Powder Room

It's midmorning in Vail, Colo., and spring breakers crowd the mountain resort lift lines, but you hear nary a whoop. When you go on one of the Vail Snowsports Nordic School's daily wilderness snowshoe outings in the nearby White River National Forest, what you will hear is the wind in the 80-foot pine trees that surround you, and the rhythmic crunch of your steps as you follow your guide through a blanket of the region's feather-light powder. Tromping along at more than 8,000 feet in altitude makes for heavy breathing. Stopping for water, your guide points to a trail of deer tracks leading off into the undergrowth. “It's not so much about aerobics,” explains Joe Schmitt, supervisor of Vail Snowsports Nordic School. “It's learning about the natural environment around us.”

Snowshoeing affords a tranquil balance to the commotion on the piste, and the Vail Snowsports Nordic School has the largest wilderness snowshoeing operation in the area. For $85 the school's guides — all trained in backwoods travel — will outfit you, lead you on a three-hour trek (including drive time), and provide a running commentary on the environs cultural and natural history. No reservations are required. vail.snow.com

— Adam Kleiner

---

Whether you're on a budget or looking to splurge, here are some hotels that offer
a lot for your money

	RIU PALACE CABO SAN LUCAS Los Cabos riu.com	ROSEWOOD MAYAKOBÁ 30 minutes from Cancún rosewoodmayakoba.com	HACIENDA PETAC 30 minutes from Mérida haciendapetac.com
	With six restaurants, you won't get tired of the food choices, which include gourmet international, Japanese, Mexican, and a steakhouse.	The first full luxury resort on the Riviera Maya coast, the Rosewood is a dreamy beach retreat with lagoons and a spa on a private island.	You'll have a beautifully restored 17th-century hacienda all to yourself with a swimming pool, tropical gardens, and 80 acres.
	One price covers all — your room, minibar, meals, snacks, bar drinks, entertainment, and activities — plus the hotel sits on a white-sand beach facing the tip of the Baja California peninsula. Nightly rates start at $252 per person and dip down to $189 in the off season (January through April 12).	The smallest rooms at this all-suite resort start at $790 per night, but they are huge — 1,800 to 1,950 square feet — and feature private plunge pools, docks, and an outdoor dining area overlooking the lagoon. Rooms on the inland side have outdoor showers and an upstairs patio with lounge chairs. Guests receive their fifth night's stay free through May 2.	One to five persons for $8,400 or six to 10 persons for $10,500, including seven nights' stay in a five-bedroom hacienda, with full staff including gardeners and a cook, meals, daily laundry service, guided bird-watching walk, and taxes all included.
	Take a whale-watching cruise in the bays off Los Cabos. Or take a short flight 200 miles north to Magdalena Bay, prime calving grounds for gray whales through late March, to see mother whales swim close to the whale-watching skiffs to show off their calves.	Take a day trip 50 miles south for nature hikes, kayaking, and fly-fishing at Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, a Unesco World Heritage site that's home to 350 bird species. Go snorkeling in a cenote, a deep freshwater pool. And explore the oceanfront Mayan ruins at Tulum.	Hire the hacienda driver for a trip to see well-preserved 10th-century Mayan ruins at Uxmal, passing through small Mayan villages on the way. See the largest flock of flamingoes in North America on the lagoon at the Celestun Biosphere Reserve. — G.H.

---

Good Impressions

An exhibition from Wales has arrived for a five-city U.S. tour that could prove as swoon-inducing in its own way as a hip-swiveling performance by Welsh superstar Tom Jones. The stars of this show, titled Turner to Cezanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales, are famous painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with an emphasis on the impressionists and post- impressionists. Encompassing 58 oil paintings and watercolors amassed by two wealthy Welsh sisters, the exhibition includes celebrated works like Renoir's La Parisienne and Monet's Water Lilies, 1906. The show runs from March 6 through June 7 at South Carolina's Columbia Museum of Art before moving on to Oklahoma City (June 25–Sept. 20); Syracuse, N.Y. (Oct. 9–Jan. 3, 2010); Washington, D.C. (Jan. 30–Apr. 25, 2010), and Albuquerque, N.M. (May 16–Aug. 10, 2010).

— Amy Laughinghouse

---

Opening Bids

The most expensive bottle of wine ever sold at auction was a 1787 Château Lafite Bordeaux reportedly owned by Thomas Jefferson. The Forbes family paid a stunning $156,000 for it at a 1985 Christie's of London auction, only to discover years later that it was a fake. While bottles won't be selling for that much at this year's High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction, the event will boast an all-star lineup of some of the world's finest wines. The three-day affair — taking place March 26–28 and dubbed The Genius Inside: Wine + Food + Art — is one of the nation's premier charity wine auctions to benefit the arts, and the 2008 show brought in a record $2 million for the High Museum. In addition to both live and silent auctions, events include a trade tasting, winemaker dinners, and a gala dinner dance. atlanta-wineauction.org

— Dave Baldwin

 

Getting There: All the destinations covered in “Go Explore” can be reached by flying Continental Airlines. To book your trip, visit Continental Airlines Vacations at covacations.com.

---