Colorado Returning Midwest Skier Heads to Colorado

[DesmoDog]

I hadn't really planned on doing a trip report but what the heck, I'll give it a shot. Prepare for a lot of rambling, I tend to get distracted with these things. I'm not big on pictures and I left my GoPros at home but we'll see how things develop, I've got my phone after all.

First the background. Typical story- guy skis when young, pretty much gives it up in his working years, retires, and decides "Hey, I should start skiing again!" I have a sister who lives in Colorado so no real excuse not to. "Someday" became this week. On Friday I loaded up the Jeep Wrangler and left SE Michigan for Frisco, CO. It's a 4 door "JKU" Sahara with a hard top for those who care.

I know a Wrangler isn't the best road trip vehicle. I don't care. I like them and have done this trip before in this vehicle, though in the summer towing a motorcycle. On that trip my wife and I took three days to drive out. She flew home, I stayed longer, and drove home in under 24 hours. For this trip I planned on something between those two. Stops wouldn't be rushed pit stops with the main goal to get back out on the road. Cruise control would be set at the speed limit. No eating in the car. Take it easy. And no road rage. Let people be stupid, I've got other things to worry about. Or not worry about. I even grabbed a bunch of CDs, because when's the last time you listened to an album start to finish? Chill. I'll get there when I get there. I'm retired now and like the song says "I've got nothing to do today but smile". In younger days it was trips like a V6 Capri where we found out how much top speed was lost when the ski rack went on (15mph if I recall correctly!). Or a GTI and "Rapid Rabbit Roadtrips". Later an SE-R that still holds my personal best Minneapolis to Indianapolis time. But those days are gone.

I left around 9:30 am, no need to get up before sunrise only to get to the destination at 3am. The trip out was rainy/cloudy until about Iowa. As soon as I crossed the border, the rain picked up and added a little hail for dramatic effect. Remember that hard top I mentioned? I don't think I've ever driven this thing in hail before. Holy cow - talk about LOUD. I usually have my dog with me when I go places and he's NOT a fan of loud noises. He would have been in cardiac arrest had he been with me and I'll admit I looked in the back seat to check on him at least once. No he's not with me, but I checked on him anyway. Old habit. And a new habit I've apparently picked up? Two days before I left I got back from another trip where we rented a car with a manual transmission. No problem, I've owned lots of them. But that short time back in one rewired my brain enough that a few times on the way here I tried to press the non-exisitant clutch pedal and shift the lever for the automatic... hmm....

The hail let up and I got a call. My wife had seen tornado warnings for the general area I was in. My nav system displays warnings for those sort of things, and I had only seen info on thunderstorms so I reassured her and pressed on. The thing is, every time she calls and asks about weather, it seems to trigger a new outburst. This was no exception, the rain and hail came back with a vengence, much worse than the first round. Deafening. 25mph tops. I started to wonder if the windshield was going to survive. Wranglers treat windshield shops like day spas, I think replacing them is part of the maintanence schedule? You can even buy one made of Gorilla Glass, just like on your phone. I'm not making that up, it has a graphic of a gorilla chasing a Jeep in the corner. I ordered one when mine needed to be replaced but they put a normal one in anyway. Three years ago. So I guess I didn't really need it after all. But I digress.

That hail downpour passed, the windshield lived to see another day through and normal progress resumed.

Then the tornado warning sounded. Seek shelter. Um... where exactly? There were no buildings around. Just fields. I didn't see anything in front of me, it was darker behind me... warning noted, press on until visual detection? I've been through tornados before (see "Midwest" in title) and it seemed the best choice given the circumstance. Drove on, didn't see any flying cows, crisis averted.

Until ANOTHER tornado warning. Same situation but the sky was clearing ahead of me. Same decision. In a few minutes the sky was much clearer and all I was dealing with was wind.

Holy crap the wind. I was following a truck. The road was straight. I could see hints of the logo on the side of the trailer as I drove along behind it. A Wrangler isn't exactly a wonder of aerodynamics itself so I was feeding a few more steering corrections than normal too. But I couldn't actually READ the logo on the side of the trailer so we were still good. For now. Carry on.

I pressed on until Lincoln, Nebraska. The wind hadn't let up. Temps had fallen. It was around 9pm and I hadn't eaten dinner yet. I pulled off to find a gas station, saw a Motel 6 sign, and just like that decided day one was over. Checked into the motel, stashed my gear bag in the room, and headed back out for gas and food. When I put gas in the car the wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to stand in one place. I had orginally planned to sleep in the Jeep for a few hours, just like the last trip. Nope. The motel was a good call.

