As Baby Boomers cash in their assets and Gen Xers come into their own, the old idea of a vacation is disappearing–especially in the winter. Instead of a beachside chaise longue or a ski-in, ski-out hot tub, more and more vacation travelers are looking for a dose of wilderness and adrenaline when they get time away from work.
“Adventure travel continues to surge ahead as one of the fastest growing sectors of the global travel industry,” says Costas Christ, president of the Adventure Council, an organization dedicated to promoting responsible adventure tourism in wilderness areas around the globe. “In the U.S. alone, 91 million Americans took an outdoor or adventure vacation over the past five years,” he says.
Options for winter adventure travel continue to proliferate, too, so here we list 10 intense get-aways that will do what any adventure should do: Reconnect you to the joys of playing hard in the natural world.
Wilderness ski and snowshoe touring
Purcell Mountain Lodge, Golden, British Columbia
There’s a rash of helicopter ski and snowboard operations in the high, snow-pummeled mountains of British Columbia. Perched on a ridge on the border of Glacier National Park, the Purcell Mountain Lodge is a different experience. The lodge is both green (a hydroelectric system runs off the creek) and gourmet (try a local BC pinot gris). A helicopter ferries guests in, but touring by telemark, alpine and nordic skis, snowboard or snowshoe is all self -propelled. Winter rates run from about $962 U.S. (shared room, three nights, low season) to about $3,005 (one week in chalet room). 250-344-2639; www.purcellmountainlodge.com.
Skiing, snowboarding, and enlightenment
Ski to Live, Utah
Extreme ski goddess Kristen Ulmer’s four-day camps integrate body, mind and spirit on the snow. Mornings begin with yoga sessions followed by skiing or snowboarding–at Snowbird, Alta or Deer Valley–with coaches who develop an internal sense of the mountain. Find introspection during evening dharma talks by a Buddhist teacher whose goal is to take the mystery out of enlightenment. Rates, including meals and lodging, run from $3,390 to $2,039. www.skitolive.com.
Guided backcountry, skiing and snowboarding
Jackson Hole Resort, Wyo.
Jackson’s famed tram is gone. It doesn’t matter. The best skiing here is out the resort gates, which access deep powder fields, cliff bands and pure wild adventure in the majesty of the Tetons. Jackson’s guides are some of the most experienced in the world and know how to both keep you safe and deliver powder secrets. The best part? It’s all lift-accessed. Keep riding up and heading out until your quads are fried. $520 (full day, one to three people) to $310 (p.m. half day, one to three people). 800-450-0477; www.jacksonhole.com.
Dogsledding and wolf-watching
International Wolf Center, Ely, Minn.
Combine Jack London’s two favorite animals (dogs and wolves) on these trips run by Minnesota’s International Wolf Center, a unique organization and center in the North Woods of Minnesota. Its mission is to advance “the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wild lands and the human role in their future.” The center’s Mush With Dogs, Howl With Wolves puts attendees out in the field where they may satisfy their atavistic urges. March 2-4; $350/person. 800-ELY-WOLF; www.wolf.org.
Snow kiting
Grand Bay Kite, Traverse City, Mich.
What could the Midwest have that could possibly compete with the adrenaline of big mountains? Lots of frozen lakes and persistent wind. Those attributes are ideal for kite skiing, which relies upon the wind for the rush. If you have even minimal ski or snowboard ability, you can learn to kite ski during a two-day clinic. By the end of the clinic absolute beginners blossom into core kiters, with all the knowledge to explore their own local frozen tundra. $349/person. 231-929-0607; www.kiteboardingtc.com.
Women’s ice-climbing camps
Chicks With Picks, Ouray, Colo.
If you think ice climbing is only for aloof, grizzled dudes, you haven’t met Kim Reynolds. The high-energy climber runs women-only two-, three-, and four-day clinics that prove that the Y chromosome has no monopoly on the ability to swing an axe and frontpoint a crampon into a frozen waterfall. Five ability levels take the intimidation out of the sport. Ouray’s nifty ice park offers the best training ground in the country. $650-$1,350 (lodging and gear included). 970-626-4424; www.chickswithpicks.net.
Women’s backcountry touring
Turn It Up Women’s Backcountry Yurt Ski Clinic, Driggs, Idaho
Not only did Kit DesLauriers become the first woman to ski Everest last fall; she is the first person to ski the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent. Her women-only three-day backcountry camp is a place for advanced intermediate and better skiers to learn the skills needed to both enjoy wild snow and assess its dangers. Plus, you bunk in a backcountry yurt. March 8–11. $950 (two nights in hotel, two in yurt). 800-X-TEAM70; $950 www.kitdski.com.
Wilderness ice fishing
Golden Eagle Lodge, Minn.
Ice fishing is all too often associated with too much snowmobile exhaust and whiskey. Nothing of the sort at the Golden Eagle Lodge, a wilderness resort nestled on the border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Since there is no motorized travel here, ice anglers snowshoe or ski into pristine wilderness lakes that hold fat trout up to 28 inches and nasty 40-inch Northern pike.Cabins $154–$350/night. 800-346-2203; www.golden-eagle.com.
Backcountry yurts
Never Summer Nordic, Colo.
Colorado’s extensive hut system gets a ton of press. And rightfully so, but this network of yurts, located in the Colorado State Forest State Park, offers an even more intimate experience, since you don’t have to share them with people you don’t know. Each of the seven yurts has a different personality: Dancing Moose is just 1/4 mile in and ideal for families. Ruby Jewel offers sublime backcountry powder skiing. $90/night Monday-Thursday, $110 Friday-Sunday. 970-723-4070; www.neversummernordic.com.
Polar bear photography
Tundra Buggy Tours, Churchill, Manitoba
The Bush administration suggested listing the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. All the more reason to see, photograph and perhaps help protect these awe-inspiring creatures. Tundra buggy tours cart aspiring and pro shutterbugs and nature lovers to watch bears in the wild, where they can safely observe and snap images of the world’s largest land carnivore. Trips run from about $1,617 U.S. for a basic package to about $6,385 for an 11-night excursion with pro photographers. 800-663-9832; www.tundrabuggy.com.
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Adventure travel show in Chicago next weekend
The Adventures in Travel Expo (ATE) is visiting Chicago next weekend with a coterie of 125 exhibitors touting information about vacations with guts.
Here you’ll find everything from the archetypal African safari to learning to drive an Indy race car to philanthropic trips building houses in the Third World.
They may sound like vacations for the Red Bull-swigging youth, but the exhibitors are actually keyed in on travelers from Chicago and its suburbs.
More and more Americans are looking for adrenaline in their vacations: 90 million people took an adventure trip in the past five years, and 31 million of them participated in some intense physical activity like white-water rafting or mountain biking.
“People think this is about 18- to 30-year-old males who drive around in a dirty van and climb up cliffs with no rope,” said John Golicz, the Expo’s organizer and creator, “but the average adventure traveler is actually a 47-year-old woman.”
The show is not just an information session. It’s a hands-on carnival that provides a taste of the trips. A zip line and adventure ropes course like you’d find in the Costa Rican rain forest zoom 30 feet above the show. A cowboy straight off a dude ranch teaches how to rope steers.
There’s a scuba pool with a pro dive instructor, a surf simulator, African dancers and drummers, mountain bike and kayak demonstrations, paintball–even a baby lion cub.
The Adventures in Travel Expo will visit Chicago on Jan. 27–28 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets cost $15 per day for adults (children 16 and under get in free). More details at www.adventureexpo.com or www.adventureus.com.
–Doug Schnitzspahn
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For a video with more about the Adventures in Travel Expo, go to: chicagotribune.com/travel
