List ranks best spots to ski, snowboard

List ranks best spots to ski, snowboard

NEW YORK — If you’re a powderhound gearing up for ski season, compare your favorite slopes with this list from Outside magazine’s November issue.

The magazine ranked the 15 best ski-and-snowboard destinations in North America based on snow quality and terrain.

Utah topped the list with Alta and Snowbird in first place, followed by Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia, Canada, and Vail, Colo.

Jackson Hole, Wyo., took the No. 4 spot, with Snowbasin, Utah; Fernie Alpine Resort, British Columbia, and Silverton Mountain in Colorado next.

In eighth place were Colorado’s Aspen Highlands and Snowmass resorts, then Squaw Valley in California and Steamboat in Colorado.

The final five on the top 15 list were Mammoth in California; Telluride, Colo.; Solitude in Utah; Alyeska Resort in Alaska; and Taos, N.M.

TripAdvisor to donate millions to nonprofits

NEWTON, Mass. — TripAdvisor is giving away $1 million to five international nonprofits, and the company is seeking your vote on how much each charity will get.

You can add your vote through Nov. 9 at www.trip-advisor.com.

Each group will get a portion of the $1 million donation based on the percentage of total votes it receives, with a guarantee of at least $50,000 for every organization.

Hundreds of thousands of people have already voted.

$20M science museum will open in Georgia

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — A new $20 million science museum will open early next year in north Georgia.

The Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum plans to open its new 120,000-square-foot facility in Cartersville just north of Atlanta on Jan. 12.

The museum will include a 120-seat planetarium and an observatory with a 20-inch telescope.

Exhibits will include an 80-foot-long Apatosaurus, a replica Wright flyer, a mineral gallery and a vintage car display.

A private foundation is funding most of the project, and the museum is launching a capital campaign to raise the remaining $6 million.

For more information, visit www.tellusmuseum.org.

New visitor center opens at Mt. Rainier

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. — The new Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center has opened in Mt. Rainier National Park at Paradise.

The $22 million building does not have the 360-degree-view observation deck that was an attraction at the old visitors center, which will be demolished next year. But it does have a dramatic lobby with tall, soaring windows that frame a view of Mt. Rainier.

The center is smaller but more energy-efficient than the building it replaces, with features such as a steeply pitched roof to aid snow removal.

The Jackson Center also offers a new movie about the park, new exhibits, a gift shop and food service, and its stone and wood design is architecturally compatible with the Paradise National Historic Landmark District.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/mora/parknews/index.htm.

Associated Press