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.

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.

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.

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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