We get up and it is cold, cold, cold, to put it in the terms of a classic Little Feat song. Like 5 degrees cold. I act like it might get warmer and underdress and spend most of the day wishing I would have worn another shirt. Nothing a little hard skiing can't fix.
Kayla, Brian and Diane on the Gondola to Lower Beaver Creek Mountain Express.
Diane and Dylan hop the Upper Beaver Creek Mountain Express to the Rodeo Park, while the rest of us head over to Arrowhead (more specifically, the Arrow Bahn).
Beth shows off on Cresta.
Kayla rushes past the Aspens
Brian flies fast as he has for the past few days.
The houses are big over at the Arrow Bahn. It must be the "Bahn" part that creates all of the value.
After a few runs, we work our way over towards the main Beaver Creek Mountain. We link up with Diane and Dylan, who is working the park.
Dylan's pipe skills are improving.
So are the team photographer's...
I.
II.
III.
IV.
The lines are short today because it is so cold. We head up top to the Zoom Room and a 4.5-mile, 4000 foot descent to the base. Dylan hits the kickers all in a row. I ski down beside opting for photos since my 2gb memory card is nearly full of videos.
I.
II.
III.
He then heads for the other features...boxes, rails and logs.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
We finally get to the bottom, where Jay and Ruthanne are waiting. With chow (thanks!)
Dylan gets into a french fry/water war with Kayla. They never grow up.
Kayla plots her next move with Brian.
War is over!
Most of the group quits for the day, but Dylan and I go back out for some more punishment in the cold cold cold park.
I.
II.
III.
We call it a day around 3pm since the plan is to head over to Vail Village and hit the shops. We meet the alpenhorn dude down on the plaza in full regalia.
Ricola!
That concludes the skiing part of our Colorado adventure. Four resorts, seven days in a row, lots of lift rides, tons of vert, awesome jibbing in the park, one killer powder day, and good times with family and friends. That is pretty much the best one can expect from any ski vacation. This one delivered.
But wait, there's more. No blog would be complete without a little editorializing. So here goes.
Ski Disney
Vail and Beaver Creek are some of the best ski resorts anywhere. The resort part is what makes them different from say, Winter Park, Copper Mountain, or our home mountain, Willamette Pass. It's an element that doesn't impress me much. It might be because I am not wealthy, but I'm not sure that would make a ton of difference. Vail and Beaver Creek are enclaves for very wealthy people.
Wednesday at Vail, we got in the maze at the Eagle Bahn gondola (they have a thing for the term "bahn" at these resorts... I'm not sure why). The line was actually pretty short as far as Disneyland lines go--the maze started outside and then continued inside. The gigantic line of people in ski school that alternate with us regulars at nearly every lift, doesn't help much. Then there's the villages. They go for the faux-european look, kind of like Disneyland. And there is money. Lot's of money. And lots of people that prominently display their wealth. I'm sure someone is impressed, but I don't think it is Diane or Dylan.
You can have a condo in the clock tower for a cool $3-$4 million. Or the house below off the Arrow Bahn for say, $10 million.
I can't even relate to that kind of money, since these would be second or third or more residences for many owners. My hope is they earned it honestly.
$98 lift tickets pay for squads of groomers, lots of lifts, and hot chocolate and cookies at BC. The grooming program at Vail and BC are second to none. It is truly impressive what they do with the snow--they can make bulletproof ice into ideal packed powder.
You gotta have a cool hat if you wanna roll with the rich dogs.
Dylan is on his way. He hasn't lost his edge yet, since he's still wearing his bandanna. Furs and styling boots don't hurt either.
The, new and, um, improved? Lionshead square.
I think I liked the old Colorado funky better. That didn't include an ice rink with a skywalk though. It must be essential to someone's resort experience.
I could go on, but I won't. I appreciate the mountain for what it was originally made for and I guess I can suffer to share it with a bunch of wealthy people who are the ones that keep it running. It's definitely life and skiing on a scale that doesn't exist in Oregon.
That's all for the Colorado experience. Thanks to everyone who made it possible--especially my parents and sisters that put us up, put up with us, fed us, and let me drag them around at warp speed. Thanks to old-time ski buddies Pete and Tom for a few hours of great fun and remembering what good friends you are. Thanks to Kayla for showing us around her place in Denver. And thanks to Colorado!
No comments:
Post a Comment