Ski Trip Report 3 - Monarch (again) Part 2 - The Actual Report

OK, so it's not the next day. In fact, its almost a week later. Sometimes, I guess, life gets in the way, especially when its Christmas. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. As I explained in the last post, I went to Monarch after the weather and time conspired to rob me of the last free pass opportunity. Here's how the day went.

As I headed up Monarch Pass from Salida, I began to wonder whether I would even get a spot, and be able to ski. I needn't have worried, though, as I got a spot in the 2nd row of vehicles. Given that there had been a good amount of snow 2 days before, I was more than a little surprised. I wasn't uphappy, but I was surprised. Oh well! Stuff on, pass bought, and off we go.

Monarch has 5 lifts (if you ignore the magic carpet used in the new ski school area). Four of them head up from the base area. There are 3 lifts right in front of the lodge, and then one further to the skier's left and down a small hill. As per normal, I took that lift up to the top of some mixed terrain, and headed down. I was trying to improve my turning performance, using the Guns. To be honest, it wasn't working too well. I hit a number of blue runs, and I kept feeling like I was barely in control. I would love to blame the conditions, but that wasn't it. the packed out runs weren't ideal for the wider skis, but I wasn't skiing on ice, or anything close.

It turned out to be one of those situations where the complaint "I used to be better" was quite accurate. A couple of years ago, I could ski everything that I can now, plus more of the mountain. The biggest problem that I had was with moguls, which still seem to perplex me. So, I've somehow managed to give up the performance on the rest of the mountain, and gained nothing in the bumps. Why did that ever make sense to me?

So, what's the difference? Balance. Well, not exactly balance, but more weight distribution. For reasons that escape me, I seem to have more "centered" my weight over the skis. Instead of keeping more pressure on the fronts of my boots, I've been trying to stand on the middle of the ski. The result has been tired legs, and poorer skiing. So, that's the end of that little experiment.

The results of that realisation are dramatic, to say the least. All of a sudden, I own my skis and I can put them where I want to. I'm putting more pressure on the fronts of my boots and everything is good. I'm back to skiing where I want to, when I want to. I even took on a short black run, called Picante. I know, nothing to call the ski magazines about, but its a start. I was starting to look at the other blacks and it wasn't scaring me. I'm going to get there, and soon. Who knows, I might even start looking at the back side of the mountain a little more.

Oh, and there was another benefit. For the last few trips (this year and last), I've had to give up early. My legs have been done after about 4 hours. This time, I was able to ski from about 9.30 until about 3.30. Yes, I stopped for lunch, but that was about all. In fact, I could've gone longer, but things were starting to get silly. The ski area filled up as the day went on. By the time that I left, there were people everywhere, and they seemed to be "in the way" a lot.

So, what about moguls? Well, I still suck so no change there. I need to work on the technique. That's where the problem is. I don't know how to deal with moguls, from a technique point of view. I've been doing some online reading about moguls, and I have some new ideas to try. Maybe, I'll pick a day and spend it in the bumps. I will not let them beat me. They really are the last piece of the puzzle, in terms of skiing the whole mountain.

Oh, just as a note. It's snowing again. Hard. This is the first time that 2 major storms have blown through Colorado in December. The last storm dumped about 2 feet of snow on us, and this one looks to do about the same. I've already bought my lift ticket, and the equipment is ready to go. Now, I just need to hope that they clear the roads quickly. I guess that I picked the right year to buy wider, powder skis. You've got to love it. Well, I love it. I guess that the bump day will have to wait. Then again, its time to see how I do in the powder.

Ski Trip Report 3 - Monarch (again) Part 1 - The Back Story

Well, this could get interesting. I'm back from my third trip of the season, and I'm tired. In fact, I'm surviving on 4.5 hours of sleep, caffeine and sugar. Oh, and chocolate. You might need to excuse me at some points. I thought, however, that I would try something a little different and post a trip report on the day that the trip happened.

I was planning to go skiing this week, but not on a Saturday, and not to Monarch again. Not that there's anything wrong with Monarch. In fact, I love the place. The thing is, I had a free Gems card ticket, but it was for Ski Cooper. And, it had to be used mid-week before the end of this week. Oh, and Ski Cooper was only open during the week for this week. So, it was easy to use (really!).

I don't know whether anyone heard about the storm that blew through Colorado on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, but we got dumped on. That's the good news. The bad news is that we got dumped on, so the kids were off school for Wednesday and Thursday, and had a 2 hour delayed start on Friday. So, that blew out all my chances of going to Cooper. Oh well!

I talked to Nikki and we decided that Saturday looked open. So, I could go skiing. Given that there was no "free" option left, I decided that I wanted to go back to Monarch. Its a more challenging and interesting mountain for me. Cooper is a good place to take people to warm up (just ask Terri!), or to take the kids. Its reasonably flat and pretty safe, most of the time.

