Colorado Trip 2018

Well it wasn’t 3 in a row. But the clouds made the morning sunrise spectacular. It was very mild at 7am, 31 degrees. Since this was going to be our last day skiing, we made an extra effort to get first chair. And we did. The only ones a head of us was the ski patrol. The lift operators leave the “Closed” sign up until they all get on. While the skiing wasn’t as good as the last 2 days, it was OK. Only a few ice patches,   where the snow had been blown off, mainly at the higher elevations. After returning back to the condo, we finished packing and got ready to go to Arapahoe Café to again say goodbye to the bartenders there. This will be the last update because we will be leaving for home bright and early tomorrow. I hope everyone enjoyed it and hope to do it again next year.

Another Blue Bird day. With the mild temps in the afternoon, only small snow piles   remain in the parking lot and driveways. We went to Keystone to try and get first chair. However, people start lining up at 8am, ½ hour before the opening. So we settled for 6 th chair. The important thing about getting there that early is that you can ski most of the trails on groomed trails. We skied for about 2 ½ hours and then returned home to continue packing. In the evening we went to the Dam Brewery to say goodbye to our friends at the Dam. Maybe it will be 3 in a row of Blue Bird days. Lets hope so.

It was a Blue Bird day. Not a cloud in the sky, no wind and the snow was surprisingly good. Keep on asking, “What Happened to the Ice”. We skied for about 3 hours and then had lunch at Union Creek. The big headline in the local newspaper was “Breckenridge weighs DNA testing of dog poop”. This comes on the heels of several complains of people not picking up after their dog. Maybe next year, this will become a law. After returning home we went to Pug Ryans to say goodbye to the bartenders. We must have been good customers because they brought us our drinks. Down to 2 more days of skiing. Lets keep the trend going.

Today was the complete opposite from yesterday, weather wise. While it was cold in the morning, under complete sunny skies, it warmed up into the mid 20s by 10am. There wasn’t any wind and this added to the good conditions. We went to Copper Mtn and to our surprise found very few people skiing today. Maybe I was wrong and Spring Break hasn’t started yet. The ticket booths closed early and the bus from the parking lot to the slopes had no one waiting. Even the little wagons that help people to move their equipment were all together and empty. Once we started skiing, we were not sure where all the people were. Having the slopes almost to ourselves, it make skiing very easy to get around the many ice patches. It was a good day skiing and we ended up at the Super Bee lift and had lunch at JJs. We hung around until 3pm and then returned home. No new snow is in the forecast until Saturday. Hope for more of the same sunny conditions tomorrow

Today seemed like the COLDEST day so far. Temps started in the single digits with winds blowing 30-40 mph. The wind chill factor was -25 degrees. It didn’t get any better in the afternoon. It was cloudy all day with temps topping off in the low teens and the winds continued. We decided to try and go to Keystone. The snow from yesterday was only a coating at the resort and covered the many patches of ice making skiing very dangerous for us. After 2 runs we called it a day and had hot chocolate at the base. We were bundled up all day when we went out. In the evening we went to the Sauce to meet some friends for dinner. I just hope it gets warmer tomorrow. Only 4 days of possible skiing for us left because we will be leaving on Saturday to travel back to NJ.

Today was the tale of 2 different weather days. In the morning, it was total sunshine with temps starting around 30 and rising into the low 40s. While it was a little windy, you could still go to mass in a light jacket and walk around the lake. Starting around 4pm, a weather front came through causing the temps to drop into the low 20s. Along with the front came wind driven snow for about 4 hours. Total accumulations were only 1-3 inches. You really couldn’t measure the snow because of the wind. During the mid day, we drove to Copper Mtn to check out the conditions. Because of the mild temps, it looked like Spring Conditions on the slopes. After Copper, we went to Frisco to try out a new restaurant – Prose which is located on Main St . It is a small German restaurant. Because of the weather, we left after having 1 drink each and a pretzel. We will try and return before we leave next week. Not sure what the 1-3 inches did for the conditions but we will see tomorrow.

At 7am, it was already 37 degrees. Not sure whether it dropped below freezing all night. It was a cloud less day with temps in the afternoon reaching 54 degrees. You could walk around with a light jacket. We did some food shopping around lunch time and then a walk by the lake. Spring break has begun and the restaurants were packed. We had to go to 2 different places before we could even get in for Happy Hour. We talked to several people who tried to ski today and they all said conditions were fair. Lots of ice patches and one couple even complained of rocks. Without any snow, the conditions will get worse mainly because of the crowds. Forecast is still holding for some snow Sunday afternoon.

It was a totally sunny day with temps in the low 50s at Glenwood Springs. We went to the Iron Head Springs which is located along side the Colorado River and is a much smaller place. The best thing about this place is that it consists of 16 small pools, which one kept at a different temperature ranging from 98 degrees to 108 degrees. After staying at the resort for 3 hours, we packed up and returned home. While temps were in the low 60s in Glenwood Springs, when we got home it was 47 in Dillon.   Saturday is suppose to be another warm day but snow is in the forecast for Sunday. We are now all rested and ready to ski again.

Glenwood Springs is about 95 miles west along rt 70. But before you get there, you have to go over Vail Pass. The Pass is at 10,600 feet and is one of the worst places when it is snowing. The snow always accumulates and doesn’t melt very quickly. However, the roadway was clear and we quickly started down to the ski towns of Vail and Beaver Creek. After the ski towns you go thru Glenwood Canyon and then to the Springs. The Glenwood Springs Resort has 2 pools. The first is a therapy pool which is kept at 104 degrees and the pool contains 1,078,000 gallons of water. The second pool is like a hot tub and is kept at 98 degrees. It is a great place to relax. We stayed at the Hotel Denver which is across the street and has a GREAT brewpub. Tomorrow we will go to another hot springs .

Got an early start and tried to get first chair at Keystone. However it looks like people are getting there earlier to get that privilege. We would up getting the 4 th chair. With all of the trails groomed, we had carpet like conditions on many of our runs. That’s the advantage of getting to the slopes early. The sun was above the mountains and it warmed things up quickly.   We did the usual 8-10 runs and by 10:30, we called it quits for the day. On our way down, I noticed the first sign for an ice flow. The area was roped off and the flow was very large. With the mild temps, I am sure there will be many more. After lunch, we got ready to go to JJ’s at Copper Mtn. to see Moe Dixon. Moe played from 3:30p to almost 6pm.   Someone in the crowd mentioned to Moe that it was my birthday and the crowd sang. It was a great day. Tomorrow we will be going to Glenwood Springs to spend the next 2 days in the sulfur hot springs.