Ski Southeast Messageboard

So, I took off and flew out to Colorado for week to burn up some vacation time that I had sitting around. One of my good buddies and former co-workers had just moved out there so I had a floor & couch to crash on. Managed to talk one of other good buddies and former co-workers who now lives in ATL to fly out there as well. $207 round trip out of of ATL. Can't beat that...



Day 1:

HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED that the Atlanta airport didn't have more craft brew options (yes, I'm a beer snob. So sue me.).



Sam Adams tasting room will have to do:





Touched down in Denver, got the rental (a front-wheel drive Santa Fe w/ a 4 cylinder), and scooted up to Boulder right to the Pub on Pearl street to meet friends, drink, and eat. Stayed out too late...



Day 2: Craigslisted some Loveland tickets up in Nederland, but overslept... by the time we had got them, we would have only had about 3 hours of skiing. Sooooo, we decided to do several brewery tours to take up the afternoon:



Boulder Beer Company:













Really a cool place- after the tour (on which there was about 20-25 people), they poured up 7 pitchers of everything they had on tap and turned us lose. I thought the group would tear through it quick, but that didn't happen... in fact, my buddy, two cute girls from WI, and myself were the last ones standing. All the beer a man could drink for free? Sign me up. Anyhow, ended up talking to the brewmaster after they founf out that I am an aspiring brewer myself, and I got to do the hop addition on the batch of Mojo they were brewing up. Fun stuff.



The two girls from WI then told us about another small and new brewery that just opened in town- Wild Woods Brewery. It was one of the girl's sister & bro-in-law that opened it, and told us to go check it out. So we did:







Small place, but really good beers, including a spruce beer that gives Skagway Brewing up in Alaska a run for it's money.



It was getting to be dinner time, so we then rolled up to Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery for some good burgers and brews:







Called it a night, and actually vowed to go ski the next day.

Skiing time:



First up was Copper with it's 2-4-1 Shell station deal. Partly sunny day, with temps fluctuating wildly as the clouds came an went. Had 4 inches the day before, so there was still a little bit of goods here and there. Forgot the camera, but that's ok, there will be more Copper down the line...



Next day was Keystone... my first time there. Not a bad mountain, but waaaaay overpriced (thanks, Vail Resorts). The only full-priced liftie I paid for all week. Sunny, slightly warmer... decent skiing.



My buddy Aaron ripping some groomer:





Panoramic from the top of Outback Express:





Yep:





Groomer central:





Paid $5 to go and ride the cat there, great decision just in order to get some good snow and away from the throngs of people there. Skied the South Bowls off of Wapiti Peak:





Stopped and enjoyed the scenery. And by scenery, I mean "Colorado-near-beer":





Next day we decided to use up our Loveland tix that we had picked up earlier. Also my first time at Loveland, that place kicks major ***. I had driven by it tons of times over the years, but never knew the upper mountain there was so fun. Cold and foggy, and spitting snow all day but no major accumulation.



Parking Lot:





Chair 2 in the morning. The goal is directly ahead of me:





Windy and limited visibility at the top of Chair 9:





Cat skiing at the top of the Continental Divide:









Dropping into Patrol Bowl (and yes, I know I have terrible form):





Aaron, catching a breather on the way down:





Managed to make 2 Cat laps, had a ball. Loveland scores high in my book based on price, terrain, and accessibility.

That night, hit up Denver with an old college roommate of mine. First up was Great Divide:







Then went down to Euclid Hall, and had a Brat Burger (think hamburger, but made with Bratwurst). Called it an evening pretty early, due to the fact that the next day we were heading to Winter Park/Mary Jane... becuase we had scored $25 lift tickets on CL. Score one for the good guys.



Saturday:

Rolled four deep to WP. My first time up Berthoud Pass... man, what a great drive. Scenic as you can get. Warm, no new snow, and sunny.



The motley crüe for the day:





High-tailed it over to Mary Jane & Parsenn bowl... thats where we spent most of the day/



Erin Ninja-boarding it up:





The weather really changed at the top... clouds and wind moved in, creating some good wind-blown buff. Not true powder, but good enough for this southern beater.



Aaron and Erin hunkered down on Larkspur:





Aaron, descending:





Me, dropping in:









Our host for the week, Matt. Recent transplant to Boulder:









Quality day of skiing (especially at $25 a head- thanks Craigslist!). Stopped by Tommyknocker that afternoon to eat/drink/watch our NCAA brackets implode:









Last day on the slopes, went back to Copper to use up another 2-4-1 deal. Broke out the camera this time.



Caught the final Cat of the day on the back side of the mountain... I took it upon myself to do a little hiking to get some goods. My friends disagreed with this approach and dropped in, leaving just me and a patroller to enjoy some steep(ish) boot-top cream powder. Last two down this ridge for the day:





Just worked the backside of the mountain the rest of the day:





Typical Copper crowds:













Randomly met up with some other former co-workers at the Copper bar, had drinks and some decent ribs at Endo's. Small world.



Ended up at another friend's condo and drank & played Cards against Humanity half the night. Simply a fun, offensive game. Good times:





The next day we decided to kick it in Boulder/Denver instead of skiing until it was time to turn the car back in.



Checked out Boulder Ski Deals:





Met up with friends for Abo's Pizza, headed to Denver to check out the REI there, and called it a season.... but not before one last Avery IPA at DIA:





Always enjoy Colorado, it's great to ski with friends and see people I haven't seen in a while.

Nicely done! I didn't realize Loveland had a cat.

Looks like a fun trip. I'm a Great Divide fan.

Blasphemy with the Coors LOL (lots of crafts in cans in CO ya know)...looked like a fantastic trip!

Zeus-- well done, cheers!



Surprised you hadn't skied Loveland before, ain't it a gem, hope you enjoyed an apres beer there it is my favorite ski bar -- since no one can stay the night there it gets loud and rowdy fast while people are waiting for I-70 to clear



Never have done the cat there or at Copper --(but maybe within the next two weeks)



Hope you were able to get into the trees some at WP/MJ, love it there