Travel ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

Ski resorts and related businesses in Colorado lost an estimated $79 million last season, a record year for bad snowfall. This year everyone in the business and everyone who skis is approaching winter with “cautious optimism,” as one Dallas retailer put it. Ski shops in the Dallas/Fort Worth area report a decrease in the number of equipment rental reservations for the high season, rentals normally booked by October. The feeling seems to be that it will take a good snowfall around Thanksgiving to convince the cautious that the nightmare of last season won’t be repeated.

Assuming that the snowfall is good, area shops and ski clubs predict a busy season. Skiers should be prepared for inevitable cost increases at the slopes – in lodging, equipment rental and ski lift rates. But there are ways to combat the high cost of a ski vacation. Here’s a rundown of time- and money-saving activities going on in Dallas and Fort Worth that area skiers should note.

Frequent skiers know that ski clubs offer some of the best travel bargains in town. For an annual membership fee of between $ 10 and $20, club members save at least $50 in travel and lodging costs per trip.

There are several established clubs in the area, the most popular being:



Mountain People Ski Club, Dallas, 692-7693; Ullr Ski Club, Arlington, 461-2191; Fort Worth Ski Club, 738-4304, 732-4335; Sno-Mad Ski Club, Dallas, 350-9026; Dallas Ski Club, 233-8344; and Alpine Ski Club, Arlington, 461-6436.



There’s also a relative newcomer, Mountain Haus Ski Club (349-2733 or 233-4283), which conducts bus trips only. Together, the seven clubs will offer a total of 93 trips to their members this year. Resorts in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico will be well represented. Weekend bus trips to New Mexico can cost as little as $75, including transportation, lodging and lift tickets. Mountain Haus has bus trips to Colorado for as little as $138, including transportation, lodging and lift tickets, as well as ski rental and two meals a day at the lodge.

Some clubs will offer trips to exotic destinations like Canada and Europe. If you want to spend a little more to ski with the experts in Canada and the Alps, a ski club is definitely where you’ll find the best value for your travel money. The Ullr Ski Club is sponsoring a trip to Quebec and the St. Ann ski area during the Christmas holidays, culminating in a New Year’s Eve celebration in Montreal. The cost is $339 per person. For the same price, the Fort Worth Ski Club will also sponsor a Christmas trip to Quebec. Banff is the Canadian destination of the Dallas Ski Club March 5-12. The cost is $459 per person. Later that month, Sno-Mad Ski Club plans an 8-day trip to Innsbruck, Austria for $669, including airfare and room with bath.

Parallel Haus Ski Club (233-1979) has a different approach. They have a 6-pas-senger plane at their disposal which flies skiers to the Wolf Creek Ski Area in Colorado every weekend of the ski season (leaves Friday morning, returns Sunday evening). The trip costs $210 and includes airfare, meals, lodging, lift tickets and equipment rental.

Perhaps the best non-club ski package around, and the one promoted by most travel agents, is the Adventure Tours trip to Summit County, Colorado. Week-long trips to this area, with shuttlebus service to Keystone, Copper Mountain and Breck-enridge, begin at $229, including airfare and accommodations. There are 13 departure times from Dallas/Fort Worth from January 1 through the end of March. Call your travel agent or 263-8094 in Fort Worth or 748-7090 in Dallas for a brochure and application.

If you’d prefer the independence of making your own travel arrrangements, there are still ways to save money. The Warming Hut in Keystone Shopping Center (234-6088) leases eight-passenger vans for $30 a day and unlimited mileage. The vans come outfitted with snow tires, CB radios, and storage racks for ski equipment. Equipment rental is $7 a day, less two free travel days, meaning travel and equipment costs for a 5-day van trip to Breckenridge, for example, can cost as little as $50 per person, including the cost of gasoline.

These days airlines are very competitive on fares. Unraveling the exceptions to all the rate and schedule quotations is a hassle best left to a travel agent who gets paid for it. But be aware of real savings which come from choosing the right time to travel. Continental Airlines flies to Albuquerque, servicing the best New Mexico resorts. They have been granted permission to offer a midweek tour package rate. Texas International has applied for and expects to be granted the rights to the same rate by the time season begins. This means the round trip fare from Dallas to Albuquerque on Continental will be $89, as opposed to the standard $114 fare. To qualify for this rate you get no meal on the flight and you must travel between Monday and noon Thursday, making reservations and payment at least two weeks in advance. Continental also flies to Denver via Albuquerque with these rates. That fare is $97 round trip, currently lower than what Frontier can offer non-stop from Dallas to Denver. But Frontier hopes to be granted rights to this excursion fare as well.

Saving time is often as important as saving money on a ski trip. New this year for Frontier is a non-stop flight to Salt Lake City, servicing Brighton, Snowbird, Alta and Park City ski resorts. This flight leaves once a day on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each week at 12:40 p.m. Frontier will also have a nonstop flight, Saturday only, to Durango by ski season opening. Durango services Tel-luride and Tamarron resorts.

Taking beginner ski lessons or a refresher course before you leave for a ski trip is another way to get optimum ski time at the slopes and optimum value for your dollar investment. In Dallas, there are now two organizations offering on-site lessons to skiers. The Parallel Haus, now at 15772 Dooley Road, is in its second year of operation. All kinds of lessons, group and private, are available. But the “’Leam to Ski” package is their most popular. For $75, you get equipment and four group lessons, three hours of practice skiing, four Friday evening clinics and a two-hour orientation film/lecture on the equipment and skiing fundamentals.

The newcomer to off-the-slope lessons is Oshman’s. The store now has a practice ski ramp at its Highland Park Village location, but by mid-November, it will move to the new store at Abrams and Northwest Highway permanently. Unlike the ramp at Parallel Haus, Oshman’s ramp revolves uphill, enabling you to ski continuously. A one-hour private lesson is $25. Ramp time only is $10 an hour.

The cost of clothing is no exception to the rule that skiing can be an expensive hobby. Clothing is often more than transportation and accommodations expenses combined. All area ski shops have sales in October or March, but several retailers are attempting to offer value at lower cost year-round. The Ladylike Shop in Wylie (442-5842) has been selling name brand clothes at a 50 percent discount for years. Two other shops have joined the Ladylike in offering cut-rate prices.

Plaeco Ski Rental (358-1504) has tripled its clothing inventory since last year in order to take advantage of volume discounts. A bib overall and matching jacket which would normally sell for $145 costs $79 at Plaeco. Mountain Haus in Carillon Plaza (349-2733) sells new clothes at 35 percent off the retail price.

One final money-saver to note: For thefirst time this year, it’s possible to rentski clothes in Dallas. That’s of specialappeal to the once-a-year skier who wantsto wear the latest in ski fashions but doesn’twant to pay the price. Ski clothes can berented at Plaeco Ski Rental and at Mountain Haus. The latter offers the best price.A downfill jacket, bib overalls and glovesrent for $6 a day.