By Brett Yates Now is the time of year when one cannot glance at a TV inside a restaurant or bar (the sort of restaurant or bar that never changes the channel from ESPN, I mean) without encountering a college football “bowl game” —the term used for the puffed-up, mostly meaningless cash-grab postseason exhibition matches…

By Mary Ellen Shaw I have always been a fan of reading about the good ol’ days in The Mountain Times. Josephine Blanchard entertained me for years with her stories and more recently Cindy Phillips has done the same. Each one had her own way of telling what life was like for her. I hope…

By Dave Hoffenberg Sunday may be considered a day of rest but at the Pickle Barrel this Sunday, Jan. 11, it is anything but. Keller Williams makes his return and brings the best one man show in the business. If it seems as if this is a man who never stops, that would be about…

By  Tom Joyce “You get a Moscow Mule..... You get a Moscow Mule.... You get a Moscow Mule!!!” Yes, the Moscow Mule is known to be one of Oprah’s new favorite cocktails. But I’m sorry it won’t be hidden under your chair, you’ll have to make one yourself — or better yet, get a local bartender…

By Joe Rankin Ice storm. If you live in northern New England, those words can send a chill up your spine. They portend demolition derbies on the roads, power outages and the ominous cracking sound of limbs breaking and trees falling in woods, parks and urban streets. Snow we’re up for. Ice, not so much.…

By Tony Crespi Each season the ski industry unveils new ski collections boasting advancements and refinements in technology and design. Often unrecognized by the public are the complexity of engineering and design principles involved in this process. The tip to tail shapes and dimensions used in a ski are crucial to its performance as even…

By Dom Cioffi So, another year is in the books with its movies, music, political drama, sports highlights, social commentary and countless other unique nuances. I always get melancholy this time a year as I ponder what has transpired in my own life over the last 365 days. Of course, the feelings are exaggerated by…

By Tom Joyce The Wild West Bartenders’ Bible spoke of a bar in New Mexico that would top off all of it’s cocktails with a splash of champagne. Genius. Can you imagine what it must have felt like to walk into an Albuquerque bar in 1886 and taste French sparkling wine for the first time?…

By Tony Crespi Sitting in the Killington Peak Base Lodge late last season I heard several skiers express annoyance with the unpredictability of Eastern weather. In fact, one fellow described jetting to Western resorts as a romantic adventure. Sure, high alpine resorts can boast reliable snow, and rarely are Western snow storms followed by frozen…

By Tony Crespi The couple in the lodge were arguing. Both looked furious. Most evidently, their weekend plans had gone asunder. Listening shamelessly, with other onlookers, it was clear that  the afternoon looked unpleasant. She was cold and frustrated by the hard ice on the mountain. He, on the other hand, wished to ski more:…

By Kate Robitello In my previous article, I listed the first three steps of my bulletproof list for goal-achievement in 2015. (If you missed that piece, it is still available on mountaintimes.info.) Here are three more tips that will set you up for inevitable success with your health-goals (or any goal for that matter) this…

By Scott Funk Over 40 years ago, I bought an old brass desk lamp at a flea market. When I brought it home, I was amazed to find that the original neon bulb (or tube or whatever it is called) still worked. To appreciate this, keep in mind that it is so old it has…

By Barbara Mackay Every animal must develop its own way of dealing with winter. Migrate, hibernate, or insulate; these are common strategies. For a few small mammals, survival depends on the snow itself, and the deeper the better. The subnivean zone is the area between the surface of the ground and the bottom of the…

By Brett Yates The “Christmas movie” represents a treasured cinematic subgenre with well-known iconography and an established array of tropes. It’s a distinct phenomenon, serving a distinct function: to bolster the idea of an entire ritualistic “holiday season” of consumer spending (also of love and charity) — that is, to “get you in the mood…

By Denise Simpson, Rutland Regional Health Services Influenza (the flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. The flu viruses spread mainly from person to person through coughs and sneezes. People might also get the flu by touching a surface or object that has flu virus on it and then touching their own…