Saturday was my second day at Vail this season and my fifteenth overall. The snow has been falling in Colorado and Vail certainly benefited from the weather. On Saturday, Jeff, Kevin, Mike, Josh and myself drove up to Vail after spending the night in Frisco. We awoke to reports of five new inches in the last 24 hours and a foot in the last 48. We arrived in time to grab third chair. Not too shabby.
Right way I could tell the snow was sticky. At first, I think everyone, including myself, kind of doubted that assessment. We would find out later. We immediately headed for the back bowls. Our first run was spent weaving in between The Slot and Headwall in Sun Up Bowl. Right away we could tell the powder was plentiful, and we were in a popular area. We could always head to less popular areas of the mountain for hidden powder. But it seemed for the time being, we wouldn’t have to do that much searching. Easily plowing through deeps up to the tops of my boots and knowing it was only the beginning gave me goosebumps.
Kevin, as we had just previously found out, hadn’t skied in around 6 years. Since both those runs that we were black diamonds, it proved rather difficult. He gave us the go ahead to leave him behind so he could adjust, so we hopped onto Sun Up Lift and traveled to China Bowl.
On our way to the Orient Express Lift, we again weaved between Genghis Khan, Dragons Teeth and Jade Glade. The powder was a bit deeper and we knew we had to get to Siberia Bowl as quickly as possible. The Orient Express always takes awhile and your anticipation really has a chance to rise during that time. By the time we reached the top, I couldn’t wait to traverse to Siberia.
Except only the snow was too sticky for any snowboarders to make the long catwalk all the way to Siberia Bowl. Mike and I, the two boarders, unstrapped and had to skate the whole distance. By the time we slid into the very edge of Siberia at Gorky Park, all I wanted to do was lie down and breath. I couldn’t rest for long, especially since all the skiers had been patiently waiting for the two of us, and we knew incredible powder was before us. I strapped me left foot back onto my board we took off down the mountain.
The snow was fantastic. I was easily making fresh tracks in knee deep powder. Occasionally, I ever stumbled into some snow almost up to my hips. I had been anticipating and dreaming of this moment all week. I am completely addicted to back bowl powder. All four of us were shouting, hooting and hollering our way through the snow, and when we would take breaks to breath, we would just smile at each other. “Incredible.” “Awesome.” “Unbelievable.” “Amazing.”
I tried to get enough speed to get back to the lift in one shot so I wouldn’t have to skate some more, so I rode down into Rasputin’s Revengebut I still couldn’t do it. At that chairlift, Mike and I decided that even though the powder in Siberia Bowl was completely amazing, the snow was was too sticky and we didn’t have the energy to consistently make the trip there and back. Jeff and Josh understood, and besides, there was plenty of powder in China Bowl with easy chairlift access.
We did two more runs in China Bowl before heading over to Blue Sky for two runs. By that time, it was completely skied out, and you couldn’t go anywhere without running into moguls. When we went back to the back bowls, the crowds had arrived, and the powder was gone. By this point, our legs were pretty much gone, so we finished off with one more run down Riva Ridge on the front side and called it a day.
Overall, defintely in the top three overall this season, but because the snow was so sticky, I hesitate to give it number one status. Otherwise, the snow really was that good.
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.
