Leaderboard

2/25/25 Heading over to Copper today for another notch for all of us. Out the door at 7am, planned to meet up with Donny’s friend again later, as he knows the mountain pretty well. The sky is hazy overcast and they’re calling for 1-3” at the mountain today. As we head through the tunnel, light snow started to fall. After booting up, went out the door at the lodge and saw a guy in bump pants sitting at a table drinking a coffee. Turns out it was the bump instructor from Blue who relocated out here 11 years ago. He said they had the competition bump line over on Treble Cliff so we should check it out. He also said to stick to the groomers early bc of the warm weather. Up the Eagle and Excelerator and down Andy’s and Rosi’s. Stopped at Treble Cliff to check out the bump line but they hadn’t yet got to it. Up the Super Bee and met up with Donny’s friend. Made our way down to the Flyer to check out the other side. Down and up the Sierra, we sampled the snow on Revenge which was still pretty good, so we lapped that until lunch. After lunch we made our way into Copper bowl. First run down Matchless was frozen crud due to its aspect. Ran a few runs off Blackjack but the snow wasn’t too hot. Headed up the Three Bears and down Summit Stash that looked pretty good from below. The wind was hurricane force at the top, but the snow was good. Just as we pulled back into the lift, SP was closing off the area. Last run down Western Slope the wind was brutal, but the skiing was great. Other than the wind, we all had a great time at Copper. Dinner was chicken and veggie stir fry.

2/24/25 What would a bump trip be without hitting Winter Park? The other three on the trip have never been and I hadn’t been back since I was out with the wife in the 90’s. The place sure has changed a lot! On the road just after 7 to clear skies and warmish temps but still very windy here but they’re calling for overcast and 1-3” at WP. Up and over the pass, we’re immediately met with falling snow. Looks like a good day! We parked in the Mary Jane area lot as we figured we’d end up there at the end of the day. We planned to meet another Blue skier that the others know later in the day, so since the others have never been here, we’d tour WP side before meeting up. Up the Super Gauge and down groomers to the Olympia in falling snow, the snow and trails were excellent. Got the meetup call, so we didn’t get to spend any time on the WP side, so headed back to MJ. The Panorama was running so we headed up to the peak. We were going to take a lap bc of the line, but decided to wait. Good call bc they shut it down shortly after we got on. The wind was howling up top, but down below there was no wind at all. After lunch it was MJ time and he ugh ton queue the sun come out. I wanted to revisit Trestle in particular bc I accidentally drug the wife down it years ago due to a wrong turn. Never heard the end of that. Trestle was wall to wall, too top to bottom bumps. It’s tucked away so the snow was still very good. The rest of the afternoon was spent picking off runs off Derailer, all of which still had good snow, but temps were on the rise and we all had a helluva workout. Dinner was simply frozen pizza.

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2025/02/23/67-day-week-skiing-we-put-indy/

There could be a few nice, warm night sessions this week. Thursday's looking good for a RAW.

Loveland is the best. It's 99.9% good vibes there. Best ski area breakfast ever too.

Reminds me of when Copper mountain had a Club Med and there was even a movie called Copper mountain starring a young Jim Carrey

yeah it's still listed on their website - I thought it was weekends only when I was there, but I think you were there on a weekend. Maybe due to conditions, they didn't bother running it.

Great TR! Glad you are hitting so many resorts.

He's like 40000mg too deep

Great read, thanks for sharing.

Sick bird !! Loveland is the best, just a dope fucking place to escape the madness and I love driving 70 and oh there's skiers.

Did you tour the Denver Mint?

Arrived to row 3 at 840 to a minimal crowd. Only had 1 ticket window open and wouldn't have been a problem if one person didn't hold it up. Did notice every table inside was taken with boots on them so we expected a school group. On the snow just after 9 and up Iron Horse. First run was Snake to Fast Track. Super nice soft cord and able to slut it up as some would say. Without warning Lower Fast Track turned ungroomed. We stopped and skipped over on Pusher to Lower Runway with was also ungroomed. Besides White Lightning, I believe those were the only 3 ungroomed. The ungroomed was pretty smooth, just firm to start with exposed glacier sections. The buses showed up around 10 but pretty much stayed off Shuttle and Short Haul lifts. Lapped everything up top with Lower Runway-Rattler-Cannonball bottom finish our favorite. Snow was great, grooming could have been better. Not terrible but probably driving too fast with all the cat track marks. Caught @RidgeRacerwhen I was coming out of Rattler and took a couple laps with him after Boo went in. Long Haul was open so had to ride that and did a White Lightning to finish. One thing I wasn't ready for is after loading the Iron Horse chair, it get to 3 inches off the ground in about 15 feet . My knees did not like that and it was awkward to deal with. The other lifts were similar but not as bad as that lift. Soft snow and light crowds always make for a great day. I still don't care for the layout and taking two lifts to the top but it's good for once a season.

