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Walts in Winter Park

enjoralas

By enjoralas
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enjoralas Bronze Medalist

enjoralas

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Pops and I were up at dark ass o'clock to catch the "flight" out of Allentown to Philthy. 6:05 departure so we left for ABE about 4:30. Didn't want to mess with missing the bag cutoff or anything. After checking in and checking bags we had about a 45 minute wait until boarding.

The bus ride to PHL was uneventful and comfortable. Luxury bus, seats as good as the back of most planes. Charging ports at each seat and air vents and reading lights like a plane. Since all ticketed passengers showed up early we departed a bit early and made it to PHL nice and early with no traffic.

Drops off at F terminal so security was a real breeze. I have Pre so even more so. Through security in about 3 min for me and 10 for Pops and we jumped on the shuttle to B. 

Grabbed some gummy Starburst and Mentos for the plane amd a SEC on pretzel roll from Auntie Anne's to eat at the gate. Flight left on time and no issues on the flight. Love those newer big overheads where rollers can sit on edge instead of flat. No storage space drama at all on this flight.

 

NEXT ‐ Airport to the resort, or "Where the f$*# are your skis?"

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AtomicSkier Gold Medalist

AtomicSkier

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2 hours ago, AtomicSkier said:

@enjoralas I took the bus from ABE-EWR recently as a test (same bus they use from ABE-PHL).  It was really nice.  More comfortable than the CRJ200 they fly ABE-ORD.  It's a seriously good option departing out of ABE.  Painless.

but @pcklein31 you only earn PQPs for the bus, not PQFs.  Sad.

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Schif Silver Medalist

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Do you get to skip security in Allentown if you go on the bus? Interesting that it dropped you off at terminal F and then you had to make your way to terminal B. 

Also super happy to hear that Pops was able to make it. 

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AtomicSkier Gold Medalist

AtomicSkier

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7 minutes ago, Schif said:

Do you get to skip security in Allentown if you go on the bus? Interesting that it dropped you off at terminal F and then you had to make your way to terminal B. 

Also super happy to hear that Pops was able to make it. 

You do security at PHL/EWR.  At least on UA, your checked baggage is screened at ABE, so when you arrive at EWR, you just have your carry on luggage and they take care of your checked baggage for you.

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GrilledSteezeSandwich Gold Medalist

GrilledSteezeSandwich

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51 minutes ago, AtomicSkier said:

You do security at PHL/EWR.  At least on UA, your checked baggage is screened at ABE, so when you arrive at EWR, you just have your carry on luggage and they take care of your checked baggage for you.

Id rather just drive to Philly airport.  There is no closer Lehigh valley location to the Philly airport than the hotel house.  

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AtomicSkier Gold Medalist

AtomicSkier

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29 minutes ago, pcklein31 said:

Thanks, good know,, there goes an easy way to reach 54 PQF!  I've been at 54 and 56 the last two years, so hopefully I maintain.

It is nice that using miles for flights now earn PQP and PQFs.  

Damn!  I only hit 1K because of the lower requirements last year, so hoping that i do enough polaris intl travel this year to get to the PQP threshold w/o having to sit on 54 flights.  Ya, the new changes are nice, now I don't feel bad about using awards for personal travel at the expense of not earning PQP/PQFs.  The PQFs are more valuable to me than PQPs.

1K has been working nice ... didn't travel much in Jan, but confirmed at the 24 hour mark 3/4 flights in the past two weeks.

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enjoralas Bronze Medalist

enjoralas

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Day 1 cont. - Landed at DEN and pulled out my phone and checked on the rental car while taxiing to the gate. Was offered a couple of Kia Sportage 2WD options, a couple of minivans, a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander and a 2023 GMC Acadia. Looked at the differences between the Outlander and the Acadia and decided to get the GMC, but when I went to reserve it it wasn't available anymore.

Refreshed a bunch of times while heading to baggage claim and saw a bunch of options. Always the Kias amd minivans, and several different Outlanders. The most interesting one was a 2022 Ford Expedition that popped up on about half of the refreshes. About 2/3 of the times it showed up it said "Upgrade $33 per day" and the rest of the time it was a free upgrade. Was ready to take the 2022 Outlander with about 16k miles, did one last refresh and there was a 2023 Dodge Durango with 1195 miles so snagged that.

