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Aspen Feb 28-Mar 3 with pics

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm back in Colorado--this time in Aspen. I was here one time before back in 2012 and that time I stayed at Snowmass. This time I decided to stay in Aspen. I'm at the Annabelle Inn, which is alright but nothing to write home about. It is very convenient to the bus transport to the different mountains and it is nice to be able to just walk downtown for dinner.
Today I skied at Snowmass. The conditions were quite nice--they had gotten some fresh snow in the past few days so everything was pretty soft, including the groomers. In the morning I had skis with a poor tune, so I struggled, but after lunch I was convinced it was not me--it was the ski and switched them out and sure enough, it was the ski. I started the day on the Nordica Wild Belle which was my favorite demo this year back in Steamboat, so when I had issues with the pair I got today I thought maybe it was just me. The skis were washing out on the soft groomers--no edge hold whatsoever and they were squarely and flapping around---and who ever heard of a ski washing out on a soft groomer--there was no ice or even hard pack to be found. The edges were sharp, but I assume the bevels were not what I am used to skiing, either that or the base was not true. Anyway, after I swapped them for a Volkl Kenja all was well and I could ski again.
The picture below was at the top of the Elk Camp lift toward the short hike up to Long Shot. You can see the hikers in the distance.
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Next we have a picture of the run Bull Run I think. It's a really wide open run that is not very steep but I found quite fun.
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I'm not sure where this photo was taken.
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It started out cloudy, then got sunny and then around 1pm it started snowing.
I skied all groomers in the morning, as I had no confidence in my original skis, but did some easy moguls in the afternoon. No pictures from the afternoon, as the visibility deteriorated.

Tomorrow I ski at Snowmass again.
 

snow cat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Great picture! Looks like it's a lot of fun and now I am inspired to go visit/ski Aspen/Snowmass.
 

Liquid Yellow

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Looks stunning!
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Day 2
Today we had a powder day. I was back skiing at Snowmass again and had booked a lesson for the morning since it was predicted we would get a fair bit of snow and I wanted some help/tips to skiing the powder, as it is not my strong point. They reported 10 inches at Snowmass and less at the other mountains (Highlands, Buttermilk, Ajax). Hard to say if that was accurate, but I'd say it was close.
My lesson was great; I liked the instructor they assigned me. She made it fun, as well as giving me a couple drills. I love lessons where you mostly just ski and they give you some drills, but the drills are not the main emphasis of the lesson. I get bored if they throw drill after drill at me and only let you ski like 3 turns before giving you something else. Anyway, it's always a roll of the dice if you don't have a specific instructor that you work with and I lucked out this time. The first couple of runs I reverted to my usual powder approach which is to be tense and fight it. But after a bit, it got easier and more relaxed so I was happy with my improvement over the course of the morning.

In the afternoon I skied off the Sam's Knob and Campground lifts. Below is a picture down the run "Slot"
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The runs off that pod of lifts were deserted. Upper Slot had a few people on it, but when I got to lower Slot, where you can turn off to another lift, there was literally nobody on it. It was a long time before anyone else came by. As much as I love uncrowded runs, it was a bit spooky how quiet it was; I found myself wondering if I had somehow passed into a closed area. If not for the tracks from people who had been through that morning to ski the fresh, I'd have been convinced the run was closed.
Below is another deserted run as taken from the Campground lift
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It snowed much of the afternoon. We'll see what happens overnight.
I haven't decided yet what mountain I'll ski tomorrow.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Nice pics as always! Hoping to have some luck with snow too when I go to Aspen/Snowmass in late March.
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yes, the timing of the snow was pretty lucky. Hopefully all of March will be good since it was relatively dry before.
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Day 3
Another powder day, though a bit less. About 6-8 inches. I went to Snowmass in the morning and got on the Village Express when it opened at 8:30am, which allowed me to get first tracks down some of the runs. I then made it over to the Big Burn lift for the 9am open and got more fresh over in that area.
Below is a picture taken on the way to Big Burn lift I think
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Next I rode up the Sheer Bliss lift. There was a full white out up at times as the wind was blowing fierce.
Below is a picture, not of the full white out, but of just the wind blown conditions near the top.
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After my experience off that lift I decided to stay a bit lower where the wind wasn't so bad.
I still had some issues with the powder; I could feel myself getting nervous and sitting back too much, but at least I was able to get into a rhythm and make some more predictable turns as opposed to making random turns.

