CO Ski Trip w Pics

Just got back from a great trip to the Rockies. Good friends, good skiing and a few Fresca’s.  We got to Denver about 4:30 on Tuesday and hopped on the Avis bus. The driver was Middle Eastern (Lebanese maybe?) and didn’t know what a Mercury Grand Marquis was. He pronounced it "Grand Marcus" so we had a name for our car. Marcus took good care of us all week. Four of us rode together and stayed at the La Quinta Inn in Dillon.

Here’s a picture of Marcus before he got all filthy.

Day #1 was sunny and warm. We skiied at Arapho  Basin and only had to pay $39 (car load special). Stayed mostly on the intermediate trails to get my legs back. Only did 2 expert runs and that was enough. Great atmosphere there. Relaxed and not stuffy. Mostly youngsters playing Reggae. Guys had their cars backed up next to the trail and were cooking on grills and sitting on lawn chairs. Nice. We were on the lift when it opened and quit about 2:45 to hit the bar. Met a great group from the UK there "on holiday". Funny group. We closed down the bar – but I was the designated driver so I only had 2. Went back and caught a shower then had dinner at a local pub. We were falling asleep in our plates. Here’s  3 of the guys I was skiing with.  L to R is Barr, Mike and Chuck.  There were 8 other guys in the party who stayed at a friends house most of the time.

The next day we went to Breckenridge. The mountain is huge! We met at the base of Peak #9 (out of 10). Weather was partly cloudy with about 2 inches of snow. The place was more upscale. We paid $15 bucks to park and got our tickets for $78 at the grocery store ($81 liftside). Steep. The nice part was that we could park Marcus right next to the trail and ski from the car. It was worth the money. The 4 of us stayed mostly on the intermediate runs again and that was good.

On Friday we went to Beaver Creek. What a tourist trap that place is. $85 for a lift ticket and $25 to park! I can’t complain about the skiing though. Spent about 2/3 of the time on the blue intermediate trails and did a handful of expert trails and one double diamond. Surprisingly it wasn’t that tough although my technique, I’m sure, wasn’t  vccimpressive. The day was sunny and warm. No hat, sunglasses instead of goggles. The entire group fo 12 skiied more together and it was like a big party. Apres ski we sat on the patio and listened to a band playing light rock and had a few beers. I handed the keys to Chuck and enjoyed myself. I really like listening to a live band. The atmosphere was very nice (in spite of all the money floating around).

Saturday was the best day all around. We went to Copper Mtn.The only drawback was that the snow was coming down so hard that I got soaking wet – hands, hat and some on the legs – my new jacket is nice and waterproof. . Oh, we also had to pay $70 cus we didn’t read the fine print on the 2 for 1 coupons. Grrrrr.   Mike and I and another fellow, Greg, skiied on the expert trails all day. We also did a couple of double diamonds which were the best runs of the day –  in one of the back bowls. The hill was steep and the powder was deep. Easy skiing and it didn’t hurt when I went off a 6 foot rock and took a spill. We did lots of skiing around the trees. Beautiful. 

The legs were getting stronger each day. My technique is still lacking from what it was many years ago but it was nice to have my confidence back.  I was a little concerned since it had been 7 years since I skiied and now I’m pushing 50. As it turned out, I felt great. No altitude problems and no physical problems either. We skiied pretty hard for 4 straight days and my legs didn’t get sore at all.

And here’s my buddy, Mike who set the whole thing up. He’s one of my best friends. I’m looking forward to doing some hiking with him in the summer.

Namaste,

The Wandering Vermonter