Heading West

Having purchased the Vail Epic Ski Pass I can ski at any of the many Vail owned resort. So Park City Utah, here we come!

Where did the snow go?

Snow's Back!

Our new place for about a week just outside Park City UT

See Ya Colorado

Nice week four in Frisco skiing with my "senior Kick A.." groups. Couple of days were quite cold with a lot of snow that limited visibility and made for short ski days. On one short day Debby and I visited the Cozen Frontier Museum near Winter Park and then took a scenic short cut back to Summit County.

On Friday I decided to take a break from skiing since it was minus 10 (feels like minus 24)

but with the sun out an no wind couldn't stay in. Took a ride up to Ute Pass for the super views.

Single digit temps but very comfortable.

And THEN we took a two hour guided snowshoe hike offered by Copper Mountain. First time snowshoeing AND Debby had a good time except for some cold toes.

Helicopter came shortly and rescued Jeff

 

Buzzards Alley

Waiting for Shuttle Bus from Frisco to Copper Mountain

Today was my last day in January with the Copper Mountain Over the Hill Gang. Gonna really really miss this group. Today we had Caroline for our guide/instructor and she really pushed the envelope. Usually for the first run you warm up on something groomed and not too tough. Not today. We went up two chair lifts and headed over to he T Bar surface lift that hauls you up to the very top and skied untracked fresh powder. Did this twice before clouds closed in and visibility disappeared.

I've been to Copper quite a few times over the years. On my first visit and every other visit, while skiing a big meadow near mountain top, I would gaze up at this huge peak and be in awe of others that could ski this. Well check this off my life to do list. Today I skied the Double Black Diamond Buzzards Alley! Steep and deep and a long way down. Glad I didn't crash. Interesting that we were going back up to do some back country runs but a snow squall came in quickly and kept us a lower elevations.


I'm gonna really miss my Over The Hill Buddies!

End of Day

Fancy Fire Pit

Better than Powder Skiing

What's better than a powder day skiing? A powder day with sunshine! Back with the Copper Mountain Over the Hill Gang.

If I'd taken a selfie, you would have seen me singing and grinning ear to ear....

Went into the back bowls of Copper Mountain for some great powder skiing in the sunshine. I have always wanted to tackle this but was afraid to go there without a group. WOW!

You have to hike this mountain of ride a snow cat i you want to ski it.

Bluegrass

If you know us most of our travels involve finding a music festival....

Two nights of bluegrass at Keystone Ski Resort, about 30 minutes from our condo in Frisco.  Hardest part was staying up past 10pm. Pretty lively crowd so it wasn't too hard.

 

Fun part was getting up at 6:30 am Sunday to ski....

Exploring Colorado

Took a day off Saturday to rest up. Saturdays  are a good day to take off as the crowds from Denver come to ski. Debby and I decided to head out on a big loop and explore some Colorado. We headed south through Breckenridge and crossed the continental divide at Hoosier Pass

It's about 25 degrees but warm in the sun.

Snowshoe trail

Went through the small towns of Alma (home of Al Mart), Fairplay and South Park.

Old town South Park closed or winter.

A South Park Church

Arrived at Beuna Vista where we had camped for three nights on our last summer jaunt.

Had lunch in the cae in this restored building.

Headed back to Frisco through Leadville where it started snowing.

Colorado Blue Bird Skies

My classroom or the day

Finally quit dumping snow so had to "suffer" through a few days of beautiful blue skies and groomed trails. Still skiing a lot with my "mature" groups.

Over the Hill Gang gathering or the day

On Tuesday I  hooked up with the instructor that taught us powder skiing last week. He spent the whole day on the finer points of mogul skiing.

VAIL

Went to Vail Thursday and skied with Club 50. These mainly age 60-70 guys and gals ran me on some tricky black diamond runs including one through the woods in the back bowls. I've found that skiing with the group's always pushes me and helps improve my skills. Very nice folks too.

I never get tired of the incredible views.

Oh and Friday, it snowed.......Powder Day.

Road Trip

Yours Truly Soaking in the Winter Park Vibe

Went to Winterpark Ski Resort on Wednesday. Trip was about 90 minutes first over the Continental Divide and then over Berthound Pass.Good trip to take when the roads are dry. Debby went along to take in the gorgeous scenery.

Debby's view from the Lodge

This the the closest resort to Denver with a Ski Train from downtown to the resort every Saturday. Very uncrowded on Wednesday. Would never ski here on a Saturday.

This place is huge. Took the complimentary tour offered each morning to learn the mountain and kep from getting  lost.
Super guide with just me and one other guy.

You can see forever.

One of my rides up.

Peak Looks Like a Glove.

Not too crowded. This about 9am.

A lot o above tree line skiing. Great on a sunny low wind day,

Last run from here back to the lodge was about 4 to 5 miles.

 

Powder Powder Powder

Powder Week in Summit County Colorado

Week Two

We both went over to Breckenridge Saturday at the start of this week to explore that town, including a historic museum at the visitor center. Just hopped on the Summit Stage (bus) for quick access town to town. A much needed day off for Jeff.



From almost the start of this ski trip it just kept on snowing. Had a bunch of great days at Copper Mountain and some great ones at Vail. The guides of Copper Mtn. Over the Hill Groups have shown me some new meadows on parts of the mountain that I had never been too. Even had a great powder run in the forest.
 

On Tuesday was fortunate to ski with the best deep powder instructor at Copper Mountain for a "kick ass" all day session. He even kept teaching at lunch, and wrote us individual report cards for things to work on after lunch. Instructor kept us at mountain top for the best powder. Even skied "Poop Chute" and "Hallelujah Bowl" which I wouldn't have touched a week ago.  Kinda crashed on the couch when I got back to the condo.

On Thursday spent a lot of time in the challenging Back Bowls of Vail with the Vail Club 50. A guy named Ed kept giving me some good tips. Tried to keep up with him as he was the top skier in our group. Ed is 78.

Creek near shuttle bus stop in Vail.



One day after skiing Debby and I went to JJs Tavern to sing 60's songs. Lot of fun.


On Friday it finally quit snowing and I took in a sunny day at the posh Beaver Creek Resort.

  

After riding three outdoor escalators from the shuttle bus to the slope level, skied up to the lift where a giant conveyor belt gently placed everyone on the lift. Made a couple of runs until hot cocoa was served at mountain top. With great long groomed runs I put in just under 25,000 vertical feet before heading back to Frisco.

For the two previous years we took one week ski trips and while the slopes were groomed and fun, we had very little fresh snow. Got lucky this year.

Debby's been enjoying her down time, is working on some projects she brought with her and starting to explore Frisco.
.           A walk on the "bike path" in Frisco.