New Sno-Parks Offer Access to Winter Sports

Three new Sno-Parks have just been added to California’s 8-year-old, 15-park network of roadside parking areas that provide direct access to cross-country ski trails, snowmobile routes and snow play areas. Administered by the state Department of Parks and Recreation, the areas are all in the central Sierra Nevada mountains--some on U.S. Forest Service lands, some on private property. New this winter is the Yuba Gap Sno-Park, with room for 50 cars, just off Interstate 80, 75 miles east of Sacramento. It provides direct access to cross-country ski trails and a snow play area with a sledding hill. The second, Donner Lake Sno-Park, is at Donner Memorial State Park, just off I-80 near Truckee. The park has several miles of cross-country ski trails that connect with Donner Lake. The third--Huntington Lake Sno-Park--is just off California 168, about 67 miles northeast of Fresno, and offers access to snowmobile and cross-country ski trails. Permits are necessary for all Sno-Park parking areas and are available at some ski and sporting goods stores, including some in the Los Angeles area. They are also available through AAA offices (members only) and from some U.S. Forest Service ranger stations. Cost is $3 per car, per day or $20 for the entire Nov. 1-May 30 season. For a copy of a Sno-Park site map that includes all facilities and a list of permit outlets, send a self-addressed, stamped, legal-size envelope to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, P.O. Box 942896, Sacramento, Calif. 94296-0001, Attn.: Sno-Park Program.

Travel Quiz: Which of these famous wine regions is not in France: Armagnac, Calvados, Piedmont or Medoc?

Round-the-World Scrapped: United Airlines has canceled its previously announced plans to bring back around-the-world service similar to that abandoned by Pan Am a decade ago. Completion of the final, connecting link in the United route--the segment through Hong Kong, New Delhi and London--has been blocked by a labor dispute between the airline and the Air Line Pilots Assn., according to both the airline and the union. All other legs of the route are operating. The globe-circling service, which was to have started next month, would have linked United’s Atlantic and Pacific networks, offering a round-the-world trip on a single ticket, with stops possible in any city on the route and up to one year to complete the journey for $2,241 coach and $4,159 first-class. A spokesman for the airline said he could not comment on whether United will later offer around-the-world service if an agreement between the airline and the Air Line Pilots Assn. is reached.

Egypt Tourism Drops: Attacks by Muslim militants on foreign tourists have pushed Egypt’s tourist industry revenues down by as much as 35% in the past few months, President Hosni Mubarak said in a recent news conference. Mubarak said stiff security measures had been taken to deal with the militants, who killed a British tourist in September. He added that the foreign press had exaggerated the attacks, and that 90% of Muslim militants fighting to overthrow the government had been caught in subsequent security operations. The drop-off in tourism imperils a major source of income for Egypt, where about 3 million tourists last year spent an estimated $3 billion.

Quick Fact: A taxi driver in Prague who turns the meter rate to level 3 (three times faster than the legal rate of 1) is breaking the law unless the ride is taking place following a nuclear explosion, the only time sazba (rate) 3 is officially sanctioned by the government.

Training for Fearless Flying: The seven-session USAir Fearful Flyers Class--the oldest such program run by an airline in the United States--will be offered again at LAX Jan. 6-Feb. 17. During the three-hour classes, which meet in classrooms and on airplanes on consecutive Wednesday evenings, participants learn how planes fly and are taught stress management techniques to overcome their fear of flying. The class, which has enrolled 3,000 nervous flyers since 1975 and claims a success rate of 97%, is taught by clinical social worker Carol Stauffer and veteran pilot Frank Petee, USAir’s director of special projects and co-pilot on the airline’s first passenger flight in 1949. Cost of the seven-week program, which includes a one-hour flight, is $295. For information: (412) 366-8112.

What Women Want: Five “executive women’s suites” at the new Embassy Suites Hotel, Seattle North-Lynnwood, about 20 miles north of Seattle, have been especially equipped and appointed to meet the business woman’s travel needs. And what is it that women travelers supposedly want? Judging by the amenities added to the suites: a hair dryer, curling iron, premium bath accouterments, satin-wrapped potpourri wardrobe hangers and an iron and ironing board.

B&B; Guide to Germany: A booklet listing 500 towns and villages in Germany that have bed and breakfast accommodations is available free from the German National Tourist Office, 11766 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 750, Los Angeles 90025, (310) 575-9799. The guide includes the addresses of tourist offices and booking services for bed and breakfast hotels in different towns and villages, and describes the tourist facilities. Prices begin at about $20 and range up to about $185 in major cities such as Berlin. Bed and breakfast hotels must be booked through the local tourist office and/or booking office, and a knowledge of foreign languages cannot always be expected of the staff in tourist offices and private accommodations.

Comparatively Speaking: Cruise ship sanitation scores for ships inspected in October and November (a score of 86 or higher indicates acceptable sanitation): Seabreeze I, 76; Song of America, 95; Viking Serenade, 97; Royal Odyssey, 80; Arkona, 83; Maxim Gorky, 79; Britanis, 95; Dolphin IV, 90; Festivale, 94; Monarch of the Seas, 96; Royal Princess, 95; Sunward, 83; Club Med I, 67; Crystal Harmony, 97; Radisson Diamond, 85; Europa, 93. (Source: Department of Human Services.)

Quiz Answer: Piedmont, which is in northern Italy.