Eldora and the whole Indian Peaks Wilderness area always gets super windy. It’s a running locals joke to not even say the word wind while you are there. Glad you got to check it out. It’s a fun little mountain that is super close to Boulder. Those casinos are nothing like AC. Tired little places, went once and never felt the need to return.

2/23/25 Well, going with Loveland yesterday and really avoiding the crowds, we couldn’t believe how empty it was for a Saturday morning, we decided to hit up Eldora which would be another new notch for all of us. Unfortunately the winds have picked up and are forecasted for the next 2 days, at least. I hate the wind! Up and over the pass and down into the town of Black Hawk. This place is a gambler’s dream! There are casinos on every block!! WTF?? Arrived in the lot about 7:30 and the winds was already howling, but it was a warm wind too. Hopefully it wouldn’t affect the snow too much. It was another big race day here too and they had a couple of runs set up with gates already. Chatting with a SP, he suggested staying out on the Corona lift to keep away from all the race activities. Up the Alpenglo and down Around The Horn to get out to Corona area, the snow was perfectly groomed packed powder: fast and edgeable. The plan today was to hit up some woods and from the Corona base the Salto glades and West Ridge looked interesting. Unfortunately when we got to the top they were closed. We dropped into Brian’s glades and they were so crazy tight you couldn’t get a rhythm going, punt! Up the Corona again we chatted up a mountain guide who suggested the Gully Glades. He said there were two entrances, both are good. Stopped at the first entrance and it looked tight as Brian’s, so opted for the second. Gully’s is far more fun. The trees are just a tad more apart and you could get a nice run going. There’s a steep section in the middle that you have to watch for, otherwise a ton of fun and we spend most of the day in there. We went back to the base area for lunch and then went back to Corona. Everyone must have been at lunch, as there was no line at all. Decided to hit the Indian Peak lift just because it was running. No line at all, but slow. Didn’t find anything there so went back to Corona. Up the Corona, we saw they opened up the Salto Glade area, so we headed in to check them out. Out to the West Ridge to the boundary and the wind was howling. The ridge is fucking steep with gigantic bumps. Looking over the edge puckered up the sphincter a bit. Dropped in and the snow was great and had a fun run down the bumps. Called it a day after that workout! Dinner was leftover chicken pot pie and lasagna.

2/22/25 Wow, that was one helluva night. All the times I’ve been to Colorado the altitude hadn’t really bothered me but this time was very different and unexpected. Tried going to bed but it felt like my heart was gonna beat outta my chest and was sucking wind just sitting doing nothing. How the Hell was I gonna ski tomorrow? God it sucks getting old! Didn’t sleep a wink and managed to cobble up an egg and cheese bagel and banana, all the while sucking down water and Gatorade Zero to ultra hydrate to help with the altitude. Went down the list of mountains to visit and having spoke with some others, the recommendation was to skip all the big resorts on a Saturday and hit Loveland because most skip it for the biggies, so that’s where we headed. All the times I’ve been out here, I’ve never got to ski Loveland, so it’s another notch on the belt and sticker on the helmet. Arrived in the lot about 7:30 with the sun lighting up the ridge. Kinda chilly but not too cold. The area got a bunch of snow last week, unfortunately none in the forecast for us this week. Maybe some flurries at best. The lot was filling up fast with a ton of racers. Headed up Chet’s and down a blue to the 2 lift. The groomed snow was superb for giant arcing turns and the edges were still soft. Up the Ptarmigan and down into the bowl there was soft, piles of chowder everywhere. Up the 9 and down, the snow wasn’t as good as elsewhere, so punted going back up there. Runs off the 4 were somewhat the same. Didn’t find much off the 8 either, so we made our way back to the other side. Spent the afternoon rummaging in Cat’s Nix trees. All in all a very good first day. Can’t believe it was such a good day after last night’s horrors. Dinner was Costco frozen lasagna and Caesar salad, not bad.

Great weekend at Snowmass. Had a friend come visit. Bluebird and warm both days. Light crowds surprisingly. New boots are $$. That bootfitter at Highlands knows his shit. Natalie in Powerline Glades skied Longshot for the first time. I think it just opened last weekend. It is indeed long. 3 miles and 3275’ of vert. The first 2 miles are bumps and trees then it’s just ungroomed crud. Our legs were pretty toasted by the end. hiking up views at the top signs tell you when you are 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 of the way down. definitely a run that’s more fun with a friend then solo.