At least that's what the experts say.

AccuWeather.com Chief Long-Range Meteorologist Joe Bastardi predicts that the Pacific Northwest will see a much colder and snowier winter than last season: Get the full low-down on Joe's super snow predictions.

Another AccuWeather.com expert Meteorologist predicts up to 20% more moisture (meaning snow!) for the Pacific Northwest for the 2010/11 winter season: Get the full snowy details.

So who do we have to thank for all this anticipated snow and a powderlicious 2010/11 ski season? Her name is La Nina.

La Nina (translated: "the girl") is the weather pattern that develops when the sea surface temperature drops 3 to 5 degrees Celsius below normal. La Nina is El Nino's (translated: 'the boy's") darker half, bringing cold wet weather to the areas she touches. She tags along behind her brother, chasing his above average temps and dry weather with her frosty wet touch. The two operate in a cycle, taking turns playing with the world's weather.

As a woman, I'm not sure I appreciate this description, but as a snowboarder, I'll get over it.

Do you feel a chill in the air?

Posted by Adrienne

Skiing as a family activity has so many benefits. It's a family-flexible sport, especially if you live close to the mountains. You can day-trip it, do a weekend getaway or even a week-long vacation.

Children develop many skills when skiing such as: strength, coordination and balance, along with an appreciation of the thrill to ski. Kids also learn to be conscious of their manners, their whereabouts and how they relate to others, since there are typically many other people that they are sharing the slopes with.

When to Start Your Kids Skiing

Children can start as young as two or three years old (and yes, there are even some one year olds out there). But many begin at age four. It just depends upon the child. Most three and four year olds can ride a chair lift once they have learned how to use them safely, have taken a few trial trips with an adult and have gained a sense of comfort and confidence.

What to Know about Kids Ski Equipment

If you buy new equipment, it can easily cost you over $500, which is somewhat costly since kids outgrow their gear very quickly. It's best to buy used equipment that is recent and not too old. Ski shops have to follow strict standards for equipment safety so, for example, if the bindings on the skis are old, they will not adjust them. It is also important to buy ski equipment that is the right size for your child. If the gear is too big it, it makes it harder to ski, which could cause frustration and abandonment of the sport.

Helmets are a must and in some places it's the law! Get modern helmets that are light and comfortable and fun. The National Ski Area Association has put together this informative and interactive helmet website helping to educate parents about the benefits and limitations of helmets.

Finally dress your child in warm moveable clothes and make sure to not have any dangling scarves and hats!

How to Introduce Skiing to Your Kids

Focus on fun and success. Restrain yourself from barking orders on what they are doing wrong. Better yet, sign them up for lessons as they will thrive better amongst their own kind. If you do go out on your own, try the "follow me" approach. It tends to work well, especially if there is more than one kid for a bit of peer pressure.

However, before you even hit the slopes here are a few tips to help condition your child to the idea of skiing:

• Get use to the movement- ice skating is good to get a sense of using edges and controlling movement on a slippery surface-sledding/tubing is great for getting them use to the sensation of going downhill
• Get used to the equipment - start wearing ski boots around the house or outside - play "space adventure"
• Have them watch older children having fun and understanding that falling is part of the sport
• Walk around a ski area/mountain with your child before you sign up for lessons

Final Tips

• Keep "skiing" fun. It could mean playing in the snow with skis on and not really "skiing" with maybe an excuse to drink hot chocolate, it doesn't really matter. What's most important is having fun in the snow and the skiing part may just be the by-product of the activity.
• Have lots of patience and low expectations. Some kids can hop on and off the chairlift right away, while with others it may take a little longer.
• Make the mountain a playground. Adventuring—through the trees, into the powder, playing with natural terrain features—adds to the fun.
• Light powder is fun to ski. Heavy powder can be nearly impossible for little ones to negotiate.
• Don't push racing. If you're child is interested, let him or her propose it so it's their thing. It's a big commitment for everyone involved.
• Take regular breaks to recharge enthusiasm.
• Don't go skiing when it's bitterly cold. If kids are cold, they can't enjoy themselves.
• Don't push beyond comfort zone while still trying to establish confidence
• Know when to quit - if you child is cold, tired or hungry, it's time to take a break or go for a hot chocolate.

