Well, this has been quite an interesting ski season yet it hasn’t provided any great fodder for funny ski stories. Heck, most of our time was spent Looking for snow. To say that conditions at Angel Fire were abysmal only barely touches the surface………and that surface had little to no snow coverage. Angel Fire never did get any runs open on the front side except for about 3 days in March when they got what they called a 45 inch storm. Yeah and their base was 22 inches. <Penelope says to tell you …yuck, yuck> Anyway……we headed north and found plenty of snow!!!! We hit Winter Park, Copper and Monarch. All good and all different.
Winter Park is a very family oriented ski area..... tons of ski-able acres with few off camber runs. That, other than way too many people day skiing from Denver, would be my major complaint of this area. It is as if all the runs were bull dozed flat and you can’t really find any natural terrain like you can find in the 4 Aspen ski areas. Copper, on the other hand, is a cool place. If you face the mountain all the black diamonds are on your left, intermediates ski off the middle and the beginner runs are all on the right. Easy to ski and has some fun, varied terrain with long cruisers. Monarch, while not being my favorite ski area in the whole world, has just about everything to make a person happy, albeit on a small scale. You can drive to it from the ranch in about 3 hours, shop for lift ticket bargains on Ebay, 2 for 1’s at the Shell stations or get a season’s pass for $189. So if you leave the ranch at 6 am you can be skiing by 9:30…….ski all day and stay in town for what it would cast you to drive home and back. Then you can get up refreshed and ski another day before driving back to the ranch. As of this writing, The Santa Fe Trail Ranch self proclaimed ski club, is planning to switch allegiances to Monarch next year. Snow is just too iffy at Angel Fire and even if they have a good year you still can’t ski after March 10th ………too mushy and skiing mashed potatoes is not much fun. Monarch is on the continental divide and can get really cold but they generally get all the Colorado storms and have piles of fresh snow to ski on………none of that man made snow cone stuff.
Here are some photos from some of our trips:
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| The “Come Back Kid” |
Jerry Colaner shows the “Right Stuff” after a traumatic off season in Michigan. Jerry had a total hip replacement, a heart attack and cardiac bypass surgery but is back making mighty fine turns 7 months later. He deserves kudos for his zest for life and his sense of humor in the face of adversity, not to mention that he skis like a crazy man and can get Senior rates!!! The moral of the story is……….Stay out of Michigan.
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| Jerry Colaner on the moon……er skiing above the tree line at Parsenn Bowl @ Winter Park/Mary Jane side |
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| Harriet and Fred get in brace position prior to hitting the lift tower |
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| Tim Reidy working the Train Park at Monarch. For everyone else it is called the terrain park. |
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| The ever lovely Sue Downs comes HOME to ski with us after a three year layoff……looks good to me!!! |
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| Harriet, Sue Downs and MJ on the continental divide @ Monarch. |
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| MJ with Fat Tuesday Bling Bling……couldn’t they call it something else? Like beads? |
Well, I am afraid we are hanging up our skis for another season. It always makes me sad and glad at the same time. Sad that it is over and glad that I have all my parts. Hey I fell the other day, motating at a major rate of speed on Brokebutt Mountain and I did a 40 yd slide with all my gear and all I could think of is……I sure hope nothing sticks cuz it is gonna break off!!!!
Keep your tips up and always finish your turns……………… 
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