After my big day yesterday, I decided to give my ankle a rest today, especially since we may be getting some snow later this week. Breckenridge announced a couple hours ago that they were going to open up Imperial Lift tomorrow, which is the last lift to be opened. I took a picture of the area Imperial Lift early this year, called Lake Chutes. I'm not sure what will be open tomorrow up there, but I'm taking my powder skis out for the first time this year. I can't wait! It may be a quick day again tomorrow, but it will hopefully be worth it.
This lift is quite impressive. It is the highest, altitude-wise, in North America. The top of the lift is 12,840 feet high. Well, I'm off to get first chair tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Big Day
This is going to be short and sweet, since I am pretty tired. After two days of hanging in Denver with Dan, I decided to wake up early and really test my ankle. I started skiing at 8:45 and by 1, I had skied 30,000 vertical feet. I skied until 3 and ended up with 39,226 vertical feet for the day. Definitely the most vert I have ever done in one day. The ankle of course is hurting after all of this, but I was happy my legs could last that long. Below are some more stats from today, since I love numbers.
Number of lifts rode: 31
Fastest speed: 60.4 mph
Distance traveled: 40 miles exactly
Amount of time skiing: 2 hours 13 minutes
Number of lifts rode: 31
Fastest speed: 60.4 mph
Distance traveled: 40 miles exactly
Amount of time skiing: 2 hours 13 minutes
Friday, January 27, 2012
First Video
This video has everything a good ski video should have. Someone with a beard, snow, and a horribly angled GoPro. Hopefully I will get better at taking videos, especially the aiming part of the camera. This video is pretty boring, since I wasn't really able to ski much. I just filmed part of my last run to the condo. The video highlights me limping down a green/blue run, walking through the trees to the road, then skiing down the road to the condo. Honestly, this is one of the best things I have found out while being out here. I love being able to ski right to the condo door. I hope you guys like the video, or more importantly the scenery, because that is the only reason I posted it. Have a great weekend all!
You can also check out my Vimeo account and check out a video I made from last year when I went out to Snowbird to ski with Doug.
You can also check out my Vimeo account and check out a video I made from last year when I went out to Snowbird to ski with Doug.
The weekends are filling up!
Before coming out here, I was concerned that by the end of the season, I was going to get really bored of skiing. I know, I don't think that is possible either, but it is especially impossible now. Not only is Kevin now coming out, but Greg, JC and maybe even Doug (if I can convince him that skiing with friends is better than skiing deep, deep powder) are coming out. I hope everything works out and you all will be able to make it out and the conditions are good when you do.
Kevin is coming out! and the most frustrating day ever
I just found out that Kevin is coming out with Josh and Rob. Definitely made my day better. Can't wait to see you out here Kevin!
We were supposed to get 3-5 inches last night, but woke up to over 8 inches, with Vail getting 11 inches. I decided to stay at Breck since I knew where the groomers were. There were no groomed runs since it snowed all night and my ankle just couldn't hold up. The conditions were amazing, but I just couldn't ski it. I took 5 runs and slowly skied back to the condo. Maybe next week. Check back later, I'm going to post a little video I took of me gingerly skiing back to the condo. No matter how much my ankle hurts, it's still cool to ski back to the condo on the road.
Also, I'm heading into Denver to hang out with Dan for the weekend, so no more posts until Monday or Tuesday. I hope everyone can get through the weekend without reading these amazing posts.
We were supposed to get 3-5 inches last night, but woke up to over 8 inches, with Vail getting 11 inches. I decided to stay at Breck since I knew where the groomers were. There were no groomed runs since it snowed all night and my ankle just couldn't hold up. The conditions were amazing, but I just couldn't ski it. I took 5 runs and slowly skied back to the condo. Maybe next week. Check back later, I'm going to post a little video I took of me gingerly skiing back to the condo. No matter how much my ankle hurts, it's still cool to ski back to the condo on the road.
Also, I'm heading into Denver to hang out with Dan for the weekend, so no more posts until Monday or Tuesday. I hope everyone can get through the weekend without reading these amazing posts.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Day 2: Even better than the first day
Today was even better than yesterday. I got up a little earlier and got on the slopes at 9 and skied until noon. The sun was out and the snow was as good as ever. My ankle was slowly feeling better, which is why I skied a little longer than yesterday. Even though I skied longer, I didn't get lite headed today, which means I am getting used to the altitude. I did a little research about the altitude and found out that at my condo, there is 70% of oxygen here then there is in Erie or Washington DC. That makes me feel a little better when I am completely out of breath after walking up two flights of stairs.
