After my last trip to Monarch, I decided that I needed to have someone take a look at my boots. I'm sure that's not the entire problem with my skiing this year, but something isn't right with my boots. So, off I went. Kevin is the "boot guru" at the shop, but Rick (the owner) is no slouch either. I have been told that Mondays and Tuesdays are the quiet days and, therefore, are the best days to get some serious attention. Of course, that wasn't the case when I showed up there.
Kevin wasn't working on Tuesday, but Rick took a look. I explained the problem as best I could, but what I'm feeling isn't easy to describe. I mean, its not as though there's a single problem. Sometimes, I feel like I'm sitting back, and other times, it feels like my weight is too far forward. Sometimes, it feels like there's not enough room in the front of my boots, other times, it feels like the back of my foot is cramped. Easy to diagnose? I think not.
Anyway, Rick put in some heel lifts, in an effort to keep my weight more consistent.
Off I went to Ski Cooper the next day. I haven't een there this year. Ski Cooper is a small area, and there's not a lot of difficult terrain. It is, however, very quiet during the week and a very good place to work on technique or try out equipment. You can easily keep skiing the same terrain, and make changes as you need to.
As it hadn't snowed in a few days, I decided to break out the Volkls. They're more of a "hard snow" ski, and that's what I found. In fact, I found generally "hard packed" snow. There's not a lot of ice at Colorado resorts, as the moisture contents of the snow isn't high enough. What you can get, though, is heavily compressed and packed snow. The skis edges can still get a good grip, but its not fluffy and soft. That's what there was at Cooper.
I spent most of the day lapping a number of Cooper's black runs, interspersed by blues. That might sound like a breakthrough, but there are blue runs at Monarch that are steeper and more difficult than the blacks at Cooper. Remember, the run designations are only relative to each other at a single area.
Were things any better with the boots? Not really. I felt a little more consistent with my weight distribution, but it was consistently too far forward. On top of that, I still can't find a way to adjust the boots to give me enough control over the skis, and still feel my feet after about 10 mins. Oh well.
Did I have fun? Yes, I did. I have fun every time I hit the slopes (well almost). Did I get the most out of the day? Probably not. Did I learn something? Yes. Did I work on some new techniques? I did.
I ended up working on larger radius turns. I seem to have gotten into the habit of making very quick, short turns and staying in the fall line an awful lot. That's a good way to ski, but it leads to high speeds. There are times, however, that I want to slow the pace. For instance, when I reach steeper terrain that I'm not comfortable with, its useful to widen out the turns a little, and spend a little more time traversing. I put in a couple of runs where I tried to use more of the slope in sections, and then tighten up the radius of the turns in other sections. Sometimes, you just need to mix things up a little.
On the subject of the boots, I still need to find out what the problem is. When I got back, I removed the heel lifts. They aren't answer. I guess that I need another trip back to the Ski Shop. I will say one thing, though. This is why I recommend using a good shop. I can go back there as many times as I need, and they will work out what the problem is. They have a 2 year boot fit guarantee. There is no problem with making adjustments, and they're as committed to getting this right as I am. Somehow, I can't see the assistants at somewhere like Sports Authority being anywhere near as interested.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Ski Trip Report 5 - Monarch 1/06/07
If it's a Saturday, it must be time to head to Monarch. Right?
Well, it seemed that way. So, off I went. I'd missed the real powder day, which was the Friday. The kids were off school, and Nikki had to work. Luckily, there wasn't a lot of snow in Woodland Park (a few inches), but Monarch got more than a foot. It was also the end of the Christmas holiday and I was hoping that most of the tourists would've headed home. No such luck.
For the first time, I only loaded one set of skis into the car. It took me an extra half hour to get to the ski area, as I got stuck behind slower traffic. Once I got there, things weren't so bad, I guess.
There was a good coverage of new snow in most places, but it had already been skied on quite a bit. There was nothing that looked like untracked powder. In fact, all of the green runs, and most of the blues had been groomed, which was still a little disappointing. I guess that it was still holiday season.
