Bostonian's Vail Trip Report 2-27 through 3-1

[Bostonian]

Place holder for my trip later this week! I am flying out to Denver Thursday to ski Friday through Sunday. Last I checked, there was 8 inches of new pow!

 

[Bostonian]

sitting at buffalos atop vail with powser! snowing like crazy!!

 

[Bostonian]

Just got back from Vail and Keystone! Here are some pictures, a full 3-day trail report to follow tomorrow! Spent two days in Vail, and one at Keystone. Friday was a Pow day, Saturday turned out to be a Colorado Blue Bird Day, and yesterday was a beach day! Enjoy some of these pictures!

 

[dmc]

Well done!

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

nice pictures..it's sweet you got dumped on out there..

 

[Bostonian]

nice pictures..it's sweet you got dumped on out there..

Dude it was just stellar this past weekend out west. This was my first trip out to Vail and now I am addicted to it! So here is my belated trip report!

Friday:
We get to Lionshead around 8:00 to ride the gondi to get to Game Creek. My first run ever at Vail was on Showboat, which was covered in glorious Rocky Mountain Powder. After that we moved onto Dueces Wild for more powder with trees poking through it! Making our way over to Buffalo's we skied Eagles Nest to Avanti back up the #2 lift, to the #4 lift. After a few runs off the top on the front side we went into to bowls. This was my real first experience skiing any bowls, and china Bowl was a great way to break my cherry! With powder nearly calf deep, it was a spiritual experience. We hit up poppy fields (East and West), along with Chopstix. I also tried out Jade Glade (or at least I think it was!) which was steep and deep! There is nothing quite like it! By this time, it was about 3:00ish... The snow was stopping, the skies were breaking, and just as we were making our way down mountain back to Lionshead, the blue skies replaced the overcast, revealing the mountains in the distance. Simply humbled, I could not get over the breath taking views. While I was sore at this point, it was nothing short of glorious. By 4:00pm after riding 3 lifts to get back down, day one was finished. That night we had dinner at Bagali's. What a great way to finish the day!

Saturday:
Making our way to the lifts this morning, today would be a day to push myself like I have never have before. With the powder tracked up, and soft bumps forming all over the place, I skied like I never have before! Taking the gondi up, we made our way over to the #4 lift to warm up on runs Cappucino and Expresso. Loosened up a bit, We hit the up emperor's choice up top where the powder was plentiful and the skies as blue as I have ever seen! Then came Genghis Kahn with with lip. While I have always enjoyed skiing, I never really tried pushing myself until Saturday. As a skier who can make his way down most trails, I stood up over the lip, looking straight down with a little butterflies in my stomach. I closed my eyes and on the count of three I skied off the lip into the soft choppy powder and landed perfectly. Next was the tough part, as the powder got pushed around it was getting pretty bumpy... Plant and turn was the lesson of the day, and by the time I made it to the bottom of the trail, while not the prettiest skiing, I felt a sense of accomplishment hitting up a steep trail like that all bumped up with delicious powder. the rest of the day was spent at blue sky, just cruising around on my incredibly sore legs. The rush of that trail carried me all the way through Garf's for wings and beer, and then to the george for more beer! WOW is the only way to describe it. My only regret is that in the two days we skied, I didn't get to Blue Ox, however next year it will happen!

Sunday:
Since my flight out was yesterday, my host suggested we try something a little more steeper. A beach day it was over at Keystone, where at the base, it was a balmy 55F. T-shirts were the order at the bottom and no hat was the way to go. With sore legs, but a new sense of accomplishment we began on the long cruisers on the front face by the river run gondi. Keystone is kinda like the Denver equivalent of Wachusett, just bigger and bolder! After hitting the front side for some great carving, it was time to push myself yet again. We skied Mozart, to get to the North peak. The blues here are like blacks anywhere else. But it was well worth it. I did ski one of the blacks here, but that pretty much sealed the deal for me for the rest of the trip. With legs sore, but spirits high, lunch at Northpeak was wonderful and needed. After lunch we made our way back to the car to for the trip back to Denver.

Now while I am leaving a lot out, I will have to say this was the most amazing trip of my life. As someone who has skied the east all my life, there is nothing quite like skiing out in the rockies. It was humbling yet, empowering. Ultimately, I cannot wait to get back there soon!

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

nice write-up..I'll eventually make it to Vail..