After reading about the big freeze that was taking a firm grip on Europe and the UK, it was finally my turn to get some snow and cold weather action. Unlike last year, the winter here in Indiana has been very mild with probably only a couple of days of snow (this still causes me to get excited like a little kid). To get my fix of the weather I headed to Winter Park, Colorado with some friends. Not a bad destination for your first skiing trip …
As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, I’d already got all of my skiing gear together and, although I looked like a low budget ninja, was all set for the go. After work was finished for the weekend on the Friday morning, and loading all the bags into the now legendary Impala, we headed for the airport. Indianapolis airport is a strange affair, as the the economy parking lot is always mentally packed with cars yet I’ve never seen anything approaching a queue of people inside of the airport (yes I know they’re probably in the air).
Getting to Colorado involved a couple of flights: firstly into Kansas and then following the yellow brick road to Denver. Once landed in Denver we had to pick up the rental car (no Mustang planned this time) and then complete a 2 hour drive; luckily we gained 2 hours in our day due to the shift in time zones …
The flights were both very smooth and in all I had a great experience with Sou
thwest (they’re the US equivalent of EasyJet or Ryanair). I was able to sleep on the flights; something that is becoming scarily easy for me whenever I’m doing any travelling. It must be the age creeping up on me … soon I’ll be nodding off on escalators. My childlike reaction to seeing a tornado shelter at Kansas airport belied my 26 years however.
So, we finally arrived at Denver airport where it was COLD. So much for global warming. Luggage was collected and the car picked up from the rental office: a Lincoln Town Car. Anybody that has ever been to the US will know that these things are everywhere (especially around airports). They have two types of typical occupants: limo/cab drivers and old people. The front seats were huge leather beasts and nicely heated so I was able to distract my arse from the impending cold that it would inevitably be feeling when I hit the ski slopes over the next few days. As we arrived closer to Winter Park and made our way through the winding mountains, the temperature was dropping as our elevation was rising which in turn made my ears pop. At one point I saw on the thermometer that it was minus 17degC, and the road surfaces would not have been ideal for our rear wheel drive Lincoln! However, Chris did a great job of getting us there through the inclement weather. On arriving at the condo, I unpacked and then fell asleep on the couch only to wake up midway through the night and notice that everyone had gone to bed. D’oh.
On our first full day, I cooked some pancakes for breakfast and then we all made sandwiches to take with us. All I needed was a Capri Sun and maybe cut my crusts off the bread and it would have been like going back to school – especially with gloves fastened to my coat to make sure they didn’t run away. We then 
headed off to cross country skiing at a nearby resort. Firstly let me say that before the trip I was really excited about skiing. I’d never been before and, as I had no intention of taking lessons, decided to just jump into it. Cross Country skiing is not the thing to do. Ignoring the fact that it took us 20 mins to get the skis on (some longer than others, naming no names), once you are actually up and on the snow it’s just a really inefficient way of walking on snow! I know that I clearly wasn’t doing it right and had all the grace of a blindfolded giraffe on ice, but still. The scenery around the area was beautiful though and, with the ease and frequency that I kept falling over onto my back, I’m able to confirm that the sky was very blue.
We ate lunch at the chalet of the cross country ski area, and I had the awesome bread bowl chilli that was perfect in taking my mind off a disastrous preceding couple of hours. The chef/cook there was also keen for us to have his bread pudding. When I say keen, I mean proper keen. I was convinced that it was a euphemism, especially when his offer of bread pudding was continuously expressed with a wink and cheesy grin and he was obsessed talking about it. However, the bread pudding was just bread pudding (and it was very good) and everyone was able to get on with their day. All of the food was awesome there and at a good price (I’m not being paid for that advert). After lunch
we continued to (try to) ski, which ultimately ended up with me going the wrong way down what should have been a small incline and then faceplanting into 24 inches of fresh powder snow. Refreshing. Even Bambi would have been pissing himself watching me as I struggled to get up. After a couple of falls from the rest of the group our time was conveniently up and we headed back to the resort.
