Day 21 - A Fitting Last Day

The day we had today at Winter Park was a fitting wrap-up for the the Adventure. Dan and I are winding down and were planning on taking it easy on the slopes today. We got on the lifts around 9:30 and took a few moderate runs. We felt like we needed some energy, so we stopped at about 11:00 at the bottom of Mary Jane and had lattes and chocolate - check the pic in Dan's post, below. Energized, we took an easy tree run on the far west side, then decided to go over the top to a bowl we hadn't been to yet. We did a long, windy traverse at 12,000 ft along the highest ridge at WP (highest, that is, without hiking above the lifts). The back side of the ridge was bare rock and dirt. Then we spotted a narrow, winding, white, snow path leading over the ridge across the dirt and rocks, to the trail sign shown in the slide show - Belle Fourche. We immediately realized that Adventure skiers must follow that path. We figured that it might lead to the bowl we were seeking. It was so thin in some places, we only had snow for one ski, and did I mention it was windy?. Then we came to a spruce-wooded, steep bowl that had the best snow we'd seen in two days! Dry and deep, and only a few skiers had been their since the last snow, days ago. We had a blast, connecting drop turn after drop turn flying down thru the spruce trees. It went down and down, finally, as usual, ending in a long run-out along a stream. When we popped out of the trees, I had a branch hitchhiking on my arm (see the slide show). It was the bowl we were looking for (Vasquez Cirque). So we did one more run over the same face from there. After that, we found some folding lounge chairs at Lunch Rock on the top of Mary Jane and chilled out in the sun for a while and generally took it easy for the rest of the day.

It's been a long Adventure and we're ready to head home. Dan and I thank all of the friends who joined us along the way, in Leadville and in Utah, for their valued contributions.

And in response to Dan's comment below about the GPS - It played a critical role in directing us from place to place across four big states, for monitoring our elevation, and for finding gas stations, restaurants, and, most importantly, lattes. But I agree it was pretty confused in Pocatello, Idaho.

I hope this blog will inspire Adventurers across cyberspace to act on their Adventures.

Bye.

Day 21 - It's Over

It's hard to believe that it's over. We finished with some fabulous Colorado Sunshine. It's certainly been a "Once in a Lifetime" experience that we will treasure. Thanks to all who shared in "The Adventure"! Particular thanks go to Ray and Anita for keeping Ken busy when I was dying with the flu. And thanks to Cade for helping me keep my senses about me when Ken and James were teching me to death with their duelling GPS directions and giving me grief about not carrying my cell phone on the slope. And once again a very special thanks to James for his enthusiasm and his definition of "Adventure Skiing" and for helping to make this blog as much fun as it has been.

Day 20 - Ski Winter Park CO

As Ken said in the last post, we're starting to wonder if there is such a thing as "too much skiing". Still fighting an outrageous hack left from my bout with the flu, I think I was ready to say "Yes". But after a more relaxing day in the Colorado sunshine, I'm no longer so sure. We had a typical Western Sunshine Day on the slopes today and it was just what I needed. The skiing was considerably easier than what Jackson offered us. Right now we're trying to decide whether we should venture all the way to Breckenridge tomorrow to try out all of James's recommendations or just take another easy day tomorrow and discover all of the hidden Mary Jane powder stashes that we missed today.

Once again we have more pictures than we know what to do with. None of them quite show the excitement we feel when we take them but Mother Nature sure provided us with the right lighting for today's adventure.

As our Adventure comes to an end, Ken and I are thinking about the best parts and what we might like to try on the next adventure. However we both realize we are blessed with wives who understand our need and desire to push the envelope a bit in regard to Adventure. But I miss Becky and Ken misses Cyndi. We both want to figure a way to involve you both in our next adventure. So start thinking how you want to be involved, girls! Perhaps you'd like a week of helicopter skiing in the Canadian Rockies? Think about it!

Day 19 - Back to Colorado

Today, Dan and I needed a day off, so we took a travel day and drove back to Colorado, to Winter Park. It was 463 miles and took 8-1/2 hours. Along the way we crossed the continental divide three times. We climbed thru some interesting mountain passes, but most of the way was across high, snow-covered desert. We passed the time by scouting locations for nuclear waste repositories. We found lots of good sites, most of central Wyoming would be fine.

Tomorrow, we'll ski our thirteenth resort, Winter Park. We're not sure where we'll ski Saturday, our last day.

Both Dan and I are ready to come home. We think that when we do this again, we'll only ski for two weeks. Maybe the first week we'll stay in one place and ski a few different resorts, then we'll go helicopter skiing for the second week.

