to find out.

I am happy to report I just got back from a 5-day "research trip" to Colorado. The highlight of the trip was, of course, skiing Vail. To really generalize, based on skiing only Vail, I would say that skiing the Alps is very comparable to skiing the Rockies in that both have great conditions, extensive slopes, sunny weather. There are, hoverer, some differences that could make or break the deal for some people.

Cost

A one-day Vail ski pass is $92. That is just ridiculously expensive. Not only that, the price is the same whether you start at 8 am or 11 am. All they do is half day, afternoon discounts. Contrast that with Verbier, a comparable mountain in the Swiss Alps. One day ski pass goes for $64 Swiss Francs ($63). Kaprun, a ski resort in Austria, sells their day passes for 35 Euro ($55) for adults and discounts for teenagers and kids. And that's with the Euro being at its all time high.

Greetings from Vail. In case you haven't heard yet, the skiing here is pretty awesome. The season has been the best "anyone can remember", I keep hearing from people.

Sadly, it has also been one with the most recorded deaths. On Friday, a man in Aspen jumped off a cliff and died. Yesterday, a 32-year-old Denver-area man in Vail became the 17th skier or snowboarder to die on the Colorado slopes this season, Denver Post reports. The man died after a skiing incident on an intermediate run called The Wuides in Blue Sky Basin at Vail. I am not sure what happened, all I know from the news that the skier was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. Helmets can only do so much, I guess.

The prior record was tied last weekend when a Kansas man became the 16th death on the slopes. The previous record for deaths was 16, set in the 2001-2002 season. And there's still great snow and skiing here until at least April 13th...let's hope that's it for fatal accidents this year.

Be safe out there. The bottom areas get icy. More on that later. I'm kinda busy conducting "apres ski" research right now.

Photo: Sweet and Bitter

Top 10 Ski Resorts in the World

Did your favorite make the list?

I am in Colorado this weekend. (Stay tuned for a ski dispatch.)

I have to say I was impressed by Colorado the minute I got off the plane. Check out the conveyor belt they have at Denver airport? Yes, they really put skiing first, don't they. Instead of collecting your skis or golf bag at various stages of decomposition at the "over sized baggage claim," you can just collect them right out of the spinning ski conveyor belt.

I have never seen a ski conveyor belt before. Thought I would share. Clearly, I am easily impressed.

Snow season might be winding down, but that's no reason not to start thinking about next year's fresh powder. While you're waiting, why not check out the iPod and iPhone-compatible skiing and snowboarding guides by Podpro? The company offers free downloadable trail maps for a number of the most popular resorts in both the U.S. and Canada.

iPhone users will be pleased to find full maps for more than thirty resorts across the United States and Canada, including top spots like Whistler, Aspen, Snowbird, and Snowmass. What's more, iPhone owners who visit the Podpro website will have access to live updates on current weather and ski conditions as well as a rundown of local lodging options. iPod users don't have quite as many options as their iPhone friends, though they still have access to Podpro's free guides to British Columbia's Whistler resort. Glove fingers crossed that they'll add a few more options in the near future.

Now all you need to figure out is how to avoid dropping your precious Apple device in a snowdrift when you wipe out.

If you are an outdoor aficionado, you may already be familiar with Wend. The outdoor magazine based out of Portland, Oregon fills its pages with stories from around the globe that peak the interest of not only outdoor enthusiasts, but anyone with a wanderlust. The latest issue covers a trip through Iceland, volunteering in Indonesia, trekking Afghanistan and surfing the Great Lakes; that's what I call good reading material.

Being the eco-friendly souls that they are, the Wend crew finally put the magazine online, making all of the articles accessible via your computer. You can still buy the print version, but if you are out traveling -- or just want to save on paper consumption -- the new online version is just as satisfying. And it's free.

Check out the virtual version of the latest issue here. And if you are feeling truly inspired, shoot them an email and pitch a story.

