Skiing

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Skiing

Home | Personal | Outdoors | Travels | Blog | Work | Weather | Site Map

 

How do you define bliss? 

Well, I suppose there are many ways, but here is one way:

    Carving turns on fresh powder down an endless slope past stately evergreens under a azure blue sky with not a soul in sight just you and nature bonded by the tie of gravity which occasionally lets go for a brief moment as you take flight . . . 

Okay, maybe skiing doesn't always live up to this ideal, but I still enjoy it.  Perhaps other people might define skiing in the following way:

    Large rocks and enormous trees rushing at me at lethal speeds as I careen out of control down the bump-filled icy slope which seems near vertical at times oh oh I am going to die . . .

Needless to say, I really enjoy skiing and will post some of my skiing adventures to this page. 

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Skiing Trip Reports

    I don't intend to analyze each day of skiing that I do, but occasionally I'll make maps and record my speeds on my GPS. If I go with a new group or go to a new resort, I may post some pictures and stats.

A green link indicates that the race report is complete. A yellow link indicates that the report has some limited information, but has not been completed. A red link indicates that the link is just to a stub page.

Date Resort or location Selected Picture Description
February 25-27, 2006 Steamboat Ski Area, CO   A three day weekend at the Storm Peak Lab, atop Mount Werner, for a Cloud Microphysics (AT 724) class field project
February 2005 Copper Mountain Ski Area, CO Skiing with the AT 707 Class - it snowed all day long and we amused ourselves with talk of vortices and waves on the lifts
December 7-10, 2007 Crested Butte Ski Area, CO Free skiing with friends, snowshoeing, and other assorted activities
March 23, 2009 Telluride Ski Area, CO This photo gallery includes photos and a few short movie clips of skiing at spectacular Telluride. Skiers include Jonathan Vigh and Michael Campbell. Posted July 10, 2009.  
       
       
       
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Here are some links and statistics for the resorts I have skied at (highlighted in green), and those of some I hope to ski in the future.

(this section last updated Oct 14, 2007 - fixed many broken links, organized resorts by state/region)

Resort Nearest Town Trail Map Skiable Acres Trails Lifts Base (ft) Lift-served Top (ft) In Bounds Top (ft) Lift-served Vertical (ft) Average Annual Snowfall (in) Longest Run (mi)
Eastern U.S.                      
Massanutten McGeyhesville, VA Map 70 14 5 1770 2880 same 1100 56 0.77
Holiday Valley Ellicottville, NY Map 266 52 12 1500 2250 same 750 180 0.80
Winterplace Flat Top, WV Map 90+ 27 9 2997 3600 same 603 1.25
Snowshoe Snowshoe, WV Map 234 57 14 3348 4848 same 1500 180 2.0
Gore Mountain North Creek, NY Map 300+ 65 10 1500 3600 same 2100 150 2.9
Tussey Mountain Boalsburg, PA Map 8 4
Whiteface Lake Placid, NY Map 211 72 11 1220 4386 4867 3166
California                      
Heavenly South Lake Tahoe Maps 4800 95 30 6540, 7200 10,067 same 3500 380 5.5
Squaw Valley Tahoe City, CA Map 4000 ? 35 6200 ~8700 9050 2500? 450 ?
Colorado                      
Arapahoe Basin Dillon, CO Map 900 105 7 10,780 12,454 13,050 1674 367 1.5
Aspen Mountain Aspen, CO Maps 673 76 8 7945 11,212 same 3267 300 3.0
Aspen Highlands
Beaver Creek Avon, CO Maps 1805 148 17 7400, 8100 11,440 same 4040 310 2.75
Breckenridge Breckinridge, CO Map 2358 155 29 9600, 9940 12,840 12,998 3240 300 3.5+
Buttermilk
Copper Mountain Frisco, CO Maps 2433 125 22 9712 12,313 same 2601 280 3.0
Crested Butte Crested Butte, CO Maps 1167 121 14 9375 12,150 12,162 2775 300 2.6
Echo Mountain
Eldora
Howelson Hill
Keystone Dillon, CO Map 3148 121 20 9300 11,640 12,614 2340 230 3.0
Loveland Dillon, CO Maps 1365 11 10,600 12,700 13,010 2100 400 2.0
Monarch
Purgatory Durango, CO Map 1200 85 10 8793 10,822 same 2029 260
Silverton Mountain Silverton, CO Map 1 10,400 12,300 13,300 1900 400
Ski Cooper
Snowmass Snowmass, CO Maps 3152 91 21 8104 12,510 same 4406 300 5.3
Sol Vista Basin
Steamboat Steamboat Springs, CO Map 2965 165 19 6900 10,384 10,568 3484 331 3.2
Sunlight
Telluride Telluride, CO Map 1700 92 17 8725 12,255 12,667 3530 309 4.6
Vail Vail, CO Maps 5289 193 33 8120 11,570 same 3450 346 3.0
Winter Park Winter Park, CO Map 3060 143 25 9000 12,060 same 3060 365 5.1
Wolf Creek
Wyoming                      
Grand Targhee Alta, WY Map 2000 5 8000 10,000 same 2395 500
Jackson Hole Jackson Hole, WY Maps 2500 11 6311 10,450 same 4139 402
Utah                      
Alta
Brighton
Snowbird
Solitude
The Canyons
Alberta                      
Sunshine Village Banff, AB Maps 3358 107 12 5400, 7082 8860 8954 3460 396 4.9
Lake Louise Lake Louise, AB Maps 4200 139 9 5400 8650 8902 3250 168 5.0
British Columbia                      
Kicking Horse Golden, BC Map 2760 97 5 3902 8033 same 4133 275 10.0
Whistler/Blackcomb Whistler, BC Maps 7071 200+ 33 2214, 2140 7494, 7160 same 5280,5020 360 7.0, 7.0
Mt Bachelor Bend, OR Maps 3683 71 12 6300 9065 same 3365 350 1.75
Mont-Tremblant Tremblant, QE Maps 4200 94 12 755 2871 same 2116 150 3.75
Big Sky Big Sky, MT Maps 3600 150 14 6800, 7500 11,150 11,166 4350 (3600) 400+ 6.0
France                      
Chamonix Chamonix, France Map,