The second day started at 4am when the people in the room above me started walking around in their adobe slippers. Not a big deal, I'm still a little jet lagged from the previous trip and waking up early. I thought it was probably morning anyway. I still didn't leave until around 6 though - it was 31 degrees and still some wind but no rain. I watched the sun come up in my mirrors and it turned into a nice sunny uneventful drive. The wind even died down finally. It was in the 60s by the time I pulled into Denver to visit some friends just in time for lunch. I left their house to make my way to Frisco around 5 and got to drive in heavy traffic for the first time in a long time. I'm not a fan of it really.

I eventually broke free of that and was on my way up the mountain to Frisco. Weather was great, traffic wasn't bad... but I'm apparently going insane. I've done that drive numerous times before over the years. Cars, motorcycles, winter, summer... but this time I could not get over the feeling that I was going DOWNhill. I was convinced the Jeep was about to eat a wheel bearing or smoke one of the brakes. I would have sworn I was going downhill but still had to apply power to get anywhere? That can't be right? It was only until I looked in my mirror and saw brakelights on the cars going the other way that I convinced myself I was being stupid and was in fact climbing.

I have no idea what my malfunction was. Logically I knew I was going uphill but my brain kept telling me I was descending. Maybe I should have kept that part of the story to myself...

So. moving on. I made it to Frisco and realized I was more tired than I thought. We went out to dinner, got to bed relatively early, and today I'm going to do a bunch of nothing and try to acclimate a bit. The plan is to ski a few times over the next five or six days. No idea where yet, or even what days those will be.

Stay tuned for more exctiing info. Or not. I'm going to find out if I still know how to ski either way. Or at least figure out which way is up.

 

[DesmoDog]

Sunday was spent hanging out in Frisco during the day then heading over to Vail for their Mikaela Shiffrin celebration in the evening.

Monday was the day to find out if I still know how to ski. Aside from a couple days in Michigan this season we figured out that the last time I had skied was at least 8 years ago in Vail. Copper Mountain was chosen as the site for my triumphant return to the big leagues. I'm pretty sure I've skied there before, but it would have been at least 40 years ago and I have zero memories of it.

I was with my sister and brother in law who have season passes, so I got in on a buddy pass at $149. The weather was great - sunny and maybe low 30's(?), and no lift line to speak of. Later on we did have to wait a little, but it wasn't bad. Certainly nothing to complain about.

As I think I already mentioned I left the GoPros at home so there aren't any great photos or videos. We started in the East Village and worked our way west, as we went across the mountain it seemed to get windier but the sun held and just as I thought I was more concerned with getting too warm then being too cold.

I'm pretty sure our first run covered more vertical than an entire day in SE Michigan. I felt a bit rusty but the fundamentals were there. As expected, my weakness was more in my lack of physical conditioning than technique. I didn't grab a trail map and have forgotten the names of the runs we were on, but we stayed mostly on groomed stuff and out of the bumps. Well, up until we didn't. It was maybe the third or forth run when we ventured to an area where the wind was railing and no one else seemed to be around. That should have been my first clue.

I was already a little tired at that point, between the altitude and not being in my 20s anymore, and this run crushed me. It started out with a type of snow I don't recall ever skiing on before. Everything was windblown and this was heavy, a few inches deep or so? It caught me off guard and I had trouble dealing with it. It took a lot of effort to make anything happen. Wore me out pretty fast and made me feel clumsy. Luckily it didn't last for long and we got out of it into more "normal" snow. But also moguls.

We had stopped at the edge of the crappy snow and I promptly fell when we started up again. My first fall in over 40 years! As falls go it hardly registered. If I had stayed down I probably could have passed it off as I just felt like sitting down... but it counts so I don't have that "record" to worry about anymore. I had joked that I was purposely going to fall over as soon as we got there, just to get it out of the way, so there were no injuries to body or pride involved.

Even that short section had put a hit on my confidence and stamina though. I don't recall the last time I hit conditions I didn't know how to deal with. And now moguls. I used to love moguls but knew that these days they wore me out in an instant. Yep. My legs were having none of it and it became survival rather than conquer. To top it off, I was having trouble with my glasses fogging up under my goggles when I stopped. If I slowed down I lost vision. If I went faster I could see better but my body just wasn't up to the task.

I got through them, but it wasn't pretty. By the end I was to the point where I knew what I wanted to do but just couldn't do it, so I was going SO slow... when we got to smoother trails I was absolutely spent. A little further down and we hit this.

Chairs! Just what I needed. We took a little break and decided it was time for lunch. The line there was too long (an event was going on and there were a lot of spectators) so we headed out again. Locals will recognize the lift (I think the sign says Timberline Express?) but I've forgotten all the names.

As I recall it was then another break in the West Village? Maybe Center? While there I decided that in order to live to ski another couple times this week I was done for the day. We had been out for three or four hours by then, it was time. A couple of lift rides up and then a long run down to East Village where we were parked. Sun still shining, I had taken my goggles off and was only in glass now with on fogging. I took a couple breaks on the way down but I wasn't in survival mode anymore like I was earlier. It was a good call to end it there though. A beer and some snacks in the lounge and then home.

