600 inches at resort? That’s a lot of snow!

600 inches at resort? That’s a lot of snow!

JACKSON, Wyo. — Total snowfall has exceeded 600 inches at one of the measuring stations at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

It’s the first time in 42 winters that a measuring station there has recorded that much snow.

The resort closed April 6 for the season. Total snowfall measured at the Raymer study station at more than 9,300 feet was 605 inches since last October, according to the Jackson Hole News and Guide.

Avalanche forecaster Bob Comey at the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center says snowfall totals on the upper mountain snowfall totals were regularly underreported during the resort’s early years. He says forecasters wouldn’t regularly visit the upper mountain to measure snowfall.

W plans to open hotel in Istanbul, Turkey

ISTANBUL, Turkey — W is opening its first European hotel in Istanbul.

The chain has 17 hotels in the U.S. and four others outside the U.S. A number of Ws are under construction around the world.

The Istanbul hotel will open May 6 with 134 guest rooms, including 26 suites, a spa and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market restaurant.

The hotel is in a historic building at the end of the Akaretler Row Houses in the Besiktas district, which date to the 1870s but have been newly redeveloped. The site is near the Bosphorus Strait and the trendy Nisantasi neighborhood.

Panel to put together seven wonders of U.S.

NEW YORK — ABC’s “Good Morning America” has assembled a panel of experts to name the seven wonders of the United States.

The destinations — which will include natural landmarks as well as man-made wonders — will be announced one at a time over the course of seven shows, with the first one airing May 5 and the final one airing May 13. Each show will include a segment about the wonder, reported live from the destination by one of the show’s four anchors and three other ABC News anchors or correspondents.

In November 2006, “Good Morning America” and USA Today teamed up to name the seven wonders of the world.

Featuring Tut treasures, exhibit will tour the U.S.

ATLANTA — An exhibition featuring more than 130 treasures from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun and other ancient sites will begin a United States tour with an opening November in Atlanta.

The Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University announced it will open the exhibit at the Atlanta Civic Center from November through May 22, 2009. The exhibit will then move to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum from June to October 2009.

“Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs” is the second National Geographic exhibition dedicated to the treasures of King Tutankhamun and ancient Egyptian royalty.

The first exhibition was visited by nearly 4 million people during a four-city U.S. tour from 2005 to 2007.

Associated Press