Ruth and I just got back from a great week in the Rockies. We arrived in Breckenridge on the 7th and returned home yesterday, giving us five days of primo boarding with an extra day to be tourists, which is easy to do in Breck. This was our third stay in the area and second stay in downtown Breck. It is such a quaint and charming old town, full of restaurants, shops, and galleries. It is difficult to have a bad dining experience in Breck, and I managed to find the world's second best carrot cake in the world (the best being our wedding cake).
Below is a photo I took of god-rays over Lake Dillon.
Our first day of boarding was at Breckenridge peak 9 and Peak 8. We had an extraordinarilly good day though the weather was overcast and breezy with snow showers. We took the following day off because the weather report indicated high winds, which is no fun while sitting on a chair-lift. It was a good thing we took that day off becuase all the weather prognostications came true.Next stop: Vail.
We went to Vail for one of the days. A pretentious place, but great terrain and lots of it. We didn't venture into the back bowls because the light was flat and the terrain is impossible to read without some point of reference such as trees or structures, neither of which can be found in the Vail backcountry. We had a good day boarding the front side and later explored the numerous shops at Lionshead and Vail Village.
We spent the remainder of the week at one of our all-time favorite mountains: Keystone. Such a great mountain with long, wide groomers and fluffy tree routes. The enclosed gondolas are a great way to get spoiled and the facilities are nice. Ruth and I had that whole place wired by the time we had to come home. The remaining pics were taken at Keystone, a very photogenic mountain.
We got 1-2ft of snow over the first three days of the week with 1-2 inches overnight for the remainder. Needless to say, conditions were pretty good.
On the flight home we were treated to a great view of the Grand Canyon from about 40,000ft. It's easy to see why Arizonans refer to it as the Big Ditch.
Next trip is to Mt Baker, our all-around favorite place to board. We'll be up there in mid-March. Meanwhile I'll try to get in some local hikes.
