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2/26/25 It was off to A-Basin today. Day started out crystal clear and colder than previous couple of days. Weather at the mountain was mid double digits, but it didn’t feel like East coast cold. Over the pass there were many fresh tracks off in the surrounding hills and also a lot of slides. The snow was squeaky cold chalk, firmed up with some wind-blown icing. Up the BME, we headed right back down for a warmup and check the snow; fast, firm packed power. Off the groom, the snow was baked Alaska with some lipstick on top. After a couple of laps on the Lenawee, we dropped into the bowl. With mostly South-facing aspects and recent warmer and clear days, the snow was quite grumpy. Made a few laps looking for something good but came up empty. Up and down to the Black Mountain lodge for some lunch where we ran into some others from NJ who spotted a Blue sticker on our helmets. They too are out touring the local mountains. After lunch we decided to check out The Beavers. Made some runs down the outer tree runs looking for somewhere good to lap, but even the trees didn’t help, so we headed over to East Wall. Traversed out to the boot pack to see what it was like out there. More if the same baked snow with some wind-blown in the troughs. Had to watch the light crust on top wanted to grab your ski to take down an unaware skier, which it did to Donny. Also traversed over to check out one of the slide remnants, ugly! Lapped the gully’s a couple of times and called it day. Not the greatest snow conditions, but it was still a fun day regardless. Dinner was salmon, salad, baked potato and cheesecake.

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.

I’m thinking a quick one tomorrow morning and Sunday.

Donny’s friend Greg is wicked fast skier and has a ton of stories to tell, as he’s skied a ton of places. We all have Camelbaks, mostly for the constant hydration availability and lunch, with the odd other pair of goggle lenses, spring ski gloves, heavier face mask, sunscreen…

I'll check it out later - I may actually do a similar trip to @toast21602 next month or early April. Montana Snowbowl or something in Missoula is on Indy and isn't terribly far from Spokane/Northern Idaho.

They are all in a book club, right now is From Heaven to Arcadia: The Sacred and the Profane in the Renaissance Ingrid D. Rowland.....gotta keep fresh on their Renaissance painters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sick trip! Always looooove hitting alot of places and you picked the good ones. Copper once they got early season training from half the national teams is super dope. The village donut lady was awesome though someone told me she's gone......

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.

Hey all, It’s almost the weekend and now spring skiing at least temporarily. Is anybody going to be in the house? I’m planning on tomorrow and Saturday for opening to enjoy the spring skiing…Sunday I might skip as it’s gonna get down into the teens Saturday night and expecting craptastic conditions Sunday so might use as an excuse to go out and party rock Saturday night. JADIP

2/21/25 Slim, Rick, Donny and I boarded our United flight out of Philly on time, only to sit there at the gate for 1/2 hour due to snow in Denver and they were delaying out bounds to stagger arrivals, at least that was their story. We arrived only like 15 minutes after schedule anyway. Got a big Denali rental and headed for Costco to load up on supplies for the week and headed up into the mountains. Home base would be the lower level of a big house in Georgetown just off 70. Talking with a local, they said a judge built the house then got caught cheating on his wife so they had the sell it in divorce court. It’s a really nice 2 bed, 2 bath and lots of space with a gated driveway to boot. They say lots of people think the place is a hotel and pull in asking for rooms to rent. Dinner was Costco chicken pot pie and Tiramisu cheesecake for dessert.

Day 44. The morning web cam showed it was going to be a glorious day and it was. But this is too much "Spring", too early. l

I'm away this weekend - should be back at Blue next week/weekend

If anyone has a buddy pass they need to use up before season end please LMK - could even pay you something for it

Yeah, I think they're on sale march 1st. If you've been on Indy before I think you may be able to renew prior. I saw something about lapsed passholders getting early access. Already renewed mine and will do Blue also. Considered Ikon but I don't think I'd get my money's worth

If you do it, do it fast because they seemingly sell out quickly. Got on the waitlist now.

I have to seriously think about Indy next year.

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

I think they keep their lunches in their packs.

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.

Man if there were discounts for every time I had a BM I’d be skiing for free for all of eternity. Edit. sorry for the dad joke eaf. No there aren’t