Ski Pilgrimage 2009 - 2/12-2/16

[Shannon D]

Day 1: Wolf Creek

Brett and I left Denver Wednesday night for a relatively quick drive to South Fork, CO. The highlight of our 5 hour drive is that after 7 months of owning our Sirius, we learned how to dim the display so that your eyes don't cross in the dark.

I have lived in Colorado my entire life, but had never made the trip to Wolf Creek. Brett had never been either, so we were both really excited to start our ski trip here.

We were the only guests at the Wolf Creek Lodge in South Fork

We enjoyed our little motel, complete with continental breakfast in front of a crackling fire.

Our ski area for the day - Wolf Creek

Our tools for the day. I hate those Hellbents, but Brett loves them.

Powder in the Waterfall Area

Still finding powder at 1:30

The first installment of the obligitory daily self portraits. Note the ear to ear grins. We had an amazing powder day.

We left Wolf Creek and headed out for Silverton. Tomorrow is the big day and there is lots of excitement in this Triangle Motel hotel room.

 

[ski now work later]

Great photos! Looking forward to the next installment. Have fun tomorrow.

 

[Lori_K]

Nice pictures! Wolf is one of our favorites, and it looks like you caught them on a great powder day. Enjoy the snow!

 

[BKH319]

Awesome pics, looks like you had a great day!

 

[Swamp Dog]

great pictures, thanks!

 

[RachelV]

Ooooooh, Silverton! Can't wait to hear about it. I was talking to a guy who skied there the other day and he said it was amazing.

Great pics from Wolf Creek, too.

 

[Shannon D]

Day 2 - Silverton

Before I talk about our day, I just want to say thank you to all of the Divas who weighed in on the down sweater vs. private guide decision. Choosing the private guide was the best choice I ever made!!!!

We woke up to a beautiful Friday the 13th. The clouds cleared and we had a bluebird sky. We knew it would be a perfect day. Then things got even better when we realized that our private guide for the day is the manager of the Triangle Motel, our favorite place to stay in town. This day was going to be EPIC. I hope you don't mind that I've included lots of pics. We took over 300 for the day and these are the best.

The day at Silverton always starts with the morning check-in in the lodge. You don't want to take your gloves off for too long, it's cold and you can see your breath.

Then everyone queues up to be separated into groups for the day.

Looking back down at the lodge from the lift.

The sun rising over a ridge on the liftline.

Our first look at the hiking ridge. We were celebrating the blue skies at that moment.

On the hike. You can see groups heading for the Billboard ahead of us.

Skiing down Rope Dee #3 - Run 1. The hike was SO worth it.

Brett Kai in the Whiteroom

A look back up at the lower face of Run #1

Me skiing Colorado on Run #2

Ummm...excuse me, did you just tell me to ski over this bridge?

Obligitory Self Portrait of the Day - Complete with powder grins.

This year, they started doing heli skiing at Silverton this year. Brett Kai wants to do heli drops next year.

Continued...

 

[Shannon D]

Day 2 - Silverton continued

Run #3 - Cabin Bowl. No action shots from this one, but I took a classic tumble and was thrilled to discover that I didn't lose either of my skis.

Emo senic shots from the lift

From Hollywood Rock on the hike for Run #4. You can see the unload area for the lift, the "warming hut", the heli pad and the San Juan Mountains beyond.

Gettin' it in Tiger - Run #4

In the shuttle back to the base. "A 5th run, sure why not."

Brett Kai gettin some in the Cabin Bowl

And takin some drops

Brett and Rob hit last chair for a 6th run that I opted out of. Everybody got exactly what they were looking for.

A well deserved beer with Rob, the best guide ever.

We had such an amazing day. The high we were on driving down from the mountain is indescribable. This year was a redemption mission for me after a less than stellar performance last year, and I feel like I owned it.

A well deserved day off for us today. A visit to the hot springs in Ouray is on the menu as we make our way to Crested Butte for the finale of our trip. Happy Valentine's Day!!

 

[pinto]

!!!!!



[that's the symbol for "so awesome I have no words"]

I really need to go there. Instead, I have a stupid trip to Whistler planned, where there is no snow. #*$(#@!!!!!

 

[Jenny]

I really like your pictures - are you changing the camera to take some of them in sepia or B&W or are you doing that afterwards?

 

[busybeingfree]

This year was a redemption mission for me after a less than stellar performance last year, and I feel like I owned it.

