Top 10 ski spots

Snow, terrain, nightlife: These are the “top spots,” as selected by Skiing magazine.

1. Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia

2. Alta/Snowbird, Utah

3. Jackson Hole, Wyo.

4. Squaw Valley, Calif.

5. Mammoth, Calif.

6. Vail, Colo.

7. Aspen/Aspen Highlands, Colo.

8. Big Sky, Mont.

9. Alyeska, Alaska

10. Fernie, British Columbia

Denver museum shows lost Grisson spacecraft

“The Lost Spacecraft: Liberty Bell 7 Recovered” has splashed down at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The fully restored Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft is the centerpiece of the new 6,000-square-foot exhibition continuing through Jan. 26.

Launched in 1961, Liberty Bell 7 was the vehicle in NASA’s second manned space flight. Air Force Lt. Col. Virgil “Gus” Grissom flew it on a mission that lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds before it splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. The capsule’s escape hatch prematurely blew off at splashdown, causing the spacecraft to quickly fill with water. The astronaut barely escaped before the capsule sank. In 1999, the spacecraft was found and lifted from three miles below the water’s surface.

The exhibit engages visitors in astronaut training, spacecraft technology and launch sequences in 1961. It then fast-forwards to 1999 to follow the recovery. Information: 303-322-7009; www.dmns.org.

Albania plows ahead with development plans

Tirana, Albania — Albania’s government has dispatched bulldozers to seaside resorts along the Adriatic and Ionian seas to tear down 700 hotels, restaurants and coffee bars built illegally in the past decade.

Villas, hotels and restaurants sprang up along the waterfront in the years after communism’s fall. The illegal businesses did not pay taxes.

The government owns the land and did not permit construction in the communist era.

Albania hopes to develop its 190 miles of waterfront property into resorts, attracting Western tourists and desperately needed hard currency.