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Day 9 at Beaver Creek started slowly, as was becoming the trend. Today it was a Psych marathon which slowed us down (hey, at least it wasn’t the same program again!). Ed hit the slopes earlier than Pip and I, who stayed in to catch another episode (or two). By the time we met Ed on the slopes it was just after 11am.

Pip conquers the moguls

Today we did a run up the Highlands Chair – the beginner slope – just for something different. This chair is incredibly slow, however, so we were soon off to our normal stomping ground. Once up the Centennial, we headed for the very top of the mountain yet again. We decided to have a ski through one of the kids terrain areas – Jack Rabbit Alley. While there was a warning sign indicating that it was “kids terrain”, we didn’t think anything of it and set off. About 10 seconds later, Ed had taken a fall. Luckily he was the only one to be defeated by the Alley, and no (physical) damage was done.

On previous days we had seen some information about the Crystal Grotto – a performance space made entirely of ice – which only holds performances on weekends. As it was Sunday (and out last weekend day here in the USA) we decided to find out some more information about it.

After our few runs at the top of the hill we headed to the Grotto, just by the Spruce Saddle – our regular lunch spot – and discovered that the show was on at either 1 or 3pm. Because we had had a slow start, we decided on the 3pm show and headed off to fit in a few more runs before lunch. Our plan was to ski as far down the mountain as we could to the Westin hotel – techincally in Avon.

Inside the Crystal Grotto

A run and a lift ride later, however, we decided that we actually had very little time to be heading many kilometres down the slope just to have lunch, so we decided to head back the way we came and have a normal lunch just to save some time. Before we did, however, we tackled some bumps – as per Pip’s request – as we made our way back towards the Spruce Saddle.

It was 1pm before we got back to lunch, by which time we were all fairly hungry. Kids meals were the order o the day, again, but everyone tried something new just for a change. We took some time just relaxing at lunch before heading back out into the cool, yet good conditions, outside. It was only 2pm so we had just a little time to waste before the Crystal Grotto show (or Cwystal Gwotto as Ed was saying). In order to waste this time, we took another run over to the Rose Bowl area, which was a little risky considering the incredibly slow lift that was the only way out. Luckily we didn’t get caught down here, and returned to the Grotto by 2:30pm.

An ice cello and double-bass

While waiting for the show to start Pip indulged on a Grotto hot chocolate – something not permitted inside the Grotto itself (as Pip suggests, it’s probably hard to clean hot chocolate off of ice). We entered the Grotto a short time later and were quite impressed by what we saw – the entire place made from ice (well, almost), including all of the instruments used by the musicians. The show lasted about 45 minutes, and although the music was all “from the ice age” as Ed suggested, it was enjoyable nonetheless. It was nearly 4pm as we made our way down the mountain and back to the hotel, and because of this was recorded as our latest day on the slopes so far.

Tonight we relaxed – so much so that we didn’t even get in the hot tub. Dinner was home-cooked, tacos were the go, and while Pip did the majority of the work, both Ed and I attempted to help out where possible. Following dinner we watched a bucket-load more TV (is it even possible?!) and saw the evening slip away as quickly as it had come. We all went to bed relatively early, worn out from all of the high altitude and mountain air of the past 9 days here at Beaver Creek.