Took awhile to get luggage because the ski carousel was jammed and they were bringing ski bags out on a cart 6-8 at a time. Finally got the ski bag amd headed to the Avis shuttle. Got to the lot, straight to the car and after a longer line than there should have been (Preferred exit closed) we were on the road to Winter Park.
No traffic to speak of and got to Winter Park at about 2pm. Can't get I to the condo until 4 so decided to cruise past the resort and get the lay of the town and nearby Fraser. We were also hungry so decided to keep an eye out for the Mexican good joint that PSUFly recommended to me 6 or 7 times.

Okay, it was only 3x, but I figured when someone mentions you should eat somewhere that many times, it probably doesn't suck.I couldn't remember the name but I knew that it was short and simple and I would know it when I saw it, something like The Shack or The Dump.

We drove through Winter Park and through Fraser and down the road awhile more and weren't spotting it. Spun around and headed back and figured we'd look some more and eat somewhere in WP. On the way back I asked my sisters BF Stephen whonis with us where he rented skis from so we could pick them up while we were in town. He didn't remember the name.

Uhm, okay. Can you look for an email? Can't find an email. Has a text message from them confirming pickup for 2/5 and a price. No name? No name. No address? No address. Google the number. No good hits. Called it and it was a computer.

Driving back through Fraser and WP amd Stephen is in the backseat calling like 4 different ski rental jawns off "Winter Park Ski Rentals" and asking if they have a rental in his name for pickup today. Can't make this shit up. 🤣 Almost back through Winter Park and still haven't spotted The Hut or whatever so pull the car into a garage to figure out where to eat and where homie's rentals need to be picked up.

Walking toward the shops there trying to decide between the brewpub and a couple other places. "Hey, we should go to The Ditch. Right across the damn street, lol. Walk up and get seated amd now have the difficult decision of deciding between all the delicious items on the menu. The burgers all sounded awesome, including the sliders on the app menu.

But going to a place like that and getting a burger would be like going to a cheesesteak place in Philly and ordering a hot dog. (A brother in law did that.) So I got the Murphy which was their basic burrito (which is anything but basic) but also stuffed with a Chile relleno amd topped with French fries and cheese before being smothered in their red or green chili sauce, or Xmas style, both. Went Xmas style, natch.
20230205_145752.thumb.jpg.7e62b024f0e24725a5a8ac330be851c8.jpg

It was phenomenal, with the relleno being the star. Smashed the whole thing and probably would have eaten another relleno if one happened to be present. Great food and a great rec by Fly.

At some point during the meal I started helping Stephen track down his skis. I figured if I made started making a dummy reservation amd it was the same price it could help. First place I went to asked for renters name amd DOB, put his info in and got "Welcome returning customer!" Mystery solved, lol.

Picked up his rentals and headed back to the resort just in time to get into the room. Very happy with the room and location vs price paid. Good view from the balcony. We were all looking forward to hitting some good snow in the morning. First trip out west for Stephen.

20230205_174317.thumb.jpg.56de531ab9030170021ab20071ee0c15.jpg

 

NEXT - ski day 1 or everybody get low low low low

Edited by enjoralas
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GrilledSteezeSandwich Gold Medalist

GrilledSteezeSandwich

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19 minutes ago, enjoralas said:

Day 1 cont. - Landed at DEN and pulled out my phone and checked on the rental car while taxiing to the gate. Was offered a couple of Kia Sportage 2WD options, a couple of minivans, a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander and a 2023 GMC Acadia. Looked at the differences between the Outlander and the Acadia and decided to get the GMC, but when I went to reserve it it wasn't available anymore.

Refreshed a bunch of times while heading to baggage claim and saw a bunch of options. Always the Kias amd minivans, and several different Outlanders. The most interesting one was a 2022 Ford Expedition that popped up on about half of the refreshes. About 2/3 of the times it showed up it said "Upgrade $33 per day" and the rest of the time it was a free upgrade. Was ready to take the 2022 Outlander with about 16k miles, did one last refresh and there was a 2023 Dodge Durango with 1195 miles so snagged that.

Took awhile to get luggage because the ski carousel was jammed and they were bringing ski bags out on a cart 6-8 at a time. Finally got the ski bag amd headed to the Avis shuttle. Got to the lot, straight to the car and after a longer line than there should have been (Preferred exit closed) we were on the road to Winter Park.
No traffic to speak of and got to Winter Park at about 2pm. Can't get I to the condo until 4 so decided to cruise past the resort and get the lay of the town and nearby Fraser. We were also hungry so decided to keep an eye out for the Mexican good joint that PSUFly recommended to me 6 or 7 times.

