Winter Park 2006

Pre-trip – Further dwindling the size of our tight-knit group of skiers, Erik and I (omitting Nicole, due to her work and class schedule) went to Winter Park in Colorado with a local group we just discovered. The North Texas Skiers take about 3 trips a year on a sleeper bus. The price was an extremely good deal: 4 nights lodging and bus travel for $339. Nicole and I spent more than that (each) on just our lodging at Snowbird.

Day 1 – The bus ride was about 15 hours long. It was a sleeper bus though, arranged such that 2 people sit facing 2 other people across a counter. The counter collapses to the seat level to create a bottom bunk and a top bunk is created with two mattresses that stretch across the backs of the seats. The two guys we got to sit with were both interesting characters (Ruben, the private contractor for house painting, and James, the occupational rehab therapist). In total, there were 41 people on the bus (not counting the bus driver), making it a full bus.

To pass the time, we played a few different card games, played scrabble, and stared at each other. Later at night, we got a break from that when they started playing The Bourne Identity on the bus’ TV screens. When it came time to hit the hay, Erik and I opted for the bottom bunk. I took the inside bunk, putting me close to the window. I had a very uncharacteristic panic attack which kept me up most of the night. I kept imagining “bus crash” scenarios. I wondered if the top bunk fell on me, could I possibly lift the bunk (and the dude in it) up off me. Or, if I needed to get past Erik (who’s got quite a few pounds on me) could I claw myself past him into the aisle? I realize it was silly to worry about, since a bus crash event would likely not have any safe spots. I’d calm myself down by focusing on my breathing and pass out for a few minutes at a time. Then I’d wake up and repeat the cycle again. Erik didn’t get much sleep either, so when we got to the lodge at about 7am, we were both pretty exhausted.

Day 2 – Unfortunately for us, our room at the Beaver Village Lodge wasn’t yet ready (though some rooms were), so we couldn’t check in. We got the option of leaving our luggage in the lobby and using one of the available rooms to change into our ski gear. We did take that option, but we were pretty upset about losing our opportunity to get a good nap before skiing. We had a quick breakfast at the lodge, then changed and headed out for the slopes.

I’ve started to notice a repeating pattern with my first ski day of any season. I always seem to start off (on at least the first run, sometimes the first couple) using a “hockey stop” plus slide technique getting down the mountain, completely forgetting how to use my edges. After a couple of runs, I work my way back onto the rails of my ski edges. I need to focus on making this more automatic when I start up, as the drifting technique looks completely ridiculous and doesn’t really offer me any control.

Erik and I started off on a green run, just to warm up our tired and cramped legs. We moved to the blues right away, which seemed a lot less steep than the blues at Snowbird. Unfortunately, we had really bad ski conditions. The ground was frozen solid and there was a nice layer of ice-gravel for us to roll along with on the top layer. It was really difficult to use my ski edges in these conditions, so I never really felt like I had much stopping power when I got my speed up.

After doing a few blue runs, we met the ski group for lunch mid-mountain, and then joined bunkmate James for a trip up to the peak. The conditions where much better there, where the wind kept the snow a little bit softer. Trying to get to the peak was a little embarassing, since Erik and I were taken out by the lift. It’s a small 2-person lift (normal-sized people, not big guys like Erik and I) and the combination of Erik being on my ski and my butt not being exactly aligned for the seat was a disaster. I was thrown sideways while Erik caught the lift chair (at high speed, mind you) right against the back of his helmet forcing him face first into the snow. When the operator asked if we were alright, I replied: “Everything but our pride is alright”.

After skiing the large bowl and making it down to the tree paths, James stopped to offer us some tips on edging. Note that I never took a beginner lesson on skiing, but I did take an intermediate lesson on my second day of winging it without much difficulty. The intermediate lesson took us down a blue run, but didn’t offer much in the way of advice… Other than the tip that we should keep our weight off of our uphill ski. Well, when you’re barrelling down the mountain, you need both edges to turn, so this advice didn’t make much sense to me as I got faster. From what I’ve read/heard, the ski lessons still teach the old fashioned snow plow, which was very necessary for straight skis but a complete waste of time for the new parabolic skis.

James’ tip was to actually lean our upper body down the mountain each time we switched edges. This got all of our weight exactly where it needs to be to jam the edges into packed snow and get a better grip. I guess this is the intention when the instructor told us to keep our weight on the downhill ski only, but I never really felt the difference until James coached us. Using both edges and bending my body near the waist with my head pointed down the mountain resulted in a 180 degree difference in my turns. It was much easier to take a high-speed turn with little to no drifting.

He also coached us on how to properly hold and use our poles. I’m guilty of letting my poll grips fall behind me as I drag them along (even when I’m using them on a steep or moguled run). Proper technique puts the pole grips up close and tight, right out in front of your chest. Using them requires only a flick (unless your manuevering a steep mogul) and keeps them in your peripheral view at all times.

After the coaching, we continued down through the wide tree paths. Occassionally, I would follow James off the wide path into the narrow trees. I only felt confident enough to do it if I could see the exit before I entered. I’ve done some fairly flat tree paths before, but this is the first time I’ve shot between the trees while barrelling downhill. It was actually a lot of fun and the snow between the trees felt a lot better to glide through.

After finishing up there, we headed back down the mountain a ways. James and I got separated from Erik, so we ended up skiing a pretty steep mogul run on the way down. I fell once, painfully punching the rockhard mogul with my clenched fists, but I was able to finish the run right behind James. After that, we took some icey blue runs to meet Erik at the bottom.