That night I got my first taste of ski lifts and down hill skiing as we stopped somewhere that offered night time skiing. This was fun and I much preferred the feel of this ski equipment to the cross country stuff; probably because I didn’t feel like I was going to break an ankle with every fall. Nope, the only thing I managed to break over the whole weekend on downhill skiing was my dignity, but we’ll come to that later. One thing I did notice with the night skiing was just how clear the sky was and how visible the stars were: it reminded me of being back in Utah and driving between Moab and Salt Lake City, only this time it was a bazillion times colder.
Day two started with an early(ish) snowmobiling session which was inc
redible. We had fairly low power machines but I was still able to get up to 50mph on some stretches and the scenery was just amazing. I’d never seen so much snow!! Our tour guide actually told us that this year they have 70% of their average snow fall and only have ONE THIRD of what fell last year. The best view from the whole excursion was when we reached our furthermost point: on the left we had a great view of the Rocky mountains and to the right we had the Continental Divide (the point at which natural water either drains to the Atlantic on the East Coast or the Pacific on the West Coast).
In the afternoon we thought we’d try out a natural hot springs. This place was weird as not only was I outside in the freezing cold, semi naked, basically sharing a hot bath with strangers, I also paid to do it. Here are some of the standout points for me;
- it cost me $2 to rent what was effectively a hand towel.
- there were 10 people/strangers crammed into something the size of a bath tub and there was always some know all commenting on the health benefits or just some guy grunting in the corner.
- the lockers were the same size as the ones you’d have from school swimming lessons, except obviously now all my clothes and shoes are a lot bigger.
- much like school swimming lessons, there was an old naked guy walking around the changing rooms (JOKES)
- my swim shorts now stink of egg/sulphur.
After making an escape from the hot-spring-spa-but-may-also-be-a-swingers-club we showered back at the condo then went for dinner at a local pizza place that was covered in decorated/graffiti dollar bills. Our table even had a Union Jack on it! I’ve been told that on the last estimate there was $30,000 worth of money on the walls and tables where the bills are used like a wallpaper. The pizza was also very good here, although I didn’t get to sample dessert.
The final day in Colorado was spent actually in Winter Park resort and 
on the downhill slopes. I was looking forward to it although also a little nervous about it. This feeling wasn’t exactly helped by the amount of people we saw coming down the slopes on Mountain Rescue sleds … Still, I signed the waiver to say that I was ultimately responsible for my impending injury/death, paid my money and was kitted out. We also rented a GoPro camera, so I actually have some footage of myself skiing and inevitably falling over.
After a few goes of practicing what can loosely be described as a snow plough, we headed up the slopes. The view from the ski lift was amazing with the snow below looking like whipped cream or a meringue topping as it lay beneath the towering trees. When we reached the summit there was a wicked wind that was blowing snow directly into us; it was funny to see some smaller kids enable to over come the force of it and were just trickling down the hill. I saw it as a kind of payback for the way they show you up. There’s nothing more degrading than falling over when just trying to slow yourself down, and then a little 3 feet high speed demon comes zooming by without even using poles! What I didn’t know was how much energy you consume just trying to lift yourself off the ground when you’ve gone down; it’s exhausting! That assumes that you can do it still with the skis on … if you have to take them off then I ended up chasing them across the slopes. One video that I’ve edited down and posted below shows me failing miserably in trying to slow down. Once I’m down amid a cloud of snow, two people come to help and pick up my equipment. One is a full grown man and the other, embarrassingly, is one of the 3 feet high speed demons as he kindly/smugly asks “Are you ok?!”.
Overall I think I did ok (for my first attempt). One thing for sure is that it was an awesome vacation holiday and Colorado is probably one of my favourite places I’ve been so far … I can only imagine how fun and beautiful it is in the summer months.
I have plenty more video and photos that I will upload in due course … so pop back later!
