Free Republic

It has been almost a month and a half since the Obama family returned from 10 days in Oahu. With all the breastfeeding advice she's been giving out lately, an exhausted First Lady is long overdue for some R & R. Relinquishing her role as tireless workaholic, Michelle decided to revisit last year's mother/daughter ski trip to the Ski Liberty Resort in Carroll Valley, Pennsylvania. Only this year, the Obama women have taken to the slopes in Vail, Colorado on a "private family trip" accompanied by "several close friends." When unveiling his budget, Michelle's husband reminded Americans, "Everybody's going to...

Michelle Obama in Vail for weekendRandy Wyrick Friday, February 18, 2011 VAIL, Colorado — First lady Michelle Obama is among the Presidents Day weekend crowd. Obama arrived Friday night for a weekend of skiing in Vail and Beaver Creek, according to local sources. A motorcade of about a dozen vehicles, including 15 state and local law enforcement officers, traveled from the Eagle County Regional Airport to Vail on Friday night, according to the Colorado State Patrol. Roads were temporarily blocked to make way for the motorcade in Eagle. The motorcade entered an underground garage beneath the Sebastian hotel in Vail...

Well, here's something that's going on right now. Apparently Robb Atkinson, and a bunch of other skiers were on Sugarloaf in Maine this morning when the skilift "dropped 20 or 30 feet" and stalled around 10AM. Stuck on a lift in freezing temperatures for hours on end, Mr. Atkinson did what anyone would do in that situation - he called CNN, where they are covering the event live. If you're addicted to live crises, or just sitting in your office this week without much to do, the live video is right below... Prayers up for those injured and/or stranded at...

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine -- An official at Maine's Sugarloaf ski area says there injuries following a ski lift accident at the Carrabassett Valley resort. Sugarloaf spokesman Ethan Austin calls the accident "a big deal." Austin says one of the resort's ski lifts derailed and five chairs came down.

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. -- A Georgia man has been charged with misdemeanor child abuse for allegedly punching a 14-year-old girl in the face after she ran into his young son at Colorado's Beaver Creek Ski Resort. Forty-one-year-old Scott Filler of Decatur allegedly hit the girl after she bumped into his 4-year-old son Friday. There was no answer at a telephone number listed for Filler

What's next? Pat-downs at the church confessional? As travelers rightfully fret over excessive groping in airport security lines, it now seems skiers and snowboarders are subject to this growing game of pat-down. New policies at several Colorado ski resorts also are placing uniformed police in visible and active roles to curb excess in the very places that otherwise go out of their way to cater to excess. The most extreme example? Those waiting to board Steamboat Springs' gondola first must submit to police pat-downs, according to 5280 magazine's Kelly Bastone. Skiers and snowboarders "must unzip, de-layer, and turn out their...

But now the Washington Examiner reports that Rick spent $40,000 on a super-posh event in Colorado ski country, around the same time Boucher became the floor manager for an important telecommunications bill. Of course, it's a complete coincidence that Boucher's PAC raised 5 times more money than it ever had from companies like Dish Network, DirecTV, Comcast, GoDaddy, T-Mobile and AT&T - all firms that have a vested interest in legislation before Boucher's subcommittee.

Boucher's leadership PAC, the Committee for Southwest Virginia, has spent something north of $40,000 this cycle for lodging, catering, airfare and car rental for what appear to be late-winter jaunts to the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa in Avon, Colo. There appear to have been two trips, apparently fundraisers, taken in early 2009 and 2010. (Boucher's campaign spokeswoman did not respond to my inquiries in time for publication.) The combined hotel bill at the Westin is $36,000. Catering from Chef De Cuisine Epicurean Services, the Juniper Restaurant in nearby Edwards, and Vail Catering Concepts, cost $4,100. Politicians use leadership PACs...

Our prayers to Edd and Nina, as well as all the entire Hendee family, on the loss of their son, Edd Jr. A Connecticut man died on Saturday after he hit a tree while skiing on Stratton Mountain, according to the Winhall Police Department. Edd K. Hendee, 33, of Riverside, Conn., was pronounced dead around noon on Saturday, police said. Winhall Police Sgt. Thomas Crowe said Hendee had been on the mountain skiing with a friend. Around 11 a.m., Hendee took the North American Trail. The trail is rated for experts, but Hendee’s family and friends told police he was...