Okay, it was only 3x, but I figured when someone mentions you should eat somewhere that many times, it probably doesn't suck.I couldn't remember the name but I knew that it was short and simple and I would know it when I saw it, something like The Shack or The Dump.

We drove through Winter Park and through Fraser and down the road awhile more and weren't spotting it. Spun around and headed back and figured we'd look some more and eat somewhere in WP. On the way back I asked my sisters BF Stephen whonis with us where he rented skis from so we could pick them up while we were in town. He didn't remember the name.

Uhm, okay. Can you look for an email? Can't find an email. Has a text message from them confirming pickup for 2/5 and a price. No name? No name. No address? No address. Google the number. No good hits. Called it and it was a computer.

Driving back through Fraser and WP amd Stephen is in the backseat calling like 4 different ski rental jawns off "Winter Park Ski Rentals" and asking if they have a rental in his name for pickup today. Can't make this shit up. 🤣 Almost back through Winter Park and still haven't spotted The Hut or whatever so pull the car into a garage to figure out where to eat and where homie's rentals need to be picked up.

Walking toward the shops there trying to decide between the brewpub and a couple other places. "Hey, we should go to The Ditch. Right across the damn street, lol. Walk up and get seated amd now have the difficult decision of deciding between all the delicious items on the menu. The burgers all sounded awesome, including the sliders on the app menu.

But going to a place like that and getting a burger would be like going to a cheesesteak place in Philly and ordering a hot dog. (A brother in law did that.) So I got the Murphy which was their basic burrito (which is anything but basic) but also stuffed with a Chile relleno amd topped with French fries and cheese before being smothered in their red or green chili sauce, or Xmas style, both. Went Xmas style, natch.
20230205_145752.thumb.jpg.7e62b024f0e24725a5a8ac330be851c8.jpg

It was phenomenal, with the relleno being the star. Smashed the whole thing and probably would have eaten another relleno if one happened to be present. Great food and a great rec by Fly.

At some point during the meal I started helping Stephen track down his skis. I figured if I made started making a dummy reservation amd it was the same price it could help. First place I went to asked for renters name amd DOB, put his info in and got "Welcome returning customer!" Mystery solved, lol.

Picked up his rentals and headed back to the resort just in time to get into the room. Very happy with the room and location vs price paid. Good view from the balcony. We were all looking forward to hitting some good snow in the morning. First trip out west for Stephen.

20230205_174317.thumb.jpg.56de531ab9030170021ab20071ee0c15.jpg

 

NEXT - ski day 1 or everybody get low low low low

I bet Pops in in the Jacuzzi with a couple of Mich Ultras…you’re trying to upstage me when it comes to trip report prose and I don’t mind….waiting for NEXT!!!  

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enjoralas Bronze Medalist

enjoralas

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First day on a western trip so of course everyone was up way too early despite not getting nearly enough sleep the night before travel day. Pope was up from about 4am to 7 then managed about an hour more of sleep before breakfast. I was up from about 6 and stayed up. Not sure what time Homie woke up but he was awake on the living room sofa when I hit the head at 6.

Took a look out the window and saw that there was about 3 inches of fresh snow covering all the chairs and tables down around the hot tub, a nice bonus. 

Breakfast in the room, we had ventured back out the night before for room provisions and a dispensary for Pops and Stephen. Stephen decided to make eggs and bacon and home fries for breakfast. Good, but much more than I typically eat that early, ski trip or no. 

While prepping all the gear for Day 1 the night before, gave Pops his lift ticket. Homie says “Oh yeah, where do I get my lift ticket?” Uhm, in the mail, at your house. Turns out he remembered that it did come and he even packed it — and then switched to a bigger bag, and left it in the other one. 🤦‍♂️Luckily he stopped by the ticket window first thing and they were able to cancel the old card and issue a new one. Didn’t even charge him $20.

So with Pops feeling shitty enough that he wasn’t even coming on Friday night, we decided it would be smart to stay low on the mountain for the first day and ease into things. During the previous evenings excursions he was price comparing those Oxygen boost canisters. Funny enough, the mercantile at the WP base village was cheaper than Safeway so he popped in to get one. But it also got me thinking that renting an oxygen concentrator for him for the room could only help increase our chances for a successful week so I went ahead and ordered one for delivery this afternoon.

