USA 09/10 – Beaver Creek Day 7 – Let the sun shine!

Pip makes the sign

Our seventh day here at Beaver Creek started at the “regular” skiing morning time – 8:15am. We had a relatively quick breakfast, but were slowed down considerably by the (ongoing) CSI marathon. Two episodes later and we were still inside. Ed had hit the slopes about 20 minutes earlier, and Pip and I did soon after. The weather was absolutely perfect outside – except for the fact that it had been -18C when we woke, and only slightly warmer as we took our first steps outdoors for the day.

We took our normal route up the Centennial chair, but instead of our regular runs that we would start the day with, we decided to take a few new ones (after a quick warm-up run of course). We ventured down a run called Moonshine – my choice – which ended up being ungroomed, rather crusty and rough most of the way down. Pip certainly gave the sign (see picture), but we all survived and certainly had a more interesting run than normal because of the new challenges. We skied a number of runs before we headed in for lunch, but all of them were around this front face area of the mountain.

Lunch, again, was at the Spruce Saddle – half-way up the mountain. We all had something different for lunch, just for a change (well, different to what we had had in the last few days at least). The sun was still beaming down, and with no wind to be found at all it was near-perfect weather – except that it was still relatively cold (about -10C). We left the lunch spot at about 1:30pm and returned to the slopes, this time heading up the Cinch chair to the top of the mountain.

Scott carved it up

From the top of the mountain, we decided to head towards the Birds of Prey chair – most likely down Redtail (yet again). Part-way down, however, we came across a sign to the Men’s Downhill course, which certainly grabbed my attention. It was a double-black run, and while it sparked Pip’s attention as well, we were a little concerned that it would be steep as anything, and have moguls the entire way down. The executive decision was that I would ski the run while Ed and Pip would take Redtail and meet me at the bottom – that way nobody would be stuck anywhere too nasty without being able to get back.

The run, at least at the top, was very very steep, and quite slippery to boot. There was a small easy-out trail, but there would be no fun taking that the first run down. I stopped numerous times to take photos, and so definitely did not complete the downhill in Olympic speeds (heh), but it was a good run nonetheless. I met Ed and Pip at the bottom, and we headed up the Larkspur to explore some more challenging terrain (not more challenging than the downhill, however).

It appeared that every black run in this area of the mountain was full of moguls, so we tried to pick the one that looked the easiest as a way to work Pip into the challenges that these runs put forward. Unfortunately the run we did pick, Lupine, was a lot less steep and mogully from the bottom than it was from the top. Pip, for the second time today, gave the “you’re killing me” sign, but we did make our way down through the bumps.

Final run of the day

When we finally got to the bottom of the Larkspur area, Pip decided to sit one run out and have a rest while Ed and I took another run from the top. We met up a few minutes later as the sun was dipping below the ridge, and made our way back to the hotel (a lift and a long run later). It was close to 3:30pm by the time we arrived at the hotel – our latest day so far – and we took some time to relax before heading to the hot tub. Peter arrived from Denver for an overnight visit, so while he and Ed talked business, we relaxed in the water.

Unlike other nights it was truly cold outside tonight – with hair freezing over once it was wet, and the bubbles in the hot tub doing a similar thing a few minutes after. We spent about 20 minutes in the water before we were swamped by a family of 8 (or so) from Sydney which was our cue to leave. On the way out of the pool area, Pip managed to get a thong stuck to the ground surrounding the hot tub – in mid-step. It was so cold that it literally froze to the ice that was forming where water had been splashed, and she had to peel it off of the ground to continue walking. We returned to the room, got ourselves ready for dinner, and headed out to the Hyatt for a nice meal.

Dinner was a little more classy than we had had so far this week, but it was definitely different to our home-cooked meals of the past few days. We didn’t have dessert here, but instead returned to the gourmet ice cream parlour that we had found a few days earlier. As crazy as it was eating ice creams while it was -16C outside, it was very tasty and enjoyed by all. We made the chilly walk back to the hotel and relaxed for the remainder of the evening.

The nice weather meant that the camera went a bit ballistic today (see here), but if you want the cut down version, check out the photo mash-up below!

About the Author

Scott

Web designer, graphic designer, coder, scripter, photographer, musician, performer, entrepreneur (and the list goes on) based in Adelaide, South Australia. Scott loves to experiment with new ideas, and OnSno.com is his creative dumping ground.