Stormy Copper

Skywatch Friday

Storm King

The top lift in this Skywatch Friday photo is Storm King, and it lived up to its name on this windy day. I was skiing Copper Mountain at about 12,000 feet (3,650 meters) elevation when I took this photo.

Copper!

It's ski season, and so far it's shaping up to be a good one. Since I have a phone I can take photos anywhere!

There's lots of snow in the mountains.

There's nothing like a day on the slopes at Copper Mountain, and getting home in time for dinner!

Our World Tuesday

Closing Weekend

Last weekend was closing weekend at Copper Mountain, my resort of choice. With three feet of new snow in the previous week I had to get out there, and that's exactly what I did on Saturday. This late in the season the tourists are missing (all photos are taken with my phone).

A couple of inches of new snow overnight meant that the spring ice was nicely covered up. (The warm spring sunshine means that the snow melts during the day and freezes overnight, so conditions can be very icy in the morning this time of year.)

They're closing with the most snow of the season, not unusual here in Colorado. I'll finish up the ski season with a shot from an advanced, above-timberline run from Saturday morning.

Skywatch Friday

More Skiing!

We had some fresh snow in the mountains and I had Friday off, so it was time for a ski day at Copper Mountain Resort. Maybe some steep above timberline bowl skiing looks attractive? I was about 12,300 feet (3,750 meters) above sea level when I took out the phone for this photo.

Or possibly going through the trees in a few inches of fresh powder is more your style?

Either way it made for a great ski day, and the phone means I could take a couple of photos for Skywatch Friday too.

Another Ski Day

I'll never tire of the mountain scenery when I ski (usually at Copper Mountain Resort), and the photos makes for a great Skywatch Friday post. This past Saturday it looked like this (all shots taken on my cellphone).

This was one of my morning runs.

And on this day, the liftlines looked like this! I feel very lucky to be able to ski here and be home in time for dinner.

Morning Shadows

When skiing last weekend, the view and shadows here struck me as worthy of a quick Skywatch Friday cell-phone snap. There's even a chairlift tower in the middle.

First Ski Day!

The snow hasn't been great this year, so I've been waiting to head up to Copper to ski. But I made the trip on Saturday, and despite the holiday-weekend crowds had fun and took a couple of shots with the cell-phone. The rope in the lower-left of the photo marks in-bound terrain.

I managed to stay away from most of the people. It's always nice to be in the mountains!

Our World Tuesday

Another Great Ski Day

The calendar may say spring, but I went skiing again yesterday - there's been two feet of new snow at the ski areas in the last week so the conditions were great on the mountain (although the powder was skied off). And there weren't any crowds - I didn't wait in a lift line once!

Let's go down this trail and see what it looks like.

Steep! (If you don't know about trail signs, a double-diamond is an expert-only run.)

I'll never tire of mountain views in the winter, and where better to get them than on the slopes?

Final statistics according to my GPS watch: 31.8 miles (51.2 km) covered including chairlift rides, maximum speed 33.84 MPH (54.46 kph). And lots of space to move!

Blue Monday

Our World Tuesday

Seasons
Signs Signs

Another Ski Day

I went skiing again on Saturday - it's been wonderful to get back into this sport that I love. I felt comfortable enough this time to go into the trees.

I love the views from the top.

Here's an old chairlift I rode up. There's not even a safety bar on this one; it's on the advanced side of the mountain so anybody riding it would presumably be comfortable without one. (These days most chairlifts are detachable high-speed lifts, but there are a few older ones at the resorts.)

And more views, this time as the wind was kicking up and some weather moving in.

My GPS watch shows exactly where I went and gives me statistics. Total distance covered (trails and lifts): 28.73 miles (46.24 km). Maximum elevation above sea level: 12,275 feet (3.74 km). Highest speed: 35.27 miles per hour (56.76 kph). I can even see an online map with full details.

Blue Monday

Our World Tuesday

Copper Mountain

I went skiing for the first time in over 10 years on Saturday, thanks to a promotional season pass for Copper Mountain Resort. (All photos are taken with my old point-and-shoot camera as I didn't want to ski with the big one.)

It was a perfect blue-sky Colorado day and I couldn't imagine anything I'd rather be doing. I had an absolute blast and I'm sure I'll be out several more times this winter.

After a few rusty turns it all came back and it was like I never took a ten-year break.

Which way should I go? (For non-skiers, in the U.S.A. black-diamond runs are classified "most difficult" or "expert terrain"; the only higher classification is "experts only".)

Let's try some moguls.

I went down this run.

There were no cliffs, but a couple of moderately steep stretches.

Blue Monday

Our World Tuesday

Arapahoe Basin

Ski areas are a big part of life in parts of Colorado, so here are a few photos of one for the great and wide-ranging My World Tuesday meme. This is Arapahoe Basin, one of the higher and steeper ski areas in the state.

Some of the ski area is above treeline.

And some of it is very steep. People ski everything you see here, including the very challenging terrain to the right of the lift.

I haven't skied in a few years, but really want to start again.

Loveland Pass

For Valentine's Day, it seems appropriate to post about Loveland Pass. For those unfamiliar with high-altitude terrain, roads usually cross mountain ranges at the lowest possible points, which are known as passes. This is true in Colorado, where there are few east-west roads leading across the mountains, and all the passes are fairly high in elevation. Coming back from Keystone we drove across Loveland pass, elevation 11,990 feet (3,655 meters) above sea level. That means that there are mountains rising on both sides of the road at this elevation, the highest point on the road but the lowest between the mountains.

The warning about avalanche blasting is real - this road is regularly closed by avalanches, and skiers and snowboarders die here on the open terrain, most recently just a few weeks ago. The amount of snow by the side of the road illustrates the extreme weather here in the winter. In places the snow was 20 feet (6 meters) high, particularly where avalanches had crossed the road and been cleared.

Nevertheless, the road is open year-round, except when blasting is being done to cause avalanches, or when an unexpected avalanche goes across the road it will be closed until it can be cleared (usually a few hours). The snow and scenery make for a gorgeous drive.

Well down the pass on the west side sits the Arapahoe Basin Ski and Snowboard Area. More photos of that in a future post.

Obviously these mountain passes are important in an area like Colorado, so the state tries to keep them open except in the worst weather. For parts of other peoples' worlds visit the My World Tuesday meme. And have a great Valentine's Day!

If you found this interesting, I've posted in the past about Hoosier Pass which goes over the mountains, and the main east-west road through Colorado, Interstate 70, which goes under them at one point to avoid the worst terrain.