At least a dozen ski and snowboard resorts in six states in the West have strung ziplines at or near the mountain to augment their offerings during the summer months.

In New Mexico, Angel Fire put its zipline network at the summit, with broad views of Sangre de Cristo Range. Guide-required for four-zip tour with six people max. Tours run every hour until 1 p.m, Friday-Monday.

Neighbor Red Riverloads two-seat Pioneer Flyer for backwards pull up to 600 feet elevation. A short pause for viewing, and then pairs are released for 35-mph free-ride back down. A shorter zip ride is incorporated into Hidden Treasure Aerial Park.

A couple of Colorado mountain resorts have ziplines at the mountain. Vail's on-mountain Epic Discovery Park incorporates a kids-only zipline -- about 10 feet in the air -- among its adventure package.

Purgatory has strung a pair of short, parallel ziplines that load on a condo deck and run over the base village center. Not long, the Plunge runs on weekends and can reach 35 mph.

Utah is home to one of the world's highest and longest ziplines, at Sundance Mountain Resort. Tucked up above Provo, the Sundance Zip has four spans with side-by-side cables that total two miles in length. And, you drop 2,100 vertical feet with control of speeds up to 65 mph -- with mid-air stops, too.

Above Salt Lake City, zipliners climb a 50-foot tower at the base of Snowbirdand reach 30 mph on side-by-side cables, landing on the deck of the tramway building. The ride is 1,000 feet long on a 15% grade.

Over in Idaho, Zip Tamarackruns four tours a day for a max of eight people, which lasts four hours. Each tour hooks onto eight ziplines with two suspension bridges interspersed -- plus a total of 1.5 miles of downhill hiking between platforms.

In California, Heavenly Mountainhas several ziplines on the hill. The rock-star zip is Blue Streak, one of the longest at 3,300 feet with a 525-foot vertical drop. Speeds reach 50 mph. The nearby Heavenly Flyer also reaches 50 mph as it skims the tree tops on an 80-second ride. And, an introductory ride can be had on the Red Flyer, which goes 100 feet at 15 feet above the ground.

And at Mt. Hood SkiBowl in Oregon, the resort has set up an aerial park the in air above the base area that includes an 800-foot long zipline. It's open Thursday to Sunday.

Many other resorts in the West sit near independent zipline operations, like Ski Cooper, Palisades Tahoe and Big Bear.

According to Punxsutawney Phil, we have six more weeks winter, and we are LOVING that report. Rodents aside, the weather clearly looks like winter this week with heavy snow from the Rockies to New England. Here’s the scoop in this week’s SnoCast.

Several New Mexico ski and snowboard resorts will delay openings, as the governor brought her state back to early-Covid restrictions this week by issuing a stay-at-home lockdown.

Halloween weekend and first days of November will feature forecast tricks and treats. With a leftover hurricane delivering snow to New England and ski areas opening in the west, this time of year is always a treat to build ski season excitement.

Snow guns are ready, chairlift inspected, and snowcats ready to go as the New Mexico 2020-2021 ski and snowboard season begins to open in late November.

What is this winter going to look like? Based on what we’ve read and seen down south (Australia & New Zealand), it isn’t going to be candy canes and gum drops.

Skiers and snowboarders craving speed, views, and adventure -- and social distancing -- can find gratification this summer with ziplines right at the resorts in the Rockies.

Once there was a time when you reached age 60, you'd skied for free. Then you had to be 70. And now, at a half-dozen Western resorts, 80 is the new 60.

There's nothing quite as satisfying as a gourmet meal after a long day on the slopes, and a number of Rocky Mountain resorts spice up the experience with a snowcat ride for on-mountain dining.

SnoCountry put out a call for some of the best “sleigh-ride” meals in the Rockies and came up with a sample listing.

In this week’s SnoCast, every corner of the country will get snow. In this continued active weather pattern, see what days will be best to hit the slopes in your area.

The storms in February tended to swing toward the south, putting smiles on powder hounds in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico – and finally getting Albuquerque's Sandia Peak open.

Continuing my exploration of skiing northern New Mexico, aka the Land of Enchantment, I headed north of Santa Fe up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range to legendary Taos Ski Valley and Red River. The landscape varies from red rock desert to steep mountain terrain as sapphire blue skies hang overhead and uncrowded slopes beckon. (See Mike's Trip Report -- "Santa Fe and New Mexico Are A World Apart From Everyday American Skiing" here).

Better late than never. A south-arcing storm system this week put enough snow down at Pajarito Mountain Ski Area to get the lifts finally spinning for the 2015 season.

Here’s a New Year’s resolution to work on: Take to the slopes to learn to ski or ride at any of dozens of winter resorts in the Rockies, Sierras and Cascades.

Sipapu Resort in Vadito New Mexico will open Saturday, Nov. 16, marking the small northern ski area’s earliest opening in the resort’s more than 60-year history.

Get ready to celebrate the beginning of the 2012 holiday season at many of your favorite ski resorts and towns. Thanksgiving day, Nov. 22, starts it all.  

A just-released fall forecast by AccuWeather.com says the Rockies may be the place to be for early and mid-season as temperatures are expected to average 1-2 degrees below normal this fall.