Yes, we are debuting a new feature: an assortment, a stew, a bouillabaisse of delectable items that we’ve collected over the week . In another example of bad timing—or perhaps hesitancy—we’re launching it a day late. But we’ll do better later. Meanwhile, enjoy:

  • Winter routes: In the summer, we’re inclined to follow where others have marked the way. The paths of least resistance. In the winter, the powder has a leveling effect, and we mean that literally. Swales and peaks, carpets of thistle and low brush, anything that might have impeded or inhibited can be buried under a thick pad of snow. Appealing new routes beckon if you’re on snowshoes or skis. Over the past week, we’ve seen recommendations for snowshoe treks in northern Minnesota and a six-day mountaineering traverse of the Sierra High Route that crosses nine mountain passes. Daunting but awesome.
  • A new study notes that older drivers are taking over the highways, because (a) boomers are becoming older and (b) young people are slower to get their licenses. “In 1983, about 87% of 19-year-olds had earned their drivers’ license. In 2008, that dipped to about 75%.” One explanation (backed up by no particular research but plausible) is that electronic communication diminishes the need or the interest in getting off the couch and actually laying your eyes or your hands on someone in the physical world. Also, chillingly, this: “Furthermore, some young people feel that driving interferes with texting and other electronic communication.” In other words, they don’t want to hang out because getting there—the glorious act of moving over a patch of earth—gets in the way of texting and tweeting.
  • Most older American skiers probably don’t think about taking their boards to Europe, because it’s expensive to get there, expensive to stay there, and you have the Rockies in your backyard. But if Europe falls into a deep recession—we’re not cheering for this, mind you, just pointing out the possibility—then the dollar could go a long way across the Atlantic. And that means the Alps might be nearly as affordable as Colorado. Hence, the relevance of this account of five good reasons to ski Val Thorens, one of Europe’s most popular resorts and just seven hours from Paris. (If you go you won’t be alone; 70 percent of its skiers are foreigners.)
  • Any story that promises to tell you How to Get Legs Like Lance Armstrong belongs in the special journalistic pantheon that also includes How to Make Millions in Penny Stocks, How to Meet Supermodels, and How to Lose Weight on the Ice Cream Diet. But in all these cases, it’s still interesting to learn at least one theory of how such a thing might happen.

Photo of Korean stew by miyagawa via Wikimedia Commons.