I hate these weeks for skiing, though. Colorado is invaded by visitors. That's a good thing, generally. However, I would prefer that they stick to big resorts like Keystone, Vail and Breckenridge. That sounds really bad, but I'm tired dammit! I'm tired of dodging people going every which way on runs, tired to looking out for "mommy and daddy" video taping junior as he skis to the lift, and tired of the peace and quiet of the trip up the lift being interrupted by teenage girls yelling to their friends down below. Most of all, I'm just tired.

The good news is, I made it back alive and in one piece. The bad news is, I'm not going to write the actual trip report tonight. I'm going to save that for tomorrow. Maybe that's good news. Who knows?

I'm going to let this stand, though, just to record my over-tired ramblings.

So there!

'Night

Ski Trip Report 2 - First day at Monarch

Sometimes, you get involved in the perfect storm. An even better day is when the perfect early season storm is only part of the story. In this case, there was almost a foot of new snow, new skis and a free day of skiing. Here's how it went.

Monarch Ski Area was offering a free lift ticket on December 11. In return, they were asking for food donations to help out the local food bank. Luckily, it was 2 days after I picked up my new 1080 Guns, as mentioned in the last post. So, I was heading to Monarch to give them a try. I wasn't worried about the snow conditions, as I was planning on taking my Volkls along as well. That way, I could ski until I was done. Then, I looked at the weather forecast. The free day was a Monday, and there was supposed to be a storm passing through the area on Sunday. What more could I ask for?

My plan was to take my daughter to school on Morning, and then head west for almost 2 hours to the ski area. Then, I thought that I would be free to go whenever, as Jackie came down with a horrible cold. That was until I realised that I still needed to drop off one of the neighbour's kids at school. Oh well.

There was snow on the ground, and the skies were cloudy as I headed out of Woodland Park. It stayed that way until I passed over Wilkerson Pass. Then, the sun came out. I began to think that I was going to drive right into a rare post storm day. In the end, it was better than that.

When I got to Monarch Pass, the location of the ski area, the pass was completely snowed in. Not only did the ski area have 6" of snow overnight, but about another 5 fell during the day.

So, how was the skiing? In one word: phenomenal! I literally skiied myself into the ground. I don't know how many runs I made, but there more than a few. I had a ball, I stayed upright, and I think that I smiled all day. The new Guns are great in soft snow, whether its 6" of powder, cut up powder, or somewhat packed runs. I don't know how they do in harder snow conditions because there wasn't a hard packed slope to be found. I might find out at some point, but I might not. After all, that's what the Volkls are for. I do know this, the Volkls have some competition on groomed slopes, especially when I need to ski at a slower pace. All in all, I'm as happy as I can be.

I continue to think that this is going to be a great ski season. I'm looking at one more ski trip, this week. I have a free pass opportunity at Ski Cooper, but I have to use it before the 22nd of December. Guess what? Its going to snow again. In fact, there's the opportunity for 2 feet of snow in the next 2 days. What are the chances of that?

Sometimes, you've just got to buy something

If you've read my equipment list, you might've thought something was missing. I thought there was something missing as well. My Volkls are great skis, but they aren't great at everything. When the new snow piles up (as we all love), they don't do as well as on groomed, firm or otherwise hard snow conditions. I love the idea of skiing powder, and I love the fact that I can be on the mountain when the snow is falling. The act of skiing in powder has, up 'til now, been more of a chore than it needed to be.

So, after buying my new boots this season, I started to eye a 2nd pair of skis. Actually, I thought about it at the end of last season, but didn't do anything. That's changed. After clearing out all the unused equipment in the house and deciding that I didn't need a season pass (I have the Gems Card and now I can ski where I want), I did a deal.

I went back to the Ski Shop and talked to Rick and Kevin numerous times. In the end, I settled on a pair of 05/05 Salomon 1080 Gun skis. They're a little longer than the Volkls (175 vs 167), but they're also twin tipped. They are, however, much wider in all aspects, which should help with skiing in powder and soft snow conditions. Oh, and they're light as well. They have a reputation for being very soft skis, but we'll see what that means. Oh, and at some point, I'll take a picture of all the ski stuff.

Ski Trip Report 1 - First day of the season

There is one good thing about living in Colorado and skiing, and that's that sometimes you get some good deals. In fact, some of the deals are just too good to pass up. Every year, I sign up for the Colorado Gems card, which is designed to promote the smaller ski areas in Colorado. I won't call them ski resorts because they aren't resorts. They're pretty quiet, simple ski areas. They have lifts to the top of the mountain, a lodge with restaurant, a rental shop, a ski school, and that's about it. What they don't have, generally, are long lines, ski-in condos, gondolas, and all the trappings of a "ski destination." They're smaller than that, and that's where I like to ski.

The Colorado Gems card offers discounts on lift tickets at the participating areas and, occasionally other perks. One such perk was a free lift ticket at Arapahoe Basin, to be used before 11/22/06. As such, it was too good a deal to pass up. We're talking early season conditions, so there's little chance of waist deep powder. Then again, we're talking early season conditions for me as well, so we're probably talking very tired legs early in the day. With that in mind, a free lift ticket is almost perfect.

