Ski In, Hit Out
Roger Cox, Editor
A few days before Christmas, Jason Smith walked through the lobby of the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa in Vail, Colorado in tennis shorts, a racquet slung over his shoulder. Never mind that several inches of snow had fallen overnight. Though there with his family on a ski vacation, Smith was headed for the indoor courts early that morning and a session with tennis pro Pete Anderson.
"My daughter will only want to ski for half a day," he told me when I asked what he was doing in tennis gear. "I came prepared to hit a few. This way, even if the ski day is short, I can get a workout."
As Smith's situation indicates, you don't have to be a tennis fanatic to take tennis gear on a ski holiday. I'd packed shorts and tennis shoes too just in case ski conditions turned out to be marginal. And there have certainly been times when it was so cold or ice on the mountain that I wish I'd had access to indoor courts as an alternative to tackling miserable conditions. Anderson outlined still other reasons ski vacationers are among his clientele:
"There have been couples where one skis and the other doesn't," he told me. "Sometimes people just need a day off from skiing but still need something active to do. At the other extreme are the die-hards who want to do both. I've also had a family from Florida with a 16-year-old nationally ranked son who didn't want to go a week without playing."
When it comes to tennis and skiing, Vail Cascade has the unusual distinction of being both ski-in/ski-out and tennis-in, tennis out, with a chairlift literally out one door and a 78,000-square-foot Aria Athletic Club & Spa with 3 indoor courts down a hallway. But it is certainly not alone in catering to both skiers and tennis players. Here's a sampling of similar options:
- Waterville Valley Resort, NH. 2 indoor in the village not far from the Waterville Valley slopes.
- Topnotch Resort, VT. 4 indoor about 5 miles from Stowe Mountain Resort.
- Bolton Valley Resort, VT. 2 indoor at the base of the slopes at Bolton Valley.
- Sugarbush Resort, VT. 3 indoor at the base of Sugarbush, managed by New England Tennis Holidays.
- The Bridges Vermont Resort & Tennis Club, VT. 2 indoor at the base of Sugarbush.
- Cliff Drysdale Tennis At Stratton, VT. 2 indoor at the base of Stratton Mountain Resort.
- Wintergreen Resort, VA. 3 indoor at the top of Wintergreen's ski slopes.
- Vail Cascade Resort & Spa, CO. 3 indoor; own chairlift at Vail Resort.
- Keystone Resort, CO. 2 indoor in the village not far from the lifts at Keystone.
- Snowmass Club, CO. 2 indoor below the slopes at Snowmass in Aspen.
- Sunriver Resort, OR. 3 indoor, 17 miles from Mt. Bachelor.
- The Ridge Tahoe, CA. 1 indoor with ski-in/ski-out access to chairlift for Heavenly Mountain Resort.
- Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, WI. 2 indoor; ski-in/ski-out access to Mountain Top at Grand Geneva.
- Whistler Racquet Club, BC, Canada. 3 indoor in the village below the Whistler/Blackcomb ski slopes.
- Bio-Hotel Stanglwirt, Austria. 6 indoor managed by Peter Burwash International near several ski areas including Kitzbuehel.
New Martin Blackman Adult Camps
A former Stanford standout, Martin Blackman 
went on to coach at American University and become part of the USTA Development team before founding his own high-performance junior academy, now based at Florida's Boca Raton Resort & Club. This spring he introduces a series of BTA Adult Tennis Camps at the resort. Designed for 3.5 and above players, these Thursday-Sunday sessions (10 hours total) cover movement, drills, tactical instruction, and coached match play while keeping the student:pro ratio to 3:1 or less. For dates, prices, and information, check out the BTA Adult Tennis Camp flyer.
Priceless: Laver vs Federer Downunder
In a lead-up to a fundraising event tennis legend Rod Laver, who is 75, rallied with 32-year-old Roger Federer. After a few groundies, Laver moved to the net, saying "I feel better up here." It took place, fittingly, in the Rod Laver arena at Flinders Park in Melbourne, where Laver arrived to a standing ovation.
The Aromas of Summer in Newport, RI
What, exactly, does Newport, Rhode Island smell like? Designer Kate McLean decided to find out by dispersing residents and visitors throughout the city to sniff out the answer. Participants were charged with identifying what they detected and rating it in one of six categories: very weak, weak, distinct, strong, very strong, or intolerable. McLean then compiled the results into a Sensory Map that visually depicts the location and concentration of summer aromas characteristic of Newport: the ocean, beach roses, suntan oil, beach bars, juniper bushes, fudge/cookies/ice cream, bird's nests, lobster bait, and freshly cut timber. If you stop by the International Tennis Hall of Fame, however, you can add new-mown grass to the olfactory profile.
Resort and Camp News
Robert Menzies has taken over as tennis director for the Cliff Drysdale Tennis operation at Stratton Resort in VT. He arrives after a stint at the Drysdale Tennis School at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort in Amelia Island, FL. … Another Drysdale Tennis complex, the eight-court Hawks Cay Resort on Duck Key in the Florida Keys, also has a new director, Michael Stedronsky, who had previous directed programs at the Drysdale-managed Country Club of Waterbury in CT. … Starting Feb. 13, JetBlue adds service from New York's JFK and Boston to Savannah, GA a boon to anyone headed to South Carolina's nearby Hilton Head Island. … The fate of Bermuda's Coral Beach and Tennis Club appeared grim after plans to convert it to a 150-room Four Seasons fell through and it went into receivership last September. Now it has new life, after being purchased by the New York-based CBC 2013, a subsidiary of Three Wall Capital and ROC Group. Alan Kenders, the CEO of Three Wall Capital, says they intend to "create a product all Bermuda can be proud of."
Vacation Giveaway
Tennis Resorts Online values your opinion, so much so that we're giving you a chance to win one of three tennis vacations we're giving away. All you have to do is review your experience as a guest at any tennis resort or camp worldwide. Every review you file gives you one more chance at one of the following prizes:
- Saddlebrook Tennis: A two-day, two-night stay, plus five hours of intensive tennis instruction daily, for two people at this world-renowned resort in Wesley Chapel, near Tampa, Florida.
- TOPS'L Beach & Racquet Resort: Sugar-sand beached, turquoise waters, and stellar social tennis for two people for three nights in a two-bedroom courtside at this Destin, Florida tennis haven.
- New England Tennis Holidays at Sugarbush: A two-night Green Mountain getaway for two with lodging and five enjoyable hours of tennis instruction daily.
Packages and Specials
Adult Camps
- Saddlebrook (Hopman) Tennis, Florida: Free Upgrade to 1-bedroom suite + Amenity Basket
- John Newcombe Tennis Ranch, Texas: Save $100 on any all-inclusive adult package
- Exclusive weekend camp specials at Dave Marshall Tennis, Delaware
Junior Tennis Camps
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©2014 Roger Cox