At the base area there was a pretty decent corral for the gondola, but we bypassed it anyway and took the Gemini express over for a couple of short green runs to get the day started. Hopped on the Discovery double and skied down to the Prospector express.

Made 6 runs off the Prospector hitting all the various green and blue groomers accessible over there, and mixed in a ride up the Looking Glass lift, first center pole no bar lift for us. It’s also a “passes over your head” after you disembark lift, thankfully no head injuries. 

Screenshot_20230206_215158_Gallery.thumb.jpg.677763dbed051be9e34a2adecdaac8a3.jpg

After our trip up Looking Glass and down Mock Turtle, Pops was feeling alright to go a bit higher so we took a ride up the Olympia express so we could run Whistlestop to March Hare to White Rabbit. Where March Hare split to White Rabbit I elected to continue on March Hare while the others zagged to Rabbit. The bottom of March Hare ended up being a nice pitch, but short, filled with mild soft bumps so glad I was alone, but I enjoyed it.

Took another ride up Olympia because I wanted to run Lonesome Whistle. Doodled in some super low pitch, wide spaced trees on the way down Hook Up to get to Lonesome Whistle.  

1177059723_Screenshot_20230206_215356_GoProQuik.thumb.jpg.e660335de3b6b57614fc6c364ffd9047.jpg

Very enjoyable run down Lonesome Whistle and it was about noon by this time, so we decided to grab a bite and get in to warm up.

I knew exactly what I wanted to eat. The Bison chili at Sunspot. WP is having a promotion in Feb, they have 9 different spots that have chili on the menu around the mountain. If you eat 6 bowls you get a free celebratory beanie and sticker. (Also 25% off each bowl of participating.) As a big chili fan, challenge accepted. Where last years Jay Peak trip was the trip of poutine, this week will be a chili-fest.

Took the Looking Glass up from where we were so we could ski down to the Explorer express. Went via the green Alan Phipps which was the most popular run of the day for Pops and Homie. Could really let them run down that trail and we all notched our fastest run of the day on it, for as much as the WP app can be trusted for that stuff.

Explorer up to Sunspot and we went in for lunch around 12:25. Got my bison chili and it was quite good. Got my punch card to keep track of my bowls. Realized afterward that the cashier gave me my punch card and didn’t punch it. Now I have to eat 7 bowls of chili this week. Starting to seem unlikely.

20230206_123251.thumb.jpg.e5402c3a405814cea1ef7c2ca8fe06eb.jpg

Spent about 45 minutes there and we decided we were about done for the day. I had been wanting to run Cranmer all day so I decided to take that to Larry Sale for a nice blue run down, and Stephen joined me until he took a wrong turn off Cranmer and went down Village Way instead of Larry Sale. Pops decided he wasn’t pushing any more and downloaded on the gondola. 

Overall a great first day. We put in 14 runs for 9300 vert, skied 10 miles. Got a bit of a late start with the side missions, and combined with staying low on easier slopes we didn’t get much use out of the fresh, but it made for a nice surface at least, and found a few small pockets to cover the tips in a few places. 

The fresh snow seemed a bit sticky, especially around the lift boarding areas, so Pops and I were looking to try to drop the skis off for a tune. But when I realized the only place in the village to do so was farther than I wanted to walk in my ski boots right then, we decided to just head back to the condo. We’ll drop them after skiing tomorrow

Ended up just spending the rest of the afternoon and evening lazing around the condo. Didn’t even hit the hot tub today, though Its definitely on tap for tomorrow after skiing. Burgers and fries in the condo for dinner. 

 

NEXT - Ski day 2 or can you take me high enough?

Edited by enjoralas
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Barb Bronze Medalist

Barb

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Great TR so far. Bison chili sounds amazing. I bet if you showed your unpunched card next chili bowl you get they would punch it twice.  Why would you have a card at all if you didn’t already buy a bowl? You should definitely go to the Jane side and take the Panorama all the way to the top. Views are very nice and you can take blues all the way to the bottom. The last part of the cat walk is a quad burner trying to keep your speed up.  WP seems to have a lot of cat walks. Deno’s  restaurant in town has good food. 

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