rocojerry
Member
This trip report is going to be a long one, and probably edited several times as I upload pictures and stories. I'm too focused on the current NE weather system and being back at work to do it all in one shot-- I'll start with the basics:
Day 1- Abasin (Arapahoe Basin) 2/10/10
Went to pick up my A-basin seasons pass, for 369$ I got a bonus pass which included unlimited days at A-basin, and 5 days at Breck/Keystone. 1 could be used at Vail/BeaverCreek. I used the 5 days up(Vail+Breck) and got in 3 at A-basin... And paid for one ticket, averaged 48$ per day out there on lift tickets, not bad at all...
Today was my second day in colorado and hydrating like crazy... Worked from home in the morning in Denver, and headed out for some afternoon turns.... A-basins altitude did get to me making me feel a bit tired and winded just traversing on flats... They needed snow, rocks were showing on many trails... had a nice blue-sky day for pictures though...
Montezuma bowl and most of the trails on Pavinici were not open,
pray for snow!
East Wall:
From the top of Montezuma, looking towards Keystone:
Day 2- Vail 2/12/10
My girlfriends first trip out west, where should I take her first? Well since Sat+Sunday were technically 'blackout' Vail days, I figured on this fine Friday we should check out Vail first!
Last time there, I tried to find free parking and failed... This time around I was able to park on West Frontage road and take the 'city' bus.. although it worked out fine, it may be worth paying for parking on a powder day unless you get there extra early... We probably got on mountain around 10am. We warmed up with a few frontside runs in the Game Creek area, Dealers choice was probably the best groomer of the day.. I enjoyed the powdery bumps and it started to snow the night before, vail had probably picked up 6-8" new... We did some more runs off of Wilderness and Colorado quads, and some of the blues over here held some of the most frontside snow we found... I remember coffee names for the trails, espresso, cappacino etc.... after we had warmed up, it was time to show her the back bowls.. We started around Sun-up.. visibility was poor, tough to make out terrain features... The snow was nice in the back bowls, easily deeper than the new snow from the night before.... my girlfriend was a bit overwelmed by the immensive size, and open-ness of the back bowls.... but by the end of the day I think she figured it out -- there is no wrong way to go down for the most part.... It pretty much snowed the whole day... we had lunch in the two elks lodge and did a few more backside runs before making our way back to the front. We ended the day on Riva Ridge and Tourist Trap, both were in good condition but got a bit crowded as the whole mountain crowd is funneling down to the bottom.
Day 3- Breckenridge 2/13/10
After a solid 24 hours of snow, time to check out Breckenridge... Last time I was in colorado I liked Breckenridge, but Vail took home the gold.. this trip I spent 4 days at Breck, and started to really love this place..... We parked in the free skiier lot, with options to get off the Bus at the paid parking gondola or continue on to Peak 9 - Beaver Run. We stayed on the bus and glad we did.. Peak 9 is a great place to start/end the day. Avoids a lot of crowds and good groomers to warm up on. We got out pretty early but saturday presidents weekend crowds/traffic seemed to delay our first run. I booked this trip during blackout weekends on my New England pass, so I was expecting some crowds.. On the mountain, things were not crowded... the longest liftline was around Peak 8 base. Snow was nice, we found some courdoroy, some pow, Peerless trees and bumps were great, one of my favorites of the day was giant bumps off peak 10, Blackhawk I think was the trail.... Also did a run off of the E chair, more giant bumps with a nice steep pitch... Great that I finally can get through a double-diamond steep mogul run on a snowboard and actually even enjoy it... those two were my favorites of the day. My girlfriend didn't join me for those two, and perhaps her favorites of the day were one of the blue or blue-black trails on peak 9 or 10. We ended the day with a few beers on the second floor, listening to a guy and his guitar play some good covers.
Day 4- Breckenridge 2/14/10
First/Fresh tracks! Keeping fresh snow a Valentines day tradition!!
