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.

You guessed it; day five with Sky and two friends

5:30 came too soon on a Sunday morning, but at least the new guy, Tank didn't get up during the night. We, Sky and his two friends that spent the night, were on I-70 by 6:40 and there was hardly any holiday traffic to speak of... they were all asleep by Chief Hosa, so I guess I couldn't speak of it anyways.

When you ski alone (with iPod which was great but you kind of have to unplug or pause on the lift in case the other passengers are chatty) you get pretty tired from skiing as fast as you want. And not waiting in lift lines, the only rest you get is on the lift. So, I got a lot of skiing in today and got pretty tired but I'm starting to get my ski legs for the season.

These pictures aren't great because I forgot my camera. I had to resort to my iPhone's camera. Day five was great in that I got to ski in the Outback, do some tree runs which was surprising since in other areas of the mountain, those slopes were just about bare. We really need snow. It kind of snowed today but as one guy from Oklahoma City said, "if this is the snow we brought with us, it's pretty pitiful!"

Happy Martin Luther King Day to everyone!

I love changing out of my ski clothes before the drive home. The coffee helped; I hardly nodded at all even though all the occupants of our car were asleep. We were home by 3:15 to let Tank out of his crate... I even got motivated to pull all my drums off of the shelf, setup and take pictures for my Craig's List posting.

Changes at A-Basin

As I was editing my blog header with some utilities I discovered on the Mac, I noticed that there are tracks coming down one of the chutes above A-Basin.

When you click on the picture, you'll see them. It's fairly normal at A-Basin to ski the East Wall but to ski above it, as those tracks show, is pretty extraordinary and probably would result in jail time.

These pictures were taken during Sky's 14th birthday party. He invited several friends and once we arrived, they promptly ditched me. That was fine since I wanted to take some pictures with my new Canon DSLR. The agreement was to meet at the mid-mountain restaurant for lunch. When they didn't show up for an hour or so (no cell service on the front side), I skied a bit more and then ran into one of the Moms who said that Sky had taken a jump and hit his head and blacked out. The ski patrol would not release him from the clinic until I checked him out. It didn't occur to any of his friends to come up to the restaurant and find me, or ski around to see if they could find me. Oh well, I checked him out and he was fine.

I was amazed at the party scene on "The Beach" which is the front row of parking at A-Basin. As I skied over to the Palavachini lift, I looked down this snow bank and there playing at 11, was a full band. When Tamra and I skied there, people would drink and BBQ, but it was really tame compared to what they do there now.

A-Basin has changed a bit over the years, but essentially, everything is as it was in the spring of '78 when I took Katherine there to ski. She had just come back from England and probably was amazed by all she saw that day at A-Basin.

The top of A-Basin is just a few feet shy of 13,000 but oddly enough, I don't get headaches skiing up there. What could explain the fact that I get Altitude sickness hiking fourteeners but not skiing at 13,000.

It's hard to get a photog that shows how steep this side of the mountain is. If I had a pitch meter, I'd take it to Palavachini. You start up on a ridge and are funneled down into some fairly narrow chutes, exiting out through the woods to a double chair which I think they are proud to still operate; it goes almost straight up from the bottom to the ridge. A wait at the bottom is a welcome rest.

I just read on their web site that they are adding a quad to replace the 1978 triple that has been in service all those years. Again, a major change for this area that prides itself on not changing.

I think that's Breck in the distance. A-Basin opened up Montezuma Bowl off the backside. The biggest change in their history and it increased the area's size by 80 percent, adding 400 acres.

I have very fond memories of A-Basin, skiing with Peter, Phil, Mr. Mark, Other friends and of course Tamra, Sky and Sierra. It's included in our pass this year, so I'm excited to go back for more... great days, great runs and drink in all those wonderful mountain views.

View in Montezuma Bowl which opened in the '07/08 season, my 30th season.

What a fine day for a Day Four

(The title refers to a song that was playing while I was writing the blog... Fountains of Wayne and the song, "What a Fine Day for a Parade" - I had to explain since it sounds kind of funny.)

