Powder at last

Sorry folks . Can't manage to load pics on to blog site any longer. Just noticed that last post has exclamation marks for the intended pics. Can't see that I'm doing anything different but I'll keep trying. Meghan - help !!! May have to resort to IPad again and the cumbersome process of emailing pics to self and then uploading.

Snowmass transformed in last 10 days with 2 significant snow falls. X games at Buttermilk it seems never fails to produce the goods. Speaking of which we had a lovely evening there on Wednesday with little Gaby. The Buddy Programme laid on an evening the night before the games officially opened and we got a good taste of the events , meeting some of the stars ( Gaby asking more questions than anyone !) and seeing a bit of the practicing. Quite remarkable. Will be televised around the world and some of you may get a chance to watch.

Good week at work for both of us interspersed with some fabulous skiing / boarding. Yesterday one of our joint days off we floated through 8 inches of powder on our snowboards and at last feel we've made it to the point we can 'ride ' in reasonably steep terrain with reasonable comfort. What an amazing sensation. Switched to skis in PM and managed therefore to do Long Shot on board and skis in deepish powder on same day. A first . Hanging Valley Wall - here we come.

Had hoped to put in some good pics of skinning up Long Shot from Two Creeks last Sunday. We made it to the 3/4 way up mark with hardly a soul passing us on way down. Ski Patrol told us we were on our own when sweeping at 4pm , but no danger and we took it v carefully on way down. Mary on teleskis , me on A/T.

Went out on my teleskis next day at Snowmass in bid to try and keep up with M's progress. Having real difficulty in keeping one leg back and doing anything signicantly different from downhill skiing. Can't give up yet though.

Harry and Ian Noble arriving from London tonight to stay for 10 days . A trip Cat skiing on Richmond Ridge ( Aspen Powder tours ) planned for next Friday.

Thin snow cover

In snow terms it's been a disappointing ski season so far. But the tourists , particularly those from Europe and Australia, continue to rave about what great days they've had , so it can't be that bad. As residents and locals for 5 years we have become spoilt. In each of those 5 years we'd have had about 8 or more genuine powder days by now. Having opened a week earlier than scheduled the week before Thanksgiving due to abundance of early season snow, we've had precisely one - Sunday Jan 9, the day Bill Richards arrived from London! Here he is appearing to be schussing one of the Tiehack runs at Buttermilk. No danger of collision here. Skiing at Tiehack - now with new faster lift - makes you feel it's your private resort.

Mary and I regularly snowboard here and alternatively, when the spirit moves us, skin up late in an afternoon and ski down when lifts have shut. Here are a couple of pics - one from the top of

Buttermilk and the second showing immaculate technique after descending Razor's Edge.

The paucity of new snow has also opened other oppurtunities for us. We had one epic dawn skin up to Gwyn's via Lower Green Cabin and Coffee Pot followed by a superb breakfast with white table cloth, waiter service and generally the full works (repeated most enjoyably yesterday with Bill before a great day skiing with him at Snowmass). What a way to start the day. The following day ( day off for me but not for Mary ) I skinned up to top of Big Burn ( over 3,000 ft of climbing ) and got a buzz out of every foot of it . Didn't get breakfast , but there's free coffee - wow! - for those hiking up to Up 4 Pizza , and the home and freshly made pizza there is the best.

On the way to Gwyns looking up Coffee Pot . Beaten by a cayote and and an even earlier single snow shoer.

Earlier in the season we visited Alan and Darlene in Carbondale to see their lovely little girl . Here is proud Dad with Phoenix Rain!

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We're almost saying goodbye to Lee and Julie who are off to live in their new house in Hawaii having sold up here in Aspen. Lee ( an Aspen High School boy ) has been a wonderful ski companion these last few years and of course Lee and Julie organised and guided the epic White Rim trail bike trip in Utah with us in May. I suspect they'll be back a lot to ski, but we'll miss them greatly. Here they are at dinner at 270 with Dadou rightfully at the top of the table. Dadou a French ski instructor, Hawaian coffee grower , and chef extraordinaire, lives in our basement flat throughout the winter, and cooked a superb lamb dinner for us all.

Slow start to 2011/2012 season

New lift at Tiehack . Like having our own ski area. New lift may change this - we'll see.

from top of Tiehack lift looking south to Pyramid peak

Looking across to Aspen Highlands

Attended my 1st polo event - not impressed. Felt sufficiently moved to write a letter to Editor of Aspen Times complaining about absence of a vet on the scene when a horse broke its leg.

Base Village on a day before Thanksgiving when resort opened a week early because of unusually good snow cover. Now Jan 2 and it's hardly snowed since !

Waiting for their ponies to be delivered to them

Inadequatge snow cover meant for a dangerous surface.

The inevitable happened. Pony went down with fatal injury. But was 'pursuaded' to enter a horse trailer on 3 legs and subseqently fell and repeatedy tried to stand while being carted off - as it turned out - to be euthanised later at nearby stables.

A pitiful scene.

Mary choosing her prize at Guest Services Xmas party

Julie and Lee Miller with Mary at top of Buttermilk. We had a subsequent fabulous day with them skinning to summit , good lunch and a ski down to bottom of Tiehack. They depart shortly to live in Hawai. We'll miss them greatly. Can't see Lee staying away from Aspen skiing for long though.

Another good day skinning - this time from Campground to half way up Sam's Knob.Note the clear, clear blue skies. Day after day of this. Would prefer new snow though. Haven't had even one day of powder skiing / boarding this year yet and we're 6 weeks into the season. Let it snow, let it snow , let it snow ......... ! Jobs going well though . Some good days with Gaby . Entertained M's work colleagues at Thanksgiving and Ned and Jan and Heidi at Christmas. A jolly evening reflecting backwards and planning forwards with Gracie at her house on New Year's eve. Movies , theatre ( Annie with Gaby) and M right back into violin practicing with regular lessons from Heidi. G far slower to fire up the oboe but New Year's resolution and it did happen on 1 and 2 Jan !Looking forward now to visit from Bill Richards this weekend and then Harry and Ian Noble at end of Jan. A day booked cat skiing on Richmond Ridge booked for Feb 3.