Day 18 - Jackson

Ken is truly the one to talk about endless skiing. Today was his 15th day of skiing with only the 3 travel days for rest - the one to Steamboat, the one to Utah, and then the one to Wyoming. After a tough day at Jackson, today, we have decided that tomorrow will be another rest day as we move back toward Denver. Of course my schedule has been much less than Ken's since the flu kept me away from much of Utah's skiing but I've now had 3 agressive days of skiing so I guess I'm officially back in the swing of things in spite of my continued hacking at the end of every run.

After 2 days of skiing a fabulous 18 inches of "butter like" powder at
Grand Targhee, I was beginning to feel like some kind of super skier. However, Jackson did a quick job of humbling me today. Everyone keeps asking us "What's your favorite Mountain?" We are pretty quick to answer that our favorite mountain is the one that get's the best snow on the day that you're asking. However by adding qualifications, we can give meaningful answers to that question. If what one is looking for is the most interesting terrain, then I would have to say Jackson is the winner in my book. The mountain is Magnificent! The views are breath taking. The rock cliffs are awe inspiring.

Anyhow, I no longer feel like a super skier. The mountain put me in my place. It was a beautiful sunny day and the 27 inches of powder over the last 2 days made for quite the challenge. One would think we would be in extacy with all that snow, but with the sun beating down all day long, that snow becomes very much like mash potatoes and is lots of work to ski thru. I do find that talking about snow becomes difficult. Yesterday as Ken and I were riding the lift with a local, he told us that they didn't consider it to be a powder day unless there were 18 inches of new snow after the lifts closed. So what we considered to be the biggest dump of powder on our trip was not even going to qualify as a powder day. Ah to hell with the locals.

I'm hoping that Ken will still help load some pictures for this post but if not, we'll get some more in soon. James has informed me that the next 3 days should give us a fair amount of sunshine, so if our skiing is starting to let up a bit, it looks like the weather may make up for it. It's hard for me to say this, but I'm looking forward to a bit more sun and a bit less skiing.

Day 2 at Grand Targhee (Monday 26-Feb)

We woke up today to sunshine and 19" of snow in the last 2-1/2 days, so Dan and I decided to leave our helmets in the room in favor of bare heads, headbands, and suntan lotion. It was still kind of cold, so, after the first run, Dan went back to get his helmet. I stood with the headband for a while, hoping for more sun. The powder was great. Dan compared it to knee-deep talcum powder. The sound of spruce branches brushing across a headband is different from being deflected by a helmet - and Aspen branches don't make any sound when they comb thru one's hair. Also, the clouds rolled back in and out, sometimes reducing visibility to almost nothing. So by noon, I decided to go back to get my helmet and rent some demo powder skis. My 162cm Atomic Metron Beta 5s are wide enough at the ends, but have a pretty narrow side cut, so they were running a little low in the light powder. I got a pair of 172cm Solomon X-Wing powder boards. They floated higher and required less effort to ride in this snow than my Atomics. I could get used to that.

On one of the powder days Dan and I skied in VT in December, I commented to Dan that our then-upcoming western skiing could only equal, not top the skiing that day. Dan said then that we would likely see at least four days in the west that would be better. He was right. Today was probably the fifth.

Since there're no cell phone signals at the base lodge here, when the lifts closed today, Dan and I each found a comfortable spot with a view, high up on the mountain, to make a few calls. Then, a totally private last run down through the trees, and a large latte on the plaza at the base.

Dan skied the whole day today, so I think he's recovered. Glad I didn't catch it.

Tomorrow we get up early, check out of the resort here, and drive around the Grand Tetons to the other side to ski Jackson Hole. They report 10" last night and 26" in the last 72 hours. We don't have a place to stay therelined up yet. We're going to wing it. The Adventure has skied 14 days of the last 17, at 11 different resorts. Three more ski days at two more resorts to go.

As always, look at the botttom of this page for larger sized slide shows.

Day 1 at Grand Targhee (Monday 25-Feb)

We woke to 7 inches of new snow with more on the way. It snowed all day and the conditions were great. This was my 4th powder day and it was appropriate that it came here. Grand Targhee is known for considerably more snow than it's closest neighbor - Jackson Hole - on the other side of the Teton Range. Targhee is on the western side of the range while Jackson is on the eastern side so sometimes the moisture all dumps on this side and leaves Jackson wanting. However, we heard this snow fell on them also, so we hope to be skiing some of this snow when we get there on Wednesday.

I am still dealing with remnants of the flu so once again, I called it a day at about 1:00. But with no lift lines and the silence that comes with a new dumping of snow, Ken and I had a spectacular morning aquainting ourselves with the terrain that Targhee's 2 lifts had to offer. It is a rather small resort but since it is a bit out of the way, there are no crowds and it is a very relaxing resort.

The forecast predicts a sunny day tomorrow so we're looking forward to powder and visibility tomorrow. And then maybe some excitement at Jackson the next day.