DATE: Sunday, November 9, 1997              TAG: 9711070117

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E6   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: TRAVELWISE

SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN
                                            LENGTH:   69 lines

HOW EL NINO WILL - OR WON'T - AFFECT SKI SLOPES

B EFORE YOU GET really tired of reading and hearing about El Nino and how it will - or won't - affect your life, I would like to suggest that it may have a significant impact on ski conditions across the country. Or maybe not.

New York and Vermont may be a bit drier than normal from January to March. Out West, where El Nino's effect is typically stronger, there appears to be a higher than average chance of snowfalls that are heavier - though later - than usual in some places. Or maybe not.

``We're just dealing with probabilities, so things still could go either way,'' said research meteorologist Klaus Weickmann of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Diagnostics Center in Boulder, Colo.

So what gives? El Nino is a type of weather system with a mind of its own. They develop in super-warm Pacific Ocean water off Indonesia and then move off storms and climate changes.

They usually start affecting the western hemisphere when the hot spot reaches South America (generally around Christmas - hence the name, which is a Spanish term for the Christ child). This current one is already blamed, in part, for the record-breaking Colorado blizzard a couple of weeks ago, as well as the devastating hurricane that hit Mexico's Pacific coast in October.

If this El Nino follows the expected pattern - and many don't - its strong southwest winds would bode well for New Mexico's Taos and Colorado's Wolf Creek, Monarch, Telluride, Vail, Aspen and Winter Park, but Steamboat Springs and other more northerly resorts that rely on northwest winds to bring snow might not fare as well, meteorologists say.

For the latest reports, skiers can visit the El Nino Web site: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/el-nino.

Yes. El Nino has a Web site. YOUR MONEY'S WORTH

Sapphire Beach Resort & Marina on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, offers a three-night anniversary package through Dec. 19 (but not Nov. 19-30). From $329 per person, double occupancy, includes suite accommodations, welcome cocktails and basket with hors d'oeuvres and champagne, breakfast, one gourmet dinner (for two), sunset sail, unlimited watersports. To get up to 30 percent discount (for 30th anniversary), request it when reserving, and show marriage certificate at check-in. This is a VERY nice place, with superb location. Info: (800) 524-2090.

Solo travelers will find no single-supplement fee at Club St. Lucia and Club Antigua, both all-inclusive resorts. The single room rate at the clubs is just half the double-room rate. The clubs include all meals, beverages, sports, activities and classes in the room rate. Travel agents have details, or call (800) 777-1250.

Pay with Visa card and get an Avis mini van or sport utility vehicle for $45 per weekend day or a compact car for $29 per weekend day through Dec. 15. Offer includes unlimited mileage and first tank is free for rentals of three days or more. Restrictions, blackout dates apply. Info: Avis (800) 331-1212.

The most significant effect of the recent Asian currency crisis seems to have been in Thailand, where the U.S. dollar now buys 40 percent more than three months ago. So . . . smarTours is offering one-week Bangkok packages for $999 from New York, including airfare, deluxe hotel, transfers and touring; a 14-day trip, also including the countryside and the beaches of Phuket, is $1,499. Two-week, four-country tours of Hong Kong, Singapore, Bali and Bangkok are $2,100. Info: (800) 337-7773.

There's also this: A special Hong Kong land and air promotion due to expire in November has been extended to Feb. 28, 1998. The promotion offers an eight-day, six-night package, including air fare, beginning at $799 a person, from major East Coast, Florida and Midwest cities. After November, the price increases to $890. Info: Pacific Delight Tours, (800) 221-7179.

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