Today was a little more crowded, which wasn't bad, because I met more people on the chairlifts. On back to back chairlifts I meant the following people.
Chairlift 1: I met two people who moved out from Killington to Breckenridge and are living in a motorhome. A father and son were also on the lift. They had just moved from somewhere in New Jersey to Breckenridge. Since they moved out here in the middle of the school year, the son is being home schooled for the rest of the year. So, he just snowboards with his dad every morning, then gets home schooled in the afternoon. They are renting a house on 4 O'Clock run, so it definitely seemed like they had a ton of money. Those houses there are huge.
Chairlift 2: Met two guys in their late twenties from England. They flew in yesterday. This was their first time in America ever. It was a lot of fun talking to them, since I had just been over there for a wedding last year.
Chairlift 3: There were 5 older people from Pittsburgh. I talked to them about Seven Springs, then I found out that they actually have family in both Erie and Edinboro. Wow, small world.
Chairlift 4: A couple of older guys from Georgia/South Carolina. I found out that one of their daughters is a third year at UVA.
It's amazing who you meet on chairlifts.
Lastly, I bought an app for my phone to keep track of my runs and stats while I am out here. As you can see on the right, I ski around 13,000 feet of vertical today. Hopefully, I will be able to start doing 20,000 days when I am back to 100%. The total miles that I skied was 15.9 miles and the fastest I went was 46.9 mph. I found some great groomers. I think one of them I will be able to beat my personal record I set last year at Jackson Hole of 71 mph. I don't think I can get up 90 mph, but hopefully I will be able to crack 80 mph.
I'm going to ski tomorrow, but take the weekend off. It will be more crowded and the people I live with won't be doing groomers. It will be too tempting to follow them. I will probably end up spending Saturday night in Denver and meet up with Dan.
And don't worry. The only reason these blog posts are so long is just because I am only skiing 3 hours a day. Soon, I will be posting two sentence posts.
Today was a little more crowded, which wasn't bad, because I met more people on the chairlifts. On back to back chairlifts I meant the following people.
Chairlift 1: I met two people who moved out from Killington to Breckenridge and are living in a motorhome. A father and son were also on the lift. They had just moved from somewhere in New Jersey to Breckenridge. Since they moved out here in the middle of the school year, the son is being home schooled for the rest of the year. So, he just snowboards with his dad every morning, then gets home schooled in the afternoon. They are renting a house on 4 O'Clock run, so it definitely seemed like they had a ton of money. Those houses there are huge.
Chairlift 2: Met two guys in their late twenties from England. They flew in yesterday. This was their first time in America ever. It was a lot of fun talking to them, since I had just been over there for a wedding last year.
Chairlift 3: There were 5 older people from Pittsburgh. I talked to them about Seven Springs, then I found out that they actually have family in both Erie and Edinboro. Wow, small world.
Chairlift 4: A couple of older guys from Georgia/South Carolina. I found out that one of their daughters is a third year at UVA.
It's amazing who you meet on chairlifts.
Lastly, I bought an app for my phone to keep track of my runs and stats while I am out here. As you can see on the right, I ski around 13,000 feet of vertical today. Hopefully, I will be able to start doing 20,000 days when I am back to 100%. The total miles that I skied was 15.9 miles and the fastest I went was 46.9 mph. I found some great groomers. I think one of them I will be able to beat my personal record I set last year at Jackson Hole of 71 mph. I don't think I can get up 90 mph, but hopefully I will be able to crack 80 mph.
I'm going to ski tomorrow, but take the weekend off. It will be more crowded and the people I live with won't be doing groomers. It will be too tempting to follow them. I will probably end up spending Saturday night in Denver and meet up with Dan.
And don't worry. The only reason these blog posts are so long is just because I am only skiing 3 hours a day. Soon, I will be posting two sentence posts.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
First Day on the Slopes
Today I finally got on the slopes. It was a great day. The sun was out, the temperature hovered around 20, and there was no one on the slopes. It took me about an hour to get out on the slopes. Mostly because it was so painful to put my foot in my boot. If you ever have a sprained foot and try to put it in a ski boot, just shove it in quickly. Putting your foot in slowly just prolongs the pain. Once I finally got my boot on, the foot didn't hurt.
