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Snowmass Village Spring skiing is amazing. I arrived at 2pm and found free parking in the C lot, allowing me a short ski down to the lift.

We switched lifts to the Elk Camp Goldola and rode up the Elk Camp lift. Our first run down wasn’t on Gunner’s View(one of my favorite runs), but it was still a GREAT run. We then made our way over to Alpine Springs and made a run down “Naked Lady”.

Naked lady is such a pleasant run, I was giggling while I skiied. It’s such a great reminder of the ski fervor Snowmass gives me. I hadn’t skiied for 11 years, then skiied Snowmass in 2001. It changed my life. Snowmass is just that great. Smooth slopes and plenty of room. It just makes skiing some much fun! Have you ever giggled while you skiied? If not, get your butt over to Snowmass!

Naked Lady is a curvy little run, and there are a few unexpected bumps. In fact, I had my first big crash in years due to a bump that caught me a little offguard. Jason witnessed it, and thinks maybe I flew off the side of a nipple on Naked Lady. To me it felt a little more like a belly button. I lost both skies(Something Jason said even he had never seen) and skidded down the hill 40 or 50 feet head first on my stomach. Another great reason to have a helmet. My Goggles were full of snow and down around my neck by the time I stopped. I tasted the snow and IT WAS GOOD! A little salty perhaps.

Of course, I am fine. Thanks to the sweet spring powdery goodness of Snowmass, which lovingly held me. I was brought to a safe stop in the caressing embrace of it’s sweet snow cleavage.

Copper’s April is off to a great start. While the Temperatures are warming, there was just enough wind yesterday to keep the snow in PERFECT packed powder conditions.

Skiing on a Tuesday means smaller lift lines, but yesterday was a little different. Copper was hosting the USASA, and had a few lines closed over on the American Flyer lift. The combination meant a bit of a wait, but the Timberline lift (over beside the T-REX cafe) had almost no one there! Once I was on the mountain, it was run after run. The slopes didn’t feel crowded, and the snow was amazing. I might need to ski every Tuesday, just to experience it. Hopefully nothing will warm up too quickly.

I followed the day up with a Copper Bowl Brown Ale and Empenadas at Endos. Yes, they were out of Guinness.

The Classic Pass from Aspen Snowmass is a wonderful little pass - you get 4 or 7 days at reduced rates to any of their four mountains, including Highlands, Buttermilk, Aspen Mountain, and my beloved Snowmass. On top of that, they sometimes offer amazing deals on lodging, etc.

My contacts in Snowmass tell me the snow is still AMAZING, and I will soon begin one of my pilgrimages to lovely Snowmass Village. The deals they emailed me can be found at:
Aspen Snowmass Classic Pass Lodging Deals. While they didn’t say anything too touchy-feely in their (automated) email to me, I’d like to think they were saying “We love you, too skichicken. Big hugs.”

This isn’t one of those blogs that follows what ski instructors tell you. I don’t know if you’ve caught onto that by now, but I just thought I’d let you - the reader - know. There’s a reason I’m not a better skier: Listening skills. Learning ability. And some other stuff I wan’t paying attention to. Today’s post flies in the face of all of the good advice I’ve ever gotten. Why the heck do we skiers need ski poles?

1. Feelers
It’s fun to drag your pole as you are turning. It tells you how far down the ground is, and allows you to adjust. Will you be in the Olympics using this technique? Well, probably not. But really, you should stop fooling yourself about that anyway - there’s a couple other reasons you won’t won’t be bringing home the gold any time soon. So drag your poles a little and have fun!

2. Self defense against marauding snow ninjas
Ever been attacked by marauding snow ninjas? No, of course not. why? Because you had your poles with you. Snow ninjas, while they love marauding, absolutely HATE to be poked. Poles are an effective self defense implement. When I first started skiing as a child, skiers would sometimes buzz too close. My Uncle Bob taught me to flail my limbs when I heard someone about to buzz me. Poof - magically no more close calls. This technique of flailing serves me well, even today, as it has become my main method of dancing at clubs.

3. Annoys purists
There is still much snobbery among the ski culture elite, and using poles just bugs the heck out of them. Purists are fun to annoy. I think that’s why they were created -for us to have a little fun with them. What are they going to do - be offended? They would be anyway!

4. It’s a crutch
Many a ski instructor has probably said “Don’t use your poles - it’s a crutch”. Well, duh. Of course it’s a crutch! that’s why you should use them! Would you tell an injured person not to use their crutch, simply because it’s a crutch?! No way. Crutches are helpful, and we use them when we need help.

And no one need more help on the slopes than me.

Whoops - that’s only four. What are you, a purist?

I frequently end up on the slopes Copper Mountain just two hours or so before they close. Why would anyone want to ski for just two hours? Well first off, sometimes it’s all I can do. I’ve found the perfect ski day to be too elusive. But work until noon, then make the drive? Much simpler. I also don’t have to wait for the perfect roads, perfect weather, etc. Just 2 hours - maybe 5 if you could driving roundtrip from Denver - is all it takes. Some other reasons you might want to try the 2 hour ski:

1. A 2 hour ski makes you thankful. Every twist and turn of your skis / snowboard are so very precious. For every run you take, you might consider whether you’ll have time - or sacrifice the time - to come back through. Each run takes on new meaning. There are no second chances.

