Training Log Archive: CleverSky

Eldora, with Nancy. Bonus day, seven runs. We realized that we had enough time before the first thing on our schedule at 3:30 PM, and since Eldora wasn't much of a detour, that we might as well give it a try, and if it was too crowded, we could either skip it or do just a run or two and then bug out. Turned out that it wasn't crowded at all (except in the beginner area), surprising for a Saturday. It had snowed some overnight and was still snowing pretty hard most of the time we were there, so we had the best conditions of the week, fresh powder, particularly in the NW part. My housemate's brother was the manager of Eldora back in the 90s, but I had never been there before today. It used to have a reputation as a dippy, useless little area, but I suspect it has expanded a bunch in the intervening 20 years. Pretty good now.

Crazy crowds and traffic in Nederland on the way out, and we had no idea what it could be all about, though I joked that maybe it was Frozen Dead Guy Days. Turned out that it was. I think Tom Plant (son of Jim and Mil) had something to do with the establishment of the festival, and I also know that JP Lande had some connection with the people who had the frozen dead guy in question (like he rented a house from one of them, or something like that).

Winter Park, with Nancy (mostly). Eight runs before lunch, of which the first five were together, and then I went over to Eagle Wind, which Nancy wisely decided to skip (but I wanted to ride all available lifts). Not as sunny as the past few days, but decently warm. A bit windy in the latter part of the day.

And five more afterwards to wrap things up.

Steamboat, with Nancy, Pete, and Lex. Eleven runs before lunch, on another bright blue sky day. None too impressed with the front of the mountain, which was overcrowded with noobs and jerks, but we spent most of our time in a back bowl which was quite nice. Warm, we all had to shed some clothing.

And two more runs afterwards. When we got to the very bottom, the snow got slushy, but it was pretty good up higher. Although this place wasn't my favorite, I do have to admit that the scenery was the best I've seen at any ski area.

Winter Park, with Nancy, Lex, and Pete. Eleven runs before lunch. The Pano lift was open, so we were able to spend the morning up there, then did a tour around to hit a bunch more lifts.

And then eight more runs. Sparkling day, with better snow conditions than had been expected. Spent quite a bit of time in the trees. Getting kind of tired by the end.

Copper Mountain, with Nancy, Lex, and Pete. Seven runs before a lunch break. A couple of inches of snow overnight, and almost no wind, made for greatly improved conditions.

And eight more in the afternoon. Pretty nice place.

Winter Park, with Pete, Lex, and Nancy. A bit of a delayed start, because when we got to the parking lot, I found that I had forgotten to put my boots in the car, and Pete had to drive me back to get them (thanks, Pete!), while Lex and Nancy got started. Six runs before a lunch break.

And then one more afterwards (reckoned by my counting of lift rides, even though there were two downhill runs in there). Not an overly long day, but okay for my first day skiing at altitude, after a very rough night. Nancy and Lex did something like eight runs while Pete and I were in the car. Conditions were not quite ideal: there was snow the previous evening, but the howling winds scoured much of it away. By afternoon, many of the lifts were closed due to the wind.

50 situps, 25 pushups, at the Bonderosa. Not feeling so hot.