A side note - the rental shop is selling off skis and it seemed to me like there were deals to be had. $299 for skis with bindings? $399 for more recent models? Sure, the top sheets could be beat up but the bases on the ones we looked at were solid. My sister was more serious than I was and I'm pretty sure they told her she could rent the pair she was considering and that would go towards the purchase price. I was tempted to buy something just to leave here so I could travel without skis in the future.

To sum it up, the day went largely as expected. I'm rusty and out of shape. The weather was great. My boots are starting to break in I think? They don't seem as snug as before, especially the right one. I'm pretty sure it's a case of adjusting buckles but I haven't even tried yet, it's a subtle change I'm feeling so not a big worry at this point.

I'm not sure if we're heading out today or not. Amazingly my legs aren't sore. I can feel they're tired but it doesn't hurt to move, which is a bit shocking to me.

 

[dbostedo]

Sounds like a successful first day back despite the struggles! I was at Copper yesterday too, and the wind affected areas are very tough as the get crusty and chunky. I also took a similar photo!

 

[Bad Bob]

The struggles continue and sometimes they are very real.
A tasty Mexican dinner, A cold beer, and a good night's sleep should have you ready for more adventures.
You might look into CBD ointment to rub on knees and things, it is my new friend.

 

[DesmoDog]

At Vail today. Snow, LOTS of people in certain areas. Once again I’m being made aware I’m not 20 years old anymore. Holy lack of endurance, Batman!

 

[dbostedo]

LOTS of people in certain areas.

Huh.... I didn't think there were many people there. I was either fortunate to be in areas a lot of people weren't, or perhaps you don't realize how crowded Vail can really get. Maybe a combo of both. (I was definitely in areas most people weren't for parts of the day. But also skied Game Creek bowl and Avanti lifts a bunch and those can get crowded.)

 

[DesmoDog]

Huh.... I didn't think there were many people there. I was either fortunate to be in areas a lot of people weren't, or perhaps you don't realize how crowded Vail can really get. Maybe a combo of both. (I was definitely in areas most people weren't for parts of the day. But also skied Game Creek bowl and Avanti lifts a bunch and those can get crowded.)

I don't know the names of the places but in one cafe (not the small BBQ) it was standing room only, hard to walk around with so many people let alone find anywhere to sit. My sister skis Vail often and said one of the runs was busier than she had ever seen it.

Though to be fair we then went somewhere else (overlooks the bunny hill where they were teaching little tykes to snowboard) and it was easy to find a table. Hence the "certain areas" comment.

Qualifier - they never ski Vail on weekends

 

[mdf]

I'm enjoying your writing.

Logically I knew I was going uphill but my brain kept telling me I was descending.

I've had the opposite happen while skiing. A nearly-flat connecting trail looks uphill, but the glide tells me it isn't.

 

[DesmoDog]

I'm enjoying your writing.


I've had the opposite happen while skiing. A nearly-flat connecting trail looks uphill, but the glide tells me it isn't.

Thanks. On motorcycle forums I've been accused of rattling on about things. I won't argue with that but whatever. As for disorientation, I've experienced it in a few things and can understand how pilots and divers get disoriented. One of the sayings that's been batted around this week is "gravity works"... well sure it does but sometimes it's hard to tell just what it's up to. Kinda like me when I worked.

Anywhos...

Another "day after" post

Yesterday's trip to Vail was a spur of the moment decision. I'm here for a week with no specific plans so we're playing it by ear. Got up yesterday morning, took a look at the weather forecast, and decided today (Wednesday) would be a good day to take off so yesterday Vail it was.

As I mentioned, my legs were pretty tired even before we left, but not sore. That was surprising. Even more surprising is today, after the second day of skiing my legs feel better than they did yesterday. I'm not a physical fitness buff but this seems weird to me. It makes me wonder just how much of my exhaustion is from altitude. I know it's a significant part of it, but HOW significant?

Yesterday was a strange day of skiing. This trip is something of a fact finding mission for me, in the past I'd ski for a couple days on rental gear and it was what it was. It didn't matter how the boots felt or the skis reacted since I gave them back at the end of the day and went on to the next adventure. Now though I'm trying to figure things out. Do I like the skis? The boots? The clothing?

Yeah... the clothing. I haven't mentioned that but I also bought a new ski jacket and some underlayer shirts. I've never had proper undergear and when I was looking at pics of when I was here ten years ago I noticed I was still wearing the same jacket. I found a Helly Hanson jacket on sale so ordered it. The House sale? I went a bit nuts. I also bought a snowboard jacket just because. Ok. I have a thing for jackets. It used to be motorcycle jackets, now I've added ski jackets to the mix I guess. I also ordered a couple things that didn't show up before I left - there are some ski pants and a fleece waiting for me at home. But they were all on sale! Which seems like a perfectly good rationale to my wife, so there's that.

