Westbound Boarder

This blog post is the third entry in a 10-part series on traveling to Rio de Janiero. Click here to view the previous article.

When traveling to Rio de Janiero from the US, or really from any location outside South America for that matter, pretty much your only option is to go by plane. As Rio is still a developing tourist destination, there are not many direct flights that go straight to the city, so I’d recommend booking your flight well in advance of your trip to ensure you get the best deal. A plane ticket will run you a good $2 – 3K during Rio’s summer (our winter), but you can find significantly better deals if you travel in the offseason instead. For example, my multi-destination plane ticket that went from DC to Rio, Rio to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires to NY, was only $1,300 – significantly cheaper than Christmas-time prices I had researched a year prior. Rio’s winter really doesn’t start until July/August, and even then the country still offers relatively temperate weather. So in my opinion, early May was a great time to go. It wasn’t as crowded, prices were cheaper, and we still had relatively nice and warm weather (despite the few days of rain we experienced).

As for getting around in Rio, there are many different options.  From the airport, you can either hire a cab for $50 – $80, depending on where you’re going, or you can take a bus to your destination for 9R.  I, of course, opted for the less expensive bus option, and it was very simple – just as easy as taking a cab (and, hey, I kind of felt like a newfound local in the process!)  It didn’t take more than an hour to get to our hotel, so considering the 60 bucks we saved, the bus was well worth it.  Oh, and we met some backpacker Americans and we asked where they were going.  They responded, “no clue, how about you?”  Then when we told them where we were staying, they preceded to ask if they could crash on our floor.  Ha, solid, and never would have happened if we took a cab.

If you’d like to take the bus, once you grab your luggage and exit the airport doors, head to the info. counter, ask for a map, and ask them which bus to take to your final destination.  One thing you’ll quickly find in Rio is that people (well, most people) are so darn nice and friendly, and always willing to help out a traveler in need.  One thing to note about the busses in Rio, though – Unlike in the US, where busses have scheduled stops and timetables, in Rio they really don’t.  The bus driver simply stops when he’s flagged down from the outside, or when someone from the inside yells at him to stop, so you really have to be on your guard and pay attention to your map while riding.  I actually thought at one point in time that the man sitting next to me would punch me if I asked him one more time if we were almost to Ipanema.  But, like I said before, people in Rio are terribly nice – I’m sure the thought never even crossed his mind

The metro (Metrô Rio) is a great way to get around the city as well, and it goes many places, but I wouldn’t recommend taking the metro at night or by yourself, as it can be a bit dangerous.  Click here to see a full map (but beware, the site is in Portuguese!  At least they have a nice map.)  Additionally, right now the city is in the process of building another line that goes out to Barra (pronounced “Ba-ha”) in preparation for the Olympic Games, as this is where the Olympic village will be based.  The construction is set to be finished well before the Olympic Games commence, so this will drastically help improve Rio’s transportation system as well… for tourists anyway.

This blog post is the second entry in a 10-part series on traveling to Rio de Janiero.  Click here to view the first article.   

Among tourists, outdoor enthusiasts, and foodies alike, Rio de Janieiro is known for its miles and miles of beautiful beaches, wondrous landmarks, and gorgeous views.  However, to economists and businessmen, Rio is known for something entirely different. 

For many, many years, Rio de Janeiro, one of the primary destinations in Brazil for leisure travel, was considered a developing country in dire need of change.  In 1998, Brazil had a Gini Index, which measures the gap between the rich and poor, of 60.7 (4^th in the world) and a very large percent of residents lived in extreme poverty.  However, over the past several years, Brazil has done a lot of work to drastically reduce this gap, and in the past 8 years Brazil saw 13 million residents enter the middle class.  As a result, Brazil is a key target for foreign direct investment, and their economy has experienced an annual GDP growth of 5% over the past several years, and an astounding 7.5% in 2010 (read more about Brazil’s current economic situation).

However, it wasn’t until Rio won bids to host both the 2014 World Cup and 2016 that the country entered the worldwide center stage, and many people attribute their growing economy and infrastructure improvement opportunities as the primary reason it was granted the opportunity to host the two events.  Over the next 5 years, Rio will become a prime travel destination, and they hurriedly preparing to accommodate everyone. 

