Copper Cat

This past weekend was a workout.  I hiked the incline with my roommate Mark and skied some semi-back country mountains with a friend Rachel.  This was the last weekend for Copper bowl being open and the cat running to Tucker Mountain.  There was a 4-6 fresh inches of snow on top of slopes that are not skied often due to the hike.  To get there, you need to take 2 lifts, ski a black diamond, take a cat ride, and then hike (in your ski boots carrying your skis) about 30 minutes.  We did the cat ride and hike three times and I think my arms and shoulder were feeling it more than my legs.  However, the runs were worth it.  Fremont Glade 4/5, The Taco, and Fremont Glade 1 all were a blast.  My favorite was Fremont Glade 4/5 because I was the one of only two people to go down that run (I mapped my run in picture below).  The last time hiking had strong winds and blowing snow reducing the visibility to a few meters.  This is probably the closest I will come to back country skiing as I have much more respect for people who climb tall peaks carrying the weight of skis (and thankfully did not need any avalanche equipment).  Enough words, here are the views.

Incline

Copper

Skiing Steamboat Springs

Leaving at an early 5am Tony, TB, and I set off on a weekend adventure to Steamboat Springs.  Winding roads with little traffic and beautiful views lined the horizon as we continued North through Rabbit Ear pass.  We missed an amazing day of powder the previous day.  However, the snow was decent enough to ski Christmas Tree Bowl, a double black steep tree run - the run I noticed my season ski pass was missing.  After a long day of skiing we hung out with some friends at a coffee shop and headed to Beau Jo's to eat a delicious mountain pizza pie for dinner.

Sleep, a good nights rest.

Unfortunately Sunday the slopes were a bit icy and hard.  No new snow and the snow coming was waiting until late in the evening, long after we needed to leave.  Still we skied what we could and called it an early day.

Here's to a weekend of skiing and goggle tans:

Snowstorms and Fog

The past couple of weekends I have been able to go skiing at Monarch during the snow storm, Winter Park after the snow storm, and Copper during another on/off snowstorm.

For the trip to Monarch, leaving Colorado Springs there was an dense layer of fog over the city the entire day and upon returning the view was astounding.  I also discovered that the Donut Mill has the LARGEST cinnamon rolls I have ever seen.  Here's some pictures with Tony, Katie, and Couloir of the great snow and complete whiteout on the ridges.  Favorite run of the day: AJAX, but there was some great snow on Short'n'Sweet as well.

I had another opportunity to ski at Winter Park with Jeff and Brandon and was able to ski a bunch of new Mary Jane runs I had not yet explored.  The day concluded with Hacienda Colorado.  Favorite run of the day: Outhouse, a bit of powder and trees at top with decent run of moguls.

After taking a weekend to relax, I got up extra early (4am) on a Saturday to beat the rush (and the off/on snowstorm) to ski Copper.  I skied most of the mountain I had not yet been to, in particular Resolution and Spaulding bowls.  Still waiting for the chance to ski the Nacho with the free CAT ride, but we'll see if that happens.  Halfway through the day I ran into Nathan and Rachel and skied Copper bowl.  Favorite run of the day: Six Shooter (Copper bowl), however the couple runs in Spaulding bowl where some fun steeps.

Throw in some movie nights with friends, a new bike, and getting a bed it has been some busy weeks.  This coming weekend is Steamboat and I'm hoping for some continued great snow!  Here's to watching big toys...