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 Christy goes full steam ahead into the first new snow of 2010 and a new decade, via G-6. Click to enlarge. Hopefully January 2nd isn’t too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year. As our first day out together in 2010, Christy and I found things to be pretty good over at Highlands. We’re psyched for 2010 and all that it could bring. The race calendar is filling up, the 14er skiing season is right around the corner, a ski expedition to Greenland read more>>>  Recession? Things seem pretty good here in the G-zones. If you haven’t been there yet, Highlands Bowl is skiing great. Joel Gratz from the Colorado Powder Forecast was here to catch the first rope drop on Monday afternoon. He was psyched to get it with a load of new snow from the weekend storm (which he had accurately predicted), and put together a report here. The second rope dropped, on the Northwoods, Tuesday morning. Troy Selby and I hooked up for a couple of runs and found it to be about as good as it gets in there. I’ve always thought that if there’s a positive spin to be put on the prospect of slow economic times this winter, it might be that less work might get you more days on the hill– something we long for those seasons we feel we’re working TOO much. read more>>>  The boss smiles-- things are looking good. AHSP are always thanking everyone for coming to these events while we're all thanking them for having us. Saturday might be the official opening of Aspen Highlands but a lucky group of us got a sneak peek yesterday. It looks good. How did we get the preview? Well, the Aspen Highlands Ski Patrol have a somewhat novel approach to manage terrain that can pose significant challenges to keep safe and open to the public. With the arrival of the first snows in late fall, they exhaustively ‘boot pack’ or walk up and down over this early season snow layer. By boot packing the snow into a more solid base, skiers and boarders have a better foundation to ride on but more importantly– that layer of snow, which when buried later in the season can pose a significant avalanche hazard (as it does in the backcountry), gets all broken up. Because there is so much terrain at Highlands that benefits from packing, way more than the patrol staff could handle themselves, sometime around November 1st a call goes out to recruit potential boot packers, whose efforts earn them ski passes or credit towards one. And how much do you need to do? Fifteen days of service will get you a full season pass. For more info, check out the website and its photogallery, at bootpacker.com. For the less masochistic, or those who get a ski pass by other means, read more>>>  "Man, it was reeaallly good up there." - author unknown (could be any number of people) The ski season has definitely arrived. Technically, that may not be news, but a recent exchange with a friend reinforced the fact that it was really here. While the conversation– which occurs regularly throughout the winter months– can vary in its specifics, the basic gist is always the same. It goes something like this: Friend #1 “Did you get to out there today?” (there can be a ski area, a part of an area, a specific run, Highlands Bowl etc.) Friend #2 “No, I couldn’t. I had to [give reason]” (reasons can vary from work, family commitments, court appearance etc.) Friend #1 ” Dude, it was [really good/epic/sick! etc.] Might have been the best day ever up there, it [enter why]” (it was knee deep, waist deep, untracked, just opened etc.) read more>>>  The final turns of Saturday's World Cup Giant Slalom Another fun opening weekend has come and gone, and with that, another World Cup Event. The giant slalom and slalom races, the only U.S. stops on the Women’s World Cup circuit, were on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Crowds of spectators watched from the finish area and grandstand, no doubt contributed in part to the sunny weather and somewhat uninspiring ski options available to the public on the rest of the mountain. On that note, we could use some snow. If you were around, hopefully you found some time to break from the repeat laps of Dipsy Doodle and Pump House to check out the girls charge down the icy course. Apart from the fact that the American women didn’t fare too well, it was impressive. Here are some pics from Saturday’s giant slalom you might have missed while getting your epic laps on Silver Bell. Click to enlarge:  Blue skies and powder- no complaints from Pete Anzalone. There’s snow up high, yet the mountain doesn’t open until Thanksgiving and because we don’t like waiting– sometimes we’re downright impatient– four of us decided to go get a sneak peek. Neal Beidleman, Pete Anzalone, Christy and I made up the eager foursome and found things to be pretty good if not downright awesome by pre-opening day standards. One run in particular might be worth a second visit though I won’t divulge exactly where. It should be obvious. Check out the pics. read more>>> |
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