One of the downsides of Brazil’s economic growth (well, from the perspective of foreign tourists, anyway) are that things are expensive.  Over the past 10 or so years, Brazil experienced inflation rates of more than 2000%.  Additionally, US travelers used to enjoy a 4 to 1 exchange rate, however, it has since dwindled to 1.6R to 1USD.  Given these two elements combined, it has been estimated that the Brazilian currency is overvalued by about 40%.  To put it in plain English – Brazil is expensive.  Not only the flight, which will put you back about $2 – 3000 from most US locations, but actually being in the country is expensive as well, contrary to popular opinion that it is cheap because it’s a developing country.  But trust me – it’s worth it.     

In terms of tourism, about 5 million people per year visit Rio de Janeiro.  Over the past 10 or so years, Brazil has experienced steady growth in international tourism revenue (close to about $6 billion in annual revenue today), but during the past few years the actual number of people visiting Brazil has stabilized around 5 million.  But this number is expected to grow exponentially over the next several years, as the city readies itself to host two of the hottest global events.

One of the drawbacks to Rio de Janeiro, especially considering its expected growth in tourism, is the limited number of guests the city can feasibly accommodate at one time.  It is estimated that the city can only host about 28,000 tourists at any given time.  The limited supply of housing may cause increased prices, however, as I mentioned earlier, the city is working to at least double the number of tourists it can accommodate in preparation for the upcoming World Cup and Olympic events. 

So, in light of all that’s going on in Rio on the economic front, why go?  Rio is an excellent place to consider as a travel destination for many different reasons – it is a great place to go if you’re looking to relax and enjoy the beaches and scenery, or if you’re a student or interested in economic development and want to study the economic growth in Brazil, or if you’re an adventure-seeker and are looking to enjoy extreme activities.  And of course, Rio is an excellent place to go surfing.

And why did I like it?  I’ve traveled to many, many countries, and I’m getting to the point where, when I go to big cities, I typically feel like its “just another big city.”  What I liked about Rio is that it’s different, and just a little bit edgy.  It still maintains a certain amount of culture, despite being one of the most popular destinations for tourists in Brazil, and the people are nice, friendly and welcoming, which is something you really don’t see these days in most large cities.  But beware – As Rio is still a developing country, there is still a lot of poverty, and crime rates are high.  For the most part, as a tourist, you can avoid impoverished areas, but even I was surprised at the amount of poverty that still exists in the country.  Regardless, there is so much to do and so much to see, that Rio de Janeiro is well worth the trip.

For those of you who follow me over at my personal blog, or this travel blog, you probably already know that I spent the past month or so in South America.  If you haven’t been keeping up on my travels, I’ll go ahead and give you the quick 411.  Last month, I embarked on a trip to Rio de Janeiro to complete a consulting project for the 2016 Rio Olympic Organizing Committee.  It was an incredible experience, and while I spent a lot of time working and in meetings, I made sure to save plenty of time to explore the city as well.  And of course, being the blogger that I am, I wanted to share the experience with you all and highlight some of the great things to do and see in Rio.  Thus, over the next couple of weeks, I will be publishing a 10-part series on traveling to and around Rio, and I’ll be offering tips on where to go, what to eat, where to stay, and so on, so that perhaps, down the road, you might consider traveling to Rio too!

Everywhere I turn the weathermen, ski resorts and shred heads are celebrating winters rapid arrival. With that, I have decided to celebrate winter each day this week as well. Today I bring you the awesome photage of Mt. Alyeska. This resort boasts a unique allure with its base elevation at practically 0 ft. and some of the most extraordinary views of the Turnagain Arm from the top. See for yourself! And take it from me, Alyeska is a MUST add to the bucket list.

Once again, our favorite “must reads” from around the Web.  Make sure you check out the ESPN X Games going on right now and through the weekend in Aspen!  Oh, and if you haven’t already entered our socks giveaway, make sure you do so!

