Partly Cloudy and Breezy

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Beaver Creek, Day 4

This is my fifth day of skiing in a row. My right hip was complaining last night. I'm trying to decide if it's the hide-a-bed which is lumpy and not too plush, or something I did yesterday. Not sure. Anyway, my sisters and I stretched in the morning, which seemed to help. It didn't hurt when I was skiing so that's good news.

It was warmer today but quite windy. The forecast was for 20-30 mph winds with gusts up to 50. The high in Avon was forecast to be 55. That was all true, but it was colder on the mountain and there was a persistent cloud that would not budge most of the morning. The effect of that was that the snow did not soften up until afternoon. Morning runs were a bit chippy.

Cam starts the morning the Irish way

We started the morning with a couple runs down Bachelor Gulch. The snow was pretty stiff so we went over to Arrowhead hoping it would be softer. It wasn't but a rip down Little Brave is always a gas.

Diane asked for more pictures of me so we complied

The Fawcett's in front of the Bachelor Gulch ski patrol shack

Me with my niece and nephew 

Old but not too slow

The crew had the idea of going to McCoy Park after Arrowhead. The snow was a bit better up there but the wind was blowing harder. This is a small person playground and I can't wait to get Ari up here. It's gonna be fun!

Me and my sisters in McCoy Park with the persistent clouds hovering

We had lunch at Eaton Hall at the top of the McCoy Park chair. It yielded a view I hadn't seen before at BC - Gold Dust Peak on the left and New York Peak on the right. The lodge had limited offerings, including no water fountain. I felt that later in the afternoon.

The entire crew on the deck of Eaton Hall

Quinn and Cam were having dinner at an Italian Restaurant in Vail so we headed back to Bachelor Gulch and I got some more photos. 

Catherine

Beth

Parker kicking up the rooster tail with his twin tips

Most of the crew peeled off around 1:30 but Garth and I hung around to do some more hot laps and get to our 20,000 vert target.

The Piston Bully's that keep the mountain skiable

I had to get a picture of these. They're one of the coolest set of boards I've seen. BC Patrol, Help is on the Way around the Grateful Dead skull. Sign me up for a pair of these.

Tomorrow is the traditional celebration when we get a table at the Ritz and party like rock stars with the rich folk. You can wrack up a $500 tab in the blink of an eye but we usually do on beer of whatever is on happy our and supplement with our own booze. The nerve.  I'll report on that tomorrow. Hopefully it will be warmer and less windy.