I've had a wow overload already the past couple of days and fully expecting it to continue. Had barely started the real roadtrip and drove through Glenwood Canyon, so many levels of awesome there. The Moab area was amazing, even some random little detours just showed more and more spectacular scenes, I think I could spend a week there and still be surprised. Reminds me of the Murchison area in WA. Realised today that warming snow and soft dirt roads make for some challenging mud, car is looking well used now
Sunset today in Monument Valley was fantastic. I didn't bring my real camera gear, so an iphone timelapse had to suffice
I've had a wow overload already the past couple of days and fully expecting it to continue. Had barely started the real roadtrip and drove through Glenwood Canyon, so many levels of awesome there. The Moab area was amazing, even some random little detours just showed more and more spectacular scenes, I think I could spend a week there and still be surprised. Reminds me of the Murchison area in WA. Realised today that warming snow and soft dirt roads make for some challenging mud, car is looking well used now
Sunset today in Monument Valley was fantastic. I didn't bring my real camera gear, so an iphone timelapse had to suffice
And this does not include UtahThose South West pics are fantastic which is why I'm itching to do a follow up road trip there instead of flying Denver-LAX. Upcoming trip will have that in the very late afternoon but two earlier in the afternoon have been fantastic, seated on the RHS by a window up front on UA. Half an hour birds-eye view right into the Grand Canyon on one flight with my eye stuck to the window and last time taking in Hoover Dam and surrounds. Awesome. Must do it from ground level.
Out of all the places I've skied in the world ? That's a tough question.What's your favourite to date?
I tried one of their stew type dishes, was ok. I've tried cornbread before and not really a fan.That View Hotel is quite a spot. Did you stumble across the blue Navajo cornbread with your dinner? Yummo. I don't know why they don't serve it at breakfast.
Expensive?I tried one of their stew type dishes, was ok. I've tried cornbread before and not really a fan.
Got a comfortable bed, and The View is certainly delivering. Watching the pre-sunrise show right now just pinching myself. Great addition to the trip.
It wasn't particularly expensive when I stayed there. Most the rooms face the Valley. If you want to stay tonight the cheapest Valley view room is USD123.Expensive?
Thanks.It wasn't particularly expensive when I stayed there. Most the rooms face the Valley. If you want to stay tonight the cheapest Valley view room is USD123.
It is run by the Navajo Nation.
I would argue that highnoon at Thredbo is very much more difficult on a bad day than almost any single black I have skied in the US. If you ski Hotham nothing in the US will really bother you.
I let the comment slide, but ....Nothing? You sure?
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Your next stop should be the crazy terrain in Telluride. There are runs there that it is hard to see how people get access.Lol should I have said nothing muchI think there a three in that pic, doesn't it also include cajun couloir
Yes I have skied Jackson a couple of times.... And Crested Butte
You look like you are enjoying Snowmass!
Arrived in Breck this afternoon as the first tiny flakes started arriving. Open Snow had warned of r*** but luckily it was all falling as snow. Getting heavier now
Getting ready to race a million American long-weekend visitors to the lifts tomorrow morning!
Have already tested out the Flip Side burger place - excellent recommendation thanks @Nidecker
Annoying baggage drama: went to open my snowboard bag and someone (presumably TSA) had snapped a key off in the lock! Fortunately maintenance at the building we are staying in came to our aid with a pair of bolt-cutters, but I would have been very upset if I hadn't noticed it until tomorrow morning.
Presidents Day special.Didn't quite make it to the T-Bar or Kensho today. Being first day we went easy and stayed on Peak 8 and 9. Stopped to Skype the kids at about 1:30pm and had to stop for the day - I had felt great all morning but was suddenly hit by overwhelming tiredness (altitude? jet lag?) so pulled the pin and had an emergency 2-hour nap.
Despite that, it was a short but excellent day.
We got lucky with 5-6 inches of snow overnight, so the first hour or so was great fun on the groomers, with fresh snow on a firm but quality base.
We arrived at the lifts 15 minutes before opening and there was a small queue, but once the lifts opened it was less than 5 minutes. Things got busier as the day wore on, and some runs were a bit of a dodgem course. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a lift, though.
Things have quietened down in town a bit tonight. Yesterday afternoon and last night was heaving with police actually setting up specific traffic management points to handle the number of people walking off the lifts and crossing the road into town. Not sure if that's a regular Breck thing or a President's Day special?
Will try to post some pictures tomorrow ...
Saturday late afternoons will have the place in grid lock, so probably extended into Sunday by a President's Weekend effect as per @absentskier.Things have quietened down in town a bit tonight. Yesterday afternoon and last night was heaving with police actually setting up specific traffic management points to handle the number of people walking off the lifts and crossing the road into town. Not sure if that's a regular Breck thing or a President's Day special?...
^^ @teletripper ... my daily report above
Another observation ... stuff in Breck seems cheaper than I expected. I'm probably comparing to Park City which seems overpriced in comparison now. Meals and drinks seem particularly cheap, by ski town standards, admittedly.
Very nice.A random selection of photos ...
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^ From Peak 8, heading back to Peak 9.
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^ Peak 6 (no style critiques, please)
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^ Peak 10(?) seen from across Maggie's Pond, next to our accommodation.
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^ Main Street
Vail has made its first East Coast acquisition, confirming it has acquired Stowe for $50m.
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/21/vail-resorts-vermont-stowe-ski-area-purchase/
Still so much snow down there....A random selection of photos ...
