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Ski Trippin'

You mean we have to ski on that?!
By Tom Crockett
Posted: 2018-02-26T17:10:00Z
On our website, we note that “As a PSC member, you'll find more opportunities to practice on varied terrain in all types of conditions.”  This was really brought home to me on the club's recent trip to Snowmass.  It has been a dry winter in Colorado, so when we arrived in early January, only about a third of the terrain was open and much of that was thin cover.  My first morning was largely devoted  to dodging rocks, little trees, clumps of grass, and occasional bare spots on ungroomed blue trails that were covered with just enough fresh powder to hide many of the obstacles—a real minefield that required split-second decisions and quick turns, and a much harder workout than I had intended for my first day at altitude.

On the second day several of us headed over to Buttermilk where we found some beautifully groomed blues in the snowmaking realm on the lower half of the mountain—a cruiser’s delight, and a welcome change of pace.

Top of the Loge Peak lift at Aspen HighlandsThe third day, several of us hopped the shuttle bus to Aspen Highlands where the snow was rumored to be better (mostly accurate).  True to its reputation, Highlands is a challenging mountain.  We took the “intermediate” mountain tour, and after a couple of mid-mountain runs, our host took us to the topmost lift and led us down a long bumpy trail which she insisted was a blue, but which would have been a black nearly anywhere else.  We followed that with a fast run down the nicely groomed hill that Lindsey Vonn had been training on the week before, but that slope dumped us onto another bumpy section that we had to negotiate to reach the lodge.  We managed one more run after lunch before our legs refused to participate any more.

After a couple of warm afternoons, my wife and I headed back to Buttermilk on Wednesday morning, thinking the snow would be better than at Snowmass, only to discover that the top half of the mountain was covered (if at all) by an icy concoction of frozen mud and gravel, taunting us to stay upright while trying to save our skis.  One run and done!

Mercifully the latter part of the week was a little snowier with a bit more terrain open and more opportunities to ski conventionally, but over the course of the week, this trip provided a huge range of conditions. These challenges are gradually making me a better and more confident skier (although some observers may dispute the "better" part) and I’m tackling things I probably never would have attempted had I not joined the Peninsula Ski Club. So thanks to all of my PSC buddies for helping me expand my skiing horizons. Or, put another way, you can get into a lot more trouble skiing with friends than you would ever get into by yourself!

On Thursday afternoon, I dropped my banged-up skis off at Aspen Sports and got them back the next morning in like-new condition, so no harm done.  Except for a couple more gouges on Friday...
Snowmass
Tagged as Snowmass

 

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