Beaver Creek - Day 6 - Sunshine Daydream

March 12, 2022

Beaver Creek Resort

It warmed up a bunch today. It's also Saturday and the first day of Spring Break so we expect the crowds will be much bigger.

More action shots today.

Sharon, Quinn and Brooke on Harrier

Quinn.

Brooke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garth. 

Catherine.

 

Catherine and Parker

Catherine.

It warmed up enough to go over to the Arrowhead Base and sit in the sun. It was lovely.

 

Cam, Quinn and Baby Snooks showing off her terminator shades.

Quinn and Chelsea

Working on my Ian Anderson vibe. I just need the flute...and a ton more talent.

The gang.

 

 

 

Brooke, Parker, Garth and Catherine

Turned out to be a great day. We got our 23k of vert in again. I'm a bit worn out after six days of hard skiing, but hey, Carpe Diem! 

Overall, this week felt pretty good. I have not forgotten how to ski (not that I thought I would) and I did a reasonable job of keeping up. On the downside, I'm starting to feel my age and all the ways I've mistreated my body over the decades. My knees complain a lot more, my legs get tired, and I feel the altitude more than I ever have. It's noticeable -- walking up a flight of stairs and I can feel it. Somewhat surprisingly, it did not seem to affect me skiing as much although it's a bit humbling to not be in as good of condition as Garth and Catherine. There's ways to remedy that, but it will take a lot of work to do it in Florida. The best way is to spend lots of time at altitude. At any rate, all the stuff they say about losing muscle mass and conditioning in your 60's is proving true in my case.

What I did appreciate was to spend the week hanging out with family. I decided years ago that skiing by myself is not as much fun but was quite tolerable on a powder day. We had lots of those at Willamette and I sure appreciated them then and do moreso now that skiing has become a zoo. Having a mountain with secret stashes that would last days was pretty special.  Anyway, back to family. This is the most time I've spent with my sisters in years. It was great to reconnect with Parker and Quinn who are both lovely people and great fun to hang with. Brooke is also a kick and baby snooks is darling. The Mills are also fun loving folk who know how to party. I'll have to work on my staying up later and socializing game for next time.

Hopefully I'll be back in a couple of years! Onward and northward to Steamboat!

Beaver Creek - Day 5 - The Fab Four Freezeout

March 11, 2022

Beaver Creek Resort

Post-powder day and we wore out a big part of the crew so it was just Catherine, Garth, Beth, and I today. As Hitler says in the famous "I want to ski pow at Vail" video...any more than four in the crew is a pain in the ass. 

It got really cold last night. I'm pretty sure living in Florida can make a person soft in a big hurry and -13F is not something we get there. It did get below freezing one night in January. Fortunately the forecast was for it to get into the mid-20s by noon or so. The first few runs were a little frigid.

I took the opportunity to get some action photos.

Catherine and Garth are considering being a Little Brave (ha!).

Beth joins them.

Beth showing off her style.

Catherine looking smooth as ever.

Garth dusting what is left over from yesterday's snowfest.

And a couple of rare photos of me over in the Rose Bowl.

I.

 

II.

 

 

It was very cold, but we got our 23k of vert in. Skiing bump runs is the best way to keep warm on cold days. My Oregon gloves were not the best way to keep my hands warm, but extra handwarmers made it tolerable.

We went over to the Westin Riverfront Spa and Resort at Avon for happy hour. Brooke's sister got married there in 2019. It was pretty swanky - they had a duo that was playing some good selections. The downside is my $18 Manhattan came in a plastic cup. They claimed the dishwasher was broken. It seemed more likely that the dishwasher quit.

The view from the bar was top notch.

 

Catherine and Garth get happy (or at least as happy as Garth gets)

The siblings. Great to hang out for a week with my sisters and the madness that surrounds their lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another great day at BC. We'll get out and beat ourselves (or they'll beat me) up some more tomorrow.

Beaver Creek - Day 4 - Powder!

