Can you say 16″? For my first day at “The Beav” this season and 17th overall, I could.
At first when I looked at the morning snow report, I thought it was an error. How could Keystone get one inch, Vail seven inches, and Beaver Creek sixteen? Since Missy and I had spent the night in Frisco, it was only going to be about a forty minute drive to the Bear Lot at Beaver Creek. We packed up quickly after waking and got on the road.
The weather in Frisco was amazingly clear, but it seemed as soon as we passed into Eagle County, the snow started coming down. By the time we were descending down Vail Pass, you could start to see how B.C. got so much snow. After hitting Avon, we drove toward the Bear Lot when we discovered the enormous line waiting to get in. It seemed so much snow came down, they didn’t have enough time to plow all the snow our of the parking lot, so it was filling up quicker than expected. I heard a few days later that they actually closed the parking lots and wouldn’t let anyone else in. The backup was so great, the buses that take you from Bear Lot to Beaver Creek Village were running behind, so we decided to walk the short distance to Lower Beaver Creek Mountain Express Lift.
Immediately after touching down from the lift, I wanted to jump into the powder. You could just see it all around you, untouched, pristine powder. I sat down, strapped in my back foot into my binding, and plowed ahead. During my first run, I could hear screams of delight all around me as my fellow riders hollered their pleasure out loud. And with good reason. All day, I was consistently riding through knee deep fluff. It got crowded semi-early and the most obvious powder in the middle of the runs were skied out by ten. At that time, huge mounds of snow moguls began to appear all over the mountain. I rode one or two runs through those snow moguls, expecting more wide open terrain. At that time, I realized a little creativity could go a long way.
I jumped into the trees on the east side of Gold Dust around 10:30am and had my best run of the day. The trees were spread out enough to keep speed without having to make dramatic, speed killing turns, while tight enough to keep out the novices. It was a completely virgin stash. By the end of the run, I was speechless. I couldn’t believe I actually found and experienced that run.
Some other highlights of the day included: Latigo, Centennial, Raven Ridge and Harrier.
Snow-wise, it was the best day of the season…by far. Finding the stashes took a little bit of creativity, but by no means was it difficult. In fact, I am no longer comparing it to other days this season. I’m comparing it to the top ride days of my entire life.
Filed under: A-Basin, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Colorado, Keystone, Snowboarding, Vail
I officially have myself a boarder babe.
On Saturday, McNeill and I taught Chloe and Missy how to snowboard at Breckenridge. It was a trying, frustrating experience, but we kept our patience, and the girls thrived and really enjoyed it. Missy enjoyed it so well, she decided she liked it better than skiing, which she’s been doing for two years since we moved out here. Personally, I’m ecstatic. I’ve always dreamed of being able to go riding through the snow with the gal I love. Chloe also enjoyed her time on the mountain, meaning our new mountain crew is a gang of snowboarders. Now we just have to get Missy new equipment….
While not thrashing it on the mountain, Missy has done a great job compilling the mountain of information I’ve thrown at her and put together a terrific Ski & Snowboard Section to www.daveandmissy.com. This wealth of information can be used as a resource for vacation planning and research. We have included a snow report and snow forecast, as well as current Colorado highway conditions. On top of that, we have mountain stats for our five main mountains, A-Basin, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Vail. Each mountain we profile includes a link to it’s official snow report, web cam, and terrain status.
We’ll try to update the mountains we profile as quickly as possible. I could do a write up on Crested Butte and Monarch since I only visited them last year, but too much time has passed since I’ve visited mountains such as Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk and Streamboat for my write-up to be relevant. As I keep notching more of the 26 resorts in Colorado off my list, the more info we’ll supply. Keep checking back for updates, and I will reference major updates here in Chicalorado.
Think Snow!
Filed under: A-Basin, Backpacking, Baseball, Beaver Creek, Blogroll, Breckenridge, Camping, Chicago, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, Colorado, Denver, Football, Keystone, MLB, Music, NFL, Politics, Snowboarding, Sports, Vail
Welcome to Chicalorado. It’s pronounced Chi-ca-lo-rad-o. I came up with it trying to think of what to call myself. As much as I love Denver and the state of Colorado, I’m still a Chicagoan at heart. I don’t want ketchup on my hot dog, my accent is still prevelant, and I root for the Bears and Cubs.
Whether it’s snowboarding at Vail, backpacking in Rocky Mountain National Park, catching a concert at Red Rocks, sports, or anything else, it’ll probably be here. I wanted to chronicle the tales of a Chicagoan living in Colorado. Here are my tales.