A maz ing!! Those pictures got me all tingly and exhilarated inside! And here I was... excited about the 2 inches of fresh at Abasin yesterday. It's good to know you're out there seeking out the pow in CO. It really does look like you owned it woman!

 

[Shannon D]

I really like your pictures - are you changing the camera to take some of them in sepia or B&W or are you doing that afterwards?

All the credit goes to my hubby, but he is changing the camera settings as he takes the photos. We are totally dumb when it comes to photo editing, so these are all straight from the camera.

Edit to note that the camera we are using is a Canon Powershot G10.

 

[ski now work later]

Wow. That's about all I can say. Oh yeah, and those Lines are pretty. Pandoras?

 

[RachelV]

Wooooow, that looks absolutely amazing. What a great day.

 

[ski diva]

All I can say is:

What a fantastic trip! And thanks so much for posting the pix. They're terrific!

 

[Shannon D]

Wow. That's about all I can say. Oh yeah, and those Lines are pretty. Pandoras?

Oh, yes, those are my Pandoras. My hubby and I love that his powder skis are so gross and mine are so sacharine sweet. It is a nice balance.

By the way, I have mentioned a few times that I was having trouble deciding whether I loved the Pandoras or not, well I can now say that we are in love. In the soft pow, they are like buttah. There were a few times in the open bowls when some wind crust or sun crust would toss me around and a burly ski may have been nice. But in the gullies and runouts a stiffer ski would have absolutely killed me. I would say that overall, it is a nice balance. I can push through the crust, but if the gully kills your legs you limit the amount of skiing you can do for the day.

 

[Robyn]

Sweet!!!!

 

[Sheena]

Wow... great pics and TR!

 

[Shannon D]

Day 3 - Crested Butte

After leaving Silverton, we thought there was no way this trip could possibly get any better. We were excited to have a few more days to unwind before heading back to the rat race.

On the way to Gunnison/CB, we stopped for a soak at the Orvis Hot Springs between Ouray and Ridgeway. We weren't sure what to expect, but found it to be one of the most lovely hot springs we had ever been to. It is clothing optional... You can decide which option we chose...

We had seen some chatter on TGR about a 2 for 1 lift ticket deal if you bought a 12-pack of Coors beer. We pulled into the first liquor store we saw and sure enough, we bought a lift ticket for $12.70. Total lift ticket cost for the day, $95 for both of us. We were stoked. This deal is good through March 6th, so if you can get here, it's worth it.

 

[Shannon D]

Day 3 - Crested Butte

After leaving Silverton, we thought there was no way this trip could possibly get any better. We were excited to have a few more days to unwind before heading back to the rat race.

On the way to Gunnison/CB, we stopped for a soak at the Orvis Hot Springs between Ouray and Ridgeway. We weren't sure what to expect, but found it to be one of the most lovely hot springs we had ever been to. It is clothing optional... You can decide which option we chose...

We had seen some chatter on TGR about a 2 for 1 lift ticket deal if you bought a 12-pack of Coors beer. We pulled into the first liquor store we saw and sure enough, we bought a lift ticket for $12.70. Total lift ticket cost for the day, $95 for both of us. We were stoked. This deal is good through March 6th, so if you can get here, it's worth it.

Now to the skiing. I think that Crested Butte is my favorite ski Resort I have ever been to. I'm excluding all of the non-resort ski areas from this statement. We found amazing powder ALL DAY. The terrain is awesome, tons of gnar, awesome grooming, a killer kids program. This place really has it all. Brett and I decided that we are going to find a way to move here. This is the place for us.

After dropping a few inches overnight, the skies opened up for the most perfect bluebird day.

The views were truly breathtaking.

We found amazing lines.

We did some more hiking. I'm not so scared of it anymore, it gets you to the best snow.

Final Self-Portrait installment. We had fun!!!

After lunch, we found more powder, like a lot more powder.

Then, for the last run of the day, we found Spellbound Bowl. Brett says, "Hey Shannon, rip this chute and I'll snap it." Me - "Okay." When I hit the powder field below the choke, I started woo hooing. It was the best field of the day. Note the guys standing above me in this shot, they ended up going around.

What an amazing day at a truly amazing ski area. I am seriously moving here.

Thanks for letting me share, it has been a fun week. Can't wait to meet many of you at the Diva Summit.

SD