Colorado 2023-2024 Colorado Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[Kite Pilot]

I was skiing at Loveland today too. As you say it was very nice, much better than I expected. I skied only Chet's, some nice new and blown in snow in places. The blown in stuff on upper OTR was expecially good in the morning.

 

[Tex]

I’m skiing Winter Park today, Sun, Mon and Tue. Just got in last night from Taos. If anyone wants to make some turns let me know. I’ll be skiing bumps, and I ski them slow. I also want to hike and ski the Cirque, would love to do that with some skitalkers.

I might take a bump lesson. Looks like we got a little fresh last night, and 8 inches expected Monday.

 

[Doug Briggs]

I had an unexpectedly fun day today at Breck. I was demoing a pair of Peak 88 176cm skis courtesy of a fellow SkiTalker. He saw I was looking for a second person to join me in buying 2 pairs of Peak skis in their 2 for 1 deal and offered them up. I expected the skis to perform and be fun. The unexpected part was that the lines were moderate (no more than a 5 minute wait, usually less) and the skiing was spindrift fresh just about everywhere.

Imperial only opened quite briefly and upper 8 and 7 didn't open at all (by 2 pm.) I don't see any evidence that it opened after that (binoculars off back porch.)


First lift ride. First chair even!


Bald Mt (aka Baldy)


First run on Outlaw was very pleasant the exit by Picnic Table was a delight.



The Peaks skied just like the ski I was looking for. These were mounted with Tyrlolia Progressor GW demo bindings; the toe height is ~28 mm, the heel ~32 mm. I'm not a ramp angle weenie; I found this setup worked great. They were tuned to 1 and 2 with a mild structure. 129/89/108 with an 18.9 m radius. The Peak 88s are easy to turn and would make stable GS turns at speed and SL-like turns as well. It could brush turns with great predictability and was a delight to ski in all ways. I was impressed with it's ability to remain calm at speed given this is a short ski for me.

If anyone is sold by my review and wants to go in with me to get 2 pairs for the price of 1 ($500 a pair) let me know soon. The deal goes through (or thru) April 1st:


The 88 is a SkiTalk Tester's Choice ski as well.

My conditions went from untracked groomer to wind-refilled and wind-packed powder. Some of that powder was a bit lumpy underneath, the rest was on nice smooth base. In all conditions the ski instilled confidence with predictable turns, excellent grip and a responsiveness that said 'I know what to do but you can show me, too'. Unlike many performance skis that demand your attention at every moment, these allowed you to choose a line and execute it with ease. The only short-coming, if you can call it that, is that when not on edge they didn't track straight but they weren't squirrelly either.

In contrast, I swapped the Peaks with a pair of the '25 Fischer Curv GT Redesign 175 cm that my ski partner had out. These were the antithesis of the Peaks. There was a race plate under the Fischer Z16s; Chuck likes a 3mm delta so that's what they had. They are basically a race construction ski with all mountain dimensions: 133/85/118, 15m radius. These were 'factory' tuned to .75 and 3. These skis wanted to rail their turns and while they were willing to let you change turn shape, they weren't ready to brush a turn. At. All. These were skis that you had to rule although they took input well, they didn't offer much variety in turn type; arc 'em or park 'em. These are made with a plethora of recycled materials; TI, edge material and more. This is something that Fischer is taking seriously. You may notice that the Ranger line has mismatched bases (in a pair) so the die-cut lettering from one can be used in the other ski thus reducing waste p-tex.

 

[dbostedo]

Looks like I'm probably skiing BC Sunday, if anyone is going to be out that way and wants to make a few turns, let me know.

Change of plans... will be at Vail tomorrow.

 

[BC.]

Change of plans... will be at Vail tomorrow.

Was at Vail today….BSB was where it was at. Not as warm…Snow was much lighter/…..had boot top in the trees…was a lot of fun.

Front side on the way back home was nice/and slushy….cream corn skiing..

 

[BC.]

Happy Easter….will be our last day at Breckenridge.

From our day at Vail yesterday and our traditional pic of “our trail”…..lol.