• 15-Year-Old Snowboarder Named to Austrailian Olympic Team: I love seeing and meeting young shredders, but this is unreal!  In Austrailia, a 15-year-old snowboarder was named to the Aussie Olympic Team.  Rad!
• Teter for Haiti: We all know Hannah Teter is an awesome snowboarder, but she’s also an awesome person.  She typically donates all of her prize money to a clean water charity, however, this year she donated her winnings from the US Snowboarding Grand Prix to Haiti.
• Preparation is key to ski trip success: Great advice from the New York Times on taking family ski trips.  Key theme?  Efficiency!
• Snowboarding Postage Stamp Revealed: Wow.  You know snowboarding has made an impact when they release a postage stamp with a snowboarder on the face.  Very cool!  Bummer that it is only available at Park City post office locations, though.
• Will Bright be the First Female to Crack The Double Cork Code? Well, I can’t exactly answer that question, but she sure does hope so!  FYI, love her training schedule – eat, sleep, and snowboard.

Not too many people can say they snowboard for a living, but for Chanelle Sladics, a SoCal native, board sports are her life.  In her words – “Snowboarding is just … so fun.”  And with a first place finish in the Aspen Open, third place finishes in the US Open and Mount Snow Winter Dew Tour, and a 2007 X Games Bronze Medal in slopestyle behind her, Chanelle is living the dream.

Chanelle grew up as an aspiring surfer in Newport Beach, California.  She loved hitting the tube, but never had anyone to ride with so she never really got into it.  She started skating on a regular basis in place of surfing and ended up getting sponsored by a local skate shop, after which she began competing.  However, skating never really “clicked” for her, so she stopped competing, and that was that.  But she always had a connection to the mountains.  She grew up traveling frequently – her parents took her somewhere nearly every weekend, whether it be to the mountains, the water, or somewhere else – so she developed an itch for traveling and adventure at an early age.

When she was in fourth grade, Chanelle suffered a terrible injury that gave her a new perspective on sports, and life.  While playing soccer, she fell and broke her arm, a break so bad she nearly had to have her arm amputated.  She knew she had a long recovery ahead of her.  After the break, it took her nearly two years to regain mobility and feeling in her arm.  She came back and “sucked at everything,” in her opinion, so she decided to start over and take up snowboarding.

At first, she had no idea what she was doing on a snowboard.  She didn’t even know how to carve, but she would charge the jumps anyway and kill it.  By her third lesson, she was sponsored by her local snowboard shop (the same shop that sponsored her for skating).  She became a member of USASA and won the Jr. New Zealand snowboard comp, both which helped land her a spot in the X Games her senior year of high school.

Snowboarding was Chanelle’s passion, a passion she pursued on the weekends, while still attending school full time.  “I was the beach girl [who] thought she would never be a pro snowboarder,” she said.  She went on to college and moved into the dorms, and became a cast member on a new MTV show called “3 Way Threat,” which profiles the lives of athletes who excel in either snow, surf or skate (or all 3) and also features Shaun White, Todd Richards, Hannah Teter, and MFM.  After placing 12th in the X Games, though, Chanelle began to think, “what would happen if I really tried snowboarding, full time?”  She talked to her parents, who offered Chanelle a compromise.  They said they would give her one year to make it as a pro, during which they would offer their full support 100 percent, but after that she would be required to go back to college, snowboarding once again only as a weekend hobby.  Chanelle said it was the best way to really jump-start her career on the slopes.  Looking back, she feels it was one of her best decisions, because it allowed her the opportunity to truly focus on achieving her dream of becoming a pro snowboarder.  And, well, we all know what happened next.

Since then, Chanelle has dominated the pro snowboarding circuit, winning competitions and starring in a number of film roles, one of her most recent being Oakley’s “Uniquely,” a 35-minute travel inspired women’s action sports film.  On her job (if you could ever, possibly call snowboarding a “job”), Chanelle says, “It is just a dream that I get to travel the world and have amazing sponsors.  The older I get the more I realize what a blessing it is.”  And of the industry, she expresses sheer gratitude – “It is amazing that action sports is getting this sort of respect, and to be part of that growth is even more amazing.”

