Breckenridge 01/08/2014 Photo Album
The first day of skiing for each season is always a mixture of feelings for me. On the one hand it is reassuring that I am still able to slide down a hill on narrow boards and control my speed. There is something liberating about achieving relatively high speeds on the steep slopes of the Rocky Mountains without the aid of an engine or source of propulsion other than gravity. Of course the clean cold mountain air and the spectacular scenery are additional draws. However each year as I grow older I wonder if the sport of downhill skiing will finally stress my muscles and joints beyond tolerable levels.
December was quite busy with our trip to Argentina and then playing catch up with Christmas preparation and then the last week spent doing fun activities with my family. Once January 1 passed, however, my thoughts began to turn toward the ski slopes. The 2013-14 season in Colorado got off to an encouraging start with reasonable snowfall in the mountains, and the ski areas available to Jane and I on our Epic Colorado pass averaged snow depths of 35-40 inches; quite favorable accumulations for early January.
My son Dan was home for term break and did not return to Fuqua Business School until January 9, so Jane and I planned a ski day for Wednesday January 8. We debated between Vail and Breckenridge as our destination, but finally decided on Breck during our drive west on Interstate 70. The ski application on my phone indicated that Breckenridge received the most new snow in the past 24 hours, five inches, so that pointed toward Peak 8. In addition, Breckenridge represented a shorter drive and a new area, Peak 6, had opened and beckoned us with new terrain to explore.
It turned out to be a good decision as five inches of new snow greeted us, and we managed to glide over some untracked powder during the morning. Even after the fresh snow got tracked out, we discovered a nice soft packed base on all the peaks. Because it was midweek, we did not experience long lift lines, but one negative factor was the frigid temperatures and wind chill. The high temperature for the day probably never reached twenty degrees and the sky was mostly overcast with off and on periods of snow. In order to keep my toes warm I used two packs of toe warmers.
Jane and Dan at Top of Peak 10
In spite of the cold temperatures it was a fun day as I broke in my quad muscles with several mogul runs. Dan branched off on some expert terrain several times while Jane and I stayed mostly on intermediate slopes with a handful of black diamonds to get our hearts pounding. Judging from the soreness of my quadriceps on Thursday, I certainly tested my muscles to the fullest, but I’m already looking forward to another day on the slopes of Colorado.