Sure, we've all thought about it and some of us do it often. Getting high on your holiday trip can be pretty fun, in fact. I mean really high, above 11,500 feet (3500 m). Not everything cool is on a beach at sea-level. Ruins in the Andes, trekking in the Himalayas and chasing back country powder are a few things you have to get high, to do. These trips are all "dream vacations," so why risk a problem with altitude sickness?

High altitude is considered to be 1500 - 3500 m (4950 - 11,500 ft) while very high altitude covers 3500 to 5500 m (11,500-18,050 ft). Anything above 5500 m falls into the extreme altitude category. Altitude sickness is not related to physical fitness and can have some deadly consequences, if not recognized and treated promptly.

Accute Mountain Sickness generally includes symptoms of headache, worse at night or during straining, nausea/vomiting and dizziness. The symptoms are often described as a "bad hangover".

Some conditions associated with more severe forms of altitude sickness or AMS (acute mountain sickness) include HACE (high altitude cerebral edema) and HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema). These conditions involve swelling and fluid accumulation in the respective tissues. Swelling of the brain, as seen in HACE, can present as marked stupor and confusion. HAPE, with fluid collecting in the person's lungs, often starts as a cough followed by progressive shortness of breath.

What is going on the roads of Central Europe this week, exactly? On Friday, I blogged about the Czech 100+ car pileup on the country's major highway.

Today, AP reports that 50 to 100 vehicles slammed into each other earlier today in snowfall on an autobahn in western Austria. The accident happened on the westbound A1 autobahn between the towns of Seewalchen and St. Georgen.

Some victims are apparently still trapped in their vehicles because rescue efforts were hampered by snowfall. One person is reported dead, according to Reuters.

When going spring-skiing, watch out for spring-snowstorms. (Optimism aside, it is best to keep those winter tires on through April.)

It has been a great year for skiing. In the US at least. In Europe, it has actually been terrible.

US ski reports are predicting it will be a great spring skiing season as well. According to USA Today, a bunch of resorts are extending their seasons:

In Colorado, three resorts -Purgatory, Monarch and Wolf Creek- have extended their seasons into April, and Arapahoe Basin probably won't close until early June. Oregon's Mount Bachelor is supposed to have the best skiing in years this year and will be open through mid-May. In California, Lake Tahoe has had a lot of snow this year and Alpine Meadows, which stays open well into May, January snowfall was almost double the norm. Great conditions are reported from New Hampshire's Wildcat Mountain Ski Area, as well. The resort won't close until early May.

If you think sledding using a flying saucer is a thrill--I do, the thing can spin, there's a sled out there that adds a whole new experience to winter sports. Mad River Rocket makes maneuverable adventure sleds that help you get a feeling you've turned into Superman. You don't really leap over tall buildings, but flipping, dipping and darting through trees, over ditches, up embankments, down snow covered stairs, human-made hills and naturally formed mountains is on the menu--if it's covered with snow, you're in luck.

Extreme sledding is one of the latest trends that has turned the thrill of childhood into a sport that can send adults hearts' racing. Here's a video to show just what a Mad River Rocket sled can do plus an ABC News article that details its wonder. What isn't shown is how the sled can also be used to tow gear if you're hiking in the winter. The company's Web site details more extreme sled info with loads of photos. [Thanks Davis Cox for the tip!]

On your trip to the slopes for some much needed excitement and adventure, you awake to find fresh powder. Lots of it, too. You begin to head for the runs and realize that in your excitement, you've forgotten your gloves. No matter, you think, I have to get out there! A few hours later, your hands begin to blister and get numb. What do you do?

This is a common situation and one that I have seen happen all too much. The condition is frostbite and it can not only slow down your trip, but can cost you your extremities!

This is a condition where the tissues of the body, generally the fingers and toes, begin to actually freeze. This can cause massive damage to the tissue and sever cases, beside being very painful, can require amputation of necrotic (dead) tissue.

There are two conditions to know, frost nip and frostbite. Frostbite is the worst and most severe form, characterized by destroyed tissue and numbness. Blister formation and muscles damage are also common. Frost nip is less severe and does not destroy the tissues.