Yesterday was an epic powder day in parts of Colorado. Beaver Creek reported 15 inches of new snow as of 5:30 AM on April 4, and it was still snowing in the morning. When we got there, a little later than planned, most of the main runs were tracked out. The woods had plenty of fresh tracks to offer.
A trip through the Royal Elk Glades was the perfect run before lunch. Later in the day I checked out the Stone Creek Chutes. I just enjoyed the steeps and snow, choosing not to take on any cliffs. As you can imagine, the loads of new snow made for some great landing zones. This is what I call “hero snow”. I saw a few people catching good air, including one 20 foot drop that wasn’t landed well, but was great fun to watch. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera out for any of these.
At the end of the day it was still snowing, and this morning Beaver Creek reports another 5 inches. This big late-season storm will keep conditions great for the rest of the season.
I’m in Colorado this weekend staying in Frisco. From here I plan to ski the Summit County places, plus wherever the good snow reports take me. The morning ritual is generally wake up, log on, check snow accumulations then decide were to go. These will probably be the last snowdays of the year for me, so I’m looking forward to some good conditions. This past week has been full of snow as the video from Steamboat shows and more is on the way.
I’ll try to capture what videos and pictures I can to share with everyone. Today looks like a cloudy day with snow starting in the afternoon, then a big dump through Saturday. Snowdays on the way!
Back in February when I was skiing at A-Basin on a great snowday, they were hosting the Arapahoe Basin NormAm Moguls event. Watching events like this, it always amazes me how fast the competitors get down through the bumps. The aerials are even more exciting.
I’m a strong skier and can ski all types of terrain, but this is something I clearly can’t do. Sure I could go down these moguls (at a much slower pace), but I couldn’t pop off a back flip on a smooth slope, let alone in the midst of bumps. Very fun to watch. Unfortunately I don’t know who this is as I can’t quite read the bib. If anyone knows, please comment so I can attribute it.
Another great YouTube video of fresh tracks at Snowmass. This is from before the weekend’s snow. Keep in mind that after this was taken, another 15″ fell on top of that! March is going out like a big, snow-covered, powder-filled lamb. Awesome!
… and snow, and snow. What a great week of weather for Colorado ski areas! The snow cover was looking thin two weeks ago, snow is welcome news. Since I’m stuck 2000 miles away working to make my ski money, I’m living vicariously through YouTube right now.
… and displaces skiers trying to find somewhere to stay.
Every year we usually take a final ski trip in early April to Summit County, Colorado. The high elevation ensures good conditions and everything is usually priced just right (on sale!). This year hasn’t been quite the same. With Easter coming the second weekend of April (Sunday, April 12) things are booked up then. I kept looking for deals the weekend before but for some reason there were very few open lodging options.
Mountain Travel Symposium 2009 comes to Keystone and takes all the rooms in Summit County
Mystery solved. It turns out the 2009 Mountain Travel Symposium is in town that weekend. The ski industry is holding its annual convention and taking up all the cheap lodging deals. I guess you can’t blame them, considering the 2008 / 2009 season has been anything but stellar for their business. It’s a good thing they have plenty of cheap rooms to get together in and drown their sorrows. The problem is last-minute skiers looking for deals for our final trip of the year are out of luck. It’s probably for the best. I’m sure the industry people will spend more than us budget skiers. After all, we were talking about sleeping in the parking lot in our car if we couldn’t find a good place to stay. That’s really the best way to ensure the first chair. No warm bed keeping you from lining up at 7AM on a powder day.
Yesterday at Breckenridge was a great day of skiing. The weather was amazing and today promises more of the same. The day started out in the 20’s and by early afternoon it was about 35 degrees (F). The sky was crystal clear almost all day. A few scattered clouds drifted by in the afternoon, but the overall trend was lots of sun. Definitely a day for the SPF 60.
Twin Chutes Hike to Terrain shows our view from the top.
Even though it really wasn’t that crowded, considering it was Saturday, we headed for the less-frequented areas. The video above shows the end of our hike up Peak 8. We are at the top of the Windows looking down on the Twin Chutes. The snow here was reasonable and untracked. While we stopped here and skied down, there were some die-hards taking the 2+ hour hike all the way to the peak. The snow is probably a little better there. I think the real benefit is being able to point out to everyone that those lone tracks from the top are yours.
… and more on the way.
Yesterday saw more snow in to the Vail Valley. Beaver Creek had 10″ fresh as of 5AM, and Vail did fine with 8″. The videos below show some of the people who spent yesterday taking a snow day.
It’s Insane at Beaver Creek provides a great into for the day.
Beaver riding with studio steve has a great cliff shot at 2:30.
Last night I lost an hour of sleep due to changing clocks for Daylight Saving Time. It’s spring forward time again. Of course, as I said elsewhere, that means I’ll feel like I’m missing an hour of sleep until November when we fall back. The one-hour time shift does, however, bring big benefits for skiing this time of year.
In 2007 the date to spring forward in the US was moved up to the second Sunday in March. This change was great for skiers and boarders who can’t get up early for the first chair. It gave us plenty of daylight until late in the day. In January, on most days, light gets flat and it gets harder to see around 3pm. Especially on an overcast day, a last run as the lifts close meant difficulty seeing the terrain. After today, it’s a different matter. There’s plenty of good light well past the lift closing time. The picture below from April 8 in 2006 was taken at 7:20pm and its still plenty light out.
This is a great time to check out night skiing at Keystone, which has late hours until March 29. Most runs close by 4pm, but you can keep going in full daylight on the night runs, for an additional hour or more before you really need the lights. I’ll be in Summit County soon and will keep Keystone in mind for days when I can’t quite make it to the slopes until noon.
I’m getting ready to head out to Summit County soon for a 4-day weekend of skiing. I’ve been keeping an eye on the weather and it’s starting to show some promise with snow in the forecast. I’m sure I’ll get to Breckenridge and A-Basin, and could head to Keystone, Vail or Beaver Creek depending on who gets snow when.
One area I haven’t ventured into at Breckenridge is the Needles Eye. I found a nice set of shots that outlined the needles eye. It’s a quick web page with basic basic but very good content. I also found the picture below on webshots. It provides a good idea of what the slope looks like.
Last year we were at Breckenridge the second week in April and it just snowed non-stop. I think there were multiple nights over 5 inches, plus it snowed a lot during the day. Here are two pictures taken during one of the daily dumps. I’d be glad to have a repeat of that weather.
Friends Of Tuckerman Ravine2009/03/27 Tuckerman Ravine is my favorite place on the east coast to ski. You can't get there too often, but when you can, it's a great time.
