Snowmass in Review

If you ski long enough, weather catches up with you.

On some occasions you risk blowing out your skis on rocks.  When we went to Romania to ski, there wasn't enough snow.  Fortunately, we were there with a Romanian friend and we did spectacular tourist things including touring lunch is a castle at a closed restaurant, touring a fortified church, touring the royal castles at Sinia, and incredible dining experiences.

We've had days of white-out conditions on various days skiing in France; some including the dreaded vertigo.

In his more insane youth, CJ once skied Killington as a private mountain, traversing all 7 mountains without seeing another skier.  Of course it was below minus 40 with a wind chill in the obscene.

The week we went to Steamboat, we arrived to the coldest place in the US and it was 39 below zero F.  We skied one run at a time and compensated with good food and a nookie contest.  By weeks end we were in an outdoor hot springs pool and enjoying the water slide, with snow falling, in the balmy temperature of nine below.

This week, we had two days of sunshine skiing, one day too bad to ski, and three days of marginal weather.  Worse, Crystina lost two days before she could finally arrive in Snowmass. Colorado set records for avalanche warnings both in numbers and levels of intensity, let alone the disruption of the travel of thousands.

 

 

Nonetheless, there is something magically relaxing about a ski vacation. There is the coziness of sitting around a fire.  Hot tubs or hot springs if you use them.  The beauty of mountains.  Hearty food and drink. The skiing is great but its the friends you share it with that make it special.

Mountains to Denver Saturday

We wake to no snow.  It's a winter wonderland.

 

Snowmass access road and the road to Glenwood Springs is snow covered but passable.

 

 

None of the nightmare scenarios of last evening materialize.  Vail Pass is slow but moving at least 40 mph. There are no closures, no stoppages and relatively light traffic.

We make Denver in time to rendezvous with Crystina and Henry at Biker Jim's for exotic and enormous hot dogs.

 

Partying company at Biker Jim's, we first stop at First Draft, a place with a wall of beer taps each with it's own tablet describing the beer and brewery.  Your First Draft debit card delivers individual pours or tastes.

 

Next stop is Epic Denver. Nine bottles of Smoked & Oaked later, we find our way to the Airport Marriott.

 

For the record, the vertical climb from Aspen Highlands to Cloud 9 is 2785 feet.  The similar climb to the Lynn Britt Cabin at Snowmass is only1036 feet.  Why do we forgo the snowcat ride right outside our window for the drive to Highlands.  It's 2.7 times the vertical and a French sit down dinner versus an American dinner with the same course structure but far less quality. Our cat ride is a half hour.  The ride to Lynn Britt Cabin is 15 minutes.  The Cloud 9 menu is far superior; and the cost differential is $15!

Snowmass Friday

Bloody Hell!  More snow.  This is far too much of a good thing. Whatever happened to polite snow; the kind that falls overnight and leaves a light dusting of powder and a bright sunny day in the morning.  If one skis long enough, a week like this will finally catch up to you.

It's snowed most of the day.  CJ and Crystina must try to get in skiing on their last day. They try to stick to "groomed" runs.  With continuing snow, the groomed runs still have overnight powder. The Naked Lady slope gives up the best run. The first half of Turkey Trot is slow polling.  The second half and Drumstick is a good run.

 

 

 

We execute our lunch plan at Gwyn's High Alpine as the weather deteriorates. As we return to the condo, the density of the snow thickens.  By the time CJ and Henry depart, we're witnessing the largest flakes and most dense snow of the week.

CJ and Henry return the skis and drive to the airport to retrieve the car that will backup their unlikely flight from Aspen to Denver. In the few minutes it takes to return the skis our totally dry car looks like this.

Avalanches continue to close I-70.  At dinner time, I-70 is again closed.  This evening's lead news story is the avalanche that breaks the window in a pickup truck flooding a baby in snow. Quick action by her parents saves her.

Snow and fatigue cancel the evening of tubing at Elk Camp.  The roller coaster part of the ticket was cancelled long ago due to heavy snow. Instead of paying for a marginal dinner on the mountain at the Elk Camp lodge, we dine in on an array of leftovers, decent wine and beer, and an opener of truffle'd pasta.  Way better!

It's a very snowy evening.

 

 

It will take good clean living to get us to Denver tomorrow.

