Winter Sizzles!
Vacation hot spots the whole clan can enjoy.
by Kara Mayer Robinson

TWEENS & TEENS News December 2007

Wishing you could hibernate for a few months and wake up when the cold weather’s gone? When you head to these nearby vacation places, you’ll quickly change your mind about Old Man Winter.

Mohonk Mountain House
New Paltz, New York
www.mohonk.com
This rugged, outdoorsy resort perched on a cliff overlooking a mountaintop lake in New York’s Hudson Valley is actually a Victorian-era castle that hoity-toity city dwellers used to visit— via horse and carriage— way back in the late 1800s. But don’t let that worry you. There’s plenty going on for 21st-century teens, like miles of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trails, an outdoor ice skating pavilion and an indoor pool with an underwater sound system.

Your folks will love the resort’s family vibe and state-of-the-art spa, offering mineral baths, quartz scrubs and hot stone massages. There’s a teen lounge where you can watch late night movies, play an organized round of Texas Hold ’Em or zone out with a PlayStation 2. The nice thing about having so many activities: It’s easy for family members to split up and do their own thing, including camping out in the Internet room to chat with pals back home. Spread the word, however, that cell phone signals at Mohonk are spotty.

The Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania
www.800poconos.com
If you think Chelsea Piers is the only place for indoor winter fun, think again. Go west to Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains for one of the country’s biggest indoor water parks, located inside the newly built Great Wolf Lodge in Scotrun (www.greatwolf.com). Here you’ll find 91,000 square feet of pure entertainment, including a mega water park, arcade, spa and fitness room. Though the crowds can get pretty thick, the 11 water slides, six pools and treehouse waterfort are well worth navigating the tourists.

Next, head to Big Boulder Park (www.jfbb.com) for snowboarding, tubing and skiing. This ski area boasts terrain parks on 50 percent of its property, which translates into dozens of rails and boxes to hit on skis or boards. Even if it’s unseasonably warm, you can count on Big Boulder being open; it’s got top snow-making technology. Skiers can also enjoy the sister slopes at Jack Frost, just a few miles down the road, where decent elevations and runs abound.

Fairfield County, Connecticut
www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com
If you want a quick overnight trip, hop a train to Connecticut. What’s waiting for you there? The country’s only two-tier ice rink, for starters. The double-decker ice palace is just one part of the massive and totally cutting edge Sports Center of Connecticut (www.sportscenterct.com), which is located in Shelton. Visitors easily fill a day or two in the laser tag center, bowling alley and fully-stocked game room. Check out Friday night teen skate, saturated with laser lights, fog and tunes.

Need help convincing your parents? Mention these features: heated driving range (Dad can hit golf balls into the snow), wireless Internet café (Mom can go online), and mini bowling lanes with bumpers (little sister can bowl like a pro). Save an hour for the nearby CRRA Garbage Museum (www.crra.org) to tour a two-story recycling facility where zillions of bottles, newspapers and soda cans are collected, sorted, smashed and shipped to factories. The factories then convert the trash into new products. Stay overnight at any of the area’s numerous chain hotels.

Montreal, Canada
www.tourisme-montreal.org
Winter’s cold in Canada. And that’s just the way you’ll want it when you cross the border into Montreal’s winter wonderland. Picture this: over 1,000 parks and playgrounds, many coated with snow and ice.

Mount Royal is the city’s highest peak, where you’ll find a ginormous refrigerated outdoor skating rink, hills upon hills of tobogganing possibilities and miles of cross-country ski trails. If you visit in late January or early February, be sure to take the metro under the St. Lawrence River to Parc Jean-Drapeau. Here, the city celebrates its annual snow festival with tube sliding, ice skating, winter games and shows. Got a hankering for warmth? Spend a few hours at the Haunted House (maisonhantee.qc.ca), enticing teens to dine in sheer terror— thanks to some ghostly entertainers. For family time, stroll the city’s Euro-style neighborhoods like Outremont and Rue Dennis. Pop into a French café for piping hot chocolate and a toasty pain au chocolat, aka a chocolate croissant. Shop the late afternoon away in Montreal’s fabulously trendy boutiques.

Vermont Ski Areas
www.skivermont.com
Where’s the best skiing east of Colorado? Vermont! With a multitude of mountain peaks that reach over 2,000 feet skyward, Vermont has all kinds of adventures, like a Ski Vermont Nordic Quest. This is basically a ski lover’s answer to scavenger hunts, prompting visitors to strap on a pair of cross-country skis and follow poem-like clues en route to a hidden treasure. There are about a dozen quests to conquer and as long as you’re up for the cold, the challenge rocks.

Want more fun? Try dog sledding, horse-drawn sleigh rides, animal tracking and snowshoe lessons. With so many peaks and pipes, you’ll never get bored. A cool bonus is that a lot of the ski resorts offer programs that let tweens and teens tackle cruisers, glades, bumps and steeps without helicopter parents hovering nearby. You’ll meet friends, ski major peaks and have a mountain of stories to share back home.

With these destinations on your calendar, what’s not to love about winter?

Kara Mayer Robinson is a freelance writer who’d be perfectly happy spending every waking minute scoping out as many corners of the globe as is humanly possible.