12" v. 1" = Change of Plans

December 21, 2015
6:30am

The plan today was to get up at 6 and leave for Winter Park at 6:30 to meet ski buddy Tom and Cousin Craig and his son Cole.  Tom texted at 6am that he couldn't make it.  I looked at the Winter Park snow report at it said 1".  Then I looked at the Steamboat report and it said 12". What a dilemma.

I kind of knew what I wanted to do.  Dylan sealed it...why drive 2 hours to Winter Park for essentially nothing when we had a gift staring us in the face right here in Steamboat. Dylan didn't see any reason to pack our stuff up and leave either so we got ready to stay. 

I had to run down to Gondola Square to cash in my final voucher that Scott sent my way. I met Dylan by the stage and we decided to hit the Christie rather than wait in line for the Gondola.  Game plan was same as yesterday--lower mountain.  Visibility was better and everyone was heading up. 

Speaking of everyone, there were a lot more everyones out today.  That makes sense because it is Christmas week and folks from all over are showing.  I think we rode the life with people from Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, and a few other states I can't remember because there were so many of them.  Good for them--they get to enjoy skiing too.

Vertigo was not quite the private reserve it was yesterday, but it was still pretty ok.  We did a few Oops/Vertigo laps to warm up.  Oops was not great for me--lots of odd transitions and bushes that made it challeging.

We make a little kicker on the bottom of Vertigo yesterday that was still there today.  Dylan hit it repeatedly.

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There was more like 6" since yesterday.  We figured that they counted from the last 24 hours.  Nonetheless, it was a great way to wrap up a four day run.

The Thunderhead Lodge.


Tree birds outside Kayla's place in Mountain Village.

We called it about 12:30 today. We were both tired and wanted to head back before it got dark.  That kind of happened.  We got locked out of the condo so Kayla had to come rescue us. That was nice since we got to see her one more time.  We got packed up and left around 2:30.  The drive was fine until we got into the Poudre Canyon and it got dark.  It was snowing like crazy, visibility was limited, and the road was really slick.  Thus, a 3-hour drive ended up taking four.  Alas we made it back safe and sound.

It's been a good visit, but I'm looking forward to getting back to Eugene.  Willamette Pass got 14" in the last 24 hours so it sounds like Oregon skiing is on!  As nice as Steamboat is, I'll take Willamette trees over Steamboat any day. I'll head out early Thursday morning. Can't wait to see Diane and the pups!

Powder Day!

December 20, 2015
6pm The Whitemans

We headed over to the party at the Whiteman's after skiing yesterday Scott gave us a tour of the sheephearders shed in the back yard.

Paul Carter




Scott and Bella and Greta

Our gracious hosts, Scott and Colleen

The party crew

Kayla and Dylan came with.  I have to hand it to them, it's more than I probably would have done at that age.  Kayla got a cool commemorative snow globe, some vouchers, some jewelery, and the chance to pet the dogs.

Downtown looks very festive this time of year.

It was snowing pretty hard on the way home so we had high hopes for tomorrow. Forecast was for 4" to 8".

December 21, 2015
8:15am
Gondola line, Steamboat
 
 We were on the gondola at 8:35 and ready to rip.  The forecast said it snowed 6" as of 5am.  We hoped it might have dumped a bit more in the past few hours. We made the call to stay on the lower mountain and lap on Thunderhead.  We figured that everyone else went up top. 

Dylan rips Ted's Ridge.  It felt more like a foot.

We hit Concentration on lap 2.  Visibility was pretty bad and made things kind of interesting.  The upside is that nobody was there.

We went over to Vertigo on run 3.  We were kind of amazed when there were only two lines down.  Dylan found a little drop off.

That was so fun we did it again.  There were four tracks the second time--the two we saw the first run and the two we made.  And so it went for about eight laps.  We were the only ones onto the secret which was pretty sweet.  The rest of the mountain was getting ravaged we had Vertigo to ourselves.

I talked Dylan into a few shots.













We finally met up with Paul and his crew around 11:00 or so.  Looks like they were having fun too.











Dylan hops a rock.

