we celebrated with a mexican dinner big enough for 4 :)
After staying at Eagle which was a bit less insanely overpriced than closer to the ski slopes (which was over $500/night), Arturo suggested spending the first day at Vail (friday) to avoid the crowds. It worked out well:
[html:h2}Day4: Vail[html:/h2}
Unfortunately I managed to slip on the ice and fall on my flow finding, which shattered it. It was broken beyond repair, but I was able to use my snowboard leach to fasten the backplate to my boot and the front part of the binding, which miraculously allowed me to board all day in difficult conditions. The only downside was that I had to stay strapped on to the board all day, which I sure did. Normally it's no big deal, but the wind chill was so cold that it was tough:
anyway, we went for work (oh yeah, the gopros didn't work, way too cold)
we eventually got to the back bowls, they opened late
thanks to Arturo for finding snow that wasn't icy
It took more snow and finding the right back bowls to get bottomless powder eventually. Arturo did a good job finding that, although the conditions were rough, low vis and really cold winds. After a while, the back bowls started closing and it was time to get back. Getting back to the front side at the end of the day, requires long lines:
We had some good tree runs though:
After that, we found a ski patrol sign to get out via a less congested route:
[html:h2}Day5: Beaver Creek[html:/h2}
Next day was Beaver Creek, not really any new snow, but great leftovers:
wonderful corderoy :)
After doing the corderoy, Arturo and I found heaps of wonderful trees with fresh pow:
Doing the trees was a *lot* of work, so we had a good lunch:
Pretty homerun:
We then relocated from Eagle to Karl and Suwei's condo at Keystone:
night skiing :)
[html:h2}Day6: BreckenRidge[html:/h2}
The next morning, we went to Breckenridge with Karl and Suwei. It was a bit icy by then unfortunately:
longer line to the t-chair
we got some more fresh snow
dinner
[html:h2}Day7: Keystone[html:/h2}
The 7th and last day, I went to Keystone. By then unfortunately most of the snow was poor quality outside of groomers, where I don't spend much time, but I went around to see the resort again:
happy dog
I went to the outback, which I forgot is actually kind of small. You can hike quite a while, but the way down is actaully not that long. Still, it's fun:
I did a few runs and eventually decided to head back:
I tried the trees down Santiago and some of the snow was actually pretty bad
By then, at the bottom of the chair, a liftie thought I somehow crossed a rope and went poaching what was really terrible snow. After he realized that there must have been some ropes missing and let it be. I was leaving by then anyway. Given the so-so snow I tried to leave earlier to catch an earlier flight home, but that didn't work:
The last 2 days were not the best snow, especially the last one, but overall this was a really good trip. Thanks to Arturo for having me.