I left Snowmass about noon and went over to Buttermilk. I'd never skied Buttermilk before. I liked what I saw of it. It was very uncrowded and has a more casual, local area vibe as opposed to resort vibe. It is know for it's terrain parks and for more mellow beginner terrain. Actually, in my lesson yesterday the instructor mentioned that Buttermilk can be a good option on a powder day since it won't get tracked out as fast.
There was still some untracked when I was there, but the temperature was fairly high in the afternoon so everything got very heavy. Anything that was not groomed at that point I found rather unpleasant to ski--the snow was just too wet/heavy.
The photo below is of an ungroomed run I did (poorly). The snow looks nice in the photo, but it was sticky!
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After that run, I did a few runs through one of the small feature terrain parks. That was fun. Buttermilk would be a great place to take a beginner park lesson I think.

I was supposed to be flying home tomorrow afternoon, so I was planning to ski in the morning before my flight, but it turns out due to weather that is predicted to affect operations in CO and various other places over the next couple days, I was able to change my flight to Wed instead. I'm hoping the flight on Wed will go, as UAL just sent another text saying ops could be affected through Wed, so we will see if I get out on Wed! If not, I'll rebook again!

Still haven't decided where I will ski tomorrow. Originally was planning to ski the morning at Ajax, but now that I have a full day, I may change my mind.
 

NewEnglandSkier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Day 4
Another morning at Snowmass. They had about 8 inches of fresh, so I focused on getting into the fresh snow for more powder practice.
IMGP0458%20copy_zpsig7meemp.jpg

After spending the morning at Snowmass, I went over to Ajax for the afternoon. Last trip to the area, Ajax was my second favorite behind Snowmass and I think it still is. They have some fun groomers and a bunch of mogul runs too that are not that steep. The snow up top was really nice, but skiing down at the end of the day at the bottom it was pretty icy.
Below is a view from Ajax down to the town below
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It was too bad that I didn't get over to Aspen Highlands this trip, but I just didn't have time. I tended to focus on Snowmass since it was my favorite and I found it beneficial to get ton know just one area a bit better. If you've never been to Aspen before though, I think it is helpful to try all the areas to find the one that suits you best.
Other random thoughts: 1. I used a Mountain Collective pass and it was really easy to redeem it and set up direct to lift charge for the extra days beyond the ones that are included.
2. I'd suggest bringing cat tracks for your boots even if you don't normally use them (I don't). I brought mine, as I find there to be a lot of walking. In a perfect world I would just wear my shoes and carry my boots, but I found it to a pain to carry skis, poles and boots (I didn't want to use my boot backpack--too bulky to bring on the bus for my taste), so I wore my boots to whatever area I was going that day. You have to walk to the bus stop and then walk into the ski area from the stop, so I find it to be a lot more walking in boots than I normally do. In fact I noticed more people using them here than in most of the other places I've been.
3. Annabelle Inn is a reasonably priced lodging choice, but I had some issues so that while I would consider staying there again, it would not be a slam dunk. Suffice to say that things in the room didn't work (heat in the first room I had before they moved me, electric outlet and hairdryer). While it is one of the cheaper options in town, it is not "cheap", so for the price paid, I expect things in the rooms to work. On the plus side, it is in a convenient location, so it does have that going for it.

Too bad the trip had to end, but at least I got an extra half day of skiing in due to the flight change.
My next western trip will be Alta in early April, so stay tuned for that report!
 

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