Snowmass Thursday

White out again!  Arapahoe Basin Ski Area is closed.  Vail Pass has been closed by avalanche. We're expecting six to eight more inches.  What happened to sunny and warm for Wednesday through Friday.

 

 

With a slight break in the intensity, Crystina decides we're going skiing.  We break out of the fog up mountain and look forward to good skiing.  Our euphoria is short lived, snow and fog return and we soon find ourselves in ungroomed heavy snow territory; and we're near the top of the mountain.

Meanwhile, Henry and Carol entertain themselves watching the very young children in ski school classes.

 

The great powder skiers are having a blast.  We groomed slope lovers are struggling.  We leave one couple on the slope still searching for one of their skis buried in the deep snow.  They had been searching for over ten minutes.

Sanctuary is the first lodge we come across, Ullrhof. We try to wait out the whiteout for more than an hour to no avail. A burger and shake satisfies for lunch.

 Even taking the easiest route down, it's a tough slog to the condo. We are exhausted on arrival.

 

Even Carol catches a picture of our exhaustion from the apartment.

No sooner have we finally succumbed and called it a short and exhausting day, the snow stops and the sun arrives.  We have apparently angered the Snow Gods. Our swearing at the gods doesn't last long; fog and flat light return within a half hour.

By the time the lifts close after four pm, the view from the condo, looks nearly the same as this morning's wakeup pictures. Note the similarity to the morning pictures.

 

The evening news reports the highest level of avalanche danger since 1950. They put a five point warning scale in years ago.  This is the first time the entire state has been under the highest level of warning.

I-70 is once again closed at Vail Pass.  I-70 is also closed near Copper Mountain. There is a state route closed for the first time in history. We're beginning to wonder if they'll have it cleared by Saturday when we must return to Denver. Crystina and Henry are hegging their bets.  They still have their airline reservations from Aspen and have reserved a National car.

We are praying for good conditions for tomorrow. So far instead of five days of good skiing, CJ has one great day, one ok day and two low visibility crap days.  Crystina has come all this way for an ok and a crap day.  Too much snow is the culprit.

Snowmass Wednesday

We wake to snow.  Even though the snow slows, fog continues to move down the mountain.  Eventually, CJ removes his ski pants and decides to exercise the free day on his 5 of 6 ski pass.

We drive in increasing rain to Aspen and have lunch at our newfound creperie, French Alpine Bistro Creperie du Village. After lunch the rain is harder. The plan to walk and shop downtown Aspen is scrapped and we return to the condo.

For dinner we are off to Aspen Highlands for the culinary adventure experience of the trip. From the base elevation of  2450 meters or  8040 feet, a snowcat delivers us up the mountain to Cloud 9, a fine French restaurant at 3299 meters or 10,825 feet. Pictured below is the restaurant taken from above (on a sunny day).  Note the valley deep in the distance.

We board the snowcat in rain which changes to snow as we climb the mountain. (There will be two feet of snow overnight, the most in this part of the state.)

This being our second time, it's a hoot watching the first timers when the cat hits the steeps. We hit the first one at a less speed than last time so it's not as disrupting.  They start coming out of the up-hill seats on some of the steeper slopes up mountain. They are fortunate.  Two of the men have long legs and can brace themselves against our seat.  Their wives clutch them for dear life.

The ride is 2.7 miles, has a maximum slope of 11 degrees.  Ski tracks tells us that the cat's maximum speed is 7.4 mph with an average of 3.6 mph.  The ride is about a half hour. Our route is the dark blue line.

Between the vibration of the snowcat and the vibration of the tracks on the snow, pictures taken from the snowcat tend to be a bit blurry.

Our destination is above that slope pictured over the top of the cat.

 Selfie taken at the top of the first of many climbs.

 Snowcat lights reflecting off the snow and trees lining the slope.

We've stopped at a restaurant buried in snow.

We enter the restaurant with wet clothing in search of heat, places to hang the outerwear and good food and grog.

The four course fixed meal is outstanding, just like the last time. There is foie gras, duck, Waygu beef, and a king crab/lobster bouillabaisse.

The return ride is a inverse repeat of the climb. It begins in heavy snow and ends in a rain/snow mix. Carol's cuddled up with CJ in a tight ball attempting to stop shivering.

CJ drives back to the condo in heavy snow.  A short night is had by all.



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