Colorado Skiing – March 2004

It has been a while since I have written one of these so, for those of you who had hoped that you had seen the last of these travelogues, “I’m back”

Day -1

Our trips always seem to cause an unusual amount of last minute hectic preparation (assuming that preparation is even the appropriate word) on our part accompanied with comments like “we are running out of time, pack what you have - we will buy anything that we missed when we get there”. (It is mind boggling how much you can manage to forget.) The first major surprise for me was when I was about to make hotel reservations at the Hartford airport for the night before the flight. I discovered that we were leaving from Providence, RI rather than from Hartford, CT (see what happens when you let a Scot decide on the ‘cheapest’ way to get from here to there). The second surprise was from the airline (Northwest Airlines) as I went to double check our flight arrangements. We originally had a departure at 8:00 am with one plane change in St. Paul. (If you have flown recently, you know that whatever you thought you booked is no longer valid within twenty minutes of booking.) We now were leaving at 6:02 am and had two plane changes in Detroit and then St Paul to get to Denver. (There are even limits for a Scot on how much torment he will go through to get a cheap fare!) Arriving at the hotel finally about 11 pm after a long drive in pea soup fog, I asked for a 3:30 wake up call.

Day 0

Murphy is alive and well as we got TWO wake up calls, the first and unscheduled one at 2:15 am (after that there was no need for the second one which just confirmed we were already awake). We arrived at the airport and checked in and past all the security checks without incident. At 6:02 am, we discovered why that flight (and every other early morning flight) was scheduled to depart at about 6:00 am. The airport control tower opens up at 6:00 am. Since putting more than one airplane on the active runway violates the time/space continuum – as well as noise abatement rules when the aircraft hit each other – we did not depart the airport anywhere near 6:02 am. So we arrived in Detroit with 15 minutes to catch our next flight, which left on time. Since we had to run from one end of the terminal to the other, I was positive that clothing, skis and ski equipment could never make the connecting flight and would catch up to us sometime near the end of the week. We landed at St. Paul and on to Denver, where they were having rather ‘windy’ conditions. For any of you who have lived in Denver or on the front range of the Rocky Mountains, ‘windy’ is an understatement as wind gusts can exceed 80 mph. At one point in the approach, the aircraft when suddenly pitched 20 degrees down to 20 degrees up as we made a ‘hot’ approach resulting in an incredibly good landing. Amazingly, our bags made it to Denver with us! We realized how ‘windy’ it was when I saw at least four overturned 18 wheeler trucks on I70, just out of Denver. The Eastbound side of I70 was completely closed as the police and tow trucks were trying to pull the trucks on their wheels and they needed the entire road to do it. Luckily, we were going Westbound into the Rockies and the overturned trucks on our side were blown off the roadway completely so we could move on without delay. We made it over the Continental Divide in a snowstorm over the only pass into the Winter Park, Colorado area. Luckily it was not a heavy snow so there were no concerns about avalanches closing the road or sweeping us down the mountain in its path. (Yes, avalanches are a real threat…two people were buried in one nearby the week we were there. Luckily, a third person in the party was not caught in it and managed to locate, dig down and to save them in time. One was buried long enough to have stopped breathing but survived.)

Day 1

Basia had a migraine headache the first night in Colorado. Going from sea level to about 9,000 feet takes some adjustment. So, even though we had new snow, we decided to take it easy the first day and visit Steamboat Springs about a 90 minute drive away. Steamboat Springs is an obvious tourist town.

This is the ‘main’ street on a Sunday morning, with the ski area just behind.

From there, I looked for a spot to take some pictures and found this absolutely wonderful snowshoe/trail park just out of town and took a walk with my camera.

From there, we drove back to the ski area, discovered what we did not bring and went back to Winter Park for ski gloves et al.

Day 2

Basia had a migraine headache during the night. However, we decided it was time to start skiing. Two choices – ski right from the condo (on the left in the picture) or drive down in a car. Since we had not skied for over a year, I decided that it would be better to drive down as it is a rather long and hard walk uphill to the condo if we did not take the ski lift to the top of the mountain.

