I happened to be in Colorado for work last week, and was lucky enough to have Friday and Saturday to ski. The season has been over around here (Virginia) for about a month, so it had been a while since I'd been on skis, and it was great to extend the season. This time of year I had my pick of Breck, A-Basin, Loveland, and Winter Park.... and as I could stay cheaply in Breckenridge, I decided to head there and ski Friday, then hit Loveland on the way back to Denver on Saturday.
Breckenridge
Breckenridge is normally big, and crowded... but it was neither last Friday. They only had peak 8 open (and the bottom of peak 9 which I didn't venture over to). Snow conditions were nice, and they got a few inches Thursday night. It was a little warm at the base, and slushed up throughout the day low down.
Higher up was in good shape though. I took the T-Bar a few times, but didn't take Imperial. Clouds rolled in and out all day, and it snowed and graupeled a bit. I skied pretty much everything off Colorado and Rocky Mountain express, and a couple of runs off the T-Bar. All in all, it was a nice day to be out there.
View of Peak 9/10 area from town Thursday evening
Some lightly tracked stuff in the early morning
I think this trail is Northstar... a few inches on some harder underneath
Spruce was in nice shape and had been groomed at some point
The sun came out!
Headed for the T-Bar with the clearing weather
View from the top of the T-Bar
Some nice snow up high
Storms rolling in
Weird mix of slush, tan snow, and graupel at the base
Loveland
I woke up Saturday morning to about 5 inches that had to be cleared off my car in Breck. By the time I packed up, cleared the snow, drove to Loveland, and picked up my ticket, it was nearly 10:00. Late start for me on a ski day. But Loveland was awesome - full on Winter conditions. It may as well have been February... it snowed off and on, the wind wasn't bad, the snow was very soft and I didn't find many scraped off or hard spots.
I hit all the lifts except 8 and 9, and mostly skied all the blues. The runs tend to be short, but fun with a lot of open area and variety. I had a blast... it felt a bit like home, but a lot bigger.
Winter was in effect ... this is not far from the base
Visibility was OK, even though is was pretty grey most of the day
Soft snow!
Nix Nox was great... choppy up top, and big, wide, soft bumps below
Lots of piled stuff in the treed area... this is Blackjack I think
Not sure which run this is... but it was nice.
Sort of accidentally wound up here and bob-sledded my way down the old lift line in the center
This is a blue chute (Lift 9 in view)... definitely would have been black a lot of places... but with the soft snow it was fun
Loved the wide open-ness of most of the place
So that makes Vail, Copper, Breck, and Loveland (EDIT : And Aspen!) that I've skied in Colorado... hoping to add more next season!
Breckenridge
Breckenridge is normally big, and crowded... but it was neither last Friday. They only had peak 8 open (and the bottom of peak 9 which I didn't venture over to). Snow conditions were nice, and they got a few inches Thursday night. It was a little warm at the base, and slushed up throughout the day low down.
Higher up was in good shape though. I took the T-Bar a few times, but didn't take Imperial. Clouds rolled in and out all day, and it snowed and graupeled a bit. I skied pretty much everything off Colorado and Rocky Mountain express, and a couple of runs off the T-Bar. All in all, it was a nice day to be out there.
View of Peak 9/10 area from town Thursday evening
Some lightly tracked stuff in the early morning
I think this trail is Northstar... a few inches on some harder underneath
Spruce was in nice shape and had been groomed at some point
The sun came out!
Headed for the T-Bar with the clearing weather
View from the top of the T-Bar
Some nice snow up high
Storms rolling in
Weird mix of slush, tan snow, and graupel at the base
Loveland
I woke up Saturday morning to about 5 inches that had to be cleared off my car in Breck. By the time I packed up, cleared the snow, drove to Loveland, and picked up my ticket, it was nearly 10:00. Late start for me on a ski day. But Loveland was awesome - full on Winter conditions. It may as well have been February... it snowed off and on, the wind wasn't bad, the snow was very soft and I didn't find many scraped off or hard spots.
I hit all the lifts except 8 and 9, and mostly skied all the blues. The runs tend to be short, but fun with a lot of open area and variety. I had a blast... it felt a bit like home, but a lot bigger.
Winter was in effect ... this is not far from the base
Visibility was OK, even though is was pretty grey most of the day
Soft snow!
Nix Nox was great... choppy up top, and big, wide, soft bumps below
Lots of piled stuff in the treed area... this is Blackjack I think
Not sure which run this is... but it was nice.
Sort of accidentally wound up here and bob-sledded my way down the old lift line in the center
This is a blue chute (Lift 9 in view)... definitely would have been black a lot of places... but with the soft snow it was fun
Loved the wide open-ness of most of the place
So that makes Vail, Copper, Breck, and Loveland (EDIT : And Aspen!) that I've skied in Colorado... hoping to add more next season!
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