Find out more about How To Teach Children to Ski.

Booking a vacation rental instead of a traditional hotel room means more space, personal touches and often a better price. Unfortunately, for some, it can also mean the uneasiness of sending money to a stranger - a stranger who may or may not accurately represent their home, or own it at all!

Renting owner-direct doesn't have to equate to sleepless nights of wonder and worry. Booking a vacation rental home from the Owner can actually be a pleasant and seamless experience when the right checks and balances are performed.

Wherever and however you book your vacation rental, do it safely by following the steps below:

1. Start by finding an Owner-direct vacation rental you are interested in booking. There are many vacation rental directory websites to choose from. To find a vacation rental in a specific destination, just run a search for "(destination) vacation rentals" (eg. Whistler vacation rentals). Search results on the first page are a good starting point and will usually represent directory websites with numerous vacation rental options.

2. For each vacation rental directory website, look for information on guarantees, policies or standards. You may also want to look for an Owner agreement so you know what vacation rental Owners have agreed to in order to be listed on the website. Reputable directories will offer some sort of consumer-protection. Riskier directories will post disclaimers about their responsibilities in regards to their vacation rental inventory. The least risky owner-direct vacation rental websites will field complaints from renters or offer to help mediate any disputes that may occur between an Owner and a Guest.

3. Once you have found a specific vacation rental property you are interested in booking, be sure that all of your questions about the property are answered within their listing (or on a website they may link to from the listing). It should be clear:

• exactly where the property is located
• what amenities it features (both private and shared)
• how many people the property sleeps and what the bedding configuration is
• how large the property is, how it is layed out and number of separate bedrooms
• if the property is newly-renovated or more dated (there should be a good selection of photos to make this judgement)

Print out or save all pages of the listing or website that answer these questions. This will be vital evidence in the case that the property is not as advertised and you want to register a complaint or seek compensation. Going back to a listing or website after the fact is unreliable as the content may have changed.

4. Get the FINAL cost from the Owner in writing (email or an online reservation system that provides these details to you via email is also fine). This will limit the surprise of additional cleaning fees or surcharges for additional occupants.

5. Make sure important rental policies are clearly posted on the vacation rental Owner's website or listing (again, print it out or save it) or have them send them to you in writing if they are not available online. The most important policies to be clear on are:

• cancellation - What are the penalties for cancelling?
• pets permitted or not
• reservation guarantee - What if the Owner sells the property before your rental? What if the property becomes inhabitable for the dates of your rental (eg. flood, fire, etc)?
• what time you can check-in/out

6. Make sure that if the Owner is not in-destination, that they have someone in-destination to deal with emergencies (such as lock-outs or maintenance problems).

7. Pay for the vacation rental by credit card or PayPal. Both credit card companies and PayPal offer fraud protection. In the unfortunate event that besides your best screening efforts, you do become a victim of vacation rental fraud, you will not be out-of-pocket. If you send a cheque, money order, wire transfer or cash, it will be almost impossible to get your money back.

8. Make sure that you have received property check-in instructions and contact phone numbers before you depart for your vacation. If you are flying to your vacation destination, pack this information in your carry-on luggage in case your checked luggage goes missing.

9. Enjoy your vacation, stretching out in more space than a hotel room and paying a lot less for the pleasure!

Posted by Adrienne

Being that this is the blog for a vacation rentals website, it may seem odd to compare our offering with hotels, but we realize we're not for everyone. We also realize that there are a lot of people who haven't discovered the world of vacation rentals or may not fully understand what they are.

Before I started working for alluraDirect.com, planning a vacation meant booking a flight and a hotel room. Vacation rentals weren't even on my radar. Now I mostly book vacation rentals (because I'm a budget-conscious traveller), but I still fall back to hotels on occasion (mostly for short or spontaneous getaways).

Your vacation time is precious and so is the money you drop to enjoy that well-deserved getaway. That's why it's worth learning about your accommodation options and finding somewhere comfortable to both your budget and vacation style.

Negating options like hostels (which can be super cheap and fun if you're a single 18-25 year old - believe me, I loved my stay at one in New York City and it's where I met my husband) that leaves you with two main avenues to choose from: vacation rentals or hotels. So what avenue should you venture down when beginning your accommodation search?

