Wintering Heights

Après-Ski: Where The Nights Are Hot

Andre's, Aspen, Colorado: Recently, this Aspen institution turned away Don Johnson: There was no room in the step-up booths that the likes of Jack Nicholson, Sally Field and Buddy Hackett rent to ensure that they have a table among the throngs. Also for rent is an old elevator cage that serves as a booth. On snowy nights, Andre opens the huge skylight over the dance floor, dims the lights and turns on the strobes, and everyone rocks in a silver shower. At the champagne bar, the status order is a magnum of Cristal for $360. Drink up.

The Cowboy Bar, Jackson Hole, Wyoming: Saddles for barstools. Country-rock bands and a dance floor. Pecos Bill decor: a stuffed grizzly, two mountain lions and a bighorn sheep attacked by a timber wolf. Steer horns decorate one wall, and the vast bar has 600 silver dollars embedded in it. (Don't try to dig one out.) Admire the two $75,000 saddles. Eat cowboy-fryer or hot Mexican cuisine. Appearing daily out front are two or three live moose.

The Matterhorn, Stowe, Vermont: Mecca for après-ski-ers. Saint Patrick's Day is a ritual: Get a shamrock painted on your forehead, wear silly clothes and dance to Irish tunes. For a temporary respite from the frivolity, seek out the fireplace lounge or slipaway to the big deck built over a mountain stream. The Matterhorn is the favorite hangout for ski patrollers, instructors and Stowe bunnies and bums.

Snake River Saloon, Keystone/Arapahoe, Colorado: Where else do the bartenders spout a mouthful of brandy at the ceiling, ignite it and turn themselves into human blowtorches? (Kids, don't try this trick at home.) Don't mistake Alphonse, the giant Texas-steer head mounted above the piano, for a moose, as one Manhattanite did. Just saunter through the swinging doors and--if it's the annual Rites of Spring party that's a real bash--be sure to wear your bathing suit.

The Wobbly Barn, Killington, Vermont: The Barn jumps all winter to thumps of Fifties and Sixties rock. Revelers waiting to boogie stand in lines that snake out the door.

Five Tough, Terrifying and Slightly Terrific Ski Runs

Sheet ice, jumbo moguls and deep powder up to your ears--this quintet of rugged slopes takes no prisoners.

Al's Run, Taos, New Mexico: Even former world-class ski racers are awed by the steep slopes chockablock with unavoidable moguls. Honorable mention goes to the shorter but no less radical Stauffenberg, an avalanche couloir with a straight-down plummet. Yeeeeh! Ha!

Dave's Run, the Cornice, Mammoth Mountain, California: Snow piled at the top vaults you into the air--and you had better land standing. The run to the bottom is so steep you can barely turn, and it's a long way down on your back--as some can attest.

Outer Limits, Killington, Vermont: Monster moguls and a pitch of up to 62 degrees makes O.L. the steepest run in the East--one that's guaranteed to separate the men from the boys.

Spiral Stairs, Telluride, Colorado: Down and down it goes--3155 vertical feet. Round and round it goes--70-degree pitch at its steepest, with behemoth moguls that add insult to injured pride and aching muscles.

(Honorable mention has to go to Telluride's The Plunge, a close second to Spiral Stairs but a hair whitener in its own right.)

The Starr, Stowe, Vermont: Like a huge skating rink turned vertical. Sheet ice at the top, then a terrifying drop so steep, machines can't groom it. Truly the home of the brave. Only the strong survive.

Kings of the Mountains: The Best U.S. Ski Hotels

Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colorado: At Aspen's haute-Victorian, weathered-brick Hotel Jerome, the 94 rooms and suites are furnished with antiques, art objects, plants, velvets and silks. Each Carrara-marble bathroom comes with a fresh flower in a crystal stem vase. Other amenities: whirlpool baths in the suites, a year-round pool and hot tub, a health spa and a concierge. The French cuisine at the Jerome's Silver Queen Restaurant is prepared by the former chef to the king of Jordan. The Hotel Jerome is Aspen, old and new. Aspen's famous Hotel Jerome, above, is as elegant and as hospitable as it is historical.

Cliff Lodge, Snowbird, Utah: Ultramodern glass and concrete, the huge Cliff Lodge has just expanded to 532 guest rooms, with an 11-story atrium backed by rocky peaks. Whatever you want, the Cliff provides, including a two-floor health spa with volcanic-ash, "parafango" treatments for ski-sore muscles, a rooftop-aerie gourmet restaurant, plus four other eateries and lounges, an art gallery and on-ski access to the slopes.

Stein Eriksen Lodge, Deer Valley, Utah: Midway up the mountain, namesake of the legendary Scandinavian ski champion, this 120-room lodge blends Norwegian rustic decor with such upscale services as a resident masseuse and heated sidewalks. Suites have hot tubs, fireplaces and kitchens that the concierge will gladly stock to your requests. For a quick trip to nearby Salt Lake City, reserve a helicopter.

Gear For Sheer Fun: A Few of Winter's Toys

Energy! That's what a select group of products is bringing to the slopes this season. Whether it's a burst of speed from sleek, high-tech ski boots, Dynafit's 3F Comp S (above), $350, a fast-paced workout on the SnoBound'r Alpine Ski Trainer, an angled, minitrampoline exerciser, from Fitness Master, $300, or Precor's 515e cross-country ski machine, an allround, adjustable, aerobic conditioner that employs every major muscle group from the neck to the toes in a cardiovascular workout without shock or pounding to the body, $650, toys of winter create an energy all their own. Salomon's Voyageur Bag, a multipocketed four-wheeled wonder, stores and transports all the essentials for a trek to the slopes and converts to a backpack when it's time to shoulder the load, $130. When you arrive, The Universal Ski Ticket just might be winter's best bargain. For $32, the credit-card-like ticket entitles the bearer to a day of skiing at more than 130 ski areas in North America and Australia. G'day.