I decided to ski Breckenridge, since it is only a 10 minute walk, or a 30 second bus ride. When I got to the top, it was amazing. You can see forever. I took a couple pictures, but they don't really do justice to the view.
The first run was both frustrating and fun. It was great to get out on the snow, but it was tough to not be able to ski like I am used to. Since the conditions were perfect, I had to start of with a black diamond run. The first couple turns, I was very optimistic. Three turns in, when I hit a small patch of pushed up snow, my ankle screamed like I was just hit with a baseball bat in the foot. I quickly found out that I had to stick to runs that were groomed today.
I only stayed out for a little more than 2 hours today, but skied about 10,000 feet. If my ankle/foot does heal quickly, I am going to try to ski 1 million feet and 50 days. That would be an average of 20,000 feet. I think it is going to be tough, but on the right hand side of this, I am going to keep track of my status by resort.
Before I skied down to my condo(yes, I can ski right to my condo), I took this picture of the Lake Chutes. They are filling in nicely. Hopefully, my ankle will be close enough to 100% by the time these open. They look like a lot of fun.
Josh/Rob- Are you guys ready to ski this?
I decided to ski Breckenridge, since it is only a 10 minute walk, or a 30 second bus ride. When I got to the top, it was amazing. You can see forever. I took a couple pictures, but they don't really do justice to the view.
The first run was both frustrating and fun. It was great to get out on the snow, but it was tough to not be able to ski like I am used to. Since the conditions were perfect, I had to start of with a black diamond run. The first couple turns, I was very optimistic. Three turns in, when I hit a small patch of pushed up snow, my ankle screamed like I was just hit with a baseball bat in the foot. I quickly found out that I had to stick to runs that were groomed today.
I only stayed out for a little more than 2 hours today, but skied about 10,000 feet. If my ankle/foot does heal quickly, I am going to try to ski 1 million feet and 50 days. That would be an average of 20,000 feet. I think it is going to be tough, but on the right hand side of this, I am going to keep track of my status by resort.
Before I skied down to my condo(yes, I can ski right to my condo), I took this picture of the Lake Chutes. They are filling in nicely. Hopefully, my ankle will be close enough to 100% by the time these open. They look like a lot of fun.
Josh/Rob- Are you guys ready to ski this?
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Testing the phone at ABasin
I drove up to ABasin today to check out the conditions and see how easy it is to post from my phone. The conditions look good and the parking lot is empty. When is my foot going to get better?
I hope these pictures upload right.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Lots of snow, but no skiing
Over this past weekend, the resorts around the area got 10-20 inches of snow. Unfortunately, five days before I left I sprained my ankle playing hockey and now my foot is in a splint. Hopefully I will be able to try my ankle out on Wednesday, but we will see. Until then, I will continue working on my taxes and waxing my skis for the forth time.
Oh, and name of the blog came from the altitude that I am at, 9,900 feet. So if you are planning on coming out, make sure you are ready for the altitude!
Oh, and name of the blog came from the altitude that I am at, 9,900 feet. So if you are planning on coming out, make sure you are ready for the altitude!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Finally made it
After 1812 miles, over 25 hours driving and 85.18 gallons of gas, we finally made it to Breckenridge. Other than me almost hitting a coyote somewhere in the midwest, having to drive through the longest, most boring state, Kansas and driving through Denver rush hour during a snow storm the drive was not that bad.
Of course, the last 2 hours from Denver to Breckenridge was the most interesting. Having to climb over 5,000 feet in 90 miles was not kind to the car. Twenty miles into the drive, the car started to overheat. We had to travel the last 70 miles with the four ways on going 30 miles an hour.
Three days after leaving DC, I finally made it to Breckenridge and the condo that I am living in.
Of course, the last 2 hours from Denver to Breckenridge was the most interesting. Having to climb over 5,000 feet in 90 miles was not kind to the car. Twenty miles into the drive, the car started to overheat. We had to travel the last 70 miles with the four ways on going 30 miles an hour.
Three days after leaving DC, I finally made it to Breckenridge and the condo that I am living in.
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