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Day 5 at Beaver Creek started at the same time as all days here so far, but today we woke to find overcast skies outside. We got ready, watched some TV, and hit the slopes once again, heading for similar runs as we had before.

Menacing clouds

We explored a number of new runs and areas all while skiing our favourites again, but as we did the weather continued to deteriorate. We skied a run at the Larkspur area – the lift which had broken only minutes before we’d gone to get on yesterday – then decided to head in for lunch.

We returned to the Spruce Saddle as we had done previously, but before we got there we encountered some wildlife – we had seen some birds the day before, so I guess not the first wildlife sighting for the year, but this was definitely more impressive. I’ve included some photo evidence below.

In buying our lunch once again, we discovered the value of the kids meal: a cheese burger, hot dog or nuggets; fries; a soft drink; and a cookie – all for $12.99, whereas the adult selections had a cheeseburger, for example, for $12 alone. Pretty good considering that none of us actually finished our meals!

Pip, and wildlife!

We spent some time inside watching the wind blow snow at a crazy speed outside, the decides to head back out close to 1pm. It was still snowing heavily and with the wind it was a small-scale blizzard, but nonetheless we skied two more runs before calling it a day – much earlier than previous days, but reasonable considering the weather. Ed decided to ski a few more runs on the easy slopes outside the back door while Pip and I made ourselves comfortable in front of the TV and another CSI:Las Vegas marathon.

The marathon continued until 5pm, when we decided that it was time for a swim. Unfortunately it felt colder outside tonight – probably due to the wind – and the hot tub was not as scorching hot as it was yesterday, so we certainly felt the cold a little more. We wasted a bit of time having a competition to see who could knock the snow from the top of the outdoor heater by throwing a snowball, but in the end nobody won this one – the snow still remains on top of the heater.

The weather gets worse

After we returned to the room, Ed and I headed in to the village to pick up some supplies while Pip held the fort. Tonight was to be our first home-cooked meal for 2010, which we were all looking forward to – except that every ingredient no doubt was packed full of sugar: bread, yep; butter, yep; pasta, probably; gotta love the USA for that. Ed and I returned a short time later and dinner preparations began.

Dinner was a nice change, and was topped off by some repeat episodes of Glee on Fox (good times!). It turned out to be a Glee marathon, so by 9pm the episodes were still coming thick and fast (which then turned into a CSI:NY marathon later). We relaxed the rest of the night until packing it in relatively early, ahead of our “rest day” tomorrow.

The weather was certainly not great for photos today, but we still took a few snaps so make sure to check them out here, or alternatively, have a look at the photo mash-up which contains a number of videos too.