Valley Map

Don't see a resort here?  Check out SkiMaps.com or RSN.com. Interested in skiing in Europe?  Try ski-europe.com.

Need ski area specific forecasts?  Try www.snowforecast.com.

Need some deals, sign up for the free Colorado Gems card from Colorado Ski Country. Check out their Snow Report.

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    Since I live in Fort Collins, CO, I've compiled a short list of the distance from Fort Collins to the local ski resorts. Mileages and travel times are calculated using Rand McNally Trip Maker software. The travel time estimates assume good weather, no traffic, and that you average 65 mph on Interstates, 55 mph on U.S. Highways, and 45 mph on State Highways. Since it is often not possible to average these speeds on a ski Sunday, these probably represent about the best possible travel times. In bad weather, it could be twice as slow. A few times it has taken me more than 5 hours to get from Vail back to Fort Collins.  

70 miles      1h 23m    Eldora

126 miles    2h 7m      Winter Park (via I-70)

122 miles    1h 58m    Loveland Pass (estimated)

127 miles    2h 7m      Arapahoe Basin (estimated)

132 miles    2h 13m    Keystone (via Loveland Pass)

134 miles    2h 14m    Keystone (via Eisenhower Tunnel and Dillon)

141 miles    2h 20m    Breckenridge

140 miles    2h 16m    Copper Mountain

158 miles    2h 40m    Ski Cooper

159 miles    3h 21m    Steamboat (via CO-14 and Cameron Pass)

161 miles    2h 36m    Vail

170 miles    2h 46m    Beaver Creek

216 miles    3h 49m    Monarch

217 miles    3h 51m    Steamboat (via I-70)

216 miles    4h 16m    Steamboat (via Laramie, WY)

259 miles    4h 24m    Snowmass

265 miles    4h 32m    Aspen Mountain

260 miles    4h 23m    Aspen Highlands

293 miles    5h 21m    Crested Butte

318 miles    6h 17m    Taos Ski Valley, NM

351 miles    6h 1m      Wolf Creek Pass

429 miles    7h 7m      Silverton

433 miles    7h 20m    Telluride 

490 miles    8h 10m    Jackson Hole, WY

491 miles    7h 43m    Alta Mountain, UT

691 miles    11h 0m    Big Sky of Montana, MT

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