We made it back to the lodge and the 3 of us agreed to head over to the jacuzzi after we got settled. Erik and I were finally able to check into our room, which was a bit of a disappointment. The beds were “single”, which I hadn’t seen in a long time. After being cramped on the bus, then cramped into this small room with small beds, I felt like we’d been transported to Lilliputia. The shower head was even at chest level, so you had to have some fancy manuevers to wash your head. After getting situated in our rooms, James took us over to the nice condo’s across the street, only to be turned away since we weren’t staying there. Eventually he remembered that the lodge we were staying at had it’s own jacuzzi, so it wasn’t necessary for us to go out in the (now very heavy) snowfall. The jacuzzi was pretty packed when we got there, but still relaxing. Erik stayed in a bit longer than I, and got pretty sick because of it.

Even if he wasn’t sick from the jacuzzi, he would’ve had the same problem I did cleaning my plate at that night’s dinner buffet. The lodge served up some very greasy pizza (worse than the pizza you got in high school). I was pretty deflated, as I’m used to eating out at all the nicest restaurants when I’m on vacation. This would be the only dinner-time meal we’d attempt to eat at the lodge, thankfully.

Day 3 – That first night, we got 8 inches of fresh powder… Making the next ski day much more fun. We were able to find a bunch of paths where we could cut our own fresh tracks through very deep powder. Keeping equal weight on the skis and leaning away from the hill really made turning in the fresh powder a lot easier. It was also refreshing to see the trees draped in snow again, as the previous day’s trees were barren. It just doesn’t feel like a good ski vacation if everything isn’t covered in snow. They hadn’t had time to groom much of anything on the mountain, so the blue runs from the previous day were a lot more fun and challenging.

After finishing up that day, Erik, Ruben, and I all went to a German restaurant in the town of Winter Park: Guesthaus Eirich. I had a fantastic jagerschnitzel while enjoying the company of my fellow skiers. The table next to us featured a group of 4 (very) senior skiers. At one point, I over heard their conversation:

Skier #1: How did they come up with 0 Kelvin being the coldest temperature?
Skier #2 (very bluntly): It’s the temperature at which all kinetic motion stops.
Skier #3 (laughing): Well, we’re too old to talk about our sex lives so I guess we have to talk about Kelvin.

Erik and I got a good laugh out of that. It’s odd to over hear senior skiers discussing physics/chemistry terms.

Day 4 – The 3rd (and final for Erik and I) ski day was extremely warm. I was able to go out in just my sweatshirt on top of my Under Armor layer. A coat and gloves was definitely overkill.

This day marked my first attempt at NASTAR racing. You do a short race course with an official time (you can even check/compare your results on the NASTAR website). I had a lot of fun trying this. I’d always wanted to try a competitive ski event, and I’m glad the ski club gave me the opportunity. Later, we were given a printout of everyone’s result so we can see how we compared. I beat the average time by a good margin and I almost earned the bronze medal. Actually, in September (when I turn 30) my exact same time will have earned me a bronze medal for my age group’s handicap. I beat Erik’s best time by about 8 seconds, and his worst time by 12 seconds. My first run was faster than my second run by about 1 second, even though I had a significantly better start on my second run. The reason was that I ended up sliding a little in the last couple of turns. If I’d had good edges on my skis, I probably could’ve beaten my first score by at least a second and earned the bronze medal for the under 30 age group.

After the races, we went back up to the peak and took a very long blue run down the far side of the mountain. Afterwards, we joined the group for lunch again and did a few more runs before quitting. For my final run, Erik ended up taking a couple of blue runs down to the base while I left him to do a blue/black run: Hughes Ln. I had to complete my namesake run. I suppose it’s blue/black because parts of it have moguls, but mostly it’s just very steep… More steep than you’d expect a blue run to be. Towards the bottom (on Lower Hughes Ln), the snow started to get a little slushy which was really taking the wind out of my legs. I was able to finish it up with no problems, though I was quite exhausted.

That night, I went into the town of Winter Park by myself and got a haircut (way overdue) to help me relax. I walked around and checked out a few of the shops while I waited on Erik to join me. We ate at an Italian restaurant there that, although it looked promising, was no better than your average Olive Garden. The chicked tasted bland and microwaved.

Day 5 – Erik and I decided not to take the opportunity we had to ski half a day. For my money, it’s not a vacation if I have to rush. Instead, we went down to the lift ticket sales office and resold our full-day lift ticket to the first stranger we bumped into with cash. We bought a couple of t-shirts at one of the shops at the base, then headed back to the lodge. From here, we ended up hanging out with a bunch of club members headed down to a t-shirt printing shop to get club t-shirts made. Both Erik and I bought a t-shirt with the club logo on it. We walked around to a few shops with the group and I got into a conversation with one member of the group about the short ski’s (or ski boards) that she uses. Her testimony, which basically convinced me that it is easier to do harder and steeper terrain with the short skis, helped me decide that I am going to try them for at least one ski day on my next trip. After relaying the story to Nicole, she may be completely sold on converting to ski boards.

We grabbed a sandwich from Subway and headed back to the lodge to mentally prepare for our bus ride. Erik and I watched Evil Dead on my PSP to pass some time, followed by a game of scrabble (for me, Katamari on the PSP for Erik). That night they put on the movie White Chicks for us to watch. I mostly just conversed with fellow club members, but I did catch some of the movie. The night’s sleep on the bus was just as rough (if not more) when I got the aisle bunk instead of the window. The aisle lights combined with lots of snorers made it pretty tough to sleep. We left the lodge at 1pm and made it home by 5am, so we made pretty good time on the way back.

Post-trip – In hindsight, the bus trip was pretty uncomfortable. It might have been a lot more tolerable if I could’ve gotten some sleep. I discovered though that both the North Texas Skiers and the Snowballers (another DFW ski club) do a bus trip to Taos which is only 9 hours long. I think Nicole and I will join both clubs for the short bus ride and, depending on whether or not it gets easier for me to sleep on the bus, possibly try some other resorts.