 

[Wannabeskibum]

Two good days of skiing so far on this trip. Saturday - sun was out for a while but Imperial was closed due to the heavy southwest winds. T-bar terrain was quite nice as was Mineshaft on E-chair. Today Imperial was open early so we hit George’s Thumb and survived wind loaded snow on the entry to a soft descent into the boundary chutes - back to the t-bar and Brills did not disappoint either. Stampede was not as good as yesterday as the snow seemed to set up some. After lunch we lapped the E-chair getting into Windows 2, inferno, and mineshaft (which still had great snow).

 

[Tex]

Skied the Cirque yesterday at Winter Park for the first time. I should have probably went with someone, but I saw 1 diamond options and said to myself “It can’t be too bad, right?”





Glad I did it, it was really cool, and not that scary. According to Strava I dropped in between 5 (West Headwall) and 6 (The Cowboys). Here are my lines on Strava…







The hike clip is not long…



Then the view is awesome. I head booms all day as well, double booms…I lost count after about 15 booms.

And I was wondering why so many people waaaaay down there. See the little dot, people way down there? I’m asking myself these questions as I’m skiing down there.





So be’n Texan and all, I ask everyone the dumb question “Why yall standing around??” I had know idea snow cat picked you up. It was not that dumb of question, the guys behind me didn’t know either.



I could see the snow cat far away, and I’m thinking this is going to take forever, I figured it could not take that many people.



But then I saw that big sled, wow so cool!! And they got everyone on with seats to spare. I guess this it cheating?








You want a window seat like flying on a plan.



Few more pix of my journey down…



Pic below, West Headwall (5) on the right, you could stay high left or go straight along the ridge there past West Headwall (5) which is what I did… I went for a better view, went past first set of rocks/cliffs and dropped in.



Pic below my line I picked, a chute between rocks.



Pic below from the bottom looking up.



Then I stayed high left and pix below are the second line I took and journey down.




When you see this, you know you are getting close to the Eagle Wind lift.

 

[Tex]

I’m sure @Jerez is gonna probably get mad at me for cheating and taking the snow cat.

 

[Jerez]

Nonsense. No need to waste energy poling and skating when you can hitch a ride! Have fun.

 

[mikel]

wow when did they start using a sled? Has it been that long since I've been there? I think I paid $20 add on for the cirque but it was not a sled. It was a long rope tow that everyone hung onto.

When I did the steep and deep or steep and trees (what ever it was called then) camp they used alphabet chutes.

 

[mikel]

Imperial only opened quite briefly and upper 8 and 7 didn't open at all (by 2 pm.) I don't see any evidence that it opened after that (binoculars off back porch.)

.

Nice pics. Weather has been weird the last few days. Sat was a beautiful, but breezy, day. !st day of the season for me that made me think it was time to switch wax. I was struggling trying to skate with sticky snow. Copper also experienced wind holds and closures. It was still 43 degrees at 5:30 p.m. Neither Fri or yesterday could make up it's mind if it was going to snow or be sunny. More sun on Fri and more very wet snow yesterday.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Today I had expected to quit early. I just wanted another day on the Peak 88s and thought it'd be firm, which I wanted to test them on; the other day wasn't that firm. Today it was firm (refrozen corduroy under edge deep fresh) and they held an edge like there was no tomorrow. I'm in love and really need this ski.

So after bombing the groomers as best my achy knees would allow, I ventured onto T-bar where there was more blown in snow than below. The undersurface had gotten wet and was kinda of crunchy, but it was mostly smooth small bumps under the fresh, not the usual deep troughs. All the snow we've been getting in fits and starts has filled things in nicely. 5 runs in Outlaw, Rustler, Cucumber and Humbug were a blast. Humbug was a real surprise bonus (x2).

As soon as Imperial was open I was on it. A couple of laps with very firm exposed refreeze near the top yielded to pretty uniform and smooth with a frosting of fresh lower down (after the rock island in the middle near the lift). On my second run, Whale's Tail opened so I hit George's right off the bat. It was about as smooth as can be with 3 - 5 inches of wind deposited snow. A bit crusty but both I and the Peaks were up to the task. 3rd or 4th tracks. I followed a patroller down to the gate from North Bowl to Lower 7 Bowl where he dropped the rope and I got first tracks on Forget Me Not. I was loving life.

