I learned a lot about high elevation snow storms this week. Fully pre-occupied with keeping my family on its regular schedule without the help of heat or electricity due to a power outage from Thursday night's storm, I didn't pay much attention to the snow reports page on our website. I drove back home from the Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge at Crotched Mtn in a fierce localized heavy snow squall on Friday, drove my son to his seasonal program at Cannon on Saturday morning just as more flakes were starting to fall, and skied with him that afternoon in a fresh accumulation of snow. I just didn't realize how it was adding up. Sunday morning, we drove up Rte. 49 on our way to my daughter's race at Waterville Valley. For that 10 mile stretch from I-93, there was some snow, but nothing extraordinary ... until we took the left turn up the access road. All of a sudden – the snowbanks on the sides of the road were enormous! At the ski area, snow was piled up deep everywhere; at the top of High Country, it looked like they had to shovel out the summit terminal, and the ski area trail signs were buried, with just the trail names dug out of the snow. And there was a new 4" on top of all this white stuff – unexpected freshies! I saw general manager Tom Day at the lift corral, headed up the lift with a videographer. He explained that, while the precipitation down in Campton (near the interstate) had been of the clear variety, it had snowed from 7pm Thursday right through Saturday morning from the access road and higher. 30" during that 36 hour period and another 4" overnight Saturday night! As of now, Waterville Valley is reporting 46" since last Wednesday – but you'd never believe it until you're at the ski area. So, when you're driving up this weekend – don't be fooled by the brown ground near the interstates or in the valleys. There's plenty of brown ground in Campton, and here at our office in Lincoln – but not up at Waterville Valley, or Loon, or Cannon. We've heard from locals it's the best skiing of the year right now. I suspect you'll hear the same in the Mount Washington Valley, where ski areas are reporting 3-4 feet of new snow since last Wednesday (depending on elevation), and all over New Hampshire, since last Wednesday's "storm 1" moved through New England. That gave us back our moguls, our glades – and most importantly, a great, heavy, deep base that's going to ensure some great spring skiing days to come. Enjoy! -Alice

I guess the weather gods heard my plea on Facebook last week! Winter is returning to NH.

I'm giddy with excitement as I watch the weather forecasts for this week. Our friends down at NECN.com have projected up to 2-3 FEET in NH's mountains, with at least 1-2 feet across the rest of NH starting Tuesday snowing through Saturday! You can track the storm right online. NECN updates their weather forecast many times over the course of the day, you can watch at:

http://www.necn.com/weather.

With the Olympics on the brain and the kids all jazzed up to go out skiing this week over their February break, I'm excited too! It's been a few years since I've really hit the slopes for some reason or another, there are ZERO excuses this year! I might just have to sneak away from the office this week and take a few runs with the kids, and not just this week, next week too, and March, and April. I'm totally hooked again! See you out there! Kim

OLYMPIC DREAMS Those of us who work in the snowsports industry love the Winter Olympics. Not only do we love watching them, but we love the fact that skiing & snowboarding are showcased for two weeks right in the middle of February. When I was at Mount Sunapee yesterday shooting this week's video, I rode up the chairlift with at least two different groups who were out that day because watching the Olympics got them in the mood to go skiing. But the Olympics can have a much more profound effect that you can really appreciate as a parent. Take Bode Miller's bronze medal run in yesterday's men's downhill. I have a daughter who skis on the Loon Race Team and a son in a seasonal racing program at Cannon. Bode, being a local guy, is obviously very well known in this area, but his image, until late last year, had not exactly been one you want your kids to emulate. But Bode's win yesterday turned our dinner conversation to topics including how you can be anything you want to be if you work hard enough, and how even if you really blow it (Bode's Torino Olympics), you can suck it up, apologize and let your future actions do the talking for you.

So thanks, Bode, for not retiring as one of America's best skiing athletes, but a real jerk who blew it - and coming back for one more Olympics as one of America's best skiing athletes who may be on his way to being a real American sports hero. Good luck with your next four races, from all of us in New Hampshire!

