When you are looking for things to do this summer, don’t forget your favorite ski resort. No matter where you live you can find a ski resort nearby that offers summer activities and most of the destination resorts are offering really good deals to travel out and enjoy some of your summer on the slopes.

The more support we can give our local and favorite resorts in the off-season can only help the area expand and improve winter facilities. Here are this week’s featured resorts and a little of what’s happening on the mountains:

Northeast

• Jiminy Peak Ski Resort, MA - Summer at Jiminy Peak offers the most extensive lift-served mountain biking in the Berkshires and the Mountain Adventure Park is open daily. A special attraction to see this summer is the 378 ft. wind turbine, the first-ever for a North American ski area.
• Lost Valley Ski Area, ME - It's not too late to join Lost Valley's summer Paintball camps. Facilities are also available at the Lodge for weddings and banquets.

Mid-Atlantic

• Wintergreen Resort, VA - A hidden gem in the beautiful rolling Blue Ridge Mountains southwest of Charlottesville, Virginia. Wintergreen is packed with fun-filled activities, including chairlift rides, live music and Third Annual Blue Ridge Mountain Music Fest. Enjoy golf, tennis, swimming, and more all summer.
• Canaan Valley Resort, WV - West Virginia mountain summers make tennis, golf, swimming, and hiking easy and comfortable at Canaan Valley Resort. 18 miles of trails – in wetlands and northern hardwood forests – offer open meadows, abundant with wildlife. Activities also include mountain biking, climbing, hiking, and a world-class golf course.

Midwest

• Chestnut Mountain Resort, IL - At Chestnut Mountain, there's no shortage of traditional summer resort activities, the alpine slide, biking, hiking, and an 18-hole mini golf course. Don't miss the opportunity to take in beautiful riverscapes and geological curiosities on a 1 1/2 hour boat cruise up the Mississippi.
• Devil's Head Resort, WI - Devil's Head is a great summer getaway with miles of challenging single track mountain biking trails, an outdoor heated pool, 2 hard surface outdoor tennis courts, and for indoor activities - an indoor heated pool, two hot tubs, and a fitness area.

Rockies

• Steamboat Springs, CO - The Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series features the best cowboys in Colorado and Wyoming on the baddest bulls and horses, every Friday and Saturday evening throughout the summer. Other activities at Steamboat Springs include a beautiful alpine hike complete with a guide and a gourmet lunch and mountain biking galore.
• Angel Fire, NM - In this special summer of 2009, enjoy the 26th Anniversary Season of Music from Angel Fire. Summer at Angel Fire also means biking, hiking, go carts, and the Angel Fire Balloon Rally.

Far West

• Kirkwood Mountain Resort, CA - Kirkwood summer includes mountain biking - X-C, Super-D and bike park. Test your strength on the Ropes Course at Kirkwood this summer!
• Sunrise Park Resort, AZ - In the heart of Arizona's magnificent White Mountains Sunrise Park Resort has Chairlift rides, mountain biking and horseback rides available all summer.

More:
Summer Ski Resort Activities 6/26
Summer Ski Resort Activities 6/14
Summer Ski Resort Activities 6/4
Summer Ski Resort Activities

_{Kirkwood Mountain Resort in Summer © Kirkwood Mountain Resort}

As the athletes are hard at work training for the 2010 season and the 2010 Olympics I'm polishing up the foggy Olympic crystal ball to see what teams are the teams to watch. Which individuals loom as favorites or as the dark horses.

A look back at who came out on top in last years races and competition events is a good place to start. Not only was it a tune-up for the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver, BC, but it was also a World Championship race year in Val d'Isere, France.

Most of the ski racers competing in Vancouver will be the returning veterans who have raced on their country's World Cup A Team.

Turning the microscope on the overall results for the Ladies Super Combined, or Super Combi for short, the Austrian ladies stand out with 2 silvers and 10 total top Ten finishes and there were only 3 Super Combi's in the season, outside of the World Championship. Lindsey Vonn did the U.S. team proud with a Gold and Silver in the season totals.

Let's take a look at the overall results and the World championship venue to see if the Austrian dominance carried through on the big day at the World's in Val d'Isere and if Lindsey could lead the charge again for the U.S.A.

_{Photo Lindsey Vonn © Don Emmett/Getty Images}

Skier Sarah Burke has been Nominated for a 2009 ESPY Award in the Best Female Action Sport Athlete category.

The Annual ESPY Awards highlight sports top moments and performances from the past year in athletics around the globe. Award winners are determined by online popular vote.

Hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, this year’s ESPY awards will be taped at the 7,100 seat Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on July 15th, in downtown Los Angeles and will air on ESPN Sunday, July 19, at 9 p.m. ET.

Voting is open now so be sure to log-in, or register to vote at www.espys.tv. To vote for Sarah, scroll down to "Best Female Action Sport Athlete" and click on her photo. You can also vote on your mobile phone at www.espn.mobi.

_{Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images}

Last winter I was riding a chairlift with Heidi Voelker, former U.S. Ski Team three time Olympian and now Deer Valley Ambassador of Skiing. and we were talking about Park City skiing. Like me, Heidi was raised in the northeast, and when I asked her what brought her to make her home in Park City she said, "I came for the winter and skiing, but the summers kept me."

This seems to be the reason a lot of transplant "Parkites" put down their roots and stash their ski boots here year round. So when I had the opportunity to visit Park City in the summer I didn't need anybody to twist my arm except my wife who wanted to come along - Park City is a great family or romantic place to visit.

From hiking and mountain biking at the ski resorts, the Olympic Park, the USSA Center for Excellence, slides and rides, swimming, fishing, and boating at nearby state parks, the Farmer's Market at the Canyons, concerts, and shopping, to the Park Silly Market which takes place every Sunday on downtown on Main Street, with music, entertainment, activities for kids, and an open-air market, there is something for everyone at Park City.

Read what Park City is like in the good ol' summer time.

_{Photo © Mike Doyle}

Summer in Park City: Deer Valley | The Canyons | Park City Mountain Resort | Backcountry Day Trip Over Guardsman Pass