<p>Some ski areas do a snow job on skiers -- exaggerating weekend snowfalls to get schussers to come on down, a study found.</p>

Citing strained food and fuel supplies because of rough weather and tough road conditions, San Bernardino County officials Sunday evening closed visitors' access to the Big Bear Valley. "It's been very difficult, if not impossible, for fuel trucks to get up the mountain and for trucks carrying food to get up to grocery stores," said David Wert, spokesman for San Bernardino County. "The gas stations are running out of gas, and the grocery stores are running out of food." The closure comes at the peak of ski season and is a blow to local businesses and resorts that rely on...

WASHINGTON - The Obama White House rushed Thursday to defend a top counterterror official who went on a ski vacation for six days after an alleged Al Qaeda bomber attempted to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day....Leiter "took six days of annual leave after the event," and did so "only after explicit consultations with both the White House and the Director of National Intelligence"

WASHINGTON - The top official in charge of analyzing terror threats did not cut short his ski vacation after the underwear bomber nearly blew up an airliner on Christmas Day, the Daily News has learned. Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center since 2007, decided not to return to his agency's "bat cave" nerve center in McLean, Va., until several days after Christmas, two U.S. officials said. "People have been grumbling that he didn't let a little terrorism interrupt his vacation," said one of the sources. The NCTC, the post-9/11 clearinghouse for intelligence to detect terror plots against the...

<p>DENVER – The Colorado ski town of Breckenridge has voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana.</p> <p>Early returns Tuesday night showed the proposal winning with 72 percent of the vote.</p>

- Resort Opening Earlier Than Ever Before - The 2009-2010 season at the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort is underway, the earliest the resort has ever been open. Unseasonably cold nighttime temperatures and aggressive snowmaking efforts have produced snow on Chair Three, Rabbit Peak, the only lift and trail scheduled to open. “There are many skiers and snowboarders who love to jib on our freestyle terrain features, and we expect many families to take advantage of this great opportunity to learn the sport and have fun so early in the season,” said Base Operations Manager Craig Baldwin. * snip...

The snow is flying across the portions of the Colorado Rockies above 6,500 feet. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for tonight into Wednesday afternoon. Snowfall

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., March 30, 2009 – Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki opened the 23rd annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here last night, encouraging more than 400 participants he said had found their way “to the top of the mountain in search of miracles.” Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, center, chats with participants in the 23rd annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic at Snowmass Village, Colo., during a March 29, 2009, “Taste of Aspen” celebration that kicked off the six-day event. Among participating veterans are, left, retired Army Cpl. Allen Babin, an 82nd Airborne...

more than 400 severely injured veterans – 34 of whom hail from Colorado – will take part in the 23rd National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic from March 29 through April 3. It is the largest adaptive event of its kind in the world. Hosted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and co-sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), the clinic teaches veterans with disabilities in adaptive alpine and Nordic skiing, and introduces them to a number of other adaptive recreational activities and sports. It’s open to U.S. military veterans with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic...

Friday, March 27, 2009 Print ShareThisCanadian extreme skier and base jumper, Shane McConkey, died Thursday following a ski-base accident that ocurred while filming his latest movie in Italy, the Inquisitr reported. McConkey, 39, experienced problems in the air after jumping off of a cliff in the expectation that he would be able to detach his skis and deploy his parachute, thus enabling him to glide safely to the ground, according to the Inquisitr. According to a witness, one of McConkey's skis failed to detach causing him to spin out of control and ultimately prevented him from deploying his parachute, the...

Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson was killed by a blunt trauma to the head and her death was ruled an accident, the city Medical Examiner reported Thursday. Richardson sustained an epidermal hematoma - a blood clot that forms upon impact and starts growing between the brain and the skull - after wiping out Monday on the bunny slope while skiing at a Canadian resort. "This is a very treatable condition if you're aware of what the problem is and the patient is quickly transferred to a hospital," Dr. Keith Siller of New York University Langone Medical Center said. "But there is...