Following in the footsteps of Lloyd and Harry, TP4 goes to Aspen

[Johnny Law]

21 minutes ago, theprogram4 said:

Apparently it's a very classy meal with like 4 or 5 courses.  The only way to get there is cross country skis or horse drawn sleigh.  Seems way too classy for me lol.  I will report about it

It's very cool, I've never gone but my sister went, it used to be advertised on the safety bar at snowmass with gwyns. 

Aspen is way less snobby than Vail, aspen is way more authentic too

[Barb]

I have never skied Aspen but would like to. I disagree about the town. Each time I go I get more and more put off. I LOVE the area and the hiking but would not stay in Aspen proper again if I had my choice. Basalt, Carbondale, Redstone are all better choices in my opinion. But everyone should go to Aspen at least once just to check it out.

Keep up the reports with pics TP4


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[Johnny Law]

32 minutes ago, Barb said:

I have never skied Aspen but would like to. I disagree about the town. Each time I go I get more and more put off. I LOVE the area and the hiking but would not stay in Aspen proper again if I had my choice. Basalt, Carbondale, Redstone are all better choices in my opinion. But everyone should go to Aspen at least once just to check it out.

Keep up the reports with pics TP4


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Sure cause you live there, your metrics are entirely different. Carbondale is 40 mins from skiing and looks like any number of towns in dirty jersey. If your visiting aspen from PA staying in carbondale is not nearly the same experiance. For the vast majority of people living in carbondale is a better deal.  I've spent probably 50 days in aspen, never once have I felt like I didn't belong though I also don't give a rat's ass. Everyone I met from town is pretty chill, Vail always seems to me to be so much more flashy with there $$$$$

 

Regadless, TP4 your living the dream man. Enjoy snowmass tomorow you could spend your whole trip just skiing there. 

Edited February 2, 2019 by Johnny Law

[Barb]

You are right, that’s why I said everyone should go there to check it out. For me the town just feels phony. It’s a real town, not like Vail, but I personally don’t like the vibe there. I am glad you enjoy your time there.  Like I said, it’s is a beautiful area and I still hope to ski there someday. 

[theprogram4]

Day 2: snowmass

another bluebird day with temps in the mid 20s and no wind.  Could see the snowstorm clouds slowly get closer as the day went on.  Snowmass was very fun and our group of 4 actually got in line for the 2 creeks lift before 9 am and ended up riding til 3:30.  Covered a good amount of terrain in one day.  I really enjoyed how long alot of the runs were.  Started off getting fresh cord of the elk camp lift, then just moved from lift to lift, doing a few runs at each...alpine springs lift, high alpine lift, sheer bliss lift, and big burn lift.  Later went to cirque surface lift.  At the top we weren't 100% sure where to go, as a few skiers made their way to cirque head wall, hiked back up and said the conditions were shit.  I decided to be cautious and heed their advice, so we followed them on high pass.  Unfortunately, nobody was dropping into the bowl and the next thing you know I'm at alpine lift.  Kind of diasappoiting to waste that time, but better safe than sorry (I have a bad history with questionable terrain lol).  I really enjoyed the runs at snowmass and hopefully tomorrow the potential foot of snow could put new stuff in play.  Heading out to cross country ski soon, could get interesting.  Looking like snowmass tomorrow and highlands Monday.  Tuesday morning session is a possibility before our flight.

[theprogram4]

[theprogram4]

[theprogram4]

Cross country skiing/dinner TR.. Drove to a lodge 12 miles into the middle of nowhere mountains (castle creek road between Aspen and highlands).  Had to cross country ski 1.5 miles in the dark with a head lamp up a small incline to the restaurant.  It fucking sucked and I was miserable.  Walked with my skis half the time.  Dinner was good.  1st course was these puff ball things, shrimp, and quail.  2nd course was a salad.  Third course I got trout that was great.  4thcourse was brownie and ice cream.  Real cool rustic lodge type setting.  Skiing back was a lot more fun and I enjoyed it.  However, cross country skis have no edges and I don't know how to stop, so since I was going down hill my only way to stop was to crash.  I crashed hard 3 times in the way back but like 10 other people crashed multiple times as well, one lady broke her thumb. The first half of skiing sucked, the second half was fun.  It was cool being in the woods in pitch black, the stars are so bright.  