The next run I ventured out to Powder 8s and down CJs. I was near the first of the pack and got some sweet turns in. Again the wind had deposited snow and there was a manageable crust. Another run was an 8s to Y-variation and an 8s to CJs to Magic Carpet followed. Nice flight. I finished on George's and Boundary Chute. A great morning.


The sun had been in and out with periods of snow. I took advantage of the light to get (yet another) photo of Baldy.


Imperial tracked out fast but if you weren't first it was actually getting better with time; less chunky.

 

[Tex]

wow when did they start using a sled? Has it been that long since I've been there? I think I paid $20 add on for the cirque but it was not a sled. It was a long rope tow that everyone hung onto.

I don’t know, but I’m sure the ski patrols like it because the cat takes you aaaaaaall the wayaround the area that is closed, they don’t want anyone tempted to just ski down to avoid the 20 minute walk.

Yesterday I I hiked as far as a could, my line below follows the ski patrol out of bounds rope all the way down, ski patrols pick the best lines.



Below is where I dropped in and pics of my journey down…








This rock has to be legendary, should be called “Waterfall Rock”…




Lots of places to catch air down Waterfall…


My last day skiing in winter park, about to head out.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Another splendid morning. I started a bit late due to indecision and laziness.


First lift view of 7 and 8.

Whale's Tail had just opened as I was on T-bar so my first run of the day was CJ's. An interesting layering of 4" fresh over yesterday's sunwarmed with a firm under layer made skiing pretty nice and moderately predictable.


Pretty nice on CJ's. It has all filled in and reduced the distinction between runs.


Grays and Torreys.


A break in the trees.

Snow falling out of the trees.


Some days I can ski a lot more than other days. Today was one of the latter. :-|

 

[nay]

 

[nay]

A couple of days over the weekend, fairly mellow with the off-piste crispy and enough cloud cover to keep it that way. One must try, though, for the good-for-you snow.



ms nay ^, and in second pic with daughter-of-nay and bf-of-daughter-of-nay who is an expert snowboarder who has just decided to wing it and try tele.



CB was gorgeous with a couple inches of warming cream and I doubt 100 people on the mountain. Warm cord is kinda fun this time of year.





And the Bad Girl.

 

[nay]

Get those sunny spring days under your belt - another wind and dust event headed our way as many resorts in the southern part of the state close on Sunday, including Crested Butte. Storm as a lot of energy, right now reading to favor the northern mountains based on storm track.

 

[Tex]

My last day at winter park was Tuesday, I put in a full day of skiing then drove back to Texas, and worked Wednesday. Wanted to post about my last day, just now had the chance.

I been sking the Cirque once a day, but the first run was so sweet hitting first tracks, and I had to do another lap and hitting the same line again. I flirted with the east boundary this time. Shorter and easier, but it was sweet. Strava below, are the lines I took. First line was right down boundary line. Second line, after talking to the cat driver (Nathan) he said it was ok to go right after the last closed sign, so that is what I did on the second line to hit first tracts.



This was pic of my first line on the left (east), my second line I took it further left, going left after the last out of bounds sign, which is right at the top of those little trees/rocks…



Below is a pic of my line first line (on left) going up Eagle Wind lift.



To do a Cirque lap, you have to take Eagle Wind lift, ski down to Panoramic Lift, then catch the Cirque cat (or do the 20 minute walk).


I ski bummed winter park 1983 to 1985, it was only Iron Horse and Challenger back then. Still I will say my favorite bump run is Mulligans Mile in winter park side, that is the legendary bump run, and I will say the nicest bumps. I made that my first run of the trip, and it was sweet with some fresh..



Take it right down to Arrow lift, cut left and catch the Explorer lift and do it again…

 

[DerKommissar]

Winter Park was the first resort I skied out west after growing up skiing in the Mid Atlantic. I had come back after a 20 year lay off, from straight skis to parabolic, from 195 mm to 150 somethings. It was my first taste of skiing as exploration, and there was so much to explore at that resort once I was ready for the blues again. That was 5 years ago, and I'd really like to go back now that I can ski off piste and get into places like Eagle Wind and the Cirque. WP will always be magical to me, but I'm trapped in the Vail ecosystem now. Thanks, Tex, for the tour of the places I could not get to on my visits.