A redneck road trip west....

[Dleg]

Cool pictures. I can't believe how crowded it is! Back in the day.... we're talking 1980s now... I would do these with my Dad on summer weekends, and we thought it was crowded if there were more than 15 - 20 cars at the trail head. It looked like there were literally hundreds of people on trail with you. Yuck.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Bierstadt was a constant stream of people. I couldn't believe how many were out there.

 

[Road Guy]

yeah it was pretty bad, just past that picture that shows all the people, there was a few narrow places to go up and down and some of the folks forget that uphill has the right of way..

there was also some thing called a 54 innitiative this weekend, like a 10K but a group of people that paid $50 to do what we did for free (a group climbed all the 14'ers last weekend) to raise money for water in Africa or something pointless :0 - so I dont know if that was the normal crowd or not.. When I hiked up on Longs peak there wasnt any where near this amount of people..

we will opt in the future for the ones that are on roads that require 4WD and high ground clearance I think.... but I think we may try and get one in for the kids this year and call it good..

I am ready for ski season to be honest...

 

[cement]

There was snow near aspen on Friday night

 

[Road Guy]

I watched Aspen Extreme last night, couldnt tell if that movie was meant to be serious or if it was some type of anti-comedy? Either way it had me counting the days to get back to ski season...

 

[knight1fox3]

I watched Aspen Extreme last night, couldnt tell if that movie was meant to be serious or if it was some type of anti-comedy? Either way it had me counting the days to get back to ski season...

I really like that movie. Up until the avalanche part. The powder 8 is awesome. Aspen is my favorite place to ski in CO.

 

[Road Guy]

- Yes the movie loses something after his buddy dies.. didnt have the same feeling like in Top Gun..

I havent been their yet, out of my price range (when you multiply it by 5 peoples)....we want to save something for future years..

We get a season pass for 5 people to Copper and Winter Park for $1400 for all 5 of us.. really cant beat to be honest.. but price goes up each year kids get older,

like last year my 10 year olds season pass was only $219.. And he ski'd something like 25 days, and 3 times ski patrol had to escort him down the mountain cause he didnt want to end the day, he certainly got his(my) money's worth.....

but his pass I think goes up to $279 this year since he is 11..

 

[knight1fox3]

- Yes the movie loses something after his buddy dies.. didnt have the same feeling like in Top Gun..

I havent been their yet, out of my price range (when you multiply it by 5 peoples)....we want to save something for future years..

We get a season pass for 5 people to Copper and Winter Park for $1400 for all 5 of us.. really cant beat to be honest.. but price goes up each year kids get older,

like last year my 10 year olds season pass was only $219.. And he ski'd something like 25 days, and 3 times ski patrol had to escort him down the mountain cause he didnt want to end the day, he certainly got his(my) money's worth.....

but his pass I think goes up to $279 this year since he is 11..

I guess that going there with 5 can add up fast. But we typically go to Aspen because it's cheaper than going to Breck or Vail. The lift tickets aren't much different in price but the lodging is super cheap. Though we also stay at this really nice hostel. Not sure how that would do for a family of 5. Would be like scout camp perhaps? We're only there to sleep and they have a nice outdoor hot tub to relax in after a full day on the slopes. Flying into Aspen is hella expensive so we usually fly into Denver and then make the drive to Aspen. Just don't take the "shortcut" Loveland Pass. Who knew that was a "seasonal" road. LOL :dunno:

 

[csb]

There's a nice hostel at Winter Park, too.

 

[Road Guy]

i cant afford breck or vail either

when you go up just for the day our thought process is if we get up early enough to beat the I-70 traffic (like 4 am) we prefer to go to Copper (lots of locals) and when I-70 is fragged we go to Winter Park (cements idea to be honest) that worked well for us this past winter..

The ride over to Winter Park isnt much better than loveland pass, but it has a little more guardrail..

we will get to the high dollar resorts eventually but the people just around the breck area are a little too much on the pretentious asshole side for me personally

 

[cement]

KF - do you get the aspen classic pass? It's a great deal

http://www.aspensnowmass.com/landing-pages/classic-pass

Hopefully they are still offering it. My wife used to take continuing education class boondoggles at snowmass, we would get a free room at the wildwood, they allowed dogs and buffet breakfast was included. Good times. We were almost the only folks without a personal instructor, certainly the only ones with duct taped gloves...

Have you skied snowmass hanging valley wall?

 

[knight1fox3]

I have not since I'm not sure how much or the days it covers. We typically bought a 3 or 4 day pass using an old student discount. :rtft:

I'll certainly keep it in mind for next time though, thanks.

Not quite sure on the hanging valley wall either. Though my favorite thing to do is take the snowcat off course and ski the back country. That can be pretty exhausting though if you don't plan out your course. And some VERY steep grades. The powder is phenomenal though.

 

[FLBuff PE]

I watched Aspen Extreme last night, couldnt tell if that movie was meant to be serious or if it was some type of anti-comedy? Either way it had me counting the days to get back to ski season...

I really like that movie. Up until the avalanche part. The powder 8 is awesome. Aspen is my favorite place to ski in CO.

Snowmass is better. I almost met up with cement a few years ago at one of the boondoggles. Didn't pan out, though. Give me a heads up next time either of y'all are out in the Aspen/Snowmass area. I live 30 minutes from the resorts, and am skiing Snowmass every Saturday (mini-Buff 1 takes local ski lessons). Mini-Buff 1 is already shredding blacks at 6 years old!

I did the wall for the first time last year, after we had a three foot dump of snow. Cliff hopping into soft powder...one of my most epic ski days EVER!

 

[knight1fox3]

I generally like 3 of the 4 areas out there. Buttermilk is ok but not my Fav. Snowmass does rock. Highlands and Snowmass are probably my 2 favs.

We were out there over New Years Eve once and it was pretty cool to see fireworks launched off the mountain side.

 

[Road Guy]

got some ski snobs up in here

 

[FLBuff PE]

I've skied Copper. Too many of you out of control front rangers for my taste.

 

[cement]

I watched Aspen Extreme last night, couldnt tell if that movie was meant to be serious or if it was some type of anti-comedy? Either way it had me counting the days to get back to ski season...

I really like that movie. Up until the avalanche part. The powder 8 is awesome. Aspen is my favorite place to ski in CO.

Snowmass is better. I almost met up with cement a few years ago at one of the boondoggles. Didn't pan out, though. Give me a heads up next time either of y'all are out in the Aspen/Snowmass area. I live 30 minutes from the resorts, and am skiing Snowmass every Saturday (mini-Buff 1 takes local ski lessons). Mini-Buff 1 is already shredding blacks at 6 years old!
I did the wall for the first time last year, after we had a three foot dump of snow. Cliff hopping into soft powder...one of my most epic ski days EVER!

It's amazing how deep powder makes steep terrain so much more manageable

 

[Road Guy]

the guy that hired me back home (my boss for a while) he came out with his kids to ski last winter, we were supposed to go to Copper and meet up but his bratty girls said they had to go to Breck.... so we didnt meet up...... its cool. I can ski the poor people ski resorts........

I was looking back at some pics from Maggie Valley, NC from a few years ago and just laughed...

 

[knight1fox3]

I've skied Copper. Too many of you out of control front rangers for my taste.

lusone:

Same with Keystone.

And for the record, I use an off-piste set of Salomon skis that are branded X-wings.

SW +10000000

 

[Road Guy]

one day I would like to have Hot Chocolate and a cookie in the Gondola though...