SkiChicken.com

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

              

I’m blogging LIVE from Breckendridge, or as we call it in Colorado: “Breck”. Breck isn’t open yet, but we always like to come up this time of year for a cheap nightly rate and a little fun. The whole town of Breckenridge is more “ski-in, ski-out” than other ski towns I’ve seen(not many, admittedly).

I highly recommend Wildwood Suites Breckenridge Condominiums. The rooms are clean and cozy, and ours has a full dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, stove, oven, toaster and coffee maker! The kitchen drawers are stocked with a few common utensils. The bed is comfortable, and they have a hot tub out beside the stream. That’s right: the stream. It is a relaxing background while sitting out on the patio drinking your guinness. Oh yeah, every room seems to have a patio. They charge $10 more to be on the stream side, but I recommend it. The other side isn’t bad at all (I forget if they actually have patios), but it’s nice to sit out on the patio chairs and sip a beer. They also have a sauna and a fireplace on the property. Very nice place.

We didn’t really check the weather before coming this year, and apparently there is snow! I was hoping to get more photos of Breckenridge before the big blanket of snow that’s covering it now, but who’s complaining?! It’s a beautiful ski town, and now is displaying it’s full beauty! It’s packed with friendly locals and wonderful places to eat. They’re a little more frazzled after ski season, but right now you can feel the excitement in the air around town. Ski season is coming!

We may need to stay in Breck another night or two if the roads are rough, but we did see sand trucks out for their trial run yesterday. Breckenridge is usually very accessible, and it’s more wishful thinking that we’d be stuck here than anything. I hope to take some “core samples” of snow, and examine them carefully. I may even take a baggy or two of the stuff home to keep in the freezer. It isn’t enough to ski on, but there’s nothing like a baggy full of snow in a Hot Denver July.

              

I should pack up today and go to the mountains and ski! My buddy Mike was over last Friday(We drank beer and threw knives at my dartboard - it was great!). He asked me “A Basin is open - Why haven’t you gone?” I suddenly knew I had failed God and man with my delay.

Am I preparing for the full season, or delaying? It’s hard to say. Sure, I’m finishing up some projects, and waiting for the amazing snow to fall. Sure, I’m waiting for Copper to open. We’ve got to get up there- Who’s with me?!!

              

Arapahoe Basin is open! Unfortunately, I was not one of the happy ski folks shown on channel 4 news tonight. The snow looked like packed powder. I licked the TV set, but couldn’t tell anything else about the snow. A Basin always seems to be the first to open and last to close. I haven’t skied there before, but this may just have to be the year. I’ve heard the bowls can give you a little vertigo, and I’m excited to see what that’s like. Anyone been to opening day at A Basin this year?

              

Snow is falling in the mountains!

In Denver today, we only had what one weatherman said was going to be a “temperature contrast”. There wasn’t snow down here, but you could see it failling in the mountains just west of us.

Channel 4 just showed photos of snow on Beavercreek and Silverton. Although Silverton doesn’t open until December, they said some lucky employee (bastard) was snowboarding down the thing. At any rate, here comes the season!

              

Another dusting of snow happened a couple of nights ago up in the mountains. Ski season soon approaches.

Speaking of dusting, I need to dust my mannequin. I have kept my mannequin Debbie in ski garb all year, eagerly awaiting the return of skiing. She’s gotten a little dusty. I brought her home from my last employer, who had stored her in my office for most of the 10 years I worked there. When I left, I asked if Debbie could come with me. The request was just weird enough to work. I was quite a site driving home on the interstate that day.

A year or so before that, I asked if I could change her outfit. Again, request granted - “no questions asked.” I dressed her like Laura Croft (She had big guns) for halloween, a hula dancer in the summer, and ski bunny in the winter. Since I’ve become self employed, she’s pretty much kept the same ski outfit on. And since my wife has joined me working from home, Debbie’s clothes changes are conspicuously less frequent. And mannequin bathing is clearly out. Er… forget I said that.

I’m starting to realize not every home office has a mannequin. What weird thing did you bring home from work?

              

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.