Ski Days
Broken, But Not Beaten
We skied Keystone today and I have a brand new respect for Amy and ski poles. But I’ll get to that in a minute. Here we are at the top of Keystone – River Run Gondola. There is Breckenridge in the background. Not crowded but very, very warm. And we’d like a few inches of snow…but doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
Here we are at lunch. Late start, late lunch, everyone is great and happy. No lines, no crowds…
Then it happened. I had just skied off to chase Cayden, saw that Amy, Coop, and Camber were good. We get over the hump and wait for the rest of the crew. And we wait…and wait…and wait. I call. Not good. Cooper got blasted by a snowboarder. I mean…blasted.
Amy saw the guy and starts hollering at him. Threatens to beat him with her poles. Of course, I’m not there, just over the hill. Not knowing what is going him. I’m sure the guy passed me. He’s lucky. Amy decides (wisely, I might add) to stay with Cooper. As God would have it, there were two ski patrol guys on vacation from Philadelphia. They stop and help Coop get sitting up, put some ice on his wrist. They call the Keystone Ski Patrol.
Sol (pronounced Saul) was the ski patrol guy. He was awesome.
In fact, he was so awesome, Amy felt comfortable enough to take pictures. I’m glad she did. Coop got a ride in the yellow sled. It wasn’t as fun as he thought it would be. And the guys FLYYYY down the mountain.
It’s hard to explain to your girls that their brother is okay, he’s not going to die when he’s wrapped up in the yellow sled and their zooming down the mountain. I took the girls, got the car, skis and gear to meet up with Aim at the Medical Center. Cooper got to pick the color of his cast – orange. And within a couple of hours, the adventure was done.
We bagged him up so he could sit in the hot tub. Keepin’ it elevated and the good news? He can hit the slopes on Wednesday. And we will…
Pray that I don’t run into that snowboarder…
Ski Day 2 & 3, Breckenridge
For Thanksgiving this year, we headed up to Breckenridge for a couple of days. The snow has not been good. Only man-made stuff but we’re kinda pressed for time to get in as many days as we can so we can’t really be picky at this point.
I’m glad we went.
The weather was great – hoovered between 37 to 42 both days. Breck only has two peaks open. Peak 8 is the gondola serviced peak and where some intermediate runs are open. Peak 9 is one long green run from mid-mountain to base.
If you’re going up – take the gondola to Peak 8. Ride Lift 7 to the top then ski over to Peak 9. Hardly any crowds, great snow. We skied Peak 8 on Wednesday and it was a complete madhouse. I’m not anti-snowboarders but why is it that they are always the one flying down the mountain running into people when I’m around?
We had a lot of fun. Here are some pics.
Ski Day 1, Arapahoe Basin, Camber
Ski Conditions:
Snow was great. It was warm, 50 degrees and bright. No clouds at all, no wind until about 2 pm. Felt like a great spring day.
What was not great were the lines and the crowds. In the morning it wasn’t bad. After lunch it was terrible. We stopped skiing around 1 because of it. With only one lift and one run open – we expected a little wait. We forgot it was Fall Break for many schools in Colorado.
If A-Basin gets some snow over the next 2 weeks, they’ll be able to open the front side. It’ll be awesome.
It felt weird to pull on the ski pants, slap on the helmet and strap on the long boards after a long break. Then again, the last day I skied was just 6 months ago. The Xterra did much nicer than the Sonata, thanks for asking. It’s a manly car.
Day with Camber – priceless. I love her heart and spirit. We laughed pretty much all day long. Some pics:
Camber’s Early Birthday Present
G: “So…what do you want to do on your birthday?”
Cam: “Ski.”
G: “Really?”
Cam: “Yep. Can we go on a Friday and miss school?”
G: “You are my favorite child.”
Cam: “You say that to all of us, Dad.”
G: “Don’t ruin this moment.”
Tomorrow morning we will hit A-Basin. They’ve got an 18-inch base, only one run open – “the white ribbon of death.” But we won’t care too much. We’ll go early, probably stop after lunch and head home.
Cammy was my skiing buddy toward the end of last year. We were the only ones to ski the coldest day of the year last year. It -13 at the base. I don’t even want to know what it was at the top. It was so cold, we took turns leading down the mountain. It was a nice thought from her but I’m not sure how much of windbreak she was for me. Our feet were solid pieces of ice when we got down. We grabbed some hot chocolate, sat for a few minutes then did it again. We were practically the only ones on the mountain that day. By lunch we were done. Great day.
She’s an intermediate skier, learning to do the moguls. Probably by the end of the year, she’ll be doing single diamonds with me. I’ll wait one more year to get on the double’s and backcountry powder skiing.
But lost in all of that – she’s turning 9. NINE. I’ve been told it just gets faster from here on out.
I’ll love tomorrow. Take some pictures. Make some memories.
Opening Day
Today is the first day of ski season for A-Basin.
There was frost on the ground this morning.
The top of Pikes Peak has snow again.
I have next Friday off.
Can I make 10 days?