Guest Author - Lisa Shea

I love skiing! Skiing is one of the best ways to get to see nature in the winter plus stay active. Just think of it - when you're skiing, you're up high in mountains, looking out over beautiful landscapes. You can see all sorts of interesting birds and forest animals, and at many resorts you can ski through some great forests.

Here are some of the slopes within easy striking distance of Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Waterville Valley, New Hampshire: My favorite, hands down. This place is fantastic. Great range of skiing - lots of cross-country and downhill trails. The snow tends to be well groomed and not icy. Plus friendly people, acres of land to go hiking and climbing through. The whole area is just gorgeous!

Wachusett Mountain, Massachusetts: This is the closest to us, and a second favorite even though it's relatively small. Usually the trails are a bit icy and there are immature snowboarders that enjoy running down skiiers. On the up side, there are all sorts of trees here, including "old growth" trees. We tend to ski Wachusetts once a week in season.

Killington, Vermont: The granddaddy of them all, and for a reason. What fantastic slopes! What neat trees! You go up above the clouds here, seeing everything from a really interesting perspective. Definitely worth a trip. My third favorite of the bunch.

Gunstock, New Hampshire: We tried this on Valentine's Day 1999, and was I amazed! Beautiful, beautiful conditions. Not tons of people, and the night lighting was very good. The staff was all friendly, there wasn't a wind tunnel a la Killington, and the snow was just amazingly good.

Okemo, Vermont: This was the first place I went skiing when I returned to New England in 1995. Okemo was lots of fun and very pretty, and had a good mix of trail ranges. It's a long haul from Worcester for the slopes though.

Mount Snow, Vermont: I took the triplets up here in 1998, and they learned how to ski in an afternoon. The instructors were very easy going and helpful. Mount Snow has all sorts of sections to the mountain so you can see various geology configurations.

Nashoba Valley, Massachusetts: Very small!! This is for practice runs, maybe, and even then there isn't much slope to practice on. Good for after-work if you can't make it to Wachusetts or another real mountain.

Otis Ridge, Massachusetts: I'm trying to get my sis and her kids to come here with me. While small, it seems to be good for kids to get started and it isn't too far from Worcester and Hartford.

Loon, New Hampshire: Loon is another big mountain. Go up for hiking even if you don't ski! The Gondola goes to the top where you can walk around. And the skiing of course is neat.