While attending the wedding of Brady Young and Kara Worrell on March 15 in Silverthorne I had a chance to catch up with Brady’s father, Fred, and Dave Gaige, the father of another member of the wedding party. I discovered that Fred and Dave were joining up for skiing during the middle of the week. They invited me to join them on a future day trip, so we exchanged emails and coordinated a ski day on March 20.

Weekday Skiing 03/20/2013 Photo Album

We decided to spend the day at Keystone as it was the closest ski area covered by our Colorado Passes and Fred needed to return for a 5:30 meeting. Fred spent two months renting a condo in Dillon, and joined a 50 and over skiing group on a regular basis at Keystone, so he served as our guide. It was great fun as Fred took us on numerous off the beaten track runs that I wouldn’t have tried otherwise. The weather was perfect for skiing with high temperatures probably reaching 40 degrees. It was warm enough that I never felt chilled, but cold enough so that the snow didn’t morph into slush and mashed potato consistency.

Dave Gaige and Fred Young at Keystone

We skied from 8:30 until 3:15PM, and I was exhausted by the end of the day. Part of this stemmed from the length of time skiing, but we also did quite a few runs and all except two or three were mogul runs. This fun experience made me realize how much I enjoy weekday skiing compared to weekends. Skiing on a weekend introduces numerous hassles into an otherwise fun activity. In Colorado one must rise early in the morning to beat the heavy stream of traffic on interstate 70 and even with a 6:30 start, the traffic can be quite dense for much of the ride. If weather is adverse, driving conditions make the drive even more stressful and time consuming.

If one is successful beating the traffic, then an early arrival results, and this typically means starting to ski during the coldest part of the day. Weekend crowds are heavier than weekdays so this naturally entails more waiting in line at lifts and less chance of finding untracked snow. Finding a table for lunch becomes a logistical nightmare, and this detracts from the enjoyment as well. The early start to one’s day means fatigue sets in early, so the Denver skier quits early when the air temperatures are most comfortable and then of course the driver faces the return drive once again typically in heavy traffic.

Weekday skiing removes all these obstacles to having fun. Fred and David and I departed at a civilized hour and took our time over lunch. We quit at 3:15, but we could have easily been the last skiers on the lift without any worry over return trip traffic. I definitely look forward to more weekday ski trips over the remainder of the ski season.