SkiChicken.com

I just got back to Thornton from Breckenridge. How Cow – there was a bunch of snow. We BARELY made it back over the continental divide. Many cars – including ours – were spinning their wheels trying deperately to get over the pass. I had better traction on the side of the road, but found our short little car could easily bottom out it I wan’t careful. Through careful twisting of the wheel back and forth, the occasional grain of sand(hey, I’ll take what I can get), and a lot of luck, we made it back over the pass and through the Eisenhower tunnel.

Even after the tunnel it was slick. It’s rare for me to see weather on both sides of the tunnel, but we saw it today. Some cars were exiting the tunnel way too fast, and one nearly went off of the road to the left! I got behind a nice dark horsetrailer with blinking lights and we made the white knuckle journey down the other side of the mountain. I was surprised to see SUVs behind me moving at the same snail’s pace. Maybe we all had a little more excitement than we needed that day. Snow is WONDERFUL to ski on, but horrible to drive through. Visibility was pretty minimal for a good part of the journey down the mountain. From Georgetown onward, it was clear sailing.

I have met the snow of the 2007 Colorado season, and I have this to say:

• It’s slick
• It’s fluffy
• It’s wonderful
• It makes me giddy
• I miss it already

Copper Mountain Ski Resort opens November 2. As many visitors to this blog know, Copper Mountain is one of my favorite local ski resorts. Skiing during the week is especially nice. I can’t wait for the season to start! Their website says “the snow guns are blowin’”. November seems way too far away, so I might have to steal away to loveland or A-basin.

Oh crap: CBS 4’s Stacy Donaldosn just mentioned in passing a “warming trend” coming up. I’m going to call them and see if that can be canceled. Will keep you posted.

The Denver weather folks just showed snow over the Eisenhower tunnel, up at the Continental Divide. Loveland ski area is up there, but I don’t think they’ve started the lifts. I may check their website just to be sure. Has anyone notified Copper Mountain Ski Resort?! I’d like to think there is a crack team of lift operators scanning the horizon for snow, their hands poised upon a giant power lever. At the first hint of a snowflake, they pull the lever when sounds a horn and starts the lift. If I ran a ski resort, that’s exactly how it would work.

Anyway, the snow dance is working. Despite protests from neighbors with small children. And good taste.

A pint of Guinness makes the perfect end to any ski day. It’s long been a tradition with my buddy Mike and I to finish the day with a tall glass of Guinness. Why is Guinness the perfect beverage after a day of hard skiing or riding? Simple: Replenishment.

The B vitamins. Guinness is full of them. B6, B12 and um… 13. Mix in Endos‘ giant nachos, and you’ve got a full day’s supply of a lot of things.

And you know the antioxidants that makes blueberries blue? Tomatoes red? Well, Guinness has them too. But it has so many that the drink must be black. Think of the damage a nice healthy pint can repair. Drink several and you can almost feel it happening! (Drink responsibly, make sure your buddy Mike is doing the driving, etc.)

Yesterday I went down one of favorite flying saucer trails at Copper Mountain Resort. It is sweet, but hard to get to. It is off of the beaten path – you must go up the lumberjack lift and commit to ending up at the bottom of kokomo. That route is not for the faint of heart: Kokomo is usually infested with children. Which makes it horrible for skiers of any age. Still, the trail is worth checking out!

We had dinner with Kevin and Amy last week. They told us about the time they were headed up to ski and decided to TURN AROUND. Now if I were to turn my car around on the way to ski, it would only be if all gears were broken except reverse. With them, that wasn’t the case. Kevin and Amy felt that traffic was too slow and cumbersome. They actually proceeded AWAY from the ski resorts. I told them it was the saddest story I have ever heard.

