March 17, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Around the Region: Spring fling season begins

by Marty Basch/

Both Sunday River and Sugarloaf have $39 midweek lift tickets in March for college students. (photo: Sunday River)

Both Sunday River and Sugarloaf have $39 midweek lift tickets in March for college students. (photo: Sunday River)

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Spring is loaded with wacky events and lift ticket deals.

Find both at Vermont's Bromley.

During Spring Fling weekend March 21-22 lift tickets are $39.

In the Berkshires, Jiminy Peak is holding its Spring Fling March 21 with a new addition: pond skimming. There is also the cardboard box derby, bikini slalom and barbecue.

For those who are a bit more serious, the IFSA Big Mountain Extreme Competition comes to Jay Peak March 21-22. The freestyle event features finals on the challenging The Face where skiers, telemarkers and riders can show their high-flying stuff.

The Helly Hansen Big Mountain Battle is set March 21-22 at Smuggs, where racers use GPS to negotiate mountain checkpoints.

The Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships wrap up at Stratton over the weekend at Sun Bowl. Look for top names likes Shaun White, Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark.

What started as a Boston area social club in the 1930s has graduated to become an alpine competition program with an impressive roster of members. Early members of the Waterville Valley Black and Blue Trail Smashers would make the extended journey to the White Mountains to blaze their own trails for ski racing which left the intrepid competitors with black and blue marks and gave the club its name. To mark the 75th anniversary of the club — which is now a blend of the Waterville Valley Academy and a weekend training program thanks to the direction of two-time Olympian and Waterville Valley Ski Area founder Tom Corcoran — a recognition dinner is scheduled during the March 20-22 anniversary weekend. Current and former U.S. alpine, freestyle and snowboard team members are expected to attend.

Loon Mountain holds the Governor's Cup on March 21 and the zany Cardboard Box Race March 22. The Piche's Invitational runs at Gunstock March 19-21, with Pats Peak holding a pond skimming contest March 21. Drive a hybrid? Get to Cranmore March 21 for the mountain's Biodiesel Day and get a free lift ticket. On-snow golf comes to Attitash March 21.

Save some cash on the slopes. Kids Pay Their Age Days (ages 6 to 18) are scheduled for March 22, March 29 and April 12 at Sunday River. Both Sunday River and Sugarloaf have $39 midweek college student lift tickets in March.

Mount Abram has two-for-one lift tickets March 19. Sunday River is home to the No Bib Jib and 19th Annual Eat the Heat Chili Cook-off and Firefighters Race on March 22. The next day, the USSA Alpine Master's National Championships take to the River through March 28.

The Sugarloaf Ski Marathon, part of the TD Banknorth/New England Nordic Ski Association marathon series, is set for March 22 with 30- and 50-kilometer options.

Youth Enrichment Services (YES), a Boston non-profit organization designed to get children of low-income families into the outdoors, is holding the Massachusetts Snow Challenge at Wachusett in Princeton, Mass., March 21. Register at www.yeskids.org.
 

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