From beaver creek 2010

Last week I took a few days off and went to Beaver Creek, CO which is right next to Vail. A buddy of mine had a house for a few days so it was a good opportunity to get in a little skiing. Even though Kay doesn’t ski she came along too for some R & R.

I got in Thursday afternoon we picked up ski’s and headed west on 70 to the mountains. We got to Beaver Creek just before dark made a stop at the grocery store and cranked up the hot tub, after adding a little water, and got ready for hitting the slopes in the morning. The picture on the right is sunset from the condo, a great start to a excellent trip.

Friday we were left around nine parked at the Bear lot and headed for the bus, unfortunately we were a little light. When packing the car we had forgot the ski polls so we headed back, luckily the house was only 10 minutes away. Back with everything in hand we headed to the Beaver Creek Lodge to get on the mountain.

It was a light day as there was a beginner in the group so after some teaching time we were off. We spent the day off the Centennial lift on runs like Cinch, Lagatigo, Gold Dust and and a few others. You can see the trail map on Beaver Creek’s site. We didn’t want to over due it the first day so we stopped about three and headed in for a beer.

Weather was excellent in the 20s, wind was light and snow was predicted that night. Back at the house we changed to head out for dinner at the Gore Range Brew Pub, a micro brewery in Edwards just a few miles away. We finished off the night with a dip in the hot tub before turning in.

Saturday we woke up to snow and it was a little cooler. On the mountain visibility was not good but the skiing was excellent again. We skied mostly on the Arrowhead mountain side on runs like Cabin Feaver, Springtooth, Little Brave and Golden Bear as it cleared up after lunch. Kay and a friend made it about 2pm as it was a slow drive on 70 due to the weather. We stayed in for dinner had pasta and another dip in the hot tub. Tomorrow is the NFL playoffs Bears vs Packers and Steelers vs Jets. No skiing Sunday we’d take a day off and get back out Monday before heading home Tuesday.

The weather on Monday was the best yet as was the skiing. We took a few runs up the Drink of Water lift, we hadn’t been there yet, hit Redtail a couple times and then made are way over to Arrowhead again . Some excellent runs over there where a few have short mogul sections, about 100 feet, that I took a stab at. It was a great day as the sun was out and temp was in the upper 20’s with a little wind.

It was my first trip to Beaver Creek and I’d recommend it to anyone. Snow was excellent, runs were great, people are friendly and prices reasonable. We did take advantage of a good deal on ski rental in Denver at Colorado Sports Rent. It was the first time I didn’t rent close to the mountain. Luckily there were no problems with equipment ski’s and boots were new for about half the price of demo’s at the mountain. Can’t wait to get to Breckenridge at the end of February, hopefully the weather is just as good.