Milwaukee FASHION

Rates start at $59.99 per person, per night and include overnight accommodations and a voucher for skiing, snowboarding or tubing at either mountain. Packages are available from the start of the local ski season (approximately mid-December) through March 31, 2008, weather permitting. All rates quoted are per person, based on double occupancy. All packages are subject to availability and are not valid with any other offers.

Participating hotels include popular brands such as Best Western, Holiday Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites and Four Points by Sheraton, among others. Travelers can log onto www.LehighValleyPA.org for complete package details and to request a free Stay & Ski brochure. Bear Creek is a 330-acre resort with mountainside hotel, spa, two restaurants and meeting facilities for groups.

It recently doubled its water storage, increased pumping capacity and added 20 new automated guns to improve its snowmaking capacity. Recent renovations have been completed and feature a new 80,000 sq. ft. facility with 65 additional hotel rooms, a spa, a new dining facility, more meeting space and an outdoor pool with entertainment deck. For its 30th anniversary, Blue Mountain has also increased its snowmaking capacity by up to 20 percent.

Its snowtubing facility added a new building with restroom and a party room and it also plans to host a Retro Day anniversary celebration in which all skiers are invited to wear old-style ski clothing and use ‘classic- equipment. Blue Mountain boasts the highest vertical in the state with two hi-speed detachable lifts as well as a six-seater and a quad. There are also three terrain parks for snow boarders, 14 snowtubing slides and free ski and board check services.