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Burke 2/23/2013

dlague

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Nov 7, 2012
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Location
CS, Colorado
Burke 2/23

Well, this was another Ride and Ski 2 for 1 day at Burke! We started a little late due to a few last minute matters that needed to be taken care of, but the day was still great! Arriving around 10:30, there was some concern as to whether the trails were going to hold up or not since Burke hasn’t received the snow that others have benefited from. Not to waste any time, we parked at the Mid Base Lodge, which is an old school ski area lodge (very rustic and cool). Talking to a few people, it sounded like we were going to experience some tough skiing!

Once we got our lift tickets, we headed up on the Mid Burke Express. This chair is an awesome improvement and provides no rest for the weary. You can make a boat load of runs in one hour. It turns out, getting there later was ok because of that chair. So, once at the top, we all decided to start off on Willoughby and the trial skied great. There were a few spots that were scrapped off, but nothing that was noticeable. The sides of the trail were soft powder and the middle of the trail was well traveled ungroomed powder that was starting to bump out a little. It turns out many trials were like this which made for very fun skiing.

Next we were told to avoid Deer Run, but we skied it anyhow! My wife broke her shoulder there due to an out of control beginner skier – so it was a visit the ghost from that past thing. She did stab the part of the trail where she was hit! So all is well now! On Deer Run, there were some thin spots. However, it snowed like crazy all day and oddly enough, conditions all over the mountain improved. This trial skied great all day and got faster as the day progressed since the thin spots got cover up! We skied this trail 3 times – it is just a very entertaining trial being that it is a toll road, there are interconnecting glades for those who want to ski something more difficult while being with others that want intermediate skiing.

Other trails that we traveled were Powerline, Lew’s Leap, Lee’s Loop, Marshland, Upper and Big Dipper, Fox’s Folly, and Dashney Mile. Upper and Big Dipper are great and fast cruising runs with a series of three drops that help to build speed. This is a wide trail that is super fun that lets you dig your edges in and let the skis run! Powerline, Lew’s Leap and Lee’s Loop are more technical trails that offer steep drops with moguls and natural features that provide a good challenge – in fact, if you like cliff jumps when the snow is deep, Lee’s Loop has a good 15+ footer at the top of the trail. BTW, I would not consider it myself but it is there! These trails did have rocks, roots and ice in the troughs. Marshland too was scraped off in some spots but was much better later as more snow fell later in the day. Fox’s Folly skied really nice and I wish more runs could be had there, but there were two races going on that trail so one run was good enough. Lastly, Dashney Mile is a simple cruiser with some easy terrain park features in the middle. We do not ski Lower Burke often, but the Tamarack Grill is there and we love their food (and beer) so one trip down was required.

Overall the day was awesome and we felt like we skied all day when in reality we skied a half a day. The new quad gets you to the summit so quickly that there is literally no rest for the legs. We love Burke for the simplicity and trails are fun. The Ride and Ski après ski party capped out day off which is always entertaining. One thing I have to say, the bar at Mid Burke is rustic, but the crowd is lively and everyone seems to have a lot of fun! It was packed two hours after the lifts stopped!

Looking forward to Burke this coming weekend! NEK Sunday’s!
 
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