We just finished the best season ever at Angel Fire. They had record snowfall and were 100% open in early January and stayed that way for the first time in many years. I can’t remember ever having a truly bad day this season due to conditions, as was common in years past (see grassy knoll). For most of December, January and February we had the place to ourselves during the week. March brought hoards of Texans but still it wasn’t too darn bad as the snow held up under the crowds and came with blessed regularity. But now as the end of March draws near and Angel Fire becomes mashed potatoes, my thoughts turn to ……MORE SKIING!!! But where? Ah, for me there is always the lure of Aspen and Snowmass. With an additional 2000 feet in elevation and cooler temps, I hoped that the snow would hold. Well, it not only held but we wallowed in 4 inches of fresh, light “pow” the first day and 8 inches the second!!! On the 3rd day, we skied in a white out with snow up to our knees in spots. I almost felt like I was in a Warren Miller movie……ahem, I said “almost.”
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| Mount Sopris after a foot of fresh snow |
On our first day we headed for Snowmass. At 3100 skiable acres, Snowmass continues to amaze me with its size and diversity. And it is only one of four ski areas within 10 miles of Aspen and the lift tickets are interchangeable. You can find any kind of terrain you want there…….steeps, bumps, whoop-de-doos and cruisers. The conditions were terrific.
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| Fred, MJ & Harriet at the top of Elk Camp at Snowmass. The Elk Mountain Range in the background does make concentrating on skiing difficult |
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| L-R….the infamous “Syd,” Fred, Harriet & Mike |
Syd Devine, a resident of Aspen, is an old friend from back in the Iowa Ski Club days. As we out grew the ski club and continued to be lured by our love of Aspen skiing, Syd always had time to ski with us and basically taught our entire family to ski. We all look like “mini-Syds.” It was great to ski with him again!!! And, because of his love for the sport, incredible ablity and his intuitive way of teaching skiing, he gave us all many helpful tips on how to ski in powder and crud. Of course he was impressed with Fred as a relative newcomer to skiing and took special interest in furthering his skiing experience.
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| Syd holds court. “Come…ski like champions!” Syd, presiding over the group, decides that it is time for Fred to ski a real black diamond…Tiehack Trail |
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| Harriet doing the “airplane.” Can you beat this? No crowds, fresh snow and blue skies. |
I want to introduce you to a new method of skiing that we “fell” into here at Aspen…….Segment Skiing. You see, since the runs are so long and more difficult than we are accustomed to, you can only ski them in segments especially when they are full of deep powder or crud. A segment could be 500 yards or 20 ft and is always dictated by the difficulty of the terrain and the relative degree of fatigue registered by the skiers. These segments can and should be scored.
| “A” | If you’re stylin’ and complete the ski segment screaming like Howard Dean. |
| “B” | If you get it done but it’s not pretty |
| “C” | A “C” is awarded if you finish the segment and no one laughs yet you are still able to stand. |
| “D” | A “D” is bad. That means you crossed your tips, skied over your poles, did a 180 or were heard talking to yourself and it sounded like, “You dumb-@^#t, yikes, ouch, geez. |
| “F” | “F” is for FALL!!! You also get an “F” if an Aspen Ski instructor asks you if you ever skied before. |
A miraculous “save,” complete with flailing, hoots and ski pole assist, allows you get to get extra credit added to your score or negates a previously received “F.” You are automatically disqualified if you use your ski poles as brakes at any time, for any reason.
If you hit a squirrel (another foot and I would have rendered it hill-kill) or you have a garage sale to miss a gray fox (as Syd did) you receive the humanitarian award.
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| We survived the “Wall of Death”… a very short segment |
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| Fred, MJ, Syd & Harriet with the town of Aspen in the background |
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| It is good to ski with friends |
Time has come to hang up our skis for the year and feel blessed that we survived another season and no one needs surgery. And that’s a good thing.
Just a few random closing thoughts: Fred shoulda got the ticket (ask him), Harriet eats snow when she says she is going to get a drink, Mike entertains himself by skiing up the sides of catwalks, Jerry’s Cadillac surgery didn’t help and Roberta sometimes screams. And did you hear about Steve & Sheryl Smith? I overheard a liftee talking to them saying, “Wow, man, Time Travelers!!! Welcome to the future. Did you know that Sting is no longer with the Police? Led Zeppelin broke up?” He was looking at the relics on their feet.
And that’s it from Aspen and the Ski Season of 2005!!! We’ll talk on the lift next year and thanks for stopping by………
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