For thousands of vacationers, the long-awaited ski season has arrived. The snow report is more important than breaking news or a bullish stock market. It's time to get the woolens out of storage, dust off the snowboard and firm up reservations at popular mountain resorts. For many other winter travelers, frustration with frozen pipes, fixing long-unused furnaces and shoveling slush is motivation enough to get as close to the Tropic of Cancer as possible. So take your pick. Whether your idea of a winter vacation is hard-packed snow or soft, white sand, you'll likely find someplace that suits you in cyberspace.
Since the snowy, northern states had been in the news lately, with wind-chills that pushed single-digit temperatures below zero and promise "champagne powder" to eager downhillers, I decided to surf (or should it be schuss?) some of the Web's winter destinations. Using the good old reliable AltaVista search engine, I came first upon WinterNet, a map-driven promoter of the snowy regions of the U.S. and Canada. This relatively new site, although ambitious in its attempt to provide some virtual ski touring (if you have a VRML browser plug-in), and some nice, wintry GIFscapes, relies mainly on text- oriented listings of facilities, snow statistics, and weather information for seemingly every mountain in North America that boasts a ski trail. Still, I had hoped for more from a sport that rivals even golf when it comes to the sheer fanaticism of its devotees.
In order to narrow down the hundreds of available listings, I switched to c|net's SEARCH.COM. SEARCH.COM is not only a great Web site index, but also a search-engine-for-dummies that helps AltaVista and other popular engines understand where you're headed. Scrolling down the "Categories" list to "Sports," I stumbled onto Ski Central, a homely page that hides a real powerhouse under a facade of plain text boxes and unimaginative buttons. But don't let the modest logo and tacky clip art fool you. This site is so full of features that it may be the only winter vacation resource you'll need on your browser. Listing over 3,000 ski-related sites which can be accessed by alphabetical index, category or internal search, the topics include trip planning and snow reports, ski technique, racing information, magazines, winter sports equipment and, naturally, products. Pull-down menus under each category further expand the choices beyond what the most ardent skier or snowboarder would expect.
Almost as complete as Ski Central, and a lot prettier, was SkiNet. A bit more competition-oriented than the other sites, SkiNet boasts the most current snow reports and race results, supports an enthusiasts' forum, and posts the latest ski-related news and columns that keep aficionados up-to-date on the progress of their favorite slope celebrities.
Chilled at the thought of all that snow, I pointed my mouse southward, toward the sun. Recalling a recent reader-recommendation, I pushed the "Open URL" button on my Netscape browser and dialed in Destination Florida. A fast-loading home page graphically set the stage for other pages down the hierarchy with a colorful, stylized map of Florida on a quiet sea of blue. The layout of the page left no doubt about how to navigate to the State's principal regions, major cities, things to see and do, and the ubiquitous, "What's Hot?" And I loved the ship icon "offshore" that pointed travelers to several Florida-based cruising packages. At the "Cities" level, the site really got down to business with nicely designed links to hotels, restaurants and, to me, the all-important "Things To Do." The valuable vacation hours I have saved by selecting sightseeing destinations before I arrive are more than worth the price I pay for an Internet connection.
Returning to the "Home" level, I found my other favorite travel site stop: "Special Deals." In this particular case, most of the "deals" were somewhat high-end, two-day packages, but to be fair, this is high season in one of the world's most popular winter destinations. While there, I fantasized about a splurge at the Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa on the southwest coast where a "Sampler Package" promises two days of "beautiful sunsets, world-class shelling and a sunset cruise" along with its included breakfasts, dinners, tennis, et al. But the thing that really hooked me was the free "back, neck and shoulder massage." Okay! To each his own!
Florida is so popular with winter travelers that we often forget that other, less-crowded peninsula that leads us down to the balmier latitudes: Baja California. A short flight (or a very long drive) for sun-seeking southwesterners, Baja California Sur is a perfect February getaway. Fortunately, the Internet has not neglected the sleepy "Baja Riviera," a 60-mile stretch of undeveloped coast between Todos Santos on the Pacific and Los Barriles on the Sea of Cortez.
Switching to c|net's "Travel" category, I searched for "Los Cabos," a travel agents' term for the twin cities at the tip of Baja-Cabo San Lucas, and the less well-known San Jose del Cabo. I found my first listing at HotWired's Rough Guide. Expecting the hip, youth-oriented review that one associates with that print publication, I was surprised to find a rather encyclopedic treatment of the subject which, although fairly informative, does nothing to promote the area or intrigue the prospective traveler. It did, however, provide information for the really budget-minded on affordable lodgings (some under $25) and popular party places that would appeal to those who want to be where the action is.
Quitting c|net Travel, I decided to try out one of the newer search engines: HotBot. Naively using the key words, "Baja California," I came up with the zillion references that I should have expected with such a broad phrase, but as dumb luck would have it, a familiar name popped out of the mess: Baja Life Online. Obviously a product of one of the best magazines on Lower California ever printed, I anticipated a similarly well-constructed e-zine and, again, I was not disappointed. From a publisher (and Web designer) who obviously has a real love for the this Mexican peninsula, the pages of the site dazzle the eye with gorgeous photos, expertly massaged in Photoshop or some such application. The home page is my idea of a perfect start-up page except for one thing: it loads like molasses pours...on a very cold day! Fortunately, the graphics come up first in black and white, followed by the text, then the graphic is filled with color while you wait, and wait, and wait! So set aside some time to explore this elegant site or, if you're just looking for information, switch on the "Text Only" version of your browser. As the 37,332nd visitor to this beautiful and comprehensive site, I predict that it will soon become the definitive Baja online destination, especially for those with very fast modems.
So the choice is yours. If you're the type that begins, come November, to monitor the snowfall inch by powdery inch, or if, on the other hand, you start to yearn for the warmth of a sunny southern beach, the World Wide Web can help show you the way. Understand, I'm not pushing either destination...but the really tan guy you see a month from now will probably be me.