As you can see from the picture taken later in the week, Colorado is having spring skiing conditions. That means, icy in the morning but absolutely wonderful soft snow by noon as the temperatures reach near 60 degrees. People were skiing wearing just ski pants and tee shirts on the slopes. Some going without ski block got some rather nasty sunburns.

Ski instruction went very well as neither of us had forgotten much from the year before. We were soon carving turns down both the beginner and intermediate slopes. The ski instructor wanted me to try a couple of ‘jumps’ (yeah, right) as she wanted us to try some advanced techniques. After about three hours of intense skiing, we called it quits for the day. As we took our boots off, I discovered that either my feet or the boots needed adjusting. In my case, I had not tightened the boots enough so I had caused 5 inch long and ½ wide water blisters on the inside of my legs where the boot liners had rubbed. It was back to ‘Le Ski Lab’ in Winter Park to have my custom ski boots checked and to get large bandages and ointment. (If you ski and don’t have custom boots – it is a ‘must’ as 90% of the control of the skis is from a good ski boot fit).

Day 3

Basia had a migraine headache during the night. Think that it is due to the heat in the condo being much higher than we normally like – adjusted radiant heat floor temperatures is tricky at best. We went back on the slopes, skiing down from the condo early in the morning. Unfortunately, the 60 degree weather the day before followed by a very cold night turned the slopes into shear ice. After a few runs on the ‘baby’ slope we took the ski lift (1000 vertical drop, in the middle of the picture) to the top of the mountain. It was as if we had not taken skiing lessons. We just had one run down the slope to the condo and wondered if indeed we were ‘too old’ for this sport. After that run, Basia decided that the pain in her feet was ‘too much’ so it was again back to ‘Le Ski Lab’ where her boot liners really did need to be adjusted. There was a very hard spot that dug into the top of her foot and it had to be softened up for her even to use her boots.

I had passed by this furniture store in Tabernash on my way to and from Winter Park and each time thought it was worth a photo, so this time I actually parked by the side of the road and took it.

Day 4

Basia had a migraine headache during the night - using my Tissot T-Touch watch (it has a thermometer) to see hot the condo really is – adjusted the heat down another 10 degrees! After a rather bad skiing experience the day before, we decided to give my legs another day to heal and our courage and resolve to stiffen. So, Wednesday became a Kodak day as we traveled up to Grand Lake, about 25 miles away, and planned to go through the National Forest to Estes Park Ski area.

Grand Lake is about 4 blocks long and one block wide and other than a few shops was closed for the winter season. You can definitely see the ‘wild west’ architecture on the front the buildings, where false fronts make them appear larger than they really are.

We discovered that we could not get to Estes Park as the mountain pass road is closed for the winter due to heavy snows in the pass and will not open until sometime in May. It drove home (no pun intended) that we were solely dependent on Route 40 as being the only open road in and out of Silver Creek, Winter Park and Steamboat Springs.

Another surprise was the cost of real estate, as a modest log cabin with land cost over $600,000 (and this is in the middle of nowhere!). The Grand Lake area is definitely divided between the haves and the have nots. Some towns were built around small two or three room cottages and/or mobile homes while others were rather extravagant ‘second’ homes.

Day 5

Basia did NOT have a migraine headache, as we had the window open and the radiators turned completely off. As both of us were tired of having ‘home cooked’ breakfasts (that is I normally would boil two eggs), we decided to drive back to Grand Lake to have breakfast with the ‘locals’ at the ‘Chuck Hole’ (since 1938). Dining was an experience; so is a bad case of diarrhea. The food probably would have been tasty had it not been for the TV program, where experts were explaining to a grieving daughter the details of how the corpse of a man she thinks is her dad had decomposed in a river, in vivid detail. Yes, I discovered with a mouth full of egg omelet that bodies bloat as the contents of the stomach rot, gases ferment and how the body would eventually float to the surface of the water, as the waitress inquired if I wanted more coffee (No thanks!). Wonder if they had this on video tape and just played it for us and it did not appear to affect any of the local patrons.

We returned to condo and discovered that the main train station in Madrid had been bombed. Since we had traveled with another couple from that very train station a little over a year ago, the attack seemed much more personal.

Thanks to Ann Ryan who took this picture of the Madrid train station (I erroneously thought it not worth getting the shot and am glad that she did).