I did get some good runs in, but I'm still struggling. I still don't feel like I can effectively control both my weight and my skis, which is rather annoying. I'm also having problems keeping my feet warm, and stopping my toes from "going to sleep". I can't decide whether its a technique issue, or an equipment issue. I'm guessing that its a combination of both. In the end, I think that I need to o and see the folks at the Ski Shop to look at the boots, and probably book a lesson or two. Let's see where that takes us.
Anyway, there were no problems with getting up the driveway today, which is a good thing. It has to be said, the adventure last week was one of the more embarassing things that's happened since we've lived here. Oh well, everyone gets to screw up once in a while. I guess that I did it when everyone could see. I am still alive, though. In the end, there was no lasting damage.
Well, it seemed that way. So, off I went. I'd missed the real powder day, which was the Friday. The kids were off school, and Nikki had to work. Luckily, there wasn't a lot of snow in Woodland Park (a few inches), but Monarch got more than a foot. It was also the end of the Christmas holiday and I was hoping that most of the tourists would've headed home. No such luck.
For the first time, I only loaded one set of skis into the car. It took me an extra half hour to get to the ski area, as I got stuck behind slower traffic. Once I got there, things weren't so bad, I guess.
There was a good coverage of new snow in most places, but it had already been skied on quite a bit. There was nothing that looked like untracked powder. In fact, all of the green runs, and most of the blues had been groomed, which was still a little disappointing. I guess that it was still holiday season.
I did get some good runs in, but I'm still struggling. I still don't feel like I can effectively control both my weight and my skis, which is rather annoying. I'm also having problems keeping my feet warm, and stopping my toes from "going to sleep". I can't decide whether its a technique issue, or an equipment issue. I'm guessing that its a combination of both. In the end, I think that I need to o and see the folks at the Ski Shop to look at the boots, and probably book a lesson or two. Let's see where that takes us.
Anyway, there were no problems with getting up the driveway today, which is a good thing. It has to be said, the adventure last week was one of the more embarassing things that's happened since we've lived here. Oh well, everyone gets to screw up once in a while. I guess that I did it when everyone could see. I am still alive, though. In the end, there was no lasting damage.
Ski Trip Report 4 - Monarch 12/30/06
So, having almost recovered from the fun of the great "Holiday Blizzard of 06", as the news reports around here started calling it, we were hit with another big storm almost a week later. In the case of Woodland Park, that meant more snow than the first time around (about 2 feet) and more headaches. The storm rolled in on the Thursday night before New Years, and shut everything down on Friday. By late on Friday, the storm had passed and the road crews seemed to be getting on top of things. The fact is, though, that there's only so many places that you can push all the snow we'd had. There was a huge pile of snow at the bottom of our drive, which appeared to be almost as tall as I am (not that that's difficult), and the roads in the neighbourhood looked more like alleys. So, why is he talking about the roads? I'll get to that.
Given the road conditions (icy and snow packed - can you imagine that!), I "stole" Nikki's Lincoln Aviator, instead of taking my Audi. Not that the Audi is bad in the snow, but the Aviator has higher ground clearance. I thought that would make it easier to get to and from the ski area.
The day itself was a little disappointing. Monarch was reporting about 14 inches of new snow in 48 hours, and I was looking forward to playing in the powder. Unfortunately, there was also a lot of wind, blowing from the lodge, right up the mountain. In fact, it was blowing so hard that they closed one of the lifts (the Garfield) for a good part of the day. Given that the ski area was busy with holiday skiers, that created something of problem with uphill capacity. On top of that, the wind blew all the new snow off the mountain. All in all, it wasn't the best day that I've had on snow.
Anyway, I skied until the almost end of the day, but I wasn't happy. I still don't have complete control of my skis and my weight distribution doesn't feel right. I'll work out what is wrong, but I don't have it yet.
The funniest part of the day, at least if you're not me, was what happened when I got back. For some reason, I felt the need to make some Black Russians (Kahlua and Vodka with a little Coke/Pepsi added in for flavour), so I stopped and picked up some vodka. I will admit to being tired, but that's not really an excuse for what happened next.