Aside from being one of the best pro riders our generation has ever seen and a “triple threat” in snow, surf and skate, Chanelle is a super humble, down-to-earth human being who lives life one step at a time.  She spends her summers living in San Diego, where she has a huge garden and grows her own food, and her winters in Breckenridge, Colorado.  “To be so close to all the resorts is pretty rad,” she says of Breck.  But she definitely doesn’t restrict herself to these two, physical locations.  In fact, she spent this past summer getting her skydiving license in Hawaii, then went on to co-produce a yoga DVD, traveled to Costa Rica for a wedding, snowboarded in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and finished with racecar driving school in Florida.  Her idea of a perfect day on the hill would involve heading up with a group of her best friends, riding powder all morning then hitting the park in the afternoon, with good music and high fives all around, then carving laps until sunset.  It would begin with a “kick ass” organic, vegetarian breakfast, and end with a long yoga sesh.  Her perfect day would also involve learning something new, as she feels it is important to always learn from your obstacles and grow as a human being.

Where will life take Chanelle next?  Well, she doesn’t exactly know at the moment.  She loves to compete, but she also loves to film, and she doesn’t like defining her life by just one thing.  One thing she does know, though, is that there is a lot more traveling in her foreseeable future.  “I have a massive itch to see the world,” she says.  She has already been all over – China, Japan, Bosnia, Fiji, France – and she loves going to third world countries.  So where will Chanelle go next?  That’s another story to be told.

Last week, Danielle, Rochelle and I all took an epic trip to Vail, our second annual snowboard trip to Colorado.  But this year, instead of spending the entire time riding Vail, we decided to try something new and shred at several different resorts.  Enter, Breckenridge.

Ever since last year’s Winter Dew Tour, I’ve been dying to ride at Breckenridge, CO.  Several of the biggest names in snowboarding call Breck their part-time home – Shaun White, Chanelle Sladics, JJ Thomas and Bobby Brown, just to name a few.  And the park and super pipe consistently top Transworld’s best list.  The combination of the high elevation, expansive free terrain and variety of terrain parks makes Breckenridge a top-notch resort in my book.  Oh, and parking was free for parties over four the day we went – love that they promote carpooling! (Normally, it’s $5 weekdays and $10 weekends, which is still pretty inexpensive in comparison to Vail).

This would be the medium park

When we arrived to Breckenridge, we thought we might as well start out the day right with a run through the park.  Looking at the trail map, we noticed there were three different types of parks – small, medium, and large.  We decided to settle for the in between and hit the medium park (also because it was the most convenient from where we started out, Peak 7).  Well, apparently the folks at Breckenridge do not quite go by the standard definition of “medium” we had envisioned … Compared to what we’re used to riding at Hood and High/Bear, this “medium” park was HUGE!  After staring awe struck for a moment at the top, glancing down at the tables below, we decided to bypass the park (this time around) and sit on the side, watching some of the local riders pass through.  Well, nearly thirty minutes later, our jaws were open just as wide as they were when we first sat down.  We had never seen so many amazing free skiiers and snowboarders all in the same place!  We sat and watched 720 after 720 whiz by, and then quickly came to the conclusion that everyone who rides at Breck is pro … or all pros ride at Breck.  Either way, it was really cool just watching all the talent built up at the mountain throughout the day.

Come on dude, really?!

After watching the pros in the park, we rode through the pipe for a while (not the smoothest pipe I’ve ever  been in, but I definitely blame it on the conditions – it hadn’t snowed in days – and not the resort itself).  The 18 foot walls were super fun, and the pipe was nicely cut.  One of the things I really liked about Breck was their “progressive” park system.  Their parks are set up in steps, or difficulty levels, so riders can start from the small parks when they’re first learning to jump and work their way up.  There are three small terrain parks and one small pipe, one medium park, and one large park and super pipe.  So riders who start  riding at Breck can go through the park system and take it up a step when they’re ready.  And since I am a person who grew up learning to ride a baby park, then immediately transitioning to a large, comp-style park, I can definitely appreciate this style of “at-your-own-pace” learning.  Also, Breckenridge has a really neat Web site called Breck 1080, where you can actually preview the features, meet the team riders, and watch videos before you head up to the slopes.  But park riding definitely isn’t all there is to Breck, unlike some jib-heavy resorts.  There’s tons of free terrain to ride as well, and several bowls and fun tree runs, really making Breckenridge a well-rounded resort.

Lunch!

