At midnight on the eve of the great turkey festival known as Thanksgiving, all the stores in the entire United States burned their unsold merchandise so they could cock and reload their shelves with Christmas decorations and Tickle Me Elmos.
Canada, which is sick of being called America’s red-headed stepchild, is trying to step away from this convention and is selling the new “Tickle Me, I’m a Mountie” doll in defiance of American homophobic tendencies.
You may be wondering what this has to do with your recreation over Christmas break. I feel the connection is self-explanatory.
First off, I am not going to presume to tell you what you should be doing, since there will be someone who reads this in every single state of the country over the break. My only real suggestion is that you find someplace that you can drive to that sounds cool, and then look it up online or in a guide book to see what you can do there.
Here are some places I think you should consider.
For starters, there’s always Baja, Mexico. It will be warm and there will be good surfing and plenty of tequila to keep you from remembering when you have to start driving back to school.
Working our way back up into the United States (don’t forget your passport), one fun place to check out for the week of Jan. 4 would be Telluride, Colo., during its College Week. As a college student with a student ID, you can get half-price lift tickets ($32) and have some great skiing. Right now, its base depth is not what it is out here, but watch what the weather is doing over the break and decide for yourself.
The marketing people there are pretty tricky, so you have to buy your tickets online seven days in advance in order to get the discount. While there, I would also suggest checking out the hot springs just past Ridgeway on the drive to Ouray, Colo. The Web site says bathing suits are optional.
As for skiing, though, I think a great option would be to just stick around here and ride. Utah basically has the sweetest snow in the country right now and there’s no reason to go elsewhere to ski.
If you are into climbing, I would suggest going to Joshua Tree, Calif. This place is in the middle of the Mojave Desert, so it will be nice and toasty warm during the day, at least, and there is absolutely great granite climbing. There are infinite bouldering problems there as well as bolted routes.
There are the crazy Joshua trees (how’d you guess?) and then just desert scrub and huge granite boulders that are 50 feet high or more for climbing. A lot of what you will do there is single-pitch climbing, but there are some two- and three pitch climbs around as well. Just remember that this place gets crowded, so make sure to call the park and ask if there is any camping available.
My final travel suggestions are to go hiking in any of the parks in southern Utah. Canyonlands has the most amazing backpacking in the state and is the most secluded, if you want. Arches has the best day hiking and cool things to look at. Arches is also right next to Moab, where you can stay quite cheaply and have amazing mountain biking. I was there for Thanksgiving and I would still suggest bringing the bike down. The biking is almost better this time of year because it’s not so damn hot. Just wear full-length gloves and an extra top and bottom layer when you go out.
Wherever you decide to go, make sure to have fun this vacation. Make sure you go to the Alta Ski Swap this weekend if you still need gear, or the on-campus Nicholas Payton concert on Saturday if you want to forget about finals for an hour or two.