We finally headed in at 1:30. The Thunderhead does happy hour from 1-3. Storm Peak was still living up to its name.

The view from Thunderhead.

We were pretty cashed after five hours of hitting it, so we headed down after lunch.  Dylan was down for the count.

We chilled for a while and then Kayla took us on the Moots tour. Kayla started there last summer and is enjoying the job.  Moots is a high-end bicycle manufacturer.  The shop is pretty cool--what you would expect from a metal shop.  Kind of reminded me of working in the shop at Woodward Governor when I was 15.  Every good shop needs a shop dog.  Frieda the shop dog.




We went to the gas station and did a bit of holiday shopping before dinner.

This round at Steamboat is over.  Dylan and I will head for Winter Park first thing in the morning and ski with Cousin Craig Jones and his son Cole and Tom Crewdson.  With any luck we'll see Dan Hedrick and Pete Striffler will show up.

It's been a good visit.  Steamboat is always fun and it's great to see Kayla.

Winter Solstice

Sunday, December 20
2:45pm

Today is the shortest day of the year and tonight, the longest night.  Winter officially begins tomorrow.  The forecast calls for snow for the next seven days. Hopefully a powder day tomorrow, but we had to make do with the early season conditions today.

I got up a little after 7.  Kayla and Dylan were still sleeping and were taking their time to get ready, so I hopped the bus and went and ripped a bunch of groomers before they got up.

The view from the gondola ride up.  The kids I rode up with were from Chicago and were Duck fans.  That's the Ski Inn up on the right.  We're missing the ski in/out part and the hot tub this year.  Kayla claims it wasn't worth the additional $200 a month.

The line is growing at the Storm Peak Express.

We met up with Paul Carter and his kids.  We stopped for lunch at the Thunderhead.





Dylan and Kayla under the gondola on Heavenly Daze. Conditions were great and the skiers thin at 1pm.

Paul I

Paul II

Fun on the gondola ride back.  The definition of fun on the gondola ride has changed a bit since the 70s and 80s.










Big Winterfest party down in gondola square.  The Coca-Cola bear was there.  Kayla knows everyone in Steamboat including the Coca-Cola bear's assistant.

Kayla gets in on the fun!

I went in to load my pass for tomorrow so I don't have to wait in line.  Prices are up to $149 a day.  Sky high!

Scott and Colleen are having a party this afternoon.  We'll get cleaned up and head on over.

Steamboat!/Users/bobparker/Pictures/My Pictures/2015/12 December/DSCN1156.JPG

The 2015-16 season is looking up.  Willamette Pass opened yesterday, but I'm in Colorado visiting family. Willamette has 73" on the year so far, or about 75% of the total snowfall in the 2014-15 season.

I arrived in Colorado on Wednesday evening and visited family for a couple of days.  Dad and I stopped at Coopersmiths for lunch with Catherine.

Here we are.


Dylan and I drove to Steamboat last night.  The drive was easy, even if it was a bit windy.  The Poudre canyon is nice as ever.

We got up late and rode the Green Line to the hill.

It's getting a little spendy to ski. I never thought I would see the day that people would pay $129 a day to ski.  Fortunately, I didn't.  My old friend Scott Whiteman set me up with a few vouchers. We'll visit Scott and Colleen on Sunday for a little holiday get together.

 Gondola Square.

 We hopped the gondola.  Stokage is high.  First day of the season for Kayla and me.


Kayla on Buddy's Run.

 There we are.


Steamboat is as beautiful as ever.


Dylan does what Dylan does...







 Kayla's friend Will rode with us today.

 Dylan again...

 Pretty much sums up the day...
 
Kayla.

 Kayla, Will and Dylan.

Kayla, Dylan and me.

Kayla...

Pano of the Yampa Valley.

Dylan and Will chill.

Conditions were very early season.  We went in the trees a few times and regretted it every time.  Thin coverage, lots of bushes, and crusty unconsolidated powder.  It was still a lot of fun.

Dylan broke his binding so we went shopping when we got home and he got some new ones. 

The forecast is calling for snow for the next week starting at noon tomorrow so conditions will probably improve over the next few days.  A good start to the 2015-16 season.