<insert video here>
We got out there early, 5 minutes after first chair -- the chairs had been loaded with the initial pow-hounds and we hopped right on the chair. We hit a groomer first run, I think it was called Americana... Nice cordouroy with some fresh on top.... Groomers were still out, and once we came flying around a bend in the trail to be greeted by 3 'tanks' I mean groomers heading right for us.... This is the first time i've encountered moving groomers on an open trail -- there was one night back at WaWa where we got some fresh courdorouy during a storm -- but thats another story.... After warming up on Peak 9, we headed over to Peak 8 and chair 6. I let my girlfriend get ahead of me to get some footage of me coming down on a fresh line on the side of the trail -- I started down over the fresh snow, two-three turns in came to a complete stop.... I've hit a rock, and gouged my new board pretty good... guess there was a reason why nobody ski'd that line -- they probably saw all the rocks there the day before....... Did the most damage i've ever done to my board with a pretty DEEP core shot. This put a damper on the day, but being out here I had little choice but to continue to rock out... We did Contest bowl above chair 8 lift, a bit challenging for my girlfriend but I loved it. We also did a run I think called upper 4'oclock which held lots of snow late in the afternoon. We ended the day over at Peak 7 with some nice blue cruisers and called it a day-- couple beers at Sevens and then off to the board shop for a repair, and the Backcountry Brewery for some tasty brews.
Day 5- Breckenridge 2/15/10
After yesterdays damage to my new snowboard, I thought I would be skiing today -- Nope! Board was repaired (kinda) overnight, and with the new snow still coming in back on the snowboard..... My brother finally made it out to Breck from Boulder (a few days late), and we got a bit of a later start than usual... It was our day 5, and we were waiting on him to give my girlfriend a 'buddy ticket' since he's a colorado pass holder.... Headed up to Peak 8 base, and worked our way over towards peak 10.. We found some glades off of ski'rs right and did a bit of bushwacking.... snow was deep! over my waist and hiking/postholing a bit uphill to get some of the goods was tough... after some great turns and 45 minutes later, ended back at peak 10 lift... Then made our way back to the Imperial and the top of peak 8.... Weather had finally cleared enough to see the top of peak 8! And it was time for a hike... Since my brother and g.f. were'nt up for the serious rigdeline hike, I did a very short one up the remained of Peak 8 to the ridge top... Wow, the altitude and stairway to heaven was a lot tougher than imagined... First few slackcountry turns here were some of the best of the day, pretty deep stuff, but since friends were waiting no time for pictures or sinking into the pow -- just hoping around and blasting through....
Definately a ton of terrain at Breck accessible from ridgeline hikes-- would love to go next time with a crew (ok, anyone!?) that is up for that...
Day 6- Abasin 2/16/10
Day 7- Vail (60$ military ticket) 2/19/10
Day 8- Breckenridge 2/20/10
Day 9- Abasin 2/22/10
Day 1- Abasin (Arapahoe Basin) 2/10/10
Went to pick up my A-basin seasons pass, for 369$ I got a bonus pass which included unlimited days at A-basin, and 5 days at Breck/Keystone. 1 could be used at Vail/BeaverCreek. I used the 5 days up(Vail+Breck) and got in 3 at A-basin... And paid for one ticket, averaged 48$ per day out there on lift tickets, not bad at all...
Today was my second day in colorado and hydrating like crazy... Worked from home in the morning in Denver, and headed out for some afternoon turns.... A-basins altitude did get to me making me feel a bit tired and winded just traversing on flats... They needed snow, rocks were showing on many trails... had a nice blue-sky day for pictures though...
Montezuma bowl and most of the trails on Pavinici were not open,
pray for snow!
East Wall:
From the top of Montezuma, looking towards Keystone:
Day 2- Vail 2/12/10
My girlfriends first trip out west, where should I take her first? Well since Sat+Sunday were technically 'blackout' Vail days, I figured on this fine Friday we should check out Vail first!
Last time there, I tried to find free parking and failed... This time around I was able to park on West Frontage road and take the 'city' bus.. although it worked out fine, it may be worth paying for parking on a powder day unless you get there extra early... We probably got on mountain around 10am. We warmed up with a few frontside runs in the Game Creek area, Dealers choice was probably the best groomer of the day.. I enjoyed the powdery bumps and it started to snow the night before, vail had probably picked up 6-8" new... We did some more runs off of Wilderness and Colorado quads, and some of the blues over here held some of the most frontside snow we found... I remember coffee names for the trails, espresso, cappacino etc.... after we had warmed up, it was time to show her the back bowls.. We started around Sun-up.. visibility was poor, tough to make out terrain features... The snow was nice in the back bowls, easily deeper than the new snow from the night before.... my girlfriend was a bit overwelmed by the immensive size, and open-ness of the back bowls.... but by the end of the day I think she figured it out -- there is no wrong way to go down for the most part.... It pretty much snowed the whole day... we had lunch in the two elks lodge and did a few more backside runs before making our way back to the front. We ended the day on Riva Ridge and Tourist Trap, both were in good condition but got a bit crowded as the whole mountain crowd is funneling down to the bottom.
