Hitting up Loveland Ski Area a few days after freshies, still tracks to be had. Soft snow, fast lines and features all over the mountain to play on. My friend Sage and I got some work done in the lodge in between shredding several lines off of Chair 8 and Chair 2. Great weather, no lift lines, and sunny smiles.
Posted in Ski Days
Tagged Colorado, Ski Loveland, Snowboarding
Spending time in Steamboat, shredding new lines or checking out the Winter Carnival on Lincoln…it’s always a good time. Nice, quiet weekend with Jenna and CoCo, taking in the sights, strolling on the Yampa and indulging our palates. It’s good to see the trees finally filled in to the point where base damage is more of a rarity than the norm. Steamboat always delivers.
Posted in Ski Days
Tagged Colorado, pow day, Snowboarding, Steamboat, Winter Carnival
One of those powder mornings that come in slightly unannounced and deliver much more than you expect. A front row ticket watching the CDOT crews blast away at the avy chutes on Loveland Pass in the early morning. Got some work done before the chairs turned, and then shredded ‘special’ lines for the next 3 hours. It was no doubt Double-digit deep, and filled with that special blend of air and float that Loveland powder mornings bring.
Not a track in sight - LUV Chair 2
Snowed hard all morning long and the sun began to peek thru as the place got tracked. Can’t wait until the Ridge opens up, but still by far the best pow day of the year so far because of the number of freshies we scored.
Posted in Ski Days
Tagged Colorado, pow day, Ski Loveland, Snowboarding
Union Bowl from S Chair, Jupiter in close
Sunday morning pow days are trouble when you live in the Front Range. I normally avoid them like the plague but in this case it had been so long since a good stinking pow day that I put into place my stealth plan and scored while the iron was hot. No 3.5 hr traffic for me. Just first chairs up Super Bee and first tracks down Jupiter Bowl.
Jupiter Bowl. Patrol ski cuts, ready for shred
Patrol informed us that the bowl was opening, and we had to follow directed skiing to ease it into operation. All good with me. Slash and burn, slash and burn all the way down.
The storm dropped about 9″ between close of lifts on Saturday and 5am Sunday. It continued to snow all morning, so I am probably going to call it 10″+ new by lift open. HELLZ YEAH. Rode my Gyrator 162 for the first time and it absolutely plowed through all conditions with no chop. Floats like a champ in the deep stuff and never got stuck. Definitely solidified as my double-digit resort pow stick.
Usually on weekends I avoid resorts altogether, but this storm kicked off a major natural avalanche event all throughout Colorado. Not even worth taking chances. Several riders died in a matter of a few days here in Colorado after this storm – both out of bounds and inside the ropes. Not worth taking a chance in the BC right now from my perspective, It will always be there next time. I wore my beacon in bounds on Sunday at Copper.
Great day to stretch the speed limits on an untracked slice of my favorite mountain. Copper Mountain always delivers on a pow day.
Posted in Ski Days
Tagged Colorado, Copper Mountain, pow day, Snowboarding
First day of winter solstice 2011 came in with a bang here in the Front Range. 14″ at my house and that means shreddable lines in South Boulder County.
New lines - BikeinRidge
Good times with C-Low and Don from WildyX. Don toured in from his house, Curtis and I toured in from 66th. 2 miles across the top of the mesas, scoping possible lines and enjoying the views as the storm lifted and the sun came out. We scored! pretty frickin cool when my commute back home was 3 minutes.
already scanning the mesas in my backyard for next turns and shreddable lines. I guess big Upslopes aren’t that bad after all!
Today was one of those early season days where no new recent snow really didn’t matter. The slopes were pretty much empty at Mt. Crested Butte, but the corduroy was soft and the skies were sunny. Ripping turns and having zero case of the “Mondays” with my wife, and our puppy – CoCo.
Posted in Ski Days
Tagged Carve, Crested Butte, Snowboarding
Copper Mountain always has a special place in my ski memories, and today was a chilly yet fun start to my 16th season on this mountain. We showed up early and explored American Flyer and Timberline. Fun turns, sunshine and uncrowded slopes. Looking forward to future pow days and time well spent in the familiar stashes.
Posted in Ski Days
Tagged Copper Mountain, Snowboarding
Hooking up with old friends is more than enough reason to brave the white ribbon of death today at Keystone. RJ and Danimal came in from LA/OC, and Matt came up from C Springs. There must have been 2000 skiers out on the slopes, and literally 2 slopes open, top to bottom on Dercum, mostly Spring Dipper as the main drag.
No new snow, but the laughs and heckling that went on today was priceless.
Posted in Ski Days
Tagged Keystone, Snowboarding
October in the Front Range – snow begins to fall and the ski season begins. Spending time on Berthoud Pass chilling and not in a hurry, time flows by just right. After our last storm a few days ago, the east Side had coverage enough to bring out the rock board and get a hike or two in. Surprisingly soft and fluffy snow, it felt surreal – “…am I dreaming?” “Is this really pow I am bouncing through right now?” about 10-15 turns, maybe 6-9″ deep, but that familiar floating sensation. Felt like a longboard wave – mellow and groovy. grinning.
CoCo joined in on the laidback parking lot convos. her first time up here and she fit right in.
We headed up to Loveland to pick up the season pass and score more turns.
Loveland was chilly and yet had fun, soft hardpack. Chair 1 was open, good for getting the first carves in, and speedy descents. The vibe is the same – easy, fun and low key. Seeing the ridge and upper drainages begin to fill in is ‘fantastico’. The new season, my 30th on snow, has begun.
If today was any indication of the upcoming season, I will be plenty stoked all year long.
Posted in Ski Days
Tagged Berthoud Pass, pow day, Ski Loveland, Snowboarding