[theprogram4]

[toast21602]

Sounds like you had a great day all around! I’m 100% jelly. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I tried cross country skiing as a kid..shit is hard..I’d rather just skate on my regular skis or for you cross country snowboard. 

[theprogram4]

Day 3: snowmass

woke up a little disappointed as the projected snow hadn't fallen, but instead was sleeting at both the condo and snowmass village .  Luckily, it was snowing at mid mountain.  Prob 2-3 inches had fallen.  All upper mountain lifts were on wind hold til early afternoon.  No biggie,  did some laps off SAMs knob lift, then went to campground lift.  This area was great as it was empty and protected from the wind.  Snow was starting to fall much heavier and glades were filling in a little. Upper mountain lifts were still closed other than elk camp lift, so we made our way from one side of snowmass to the other.  By this time 6 inches had fallen and elk camp area was getting really fun.  Soon we got word that the upper mountain lifts were opening.  Made our way over there and got great runs off sheer bliss lift and big burn lift.  I'd say these areas got about 8 inches (Not 100% on the accuracy of this, wind started getting rough after 2:30 and blowing snow everywhere).  By 3:00 the visibility and wind at the top of big burn lift was getting pretty bad, so we took one more run up and made our way to base.  Ended up riding from 9:00-3:30.  Snowed almost the whole time, varied between light, moderate, and heavy at times.  Probably my best day out west in years.  Wind got tough at times but temps weren't bad at all.  Pictures will be lacking a bit as visibility got rough at times and I only snapped a few during breaks in the snow 

Edited February 3, 2019 by theprogram4

[theprogram4]

[theprogram4]

Website says they got 11 inches yesterday.  Seems a little high to me, but I guess that's cause it mostly fell during operating hours so stuff was getting tracked out all day

[theprogram4]

Day 4: Highlands

today was a semi powder day, still a lot of fresh and maybe more than yesterday as highlands gets a lot less traffic than snowmass.  Covered most of the mountain and every lift.  Rode everything from groomers to glades to bowls.  Temerity lift was my favorite...a lot of fresh in the glades and some of the steepest glades I've ridden.  Took the cat up to the highlands bowl and started my hike.  5 mins in i ran out of breathe and realized I'm too out of shape and old for hiking, so I went back down and rode the glade as close to the rope separating the lower part of the bowl...this was the best run of the trip as not many people took the cat up to ride the woods next to the bowl. After this I went to Olympic bowl for a few runs.  Highlands has some legit terrain and I certainly recommend it.  Rode from 9-3 with temps in low 20s with clouds.  Im debating whether today or yesterday was better, but it doesn't matter cause they were both awesome.  I have a decent amount of lifetime days out west, but can count on my hand the number of significant snowfalls.  Definetly enjoying some fresh this trip.  Probably the windiest day of the trip but nothing crazy.  Temp has been great this trip...low 20s is perfect in my opinion. Quick 1.5-2 hour session tomorrow before early afternoon flight. 6 inches supposed to fall tonight.

[theprogram4]

[theprogram4]

[tarponhead]

5 mins in i ran out of breathe and realized I'm too out of shape and old for hiking

BS. Altitude

[theprogram4]

9 minutes ago, tarponhead said:

 

BS. Altitude

 

That certainly had something to do with it. When I looked at the 30-45 min hike ahead of me, I felt like James woods in scary movie 2 when he's the priest and goes to the exorcist girls house and her head does a full 360..."oh fuck this shit."

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

21 minutes ago, tarponhead said:

 

BS. Altitude

 

And Newport’s. 

[theprogram4]

Just now, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

And Newport’s. 

Correct.  I actually switched to camels like a month ago

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Just now, theprogram4 said:

Correct.  I actually switched to camels like a month ago

Nice!!!

[toast21602]

Great report! WTGAI 

[AtomicSkier]

58 minutes ago, tarponhead said:

BS. Altitude

 

NS Jay and I did it in 22 minutes last time   We even got help up at the rocks because a dad took his 10 year old and she was having a nervous breakdown.

TP4...Oly bowl is pretty fun.  Aerobie is great to lap over and over.  Glad you enjoyed highlands...definitely a different vibe than the other 3.

[theprogram4]

Thanks to icy rain in Chicago, we are now flying through Denver and get an extra 2 hours to ride tomorrow.  Worked out well