Copper Mountain Resort opened yesterday, and it was tremendous. They already have 5 lifts running, and 2600 vertical feet of skiing available. A couple of my favorite runs were open: Upper collage and the ubiquitous mainvein. Ptarmigan was also open, and it can be a pterrific little run. I could not pass up multiple trips down Upper Collage, so I didn’t try it. Suddenly, I was out of time. At 4:01pm, the sign that says “Lift closes at 4pm” is the saddest thing in the Universe.
I worked in the morning, and got up to copper at 1:30. There was free parking in the chapel lot, and many tired skiers coming out to their cars. That’s what I like to see – a slope emptying out. You see, I’m far more enthusiastic of a skier than I am skilled. I like to have plenty of room on the slope for jumping things and for racing down. That’s all hard to do when the slope is crowded.

My little ski chick/wife and I went down 3 runs together, then I banged out 3 more in an hour. Again, when the slopes are empty it is a good thing. There were a few bumps to jump, and any bump-jumper has been eagerly awaiting these long months they call summer to get up there and get airborne.

The scenery up there is amazing. The clouds are their usual dramatic nature, perhaps foretelling the powder that is coming this weekend. Our camera had dead batteries, so a thousand words in the closest I could get here. I think I’ll spare us both the trouble.

You may see the ski chicken on channel 2 news. Laura Main from WB2 was up there interviewing people, and I made sure I got some camera time – mostly to try to overcome being a camera chicken. My interview pretty much sounded like a Copper Mountain commercial, and afterward I lamented that I did not open my heart and really communicate my fervor for that sacred place. I didn’t mention the blog, except to Laura Main after my interview. She laughed when I told her the name, but I doubt we’ll get a mention. I warned her before the interview that I was very enthusiastic about Copper. I told her sometimes I fall just so I can hug the mountain.

I met a couple of chatty folks on the lifts: A best buy employee from the geek squad who plans to ski every Wednesday. I like his attitude. I also met a couple of guys out from southern california. They said only old guys ski there: everyone else is snow boarding. Ouch! I told them this is what a rebel looks like. We talked about snowboard injuries, and the one guy said he broke his wrist and nose in the same day once. His wrist went snap and his nose took to the ice. He went home and his mom kept preparing dinner. She is a nurse and ever since she worked on someone in the E.R. with a knife in his liver, I guess that has become her test for serious injury. Unless you’ve got a knife in your liver, this is hardly an emergency. That’s harsh.

I know several people who have taken advantage of the Copper Fourpass, and here is my advice: Ski during the week. Alright, calm down now. Yes, it’s a vacation day. Yes, you’ll come back to a desk full of work. But this is about you, right? YOU. Pamper yourself, for once.

Who will you meet, skiing during the week? Well, most likely no one. That’s right – NO ONE. It will be like having your own private mountain! Think of the peace you will experience, riding the lift without someone interogating you about your work, your life, your mannequin.
Of course, you might share the first chair or two. I’ve met self-employed folks, ski bunnies (if you’re in to that sort of thing, and I know you are), and even retired guys. Mostly, you will meet locals. And I made up the part about the ski bunnies.

Locals aren’t there to chat, and I respect that deeply about them. They are there to ski. For whatever reason, they live closer to the slopes than you or I. Otherwise, they are no different. Feel free to acknowledge them with a tip of the helmet or, if the mood feels right, chat them up like a nervous hairdresser would. At the top, your paths in life will part, and you will likely never see them again.
But after you are at the top of the mountain – or on the back bowls  -it will be all about you. Commune with nature all you want. I won’t judge… much. You’ll come back to work with a skip in your step and a song in your heart. Just do it!

There is a tremendous amount of snow falling on Colorado these days, and none too soon. When we had snow a few weeks ago, I started scanning the Copper Mountain web cams. I started rounding up my ski passes. And I started scraping the ice cubes in the fridge, just in case it was one of those “bring your own snow and you can ski” deals.
My backyard has a slope, and I plan on teaching my little baby to ski. He’s only two 1/2 months old right now, so he won’t quite be ready opening day. But he is REALLY close to being able to hold his head up on his own. And that’s the first step. Well, it was in my ski instruction, anyway.
Not enough has stuck in the backyard for a good run, but soon Copper Mountain will open and I will be all over the slopes. I’m not sure I want to get suited up for 30 feet of bunny hill in the backyard, but I get desperate. So desperate…

I always feel sad this time of year – this might be my final ski trip of the year.