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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: Maybe 1.5 to 2 hours drive. It’s right on the continental divide, and you can ski over the top of the Eisenhower Tunnel! But it is stormy, and does not itself have overnight accomodations. If you choose Loveland, it is possible to get 1 hour more ski time. Also, it takes less time to get back to Denver. However, you may have snow blowing in your face at tremendous speeds.

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). I recommend Copper Mountain, just 30 minutes past Loveland. It has a great mix of terrain, and I haven’t had a bad ski day there yet. Once my buddy Mike and I let our toes approach frostbite, rather than leave the mountain! But it was 5 below that day – before the sun went down – and usually isn’t that cold.

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.

It is a beautiful day over at Copper Mountain, and I’ll be joining them for the opening day festivities later today. I was only able to ski the afternoon last year, but I found the mountain empties out. It is a much better experience having the mountain entirely to yourself, and hearing the music and fun at the base in the background.

In previous years, I tried to get up there early only to get tuckered out at 2pm like everyone else. Now I am going to arrive at noon or 1pm and ski my (chicken) heart out!

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