Ski Southeast Messageboard

So one of my favorite music groups is based out of England, and I'd been waiting over 3 years for them to tour the US. It finally happened, and they were playing Aspen on the 10th. For a $25 ticket and two half-days off from work, I decided to give a go at a 24-hour trip.



..and then snow rolled in. Had to alter my travel plans and what should have been a 5 hour drive turned into 6 1/2 hours. No matter, this is beautiful country and even more beautiful covered in white. Let the pics commence:





Slope Drive-By #1: Ski Hesperus. This is about 15-20mins west of Durango. There's not much more to it than what can be seen here...this was mostly brown 2 weekends ago:









Those are some seriously freakin happy little Bob Ross trees right there...love the visual contrast of the red rocks, evergreens, and snow.









Lizard Head Pass area, about 10mi south of slope drive-by #2 - Telluride:









Looking back up at McClure Pass (between Delta & Carbondale):









Snowmass - about 3mi back off the main road going into Aspen:









Buttermilk was slope drive-by #3...later pic of it...then Aspen Highlands was #4 right next door to Buttermilk.



Landed in downtown Aspen at my hotel, right next door to the concert venue and this close to Aspen Mountain (#5):









Checked my email right after that photo (30 mins in town) and found out the concert had been cancelled due to "travel issues"...thought no way, since they were in Englewood the night before and only about 3- 3 1/2 hours away. Went to talk to the venue and they didn't have any other information. Found out 2 days later their tour bus had broken down & it didn't have anything to do with weather. Still feeling a little BS there since it was a DJ set instead of the full live band, and they were due to be at Coachella on Friday. Meh. Spent the rest of the evening getting my drink on (with some amazing food)....if you're ever in Aspen, go to The Red Onion.



Woke up to more snow the next morning:













Welcome to Aspen, SkiSE!









Heading back out of town to home, passed Aspen Highlands:









On Wednesday afternoon, the cat was grooming the superpipe at Buttermilk...which struck me odd since they were done for the season. On the hunch that something might be going on (and just to see the dang thing in person), I decided to stop for some pics. Lucky me....Red Bull was filming.









I walked up closer on the left of those cats lined up, and watched for a few minutes. You can see the tracks of the snowmobiles used to shuttle the riders back up. One took off with a snowboarder, and I happened to notice a jacket that was very recognizable...but the rider was sitting with their back to me so I didn't see their board very well, and couldn't see the pants. I had a sneaky suspicion, but thought no way, that couldn't be. My suspicions were confirmed by that rider later that night on FB...it was indeed Mark McMorris, in his signature blue jacket and camo pants. I chose not to be all stupid touristy (at least not more than what I already had been) and didn't go crazy with the pics then...knowing I needed to be on the road hammering down to get home.

The snow continued to fall in so many different areas on the drive back...leaving out of Aspen:









Apparently these odd things are old coke ovens in a historical area called Redstone:









Crystal River (or was it White River here?) below McClure Pass:









The view towards Red Mountain Pass driving into Ouray:









The ONLY part of 550 through Red Mountain Pass that has a guardrail...and YES, all of it has drop-off like that the whole way (minus the waterfall...and some spots the drop-off is about 6-inches outside the white line!)







Another view of Red Mtn Pass from the overlook area:









Driving toward Silverton from Ouray & the snow starts again....this stretch of 550 is where the switchbacks have switchbacks:

















Molas Pass area between Silverton and Durango (and before passing by Purg - #6):













30 Hours

760 Miles

185 Photos

6 Resort Fly-bys

ZERO Concerts

Countless Elk, Geese, Hawks, Blue Heron, Horses, Buffalo, Marmots, and a poor squirrel on a suicide mission...but no big horn sheep (despite the signs for them going into Red Mtn Pass)



Still turned out to be a pretty nice trip. Aspen's a decently cool town, despite the snotty posh overtones & overtly craptastic parking guidelines. I actually started looking for hotels tonight on the offhand chance of going back for Winter X 2014...who knows.

Make sure you make that road trip in the summer and fall, too... the route you took is one of the most beautiful in the country. (take a side-trip over Owl Creek Pass sometime, too)

Dubstep is a fad

nice shots K. hate the tunes didnt show up

Thanks D...the pics really don't do that drive justice honestly. And yeah, KD, I can't wait to do the same drive during the summer & fall as well. Can only imagine what it'll look like.



Jam -- been listening to D&B/EDM/etc and the likes since about '99....not a "fad" in my book. Congrats on having superior Google skills & figuring the concert out.

@mommehK 289576 wrote:

Jam -- been listening to D&B/EDM/etc and the likes since about '99....not a "fad" in my book. Congrats on having superior Google skills & figuring the concert out.



"I wasn't going snowboarding way before any of you" MEEEEMAHHEEK

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