Nearly 30 years ago we skied Snowmass and vowed to return the next year. Today CJ returns for the first time. The Aspen mountain complex has a great free bus system between their four mountains. CJ's at the top of the mountain by 1030; no need to hurry with the way he's been worked this week.
The wide open slopes are just as beautiful as he remembered. The second picture is his practice bump run.
By early afternoon he's ready to return to the condo. Back in Aspen, Carol has packed and loaded the car. Aspen sits at 7, 890 feet. The huge jumps used by Aspen X-Games conducted at Buttermilk mountain are visible during the drive.
After the descent from Aspen to I-70, the eastbound route enters Glenwood Canyon (5,700 feet), a rugged scenic 12.5 mile canyon cut by the Colorado River. It's considered one of the most picturesque parts of the entire US Interstate highway system with sheer cliffs rising straight up to as much as 1,300 feet.
I-70 runs through the high hills (6,600 feet) past Beaver Creek and Vail Ski resorts before climbing again to Vail Pass. Vail Pass is at an elevation of 10, 662 feet.
It drops again past Copper Mountain, to about 9,100 feet to the exit to Breckenridge and the exit to Arapahoe Basin and Keystone before climbing once again to the tunnel that runs beneath the Continental Divide.
Eisenhower Tunnel is located at 11,158 feet around 60 miles from Denver. That's 1000 feet of vertical drop every 10 miles the rest of the way. It's a lot of braking. It didn't seem that bad when we made the climb on the way to Aspen.
We drive directly to the hotel without GPS assistance and have a marvelous dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Beautiful scenery!
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