Another Record Year!

2011-2012 Ski Season set a record for one of the driest seasons on record. Coming off of last year, it was a year that easily could be forgotten if you look at the stats. However, I took my skis along on my 4,000 trip and skied at two new areas in two states (kinda);

- Lookout Pass is right on the border of Montana and Idaho. The lodge has a Montana dining room and one for Idaho. I think most of the skiing is done in Idaho. What's cool is that the elevation is lower so you aren't so challenged to get oxygen like you are in Colorado. Also, most of your skiing is in the trees and they get a ton of snow up there. In 2010-2011, they set some world records. This was very much a family area where kids get free ski lessons until they are 15 years old.

- Whitefish is just north of Kalispell. I skied half a day and unfortunately, there were no snow ghosts and there wasn't any visibility, at least at the top. To add insult to injury, I met a couple in a bar the night before and he agreed to be my guide. We met at the top and I knew right away I was in trouble. Greg had been skiing here for about 30 years or so and he was a tremendous skier, as was his wife. They must have a pretty dim view of Colorado skiers after seeing me that day.

- Copper Mountain in early March. I went with Tamra, Sierra and her friend. Tamra and I peeled off and skied most of the time off of the Super Bee lift. This must've been one of their last powder days. We had a great day and I thought the GoPro captured everything. When I got home, I realized the camera was pointing too far down, so all I got was great footage of a lot of snow whizzing by! Occasionally it was interesting. I had a previous day back in January that was also good. Sky, Jake and I stayed overnight in Gini's condo. It was very nice and we skied in and out. I should say I skied in and out since Jake and Sky met friends in Vail.

Maybe next season will be the one!

A New Season

Just a few words to get started;

• It's almost the end of January, 2011
• I haven't posted since last season
• I've been skiing twice, so far
• We didn't buy the season passes like we did last year; bought the Copper 5 Day Pass
• Both days were great

First Day - Copper Mountain on Xmas Eve - Sky had a bad fall in the half pipe and lost a half pint of blood. He's ok. 

I took a nose dive into a tree, head first but I was able to get my hands up to break the impact. What seemed like a few seconds after hitting the tree, I sat stunned and very cartoonishly, my ski went up... and came down and hit me in the head. Next time I went skiing, I wore my helmet.

The day was very sunny, nary any traffic, pretty warm and just a perfect Xmas Eve! 

Second Day - Woke early, great drive to Vail and parked in the Cascade lot. This is the lot of the hotel where we'd be staying that night. Probably not many people are aware that it costs $25 to park in their garage and there aren't any other options. So, we checked in at the front desk even though we wouldn't be back until after skiing all day. 

As opposed to the hectic gondola at Lions Head or the crowede Vista Bahn at Vail Village, we rode the quiet, peaceful quad up from Cascade Village (our hotel) and started skiing pretty much right away. We had a great morning of blue skies and great cordouroy as we worked our way over to Two Elk Lodge where we have grown fond of eating our lunch. After lunch, Sky went to the big park alone and the three of us had some great runs getting back to the Game Creek Bowl area which was close to our hotel.

The afternoon clouded over and since we were tired, we downloaded to the Cascade Village, checked into our hotel room and hot tubbed our way into the late afternoon, watching the big flakes cover the view.

Our favorite Mexican Restaurant had a lull in their rush and we were able to get a booth and a margarita pretty quickly. After dinner, we walked almost all the way back to the hotel but caught a bus that took us all the way back into Vail Village before catching the shuttle back to Cascade. I almost forgot; at Lions Head, we jumped on the Gondola and rode it up to Eagle's Nest where there are bars, restaurants and activities like riding ski-bikes down the mountain with headlamps. On the way down, looking out over the pretty lights of the village, it occurred to me that I didn't know anything about the gondola accident in 1976 that I told Sky and Sierra about as we descended the mountain. I researched it and came up with the Sports Illustrated article that I posted on the 1006 Google Group.

Sunday morning, we found a great cafe for pancakes and french toast.

We dropped Sky at Keystone and headed home to the dogs who had been waiting for our return in their "Canine Canyon".

View from the lift

My companions

Dropping into Game Creek Bowl

My buddies

Wildwood

 The afternoon clouds roll in (snowed that night into Sunday...)

Mexican eating buddies

Monday Morning (@ Vail)

Spring Break, 2010
Vail, Colorado
31 lifts

Trails

• Skiable area: 5,289 acres (21.40 km²)
• Trails: 193 total (18% beginner, 29% intermediate, 53% advanced/expert)
• Longest run: Riva Ridge - 4 miles (6.4 km)
• Average annual snowfall: 346 inches (8.8 m)
• Terrain Parks: 4
  • 1 Superpipe
• Bowls: 10 (7 official)
  • Sun Down Bowl
  • Sun Up Bowl
  • China Bowl
  • Siberia Bowl
  • Tea Cup Bowl
  • Inner Mongolia Bowl
  • Outer Mongolia Bowl
  • Pete's Bowl
  • Earl's Bowl
  • Game Creek Bowl

Monday, March, 29th, 2010
10th Day of the 2009-2010 ski season
KLR, TSR, Sky and Sierra
Temps in the 30s and 40s
Mostly Sunny!

No traffic!

Not quite awake on the ride up to Eagle's Nest

Looking east along I-70.

The view back down to Lions Head which has been totally renovated back in 2008. We are riding in a 12 person gondola.

Mount of the Holy Cross behind Tamra and Sky.

