vdk03
New member
Date(s) Skied: 1/31/13
Resort or Ski Area: Vail, CO
Conditions: Powder
Trip Report: Ski Stef and I had some friends fly out to visit Wednesday afternoon for the week, and they were kind enough to bring the snow with them. Vail claimed to have 7" of fresh snow over night, but when we got there we quickly realized there was well over 2 feet of fresh snow. We pulled in around 9:30 after a pretty snowy ride on 70 from Breckenridge, lots of slow moving traffic and cars off the road. Met up with a few friends and hoped on the gondola.The snow was still coming down pretty hard and the light was extremely flat so the visibility was poor until about 1:30 or so when the sun finally came out. We started the day of by taking the gondola up and then got right on the Mountaintop Express lift which takes you towards the back bowls. The lines weren't bad at all throughout the day, basically we could ski right onto the lift. We headed across the Catwalk that takes you across the Sun Up Bowl and about halfway through decided to drop in the Headwall. We all knew instantlly that it was going to be an epic day, the snow was above the knees and nice and light. I was extremely happy that I had decided to grab the snowboard instead of the telemarks as we headed out in the morning.
After a sweet first run down the Headwall we rode up the Sun Up lift and headed towards Dragon's Teeth where there's a cliff line with varying difficulties, we all dropped it in about the 5-7 foot range and loved it. After we shredded our way down the rest of Dragon's Teeth we got on the Orient Express quad then headed towards Siberia Bowl.
The Siberia Bowl was just a nice as the Headwall was, tons of snow and not tracked out, we were all able to get fresh tracks most of the way down. We came down pretty close to the Red Square 'route' and found a few more nice drops, nothing too big but some nice cliffs in the 10 to 12 foot range. Most went pretty smooth, but there were a few pretty good tumbles and somersaults.
We eventually floated our way down to the Skyline Express lift. I was pretty impressed that we where able to keep a good pace considering there was 6 of us and it was our friends first day in CO and had been a while since she rode powder like this. I did move her bindings back a bit on her board to help her stay on top of the snow a bit more which made a huge difference for her. From here we rode the Skyline Express and Earl's Express in Blue Sky Basin lapping the Champagne Glades and Steep and Deep before we decided that the snow had piled up deeper in the bowls than it had in the glades over in Blue Sky.
We decided to ski/ride the glades underneath the Orient Express lift and after the first run decided to do it 3 or 4 more times because it was so nice, I think it was called Shangri-La. After these runs our legs where pretty much shot and decided to start making our way back towards the front side. On our way out we decided to do one more run off of the Highline Express lift, we started a nice easy groomer down Flapjack and about halfway down we saw a little cut off the side of the trail and decided to hit it and found the deepest snow of the day. There wasn't much of trail, so the woods were really tight but the snow was deep and the pitch was steep enough to carry speed.Over all this day goes down as one of the better powder days that I've ever had. For the most part we had a good experienced group to enjoy it with and the best snow I've ridden since we moved out here. It was the kind of day that dreams are made of.
Resort or Ski Area: Vail, CO
Conditions: Powder
Trip Report: Ski Stef and I had some friends fly out to visit Wednesday afternoon for the week, and they were kind enough to bring the snow with them. Vail claimed to have 7" of fresh snow over night, but when we got there we quickly realized there was well over 2 feet of fresh snow. We pulled in around 9:30 after a pretty snowy ride on 70 from Breckenridge, lots of slow moving traffic and cars off the road. Met up with a few friends and hoped on the gondola.The snow was still coming down pretty hard and the light was extremely flat so the visibility was poor until about 1:30 or so when the sun finally came out. We started the day of by taking the gondola up and then got right on the Mountaintop Express lift which takes you towards the back bowls. The lines weren't bad at all throughout the day, basically we could ski right onto the lift. We headed across the Catwalk that takes you across the Sun Up Bowl and about halfway through decided to drop in the Headwall. We all knew instantlly that it was going to be an epic day, the snow was above the knees and nice and light. I was extremely happy that I had decided to grab the snowboard instead of the telemarks as we headed out in the morning.
After a sweet first run down the Headwall we rode up the Sun Up lift and headed towards Dragon's Teeth where there's a cliff line with varying difficulties, we all dropped it in about the 5-7 foot range and loved it. After we shredded our way down the rest of Dragon's Teeth we got on the Orient Express quad then headed towards Siberia Bowl.
The Siberia Bowl was just a nice as the Headwall was, tons of snow and not tracked out, we were all able to get fresh tracks most of the way down. We came down pretty close to the Red Square 'route' and found a few more nice drops, nothing too big but some nice cliffs in the 10 to 12 foot range. Most went pretty smooth, but there were a few pretty good tumbles and somersaults.
We eventually floated our way down to the Skyline Express lift. I was pretty impressed that we where able to keep a good pace considering there was 6 of us and it was our friends first day in CO and had been a while since she rode powder like this. I did move her bindings back a bit on her board to help her stay on top of the snow a bit more which made a huge difference for her. From here we rode the Skyline Express and Earl's Express in Blue Sky Basin lapping the Champagne Glades and Steep and Deep before we decided that the snow had piled up deeper in the bowls than it had in the glades over in Blue Sky.
We decided to ski/ride the glades underneath the Orient Express lift and after the first run decided to do it 3 or 4 more times because it was so nice, I think it was called Shangri-La. After these runs our legs where pretty much shot and decided to start making our way back towards the front side. On our way out we decided to do one more run off of the Highline Express lift, we started a nice easy groomer down Flapjack and about halfway down we saw a little cut off the side of the trail and decided to hit it and found the deepest snow of the day. There wasn't much of trail, so the woods were really tight but the snow was deep and the pitch was steep enough to carry speed.Over all this day goes down as one of the better powder days that I've ever had. For the most part we had a good experienced group to enjoy it with and the best snow I've ridden since we moved out here. It was the kind of day that dreams are made of.