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^ Main Street
Mate we've already been home a week! Left Steamboat on 1st. The kids thought we were flying straight through but we took them to Disneyland for a day as a surprise.
MIL tells me it's been very warm and only really snowed once (before today) since we left.
@Scooter - Montana & Idaho were great - haven't had much time to post about the rest of the trip and about to fly home from LAX but will do a post with a few more photos once I'm back
ALL - Just on a similar line - what is that dirty great big peak behind Silverthone? From what I understand it is a fair effort to ski/ride - like 8-10 hour up for your 1 line.
Short answer is school and work! Pushing it as it was. Haven't been to the carnival yet. Hopefully one day...Hey @absentskier - commiserations thenHow come you didn't extend the week and stay for winter carnival? That used to be my hook to stay longer with the other half. I'm still a bad dad - one of these days will do DL. You done it on previous trips?
Hi @jgm - sounds like you spent a bit of time driving (or waiting to drive) but glad to hear you got some great days in. Where were you planning to head next season?
Hi @markopolo - some great photos. Love the couple with big mountain terrain - I.e.
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and
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Same peak different angles? Not skied/ridden (maybe see 1 line - is it normally accessed?) - high avi risk?
ALL - Just on a similar line - what is that dirty great big peak behind Silverthone? From what I understand it is a fair effort to ski/ride - like 8-10 hour up for your 1 line.
How you going with a couple of pics @p2p ?
Loved the timelapse @kylep - got any snow pics/vids to share?
For Brissie - 27 days in a row with temps above 30DegC - Very envious @K_Bird - have fun and keep the updates coming.
Hi @oldgeezer - looks like you might have gotten lucky with your timing. Think Feb has been pretty lean and warm for CO so fingers crossed you get the forecast foot or so to freshen up the slopes and let you have a play in the fresh (it will at least soften those bumps for you). Have fun and let us know how you go in Steamboat.
Talking warm for CO - So @K_Bird - 10DegC at the base? Yikes!! I noticed on Opensnow there was somebody made a comment about 80+ in Denver. That's like 26+ DegC - so was that legit? Just Google'd it - Hooly Dooly - yep 80 at DIA all time high!!
Yep, 24C when we arrived in Denver. Crazy.10DegC at the base? Yikes!! I noticed on Opensnow there was somebody made a comment about 80+ in Denver. That's like 26+ DegC - so was that legit? Just Google'd it - Hooly Dooly - yep 80 at DIA all time high!!
Always remember that trail gradings are only intended to reflect the relative difficulty of the trails in that resort itself. It is not a comparison to trails at other resorts.Apologies to anyone bored by the continual Breck updates ... just scroll down if you're over it!
As mentioned above, the weather has changed significantly. It's currently -14C and not predicted to get much warmer over the next few days.
No snow overnight last night, but it kicked into gear about 8am with lots of fat flakes in the morning, then scattered light snow in the afternoon. Seemed to stop about nightfall.
We had a late-ish start, but managed to enjoy the fresh cover - about 3.5 inches in total. Vis wasn't too bad, considering, but we stayed down in the lower peaks to keep out of the wind, and stuck to Peak 9 where we were most familiar with the layout. American and Peerless were the pick of the runs ... just perfect in the conditions, but everything was pretty amazing.
General observation: Breck seems a bit generous in their designation of the difficulty of the runs. It seems that anything designated a single-black is groomed frequently, and is more similar to a difficult blue (I've seen some resorts do double-blues which seem similar to Breck's single-blacks). The double-blacks seem to be left ungroomed and therefore bumpy ... I haven't braved any double-blacks so this is all observation from a distance!
The runs are well signposted, so it's hard to accidentally find yourself on a run above your ability. The piste map even shows which sections of a run are of a more difficult standard - eg. the top section might be marked black, and the rest blue, so a less confident skier knows they can cross over onto the run lower down, once the steep black section has passed. I haven't seen this done before, but I think it's a great idea, especially since it's so easy to cross from one run to the next. Other resorts I've been to seem to mark a whole run as one colour, which can be unnecessarily off-putting if there's only one small steep section in an otherwise blue run.
True, I guess I had expected that Breck overall would be regarded as "challenging" so I expected the difficulty of each grading to be higher, if that makes sense. I was surprised to find the gradings a little soft compared to my expectations (or maybe I'm just a more awesome snowboarder than I realise??Always remember that trail gradings are only intended to reflect the relative difficulty of the trails in that resort itself. It is not a comparison to trails at other resorts.
Looking very snowy again all of a sudden for you. Nice timing!A very bare prairie was the sight flying into Denver late yesterday afternoon with no snow at all around the airport hotel area. However it started snowing about 9am and already cars are covered and grass filling in. The shuttle up to Steamboat will be a slow one but not driving means I can relax.
Gondola line was always going to be big. First decent snowfall in about 5 weeks and the locals are desperate. February hasn't been kind to them. Have fun.Maybe 10" overnight. Can't complain about that but can about the gondola line. I just had my first run off Christie back to base and to wait for the 10am-3pm lesson for a bit of guidance while by myself for two days before ski camp proper. Not bad. Have some new Rossi skis on recommendation from local store at home and they are somewhat heavier and rigid underfoot so wanted to get the feel of them. Will be Ok though I think once I get used to them. Am staying downtown in my usual style of budget motel but it's good and the bus works heaps better than Summit County where there were too many changes. Plenty of places for a cheap bite to eat in happy hour too. Just have my phone for pics but with the snow still coming down not much will show so won't worry. Better find my way to the ski school assembly point now.