Day four at Keystone started at 5:30 am. Pulled out of the driveway at 6:44, hit some traffic after Idaho Spiggs but it was completely clear traffiicwise and weatherwise the rest of the way to the resort. Half way up Loveland Pass, the sun started illuminating the mountains around I-70.

Taking pictures while driving over the pass made some of my passengers nervous. I can't imagine why, the roads were fine!

One of our favorite Podcasts to listen to is "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" an NPR quiz show with a panel of guests and and a great host, Peter Sagal and Carl Castle from Morning Edition. The Podcast we listened to was 2009 in review with the highlight being Brian Williams from NBC who talked about being happy he was on vacation when the Colorado Balloon Boy thing happened. He also blogs on Music (BriTunes) and had some funny lines.

When we pulled into the lot, it was two above. A 12 minute gondola ride to the top put us on top of the mountain not ready to ski. Since it was early and cold we grabbed 2 coffees and a hot chocolate for the inflated price of $9.50. Sky took a couple of runs with us before heading over to Area 51, the terrain park where he was meeting some friends.

Meanwhile, Tamra, Sierra and I took another gondola over to the Outback where there are only blue and black runs. It's a little less crazy than the front side of Keystone. Just before lunch, I found a really steep blue that was one of the widest and steepest blues I've ever skied. It is the picture below where it drops off precipitously in the next 50 yards.

AT&T cell service seems to be pretty good at Keystone. It really helps when you want to track Sky down or give him an update. He said he was hurting in one of his texts, so we headed to lunch, ate, took a few more runs and headed home.

Day four was great for the weather, everyone skied well, Sky turned out not be hurt (his friends went up to A-Basin) and we didn't hit massive traffic on the way home. Plus, I got a nap in and I'm home writing this blog watching the sun set over the Rockies just before we head over to our friend's house to pick up our new puppy, "Tank".

First blog of the year, ever

I was so impressed with Phil's blog that I thought I'd create one with the theme of our ski days during the 2009-2010 season. Of course, this is my blog and I may break some of the rules I've been mulling over in my head; one paragraph is good (about 15 lines...this first one will be longer since I have to catch up), one picture is nice but since I love photographs, I may break that rule. So here it goes, starting 2010 with a blog that will have to morph into something else once the snow melts. OK, to catch up from last year;

• Day one - Took Sky and four friends to Keystone before Thanksgiving. Really crowded and I managed one run which was on fairly decent snow from the top of the gondola to the bottom. Since there were a lot of people, I decided to go have lunch and browse around a bookstore in Dillon.
• Day two - Christmas Eve - Keystone with Sky, Tamra and Sierra. Not crowded and had a great day from about 10:00 - 2:00. None of us enjoyed our first run down the back side which is called North Peak. A great day before a great party that night with friends. 
• Day three - The Monday after Christmas. Breckenridge. We haven't skied here in 15 years or so. Now we know why; the blues are almost green meaning that they aren't as steep as blues in other areas. I guess you need to know where to ski. The upside was that parking was only $10, $5 if we had four people in our car. It was -2 in the parking but it warmed up by 2:00 when we jettisoned our skis to get in the car and head back to Genesee. The skiing was ok but extremely crowded, but what did we expect on Christmas week. As we rode the gondola back to the car, we spotted a bull moose and we were told that a mother and a calf were harassing skiers up on the slopes. We'll give Breck another try and hopefully we'll know where the best lifts and trails are on the mountain.

This year is definitely a good year to start this blog because we bought the Colorado Pass which gives us unlimited ski days at A-Basin, Keystone and Breckenridge. On top of that, we can ski 10 days at either Vail or Beaver Creek. My goal for this season is 20 days. Sky is shooting for the high 20s.

Oh, another rule, I'm not going to care if anyone reads this, comments or whatever.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Keystone on 12/24/2009

Breckenridge on 12/28/2009

Mr. Berkowitz; shot, stuffed and mounted...