New Hampshire is rich in Olympic history. The 2010 winter games will add to this history with a large number of snowsports athletes with NH ties heading to Vancouver. Competitors from New Hampshire or that have trained extensively here will be competing in downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, freestyle skiing and freestyle snowboarding disciplines.

Three downhill ski racers with ties to New Hampshire will be heading north of the border to Vancouver. Leanne Smith of Conway, NH, who calls Cranmore her home mountain, is making her first Olympic appearance. She competes primarily in Super G and Downhill and has had a very successful winter thus far with several top 30 finishes on the World Cup circuit and a Europa Cup win. Bode Miller of Franconia, NH who grew up on the slopes of Cannon Mountain, has the most World Cup wins of any U.S. male in history and will be competing in his fourth Winter Games. Bode has won two World Cup overall titles, and two silver medals in the 2002 Olympic Games; he plans to compete in all five alpine disciplines at these Games. Jimmy Cochran calls Keene, NH home and is making his second Olympic appearance. Competing primarily in slalom and giant slalom, Jimmy has had consistent top thirty World Cup results this season.

Kris Freeman of Andover, NH, who often trains at Waterville Valley, will be competing in his third Winter Olympics in cross country skiing. Kris has had a very successful career including a recent 4th place finish on the World Cup circuit which is the best finish by a U.S. racer in 26 years in a non-sprint Nordic race. Kris was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2000 and has been able to continue to compete at a World Cup level since that time. Nick Alexander of Lebanon, NH will be competing in his first Games in Nordic jumping.

Dylan Ferguson, who trained extensively at Waterville Valley, will be competing in freestyle aerials. Dylan has progressed rapidly in recent competitions, including sixth and seventh place finishes at World Cup events in 2010.

Michelle Gorgone is a graduate of the Waterville Valley snowboarding program and will be competing in alpine snowboarding. Michelle competed in the 2006 Games and has several podium finishes on the World Cup circuit in parallel giant slalom. Scotty Lago of Seabroook, NH is competing in halfpipe. He grew up on the slopes and terrain parks at Loon Mountain and Waterville Valley. Scotty is a consistent podium threat in top tier freestyle competitions and is a strong medal contender.

Hannah Kearney is a mogul skier who trained on the slopes of Waterville Valley. It will be her second Olympics and she has two wins on the World Cup circuit this season. She has had success for many years on the World Cup circuit, including a gold medal at the 2005 World Championships.

Two of the top adaptive ski racers in the world hail from New Hampshire. Tyler Walker of Franconia and Chris Devlin-Young of Campton are both World Cup Champions. Chris will be competing in his fifth Paralympics with two gold medals already in his possession as well as numerous other Paralympic, World Championship and World Cup medals. Tyler, who grew up skiing at Cannon Mountain, is the defending Downhill World Cup Champion, two-time defending X-Games gold medalist and will be competing in his second Paralympic Games.

New Hampshire ski resorts pride themselves on supporting athletes like these as they progress to Olympic caliber competitions. The Friends of New Hampshire Skiing grant program is funded by New Hampshire's ski resorts and has donated well over $500,000 since its inception in 1978. Of this year's New Hampshire competitors bound for the Olympic games, five have received grants from this program.

We're in the heart of the ski season and that means keeping an eye on the daily weather so that you can take advantage of the best conditions. When it comes to forecasting and reporting the weather, many New England meteorologists have the nerve to use a negative tone when we have snowfall looming. One place that you can be sure you won't hear whining about a good old-fashioned blizzard is New England Cable News.

The weather team there (Tim Kelley, Matt Noyes, Joe Joyce and Danielle Niles) does an excellent job of pointing out the positives of active weather patterns, which is very enjoyable for skiers and riders. You'll also find they do a nice job covering all of New England including the different ski regions and how they will be effected. It appears they realize skiers and riders are weather geeks and are faithful viewers, so they go the extra mile to answer the questions you have in your head.

If you don't get NECN at home (like me), take advantage of their online video forecast at: http://www.necn.com/weather It is updated several times everyday and you can watch it anytime at your convenience.

Heck, go check it out now, sounds like we may have snow this Monday????