Now Sierra is ready to go...

It's so beautiful at Vail. It seems like the resort has everything you'd ever need. The most skiable terrain in North America.

If you were there in person, the steepness dropping off into Game Creek Bowl and the views to the north and west are amazing.

To the east with Mid Vail in the foreground, the Gore Range as the backdrop. Vail was named for Charles Vail who was the designer of the highway going through the valley.

They groom a few trails in the Back Bowls so that you aren't having to ski on frozen crud until the sun melts enough to dig in.

That would be Two Elk Lodge that the extremist organization Earth Liberation Front burned to the ground and caused more than $20 million in damages. They rebuilt the lodge, so they ended up causing even more damage.

Nice feet and nice view!

Those aren't tusks! I fall asleep for one minute and look what they do to me!

Since I first skied Vail in January, 1978 (with Pete!), I've always loved how chair 11 crests this cliff.

Sky in the park and...

Sierra in the park.

It was an extra large day and it was made even better that Mom came home from the hospital and was able to spend her birthday at home! Even though Vail can have an attitude and is ridiculed, it is a special place and a lot of fun to ski on a beautiful spring day.

More Photos from Keystone - March 14th

From top to bottom - Me in the woods where it got pretty steep.
Sky itching his nose with a pretzel
The deck at the Outpost
Me with a crumb on my lip...

With some difficulty, these pictures were downloaded from Peter's Picasa album and then posted here courtesy of a blogger button... I'm still learning but it certainly is a whole lot easier if you use photos from your own camera.

I'm glad I had my faux rabbit hat on that day. It wasn't all that cold but it certainly is nice on your ears.

Those hands look cold. There's a certain adventure that goes along with skiing with Peter. He really likes to navigate those trees.


(Written after our ski day in Keystone - March 14th, 2010)
My ninth day of the ski season was indeed special. I had with me, Peter (the original "Reed-ski"), Kristin and Sky. We were on the road by 6:40 and avoided most of the traffic on the way up to Keystone. We debated about going to Vail, but in the end, we didn't want that kind of pressure and cost. It was a snowy drive over Loveland Pass and we even had a white-out which was exciting. The gondola was closed due to high winds and so we had to take the chair to the top. We skied off the back side and I christened my new skis down Mozart on our way to the way, way back. At the top of each peak, it got really windy which made us appreciate why they closed the gondola. No crowds made for run after run. After a run in the Outback, Sky and Kristin went to the Outpost for a break. Pete and I skied a while longer and I took him into his favorite place; the woods. These woods had moguls and at times, it got pretty steep. Not really open glade skiing. We met up with Sky and Kristin at the Outpost. A few more runs and a really long one down the front side wore us out and we were off and driving by 1:30. An accident on I-70 only slowed us down for about 20 minutes, so we got to Idaho Springs in time for a late lunch. It was a great day of skiing and I hope they return next season!

Heavy Traffic To, but Mostly Fro

We've had snow for the last few days, both in town and up in the mountains. When it snows in Denver, people who have been holding off because of the drought, are now on I-70, in droves.

A new web site has been launched to try and get people more information about traveling to and fro. The problem I had with it was that when I needed it, my iPhone couldn't launch the mobile site.

But wait a minute, I thought this was a skiing blog?!! It is, I'm getting to that. I woke early because Sky and I started late last Saturday and had to turn around at Georgetown, my first U-turn on an interstate. So, this weekend, we wanted to sample some of the new powder, so we got an early start. We didn't have any problems with the snow packed roads.

We skied hard from the first gondola to the last run through Area 51 where Sky usually hangs out with his friends. But today, it was about just the two of us doing tree runs in the Outback and getting separated but then getting back together. It was great snow, not a lot of it but at this point we are beggars for snow, so we aren't picky. This was my 7th day and Sky's 18th or so... he's starting to lose count. We had nice chats with people who lived in Keystone, Michigan and from our Front Range. Everyone was in high spirits with the new snow which has only been measured in inches.

This is called "free skiing" on the top of Loveland Pass (11,990). I have no interest and to this point, Sky doesn't either. It's great to see people thumbing their collective noses at the high prices of the resorts. As I walked by the ticket windows at Keystone, I think I saw that a ticket was an even $100. Since we bought the Colorado Pass, the more we use it, the cheaper it gets per day.

Even though we left at 12:42 from Keystone, we still hit traffic, entering I-70 around 1:10. The GoI70.com  site has some interesting graphs and some helpful suggestions which I need to explore. But over breakfast, I read about the predictability of the I-70 delays. You can decrease your chances of hitting traffic if you get onto I-70 before 2:00 pm or anytime after 6:00 pm, for sure. Problem is, there are other factors that contribute to delays; holidays, of course snow and obviously accidents.

It was a great day to be skiing with my buddy and we had some memorable runs in fresh powder. Someday, they'll figure out I-70, but I don't think it will be in my lifetime.

We still need snow

Sky, Jake and Arlo
Left home at 8:30 (instead of 6:30)
Over the pass, they all slept
Keystone - North Peak - The Outback
Nice sunny day - cold at higher speeds
Found good moguls in the trees (also found rocks and other debris)
Skis need to be tuned but until there's snow, not much point
Nice sunny lunch - no jacket, stocking feet (see pb&j below)
Customary Venti Latte before heading home (didn't really help with the nodding...)
Two hour ride home (s/b 45 min.)

My PB&J didn't fair so well, but it still tasted good.