As I said, the roads and the driveways were very narrow and snow packed. As I came up the road, I realised that I had to make a late turn into the drive. As I started to turn, I noticed that the snow plows had been around again and deposited a nice little snow bank across the bottom of the drive. It didn't even occur to me that I would high centre the truck on the compressed snow, but that's what I did.
Our drive runs up hill, and there's a slight slope from right to left as well. I got the truck high centred, and the wheels were just spinning. I was annoyed, mainly with myself. I have to admit to placing a rather terse phone call to Nikki, asking whether she could bring shovels down so that I could dig out the truck. At that point, the back end was stuck out in the road, and I'd managed to slide so that the driver's door was right against the huge snow bank. I had to climb out the passenger door. Grumble, grumble, grumble.
Just as I got out, one of the neighbours (Lee) showed up. I'm sure that he was laughing inside, but he did a good job of keeping it to himself. Instead, he helped me dig out enough that I could back out of the drive. Nikki and I completed the clear out of the snow, and I tried to get up the drive again.
Unfortunately, the drive was a great combination of ice covered with hard packed snow. In addition, there was no way for me to get enough momentum, given the tight turn that I had to make into the drive. The result was that I managed to get the truck onto the drive, but that was about it. We abandoned the vehicle there, and completed the job the next day.
All in all, not the best way to end not the best day.
Given the road conditions (icy and snow packed - can you imagine that!), I "stole" Nikki's Lincoln Aviator, instead of taking my Audi. Not that the Audi is bad in the snow, but the Aviator has higher ground clearance. I thought that would make it easier to get to and from the ski area.
The day itself was a little disappointing. Monarch was reporting about 14 inches of new snow in 48 hours, and I was looking forward to playing in the powder. Unfortunately, there was also a lot of wind, blowing from the lodge, right up the mountain. In fact, it was blowing so hard that they closed one of the lifts (the Garfield) for a good part of the day. Given that the ski area was busy with holiday skiers, that created something of problem with uphill capacity. On top of that, the wind blew all the new snow off the mountain. All in all, it wasn't the best day that I've had on snow.
Anyway, I skied until the almost end of the day, but I wasn't happy. I still don't have complete control of my skis and my weight distribution doesn't feel right. I'll work out what is wrong, but I don't have it yet.
The funniest part of the day, at least if you're not me, was what happened when I got back. For some reason, I felt the need to make some Black Russians (Kahlua and Vodka with a little Coke/Pepsi added in for flavour), so I stopped and picked up some vodka. I will admit to being tired, but that's not really an excuse for what happened next.
As I said, the roads and the driveways were very narrow and snow packed. As I came up the road, I realised that I had to make a late turn into the drive. As I started to turn, I noticed that the snow plows had been around again and deposited a nice little snow bank across the bottom of the drive. It didn't even occur to me that I would high centre the truck on the compressed snow, but that's what I did.
Our drive runs up hill, and there's a slight slope from right to left as well. I got the truck high centred, and the wheels were just spinning. I was annoyed, mainly with myself. I have to admit to placing a rather terse phone call to Nikki, asking whether she could bring shovels down so that I could dig out the truck. At that point, the back end was stuck out in the road, and I'd managed to slide so that the driver's door was right against the huge snow bank. I had to climb out the passenger door. Grumble, grumble, grumble.
Just as I got out, one of the neighbours (Lee) showed up. I'm sure that he was laughing inside, but he did a good job of keeping it to himself. Instead, he helped me dig out enough that I could back out of the drive. Nikki and I completed the clear out of the snow, and I tried to get up the drive again.
Unfortunately, the drive was a great combination of ice covered with hard packed snow. In addition, there was no way for me to get enough momentum, given the tight turn that I had to make into the drive. The result was that I managed to get the truck onto the drive, but that was about it. We abandoned the vehicle there, and completed the job the next day.
All in all, not the best way to end not the best day.
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