Now, Breckenridge boasts a lift with the highest elevation in North America.  It’s called the Imperial Express Super Chair (at the top of Peak Eight) and it sits at a record elevation of 12,840 feet.  To put that in perspective, the highest point reached by a chair lift at Mt. Hood Meadows is 7,300 feet, and the top of Palmer at Timberline, one of the few resorts open for skiing year-round, is 8550 feet.  That’s kind of a big difference.  Even though the dismal Colorado snowfall (or lack thereof) during our stay made for some pretty icy runs near the peak, we finally decided that we couldn’t not take at least one run down.  So after lunch, we headed up the 6 Chair to make it over to Imperial before it closed for the day.  We had to rush because the lift stops operating at 3:15.  We made it over to Imperial by 3:02, but of course with our luck the lift had just closed at 3pm, early due to conditions.  Bummer.  But then again, we now have an excuse to go back to Breck next year!  Insider Tip: If you get a chance to make it to Breckenridge, especially on a powder day, I’d recommend starting out your day on the Imperial Lift before the bowls get chopped out.  And before the lift closes.

After our journey to find the top (which we didn’t) we made our way over to Peaks 9 and 10, the final side of the hill we had yet to experience.  And we finally found the small terrain parks!  The small parks were a lot of fun to ride.  We particularly liked Eldorado, because the jumps had a lot of pop and a nice, solid landing.  The perfect way to end our day.

The lifts at Breckenridge are open 8:30am to 4:30pm, with the gondola operating 8am to 5pm, but one of the cool things about Breck is that if you think that 8 hours on the hill isn’t enough (???) then you can head straight to Keystone, which is one of the only resorts in the area open for night skiing (your ticket is good for both resorts).

Overall, I really enjoyed riding at Breck, and I think it is one of my favorite places I’ve ridden at so far due to the vast versatility of park and free-ski options.  I was really surprised at how big Breckenridge is.  Though it’s only half the size of Vail, it really didn’t seem like it, and we definitely didn’t cover as much ground as we would have liked to in just one day.  We had also heard that Breck was a lot less steep than Vail (our skiier friend, Kevin, said Breck isn’t his favorite for this reason), which is true to some extent, but there are definitely a fair share of steep runs as well, especially if you hit the back bowls above peaks 8 and 7.  Personally, I’m not a huge fan of super steep runs because I like straight-lining it the whole way down, so I thought Breck was perfect, especially since there wasn’t much powder or fresh snow when we rode.  Insider Tip: If you head out to the Vail area during icy conditions and are able to add some flexibility to your resort riding plan, I’d recommend riding Breck over Vail or any of the other resorts, namely because there are more options to ride less iced-out runs than the other nearby resorts.

Also, if you can swing it, I’d recommend staying in Breck for a night or two, at the very least.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get the opportunity this year, as we had prior arrangements in Eagle-Vail, but the town of Breckenridge is so adorable, I wish we could have stayed and checked out the nightlife!  Unlike Vail, which is a bit more family-oriented, IMHO, Breck tends to attract a younger crowd, likely due to its stellar reputation within the snowboard community and younger audiences.

Perfect blue bird day!

Now, I had always thought that Breckenridge (or any Colorado resort, for that matter) was purely a winter resort with not much to do in the summer other than dream of the first snowfall of the following year.  However, in talking with a few Breckenridge locals, I learned that this is not the case.  Not at all.  Breckenridge boasts more than 100 miles of bike trails (yes, I say “more than” because they stopped counting after they reached 100), the Peak 8 Fun Park, which features everything from Alpine slides to Colorado’s largest human maze.  Also, we hear the vibe is a lot more chill and laid-back in the summer, so this might be a good option for a relaxing, laid-back summer vaca.  Like the saying goes, “Perfect Mountain, Perfect Mountain Town.”  I’ll add “year round” to that one.

After an amazing six days in Vail, CO (hence the six days sans blog updates), we’re finally back home   We were able to squeeze in four days of riding, though, and tried two brand new resorts – Beaver Creek and Breckenridge.  Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks, because we can’t wait to share all!

Right now, Rio de Janeiro is at the top of my “places to go once I have the money” list (and trust me, the list is a pretty long one) but watching this video made me want to go even more

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