Day 3- Breckenridge 2/13/10
After a solid 24 hours of snow, time to check out Breckenridge... Last time I was in colorado I liked Breckenridge, but Vail took home the gold.. this trip I spent 4 days at Breck, and started to really love this place..... We parked in the free skiier lot, with options to get off the Bus at the paid parking gondola or continue on to Peak 9 - Beaver Run. We stayed on the bus and glad we did.. Peak 9 is a great place to start/end the day. Avoids a lot of crowds and good groomers to warm up on. We got out pretty early but saturday presidents weekend crowds/traffic seemed to delay our first run. I booked this trip during blackout weekends on my New England pass, so I was expecting some crowds.. On the mountain, things were not crowded... the longest liftline was around Peak 8 base. Snow was nice, we found some courdoroy, some pow, Peerless trees and bumps were great, one of my favorites of the day was giant bumps off peak 10, Blackhawk I think was the trail.... Also did a run off of the E chair, more giant bumps with a nice steep pitch... Great that I finally can get through a double-diamond steep mogul run on a snowboard and actually even enjoy it... those two were my favorites of the day. My girlfriend didn't join me for those two, and perhaps her favorites of the day were one of the blue or blue-black trails on peak 9 or 10. We ended the day with a few beers on the second floor, listening to a guy and his guitar play some good covers.
Day 4- Breckenridge 2/14/10
First/Fresh tracks! Keeping fresh snow a Valentines day tradition!!
<insert video here>
We got out there early, 5 minutes after first chair -- the chairs had been loaded with the initial pow-hounds and we hopped right on the chair. We hit a groomer first run, I think it was called Americana... Nice cordouroy with some fresh on top.... Groomers were still out, and once we came flying around a bend in the trail to be greeted by 3 'tanks' I mean groomers heading right for us.... This is the first time i've encountered moving groomers on an open trail -- there was one night back at WaWa where we got some fresh courdorouy during a storm -- but thats another story.... After warming up on Peak 9, we headed over to Peak 8 and chair 6. I let my girlfriend get ahead of me to get some footage of me coming down on a fresh line on the side of the trail -- I started down over the fresh snow, two-three turns in came to a complete stop.... I've hit a rock, and gouged my new board pretty good... guess there was a reason why nobody ski'd that line -- they probably saw all the rocks there the day before....... Did the most damage i've ever done to my board with a pretty DEEP core shot. This put a damper on the day, but being out here I had little choice but to continue to rock out... We did Contest bowl above chair 8 lift, a bit challenging for my girlfriend but I loved it. We also did a run I think called upper 4'oclock which held lots of snow late in the afternoon. We ended the day over at Peak 7 with some nice blue cruisers and called it a day-- couple beers at Sevens and then off to the board shop for a repair, and the Backcountry Brewery for some tasty brews.
Day 5- Breckenridge 2/15/10
After yesterdays damage to my new snowboard, I thought I would be skiing today -- Nope! Board was repaired (kinda) overnight, and with the new snow still coming in back on the snowboard..... My brother finally made it out to Breck from Boulder (a few days late), and we got a bit of a later start than usual... It was our day 5, and we were waiting on him to give my girlfriend a 'buddy ticket' since he's a colorado pass holder.... Headed up to Peak 8 base, and worked our way over towards peak 10.. We found some glades off of ski'rs right and did a bit of bushwacking.... snow was deep! over my waist and hiking/postholing a bit uphill to get some of the goods was tough... after some great turns and 45 minutes later, ended back at peak 10 lift... Then made our way back to the Imperial and the top of peak 8.... Weather had finally cleared enough to see the top of peak 8! And it was time for a hike... Since my brother and g.f. were'nt up for the serious rigdeline hike, I did a very short one up the remained of Peak 8 to the ridge top... Wow, the altitude and stairway to heaven was a lot tougher than imagined... First few slackcountry turns here were some of the best of the day, pretty deep stuff, but since friends were waiting no time for pictures or sinking into the pow -- just hoping around and blasting through....
Definately a ton of terrain at Breck accessible from ridgeline hikes-- would love to go next time with a crew (ok, anyone!?) that is up for that...
Day 6- Abasin 2/16/10
Day 7- Vail (60$ military ticket) 2/19/10
Day 8- Breckenridge 2/20/10
Day 9- Abasin 2/22/10
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