Bruce Williamson's Best Ski Movies

From Garbo in TwoFaced Woman to David Niven and Claudia Cardinale in The Pink Panther, the thrills and spills in ski movies have been largely romantic in nature; a wipe-out meant the lady said no. Here is the best of a heart-stopping, if slushy, selection.

Downhill Racer (1969): Ski buff Robert Redford as a drivingly ambitious Olympic contender learns winning truly is the only thing.

Fire and Ice (1987): A new, dim-witted but razzledazzle fantasy by director/ designer Willy Bogner.

Hot Dog...The Movie (1984): Sex, slaloms and 1982 Playmate of the Year Shannon Tweed at Squaw Valley. Whee!

The Last of the Ski Bums (1969): Frothy, frozen delight from the guys who brought us The Endless Summer.

The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1976): Oscar-winning documentary charts the epic adventure of a Japanese sportsman.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969): George Lazenby, as James Bond, escapes on skis from a mountaintop aerie. Footage is nearly topped by stunt skier Rick Sylvester's plunge off a cliff, with parachute, in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Then came 007 skiing a bobsled run in For Your Eyes Only (1981), plus the downhill cello-case caper in The Living Daylights (1987).

Snow Job (1972): His acting career pretty much began and ended with this film, but France's Olympic superstar Jean-Claude Killy showed the right stuff, nevertheless.

Ski Fever (1969): Unsettled American Martin Milner teaches snow business to Austrian snow bunnies. Watch for real ski champion Toni Sailor, a legend in his own clime.

Schools That Make The Grade

Here's where to get the best degree in schussing. Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado: 700 instructors on staff.

Killington, Vermont: Home of the Accelerated Ski Method.

Keystone/Arapahoe Basin, Colorado: Video feedback. Organized fun.

Ski Racing School, Mammoth Mountain, California: Life in the fast lane.

Snowbird, Utah: For all ages, all ski levels.

Deer Valley, Utah: The Eton of ski schools.

Killer Slopes

Skis Hissing Down a packed-powder run, white peaks jagged against a deep-blue mountain sky. A ski-lodge fire glinting on champagne glasses. Cold weather has a warm heart. So come with us on a special tour of the white season. We'll take you to the sites of the toughest runs and visit the country's best ski hotels, where they really know how to stuff a wild hot tub. Let's go: Snow's up!

The Cold Facts About Snow

Once in a while, it snows red, green, blue or black. Specks of airborne fungi or dust motes cause the phenomenon. But mostly it snows white, which is the ultimate kick: You ski down a slope, sunshine scintillating from snow fields as you inhale crystals--"diamond dust." Snow can be daunting. On April 14, 1921, at Silver Lake, Colorado, more than six feet of snow fell. Snow can be eerie: Snow high in the troposphere forms luminous halos around the sun and the moon. Snow can be fun. The largest snowman ever was hand-built by Dartmouth students in February 1987 as part of the Dartmouth winter carnival. This monstrous snowman was 471/2 feet tall (that's higher than a four-story building) and weighed 183 tons. That's enough white stuff to make 3,000,000 snowballs. Snow can be infinite. In 1931, a Vermont farmer, W. A. "Snowflake" Bentley, published 2500 photographs he had taken of snowflakes. No two were the same.

© 1940, 1968, The New Yorker Magazine, Inc.

Hot Doggery: The Top Stunts on Snow and Ice

Fastest downhill skier: On April 17, 1987, at Les Arcs, France, Englishman Graham Wilkie hit a speed of 132 miles per hour.

Loftiest ski run: In 1978, two Frenchmen, Jean Atanssieff and Nicolas Jaeger, skied down Mount Everest from 26,900 feet to 20,340 feet.

Mass back flip on skis: At Bromont, Quebec, on February 10, 1982, 28 skiers held hands and simultaneously executed a back flip.

Fastest cross-country skier: On March 26, 1981, Bill Koch of the U.S. skied 31.1 miles at Putney, Vermont, in one hour and 59 minutes at an average speed of 15.57 miles per hour.

Fastest hockey player: Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks was clocked at 29.7 mph. Hull also recorded the highest puck speed with a slap shot: 118.3 mph. And he tied for most goals scored with Gordie Howe at more than 1000.

Longest barrel jump on skates: At Terrebonne, Quebec, in 1981, Yvon Jolin cleared 18 barrels for 29'5".

Ski Bucks

Add the North American ski bum to the list of endangered species. While schussing down the continent's slickest slopes for fun and profit may still be the powder hound's ultimate fantasy, pay ranges from skimpy to zilch, and an over-all lack of employment opportunities has rendered the modern-day ski bum all but extinct. The chances of landing a job skiing are slim to none; but for those diehards in need of a powder fix, there are at least two ways to make your living on the slopes. One is The National Ski Patrol System. Twenty-three thousand of the 24,000 members are volunteers. The 1000 others are paid ski patrollers who earn about six to ten dollars per hour for an eight-hour day, five months a year. All must pass a proficiency test that would make a Parris Island Marine say "Uncle." Patrol is for the big guys; the faint of heart need not apply. Besides glamor, the job of ski-school instructor offers lift tickets and relative penury: about $1000 per month, plus tips. Top instructors at major resorts can often earn as much as $3000 per month. Of course, employment is, again, only seasonal, and the training-and-certification program is long and arduous. Waiting on tables or tending bar still may be the ski bum's best recipes for a living wage and plenty of free time on the boards.