March 10, 2022

Beaver Creek Resort

The snow report indicated 10" overnight. No complaints here. Garth and I got ready early and struck out around 8:20 or so. We walked over to the gondola and thankfully they started loading around 8:45 - 15 minutes before scheduled. Over to the the Lower Beaver Creek express and we were on 8th chair. We got to the top right at 9 and hit the Upper Beaver Creek express with the intent of going over to President Ford's. That first run was the best of the trip and probably the best of the year. Maybe a dozen people had skied down before we did.  Second run was on Stacker - not quite as good as the first, but pretty damn good. My thighs were barely up to the task.

Garth shredding the gnarr on Stacker.

I

II

No more photos today - too much powder to track up. We went over to Birds of Prey and skied many runs over there. Harrier was particularly good because it had some fun slots through the trees. 

Lots of people out today - every snowboarder in the valley came out. No big surprise there - why live in a ski town if you can't play hookey on a powder day.

Still snowing in the village when we finished the day. My knees get much sorer these days than they did a couple years ago. And they got sore then.

The three musketeers.

Catherine and Garth in the magical snow globe.

We got back after a successful day of shredding pow. The girls were going shopping when we had a four-alarm ski catastrophe. Catherine pulled out of the garage before the door was all the way up. That was a little ironic since Garth had warned her not too pull out yesterday when I went over to Christy Sports to get some wax (which was insanely expensive).  Steve said I now had the "enhanced rocker" K2's. I couldn't get too upset because I've had those boards for something like 10 years (I'd have to check the historic postings to figure out what year I got them). At any rate I had decided that they were on the retirement plan this year. Anyway, looks like I'll be skiing the fatty's for the rest of the trip. Worse things could happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great day despite the ski catastrophe. The first few runs reminded me how much fun it is to ski pow. The first run reminded me of a day at Willamette. It also reminded me of how powder days in Colorado go - every local comes out and the mountain is ravaged within an hour or two. 

Tomorrow should be good but I don't expect any second day stashes will exist. 

 

 

 

Beaver Creek - Day 3 Birthday Party

March 9, 2022

Beaver Creek Resort

Today is Parker's 29th birthday...so, big plans. Beth kicked us off with Eggs Benedict. It didn't snow a ton last night (<1 inch) so we got on the 9:30 bus. From what I could tell we didn't miss much and I needed the rest. 

We headed straight for Arrowhead to ski Little Brave. Like yesterday it was fast and fun. The wax made all the difference so today was faster and funner.

John says "let it snow!"

Apparently Parker gets a ski shot every year with whoever happens to be there. Here's this year's shot courtesy of buddy Steve. Happy 29th Parker!

The Fawcett clan - Parker, Catherine, Quinn, and Brooke.

Parker and Quinn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old pal and all-around good guy, Steve.

The last run down Latigo was very cold. It started snowing really hard and we weren't really slowing down. Not complaints. We parted ways with Steve and walked to the bus stop. The bus was just pulling up as we arrived. Great timing! Then a trip to the rec center for a dip in the hot tub before the big party.

It's still snowing! We have high hopes for tomorrow.

Parker asked for stuffed sopapillas for dinner. I might have to double up on my statin to keep my cholesterol down.

Time to party!

The forecast is calling for 3-7" overnight. We all hope it is closer to 7" than 3". Nothing to do but wait and see.

Beaver Creek - Day 2

March 8, 2022

Beaver Creek Resort

 

Got up and the sun was shining. It snowed a few inches overnight so it promises to be a good day.

 Lots of photos on a sunny day. Garth working on his motivation game.

The crew I.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 II.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 III.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We do a lot of standing around with this crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Parker and Brooke on picture rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Site of the big marriage proposal in 2018. Apparently there was champagne and tears of joy. Now there's Chelsea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quinn skiing the trees on Sourdough Slide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catherine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Garth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Experts only.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Fawcett's in black and white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Game time at the Mills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The verdict: a nice, sunny day with some good skiing. Forecast calls for more snow tomorrow.