Back to skiing. My sister tells me I look like I'm doing great but mostly it hasn't felt that way. Yesterday things finally started to fall together for me though. I was pretty tired and it was a short day, but near the end of the day, in fact on my last run, I had a section where I didn't feel awkward and was getting back into it. I didn't even feel tired anymore. I think part of my issue with my legs being shot was bad technique, and I figured out how to "do it" without so much effort. Even so when we got to the bottom of that run I decided I was done for the day. Quit while you're ahead and all. Even though I felt like it was coming back to me, when something caught me out I'd go back to bad form and my legs would instantly complain. No need to push it, I've still got a day or two left to give it another shot.

One thing I haven't mentioned yet - Part of my reason of trying to figure out gear and and all is because I've joined the ski patrol in Michigan. That's a 'whole nother story but I went through their ski eval and interview earlier, this morning it became official when I got registered and literally paid my dues. Hence I'm trying to figure out what sort of gear I want to gather before next season.

The BIG weak spot I've found on this trip is goggles. I wear glasses and my current set up is horrible, fog city. Not entirely unexpected but certainly confirmed. I'll be spending real money on them before it's over, right now I'm just using the over the glasses pair Smith had on sale when I bought my helmet. Yesterday the fogging was to the point I got off one lift mostly blind. I took my glasses off and skied with just the goggles after that, which worked ok since the visibility wasn't great anyway. WIth glasses if I'm moving it seems ok but when I stop the glasses fog up.

But none of that is why I started this post! Yesterday I used the Epic app to track our day. Mt Brighton, my local spot, is also on the Epic app. After the ski patrol eval I turned it on and tracked about two hours of skiing there. Yesterday I tracked about four hours at Vail. Here is a comparison of vertical feet for the two days

Hmm. One of these places is not like the other. In looking closer at some of the Brighton numbers I don't think it was accurate on a few things so take it all with a grain of salt but yeah... things are a bit different in the midwest.

Tomorrow is supposed to be bright sun so I'm guessing we'll give it another go. Probably Vail again? Who knows.

 

[DesmoDog]

The experiment is over, my season ended today and I'm starting my drive back to Michigan tomorrow.

We went back to Vail yesterday and enjoyed a sunny day of skiing. I finally started to feel like I knew what I was doing but still was exhausted by the end of the day. The Epic app was supposedly tracking our runs but it seems to have missed a few lifts. Mid-day I gave up my goggles and went with just sunglasses to avoid fogging. Worked much better.

I hadn't planned on skiing today (Friday) but considering the weather forecast (sunny and 40ish) we decided to go today today, so I was skiing 4 out of 5 days if you don't count Sunday, which was never planned to be a ski day. We got up early-ish to beat the crowds and were pleasantly surprised by conditions and lack of crowds. The ski was crystal clear, the snow was great, and for the first few hours anyway there were no crowds. And I was skiing the best I had for the week.

As we stoood at the top of the run ready to begin the last run of the day, I asked if this was the right run... since we didn't park at Lionshead today.

Oops.

The last run then became mostly catwalks as we were in fact NOT in the right place. But I was ok with that since I was shot. When we got to the bottom I once again faced the walk of pain through the village. I swear that's the hardest part of the day for me, walking back ot the car carrying the freaking skis.

And that ended my season. What did I learn?

Vail is huge. I was SO lucky to have a couple locals lead me around.

A week here is too short. I'm just getting used to the altitude and skiing longer steeper runs and it's time to leave.

The first week of April is a great time to be here. I looked back at my history of skiing here (on the app) and discovered my four trips have all been the end of March, beginning of April. Great conditions each time. Well not ALL the tim each time, but at least a couple days of sun each time.

These skis (Head eV10) work fine in Michigan, and well around here, but I'm going to be looking for something a little more, um, substantial to add to the collection. Turns out I like skiing faster than I thought. I've had the idea I need some Shaggy brand skis so over the summer I'll probably work on figuring out what to get. Ahmeek 105, Mohawk 98, and Brockway 100 are the most interesting so far.

Goggles. I need to work that out.

This is going to be an annual trip. Same time of year, maybe longer duration, but I plan to be back next year in better condition and with more appropriate equipment. I get free lodging, good guides, and should have a pass that covers lift tickets so how can I NOT come back???

Here's a summary of our days in Vail. (First entry is a couple hours in Michigan). The tracking missed a few lifts but this is close.

 

[DesmoDog]

Left Frisco at around 9am. Had beautiful weather the entire drive home, got home around 6:30am this morning. Uneventful drive.

Well, I guess there was one fun moment. 2am on I80 right around Chicago. 75mph in a 55mph zone. The car that came around me on the outside of the turn was a State Trooper. No fooks given apparently. Alrighty then!