So, off I went to A Basin on Sunday November 19. Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to pick the same day to go skiing. From Woodland Park, the easiest way to get there is to take US24 to CO9, go through Fairplay, over Hoosier Pass and through Breckenridge. Breckenridge seemed to be heaving with skiers. I hoped that would take some of the pressure off A Basin, but it wasn't to be. The parking lots were full.

There was only one lift heading up from the base area operating, and there was quite a line. Once I got up from the base, every lift trip afterwards involved a lot of standing in line. In fact, most of the time, I had to side step up to get to the end of the lift line. I think that I tired mysef out more getting on the lift than anything else.

I didn't get a lot of skiing done, but I did enjoy what skiing I did. I proved to myself that I can still throw myself down a mountain side on 2 planks, and survive. I don't know how I looked doing it, but I enjoyed myself. I didn't see a whole load of runs, or add up a huge amount of vertical feet, but that wasn't the point. In the end, I skied, I enjoyed it, and I walked away without injury.

Oh, and for the record the free day promotion worked. I will be back to A Basin at some point. I've skiied there before, but I had more fun this time. Soon, the snow will pile up there, and the area will open up. When that happens, I'll go again, but on a quieter day. There have to be some advantages to working for yourself.

The State of the Equipment (Ski)

OK, so now I've said hello. I suppose that the best place to go is to tell you a little about the equipment that I'm using. Most of you know what travels with me, but I thought that I would write it all down, and a few stats of interest:

2002 Volkl Supersport T50 5 Star Skis 168cm
Nordica Beast 12W Ski Boots 24.5 Mondo
Kerma Poles
Boeri Tactic Ski Helmet

I can almost hear the comments now, so let me address the obvious ones right now.

1) Yes, I have ridiculously small feet, and I use women's ski boots. Sorry, that's the way it is. I tried the the boots on and they fit properly. I could've custom ordered men's boots in the same size, but why? I would've paid extra for basically the same boots. There are a few, frankly minor, differences, which wouldn't justify the extra cost. Hey, at least they aren't pink and black.

2) No, those skis aren't ideal for skiing the whole mountain in Colorado. They suck in powder and they get "interesting" in the bumps. By interesting, I mean a complete handful. However, they are great for going fast and carving on the "front side" of the mountain. That's what I bought them for. I will say they are stiff, and I love them. They aren't going anywhere soon, but they will be augmented.

Finally, I have to point out that I purchased all of these items at a local specialty ski shop, but its not the only ski equipment that I've owned. I've tried to save a few bucks using the big chain stores, and its not worth it, at least for me. I skied with boots that were at least a size too big, and skis that were far too soft, until I found somewhere that actually knew what they were talking about. In my case, I trust the ladies and gentlemen of The Ski Shop in Colorado Springs (http://www.theskishopinc.com/). Everyone there knows their stuff, and will try to solve every problem. You might not like the solution, but that's the way it works sometimes.

The point of the above paragraph is this: I may spend slightly more for my equipment, but I have complete faith in what I'm using. If something goes tits up, I know that its me, and that's important. So, I would suggest that you find somewhere that you trust, and get to know them. Don't try and beat them to death on price, rather look at what you're getting. I know that in my case, its worth everything I pay.

Welcome and "Why are we here?"

Welcome to my new little corner of the web.

I guess that I finally gave in and joined the latest Internet craze. Which is funny, when you think about it. I mean, I work with computers for too many hours a day, and I've worked on a number of Internet technology projects through the years. So, I have to ask why I've decided to spend even more time on this Interweb thingy.

Well, I can tell you what this won't be about. There will be no mention of the work that I do. OK, maybe I need to amend that, my work won't be a focus of this blog. I may mention work, but only as it relates to the real subjects of this blog. Work is something that I do to pay for the two big pursuits in my life at the moment: golf and skiing. Living in Colorado, I have the opportunity to indulge in both, sometimes together. Well, not exactly together (because I would look silly trying to ski around a golf course, or trying to chase a golf ball down a ski slope), but during the same time of the year.

So, there you have it. This will be my online diary of golf and skiing adventures and thoughts. Some of them will be inane, some will be thought provoking (probably thoughts along the lines of "what were you thinking") and some will be (hopefully) interesting. I might add a few other little insights, but I'm hoping to keep this mainly on-topic. Oh, there probably will be pictures, scans and links. Look them over and let me know what you think.

Now you know why I'm here, but I don't know why you are. Only you can answer that question, but I would like to know why you are. I'll leave this open to comments, so maybe you can let me know. I hope to follow along with me on this journey. Who knows how long it will last, and where it will go. It could be an interesting ride.

Please feel free to comment on the things that you see, but please make them constructive. I know that I suck at both sports, and if that's all you've got to say, my response will probably be along the lines of "thanks for the info - next."