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.

Historical Frisco

Debby spent a few hours exploring the museum and restored buildings that are right across Main Street from us.



    
 

Frisco Colorado

Over the years we've visited Summit County Colorado to snow ski quite a few times. This is the third time we've stayed in Frisco.

Our condo is right on Main Street, right across from the historic park, and walking distance from lots of cool little restaurants. Speaking of cool, Frisco is ranked as the number two "Coolest Town in America", right behind Ashville NC.

So far we've eaten at The Lost Cajun, Butterhorn Bakery and Cafe, and the Log Cabin Cafe. We watched part of the college football national semis from nearby Ollies sports bar.

All are a short walk from the condo.

View from our January home.

Taking shortcut to the grocery store.

And an evening walk home from the coffee shop.

Epic Ski Trip Week One

As week one of our Epic Ski Week comes to an end, I see it's a powder day in the east.

After skiing 6 straight days, I'm taking a break Saturday. Debby and I will be tourists while the masses from Denver converge on the slopes. 

With help of a gps phone app at Copper Mountain and technology at the other resorts that tracks you by your ski pass, I can see what I've done on the slopes. This week I've skied 83,000 vertical feet and about 100 miles on the snow. The conditions were too good to take a break.

I joined the Vail Club 50 and skied with these nice folks one day. They have volunteer guides. Was going to ski with them twice but a snow storm kept me from driving over Vail pass. They do this twice a week.

Also joined the Copper Mountain "Over the Hill Gang" where the guides are Copper Mountain ski school instructors. Tuesday was our first powder day. We had two guides for a group of 8. The main guide knew a lot of secret powder stashes. By the end of the day after the others tired, it was just me and the two instructors. Lots of fun, fast skiing. Crashed once getting too aggressive on some moguls. Got some mogul tips that I've worked on since. Both instructors told me to move up to the next level: Blue Black Bumpers. The program is offered four times a week. This particular day goes into the list of one of the best skiing days in my life....

Debby is really enjoying her down time and relaxing. We have a very nice condo on Main Street in Frisco. She did get out and bought a cookie and got a haircut and went to the post office. She says she'll get out more. There a museum just down the street and others in the area. She can catch a bus to the resorts and explore and maybe we'll do some happy hours. There was a Copper Mountain Subaru Winterfest event last weekend that we attended on Saturday afternoon for a while. 

Bus service is excellent. Fifteen minutes from our front door to the Copper Mountain slopes. About 25 minutes to Breckenridge. Same time to Keystone but easier to drive. About 30-45 minutes to Vail depending on Vail Pass road conditions. We have a heated parking garage in the condo building.

Went to a Cajun restaurant Thursday night which is just down the street. Last Saturday watched college football in a nearby sports bar while waiting for the condo. Otherwise the always excellent Debby meals. 

Did I mention that it's cold. Negative something much of Friday at Vail. Thank goodness for my super duper ski clothes. Twenties and thirties most other days.