Still not ready for skiing, we decided to go to the YMCA Cross Country and Snowshoe area a few miles down the road. After getting fitted with snowshoes, we were left to our own devices, followed a rough map, and started down one of the trails in the forest about 2 pm. The terrain was somewhat flat and featureless as there were tall, thin pine trees everywhere. As we continued on and on and on I started using my Tissot T-Touch watch (it has a compass – needed some justification for this toy – it also has a barometer, stopwatch, altimeter, alarm – and it even tells the time) to track which direction we were hiking. After a while (long while) we broke out into an partially open area.

It was getting near 3 pm and we had not gotten to the ‘loop’ part where we would start heading back to our starting location. Near 3:30 we were at least heading back in the ‘right’ direction and into heavy woods again. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky and I was starting to get concerned that we would somehow be in an endless ‘loop’ until it would get dark.

Sure enough, just after this point, we got to a fork in the trail with no indication which was the ‘right’ way to go. Finally, I got some rationalized justification for my Tissot watch, with the built in compass (over engineered by the Swiss, of course) as it pointed the way out! Surviving the walk and not being eaten by wild animals (Basia’s concern), the hike was considered a success.

Day 6

Basia again did NOT have a migraine headache, as we had the window open and the radiators turned completely off. Just before it was time to get up we heard a ‘funny’ chirping sound and I got up to investigate. It was my cell phone, indicating that it has lost AC power from the recharger. Not only that, the whole complex had lost power. The condo had a gas fireplace that I would normally use to quickly warm up the place but, without electricity, it would not work. It was going to be a rather chilly morning at Silver Creek. So, we decided to drive up the road to have breakfast with the ‘locals’ at the “Remington” restaurant in Granby (about 2 miles away). This was one of the ‘have not’ communities as it looked as if two room houses and trailer parks sprung up like weeds in this town. The food was good (although Basia never did find a cup of coffee to her liking the whole time we were here) and the stainless ware and dishes and cups were all different, much as you would find in the local Salvation Army thrift store. Again a different type of dining experience but (thankfully) without having to hear how human corpses decay. When we got back to the condo, we discovered the electricity had been restored within three minutes after our departure. Watching CNN for a few moments, we listened to how the Spanish government was still trying to blame ETA for the Madrid bombing, with elections coming up the next day. I could tell then that the Spanish government would fall, as it never did have the popular support for the Iraqi war. The Spanish were polled when I was there who they thought were the greatest threats to world peace. They rated the highest threat as the Moroccans and then the Bush Administration – Iraq was much lower on the list.

Today, we went back on the slopes for the afternoon. My water blisters had healed well enough, the boots felt very comfortable and the snow was absolutely wonderful. As usual, there were no lift lines so it was basically non-stop carving down the slopes for three hours or so. We could not have ended the ski trip on a better note.

Day 7

This is the day to pack up and return to Denver. It again was another Kodak day, starting off on Rt 40 heading toward Steamboat Springs, where this was one of the many photos I took during the morning.

Snowshoeing was so much fun, that we decided to visit Boulder, where our daughter, Janet, graduated from the University of Colorado and check out the winter sports shops there. There is a beautiful road leading from I70 through the passes to Golden (where the Coors Brewery is located).

There were so many places to stop by the side of the road and get a picture and, obviously, this is where I stopped to get one.

Watching TV, I learned the Spanish government started arresting Moroccans for the bombing. This is exactly the fear that the Spanish people stated TWO years ago on terrorism. On Sunday, it was confirmed that the Spanish had rejected Bush’s war of aggression and that Spanish soldiers would be returning home. (On Monday, senior political figures in Poland and Italy also questioned the Bush reasoning (assuming reason is an appropriate trait of our President)

Curious Colorado Driving Techniques – Passing

There seems to be an unwritten law in Colorado that whenever you start to pass someone, they will accelerate and match whatever speed you are doing, until you exceed 30 mph over the stated speed limit. At that point, they will slow down to whatever speed they were doing just prior to your trying to pass. If you do this on a two lane road, they will also immediately accelerate to ‘ride’ the bumper of the car in front of them, if they are not the first car in line. Actually, the Italians were safer drivers in that respect, although some of their other driving techniques could be downright deadly to the uninitiated.