2. Everyone is already enjoying Apre Ski, or just worn out. Less crowded hills and lift lines make it feel like the mountain is all yours.

I plan another 2 or 3 hour trip next week. I might ski loveland just to have another hour more or so on the slopes. I’ll let you know how it goes!

This morning I saw an article about “Snow Rage” happening up in Quebec, Canada: That’s right, the French speaking ones. People sometimes get so busy trying to get from home to work and work to home, that they forget how wonderful snow is. We at skichicken central headquarters have devised a 4 step plan to help our readers respond to feeling of snow rage in appropriate ways:

1. Launch your body into the air toward a snow drift
It will lighten your mood and remind you of the thrill of being airborn. Snow was actually invented just to be a slippery cushion of fun. It’s in the Bible: Look it up. It’s somewhere in the front.

2. Go skiing or snowboarding in Colorado
Colorado has the freshest air, and the best snow for skiing and snowboarding. Your feelings of snow rage are actually from breathing city air and taking your life too seriously. It’s time to get back to nature. It’s time to purify your body, starting with crisp, clean mountain air. You need breathtaking views, slippery snowy goodness, and the experience that IS Colorado ski country. Find some remote part of Copper Mountain Ski Resort, or Snowmass, and just ENJOY.

3. Snow dance
Hey - you’re not going anywhere any time soon. Might as well enjoy yourself. Dance to celebrate the snow, or it’s melting. What you are snow dancing for is up to you - just break out in a snow dance and let it improve everyone’s mood!

4. Chill
Stand there. Slow down - no one expects you to be on time with that storm. Take your time, examine a few snowflakes if you need to. They’ll be gone before they know it, and so will you.

A reader recently found our website by searching Google for an answer to one of the most important questions a skichicken reader can ask: “What time do the slopes close at copper mountain?” Too Damn Early, that’s what time.

The upper lifts close at 3:30pm, the lower lifts at 4pm. Reader, if you are still out there wondering, there’s still time. But leave now!

Just a side note: I was up on Copper Mountain yesterday, and it was dreamy. The snow was perfect, the weather was perfect. It was somewhat busy for a Monday, but those little hidden mountain places were still so quit, and so beautiful.

As I approached the American flyer lift for my final run, I thought “If you don’t keep getting on the lift until 4:01pm, it’s just another form of self hatred.”

We are starting a new service here at SkiChicken Central: It’s called Ask SkiChicken. We already have a few questions rolling in via our visitor logs, including this query: “Map of ski resorts near denver airport”. Now, we’re Ski Chickens here, not mappers. But here goes: Loveland is closest to the Denver Airport. Breckenridge, A-Basin, Keystone, Vail, Beaver Creek, and my beloved Copper Mountain Resort are not far behind (And usually have less wind in the high season. They also have places to sleep). This hasn’t been scientifically mapped, measured or manhandled, but those are my initial thoughts. And if you need a shuttle, see my previous post about this new Denver Airport Shuttle Service.

Feel free to send your questions to us at: ask ski chicken at ski chicken dot com. It’s a free service, with questions answered in no particular order. We aren’t relationship experts or anything, but we’ll even take a crack at that if one or both of you ski or ride.

I made my daily visit to Copper Mountain’s website this morning, and saw they had a few more trails open. They had a buttload of snow last weekend, so I thought more of the mountain would be open. I do see my sweet “Upper Collage” run is open, so I might just venture up this afternoon. I also saw loverly is open, which made me ask “What the heck is a loverly, and where is it?” The Copper Mountain Trail Map is NO HELP:
http://www.coppercolorado.com/mountain/trail_map/statictrailmap.htm

Jeez, guys - do I have to roll my own?

Well, I didn’t get up to copper until 2pm on Saturday. I missed opening day but made it for opening weekend, and it was sweet. The mountain was emptying out and the bars were filling up. Beginners were tuckered out, leaving the mountain much less terrifying for the rest of us. Not that I’m an expert by any means- I terrified my share of people up on ptarmigan, some of which I know will never be the same. Think about that. Never the same.

I spent 4 runs on the lowest trail they had open, Main Vein. They wrapped the trail around to the east a little this year before the final descent. It seemed much more mellow than the icy frightfest it has been in previous years.

I ended the day with a plate of jalapeno poppers and a pint of guinness at Endos’s cafe. The bar staff was much more responsive compared to the end of last season. Ski season burnout runs rampant at Copper and every other resort near the end of the season, so no hard feelings.

The place next door was horrible a few years ago. We had to wait 45 minutes to be served at the bar. Luckily, we got a table and got served some nachos and beer at a table. It’s much more efficient to serve bar food and drink at the bar, and save the tables for customers wanting a full meal, but that place wasn’t exactly a bastion of efficiency.

Excellent staff here at Endo’s, though -the bartender just offered me water in addition to my beer. She’s good seed.

Oh yeah, the snow. Not melty. The snow was pretty good. I heard it was a little more icy up top yesterday. Today, a light breeze kept a dusting of snow and prevented the snow from getting too melted, then iced up. Many left the slopes early, but I rode the mountain until every lift closed. Because If you don’t ride the mountain until every lift has closed, it’s just sad.