Here's a quick breakdown of each to help you decide:

Vacation Rentals (a.k.a. holiday homes, self-catering lodging, etc.)

A vacation rental can vary in size from a small studio to a palatial villa. Regardless, almost all vacation rental properties are larger than hotel rooms and they always have facilities for making your own meals. If the vacation rental is part of a condominium or community development, you'll have access to any common amenities (like swimming pools, hot tubs, games rooms, etc).

Most vacation rentals are privately-owned and rented directly from the Owner, meaning no commission fees are built into the rates and you know exactly what unit you're staying in. Other vacation rentals are part of a rental pool or operated by a rental management company so booking is through a middle-agent and you may or may not know exactly which unit you'll be staying in.

The main reasons people choose vacation rentals:

• Cost (especially for larger groups that can split the cost of a vacation rental): Generally speaking, on a cost per square footage basis, vacation rentals have hotels beat hands-down. Because many vacation rentals are rented directly from the Owner, there are no middle-agent fees factored into the rate.

  For example, in a search today for a one week stay in Whistler over the July-long weekend, hotel room rates on Expedia.ca ranged from $95 - $349/nt. When searching Owner-direct vacation rentals on alluraDirect.com there were 58 vacation rentals (everything from studios to two bedroom units) at or below $100/nt.

• Space: All vacation rental properties have common areas and kitchen facilities. This makes for abundant extra room when compared to a traditional hotel room. When renting larger properties, you'll get lots of common area space for group socializing.
• Kitchens: Cooking your own meals can save you tons of cash on your vacation. Kitchens should come stocked with at least the basic utensils and crockery and some Owners will even provide basic dry ingredients.
• Personal Touches & Little Extras: Although this can vary from one vacation rental to the next, most properties come equipped with extra items the Owner likes to have for their own getaways. This can include everything from waffle irons, to board games to DVD libraries. One vacation rental I recently stayed in even had a deep fryer! Because vacation rentals are individually owned, each unit often has its own style and is more cozy than a cookie-cutter hotel room.

Best Suited For: Vacation Planning Do-it-Yourselfers, Families, Groups, Budget-Conscious, Long-Stay Vacationers

Hotels

I think it's safe to pass-over a definition of this accommodation type :)

The main reasons people choose hotels:

• Familiarity: First off, many people are still not aware of the existence of vacation rentals. Even if they are, they may feel more comfortable booking with a hotel chain because they know what they're going to get. You can also book hotel rooms conveniently by credit card. Vacation rentals can be a riskier option if the Owner does not accept credit card payments (which can be reversed in the instance of fraud).
• Services: Hotels provide daily housekeeping and often room service. They also offer front desk or concierge services. If you value these services enough, it may be worth paying the extra for them. Keep in mind, some vacation rentals also offer concierge services or can arrange for extra services if requested in advance.
• Package Deals: Many hotels bundle their accommodation with flights and activities. If you prefer to stay hands-off with your vacation planning, a vacation package might be your best bet.

Best Suited For: Hands-off Vacation Planners, Weekend or Short-Stay Vacationers, Service-Minded Guests

-posted by Adrienne

Ok snowboarders, it's your turn. Today's post features the funniest, craziest and most amazing snowboard fails we could find.

Enjoy! (and be glad it wasn't you :)

Best rail fail

Runner-up: Best rail fail

Best backflip fail

Runner-up: Best backflip fail

Best "what was that?" snowboard fail

Best long distance fail

Runner-up: Best long distance fail

Best snowboard faceplant fail

Best combined rail/faceplant fail

Best snowboard fail involving a tree

The 2009/10 ski season is drawing to a close and quite a few of you are probably feeling down about it. That's why we've created a collection of the top ten craziest ski fails we could find. Hopefully this will help keep things in perspective and remind you that your bodies can probably use the break!

Our next post will shift the unflattering spotlight to the snowboarders.

Best long distance ski fail

Best head over heels fail

Best chairlift fail

Best ski jump fail

Runner-up: Best ski jump fail

Best backyard ski fail

Best rail fail

Runner-up: Best rail fail

Best fail involving a faceplant

Best ski fail caught by the cameraman himself