George and Mary's Travels: Winter season

This taken today March 24 on our daily, post coronavirus, skin and ski. A deserted Aspen airport in background.


And this was our reward at top of Buttermilk. Aspen Highlands and above the gong, Pyramid Peak.	Two flasks of coffee and a couple of home made blueberry muffins in the sun and a delicious ski down

Ski season 2019/20 started with a bang and ended in a premature and disastrous thump. Magnificent early season snowfalls ( a near all time record for November ) gave Mary and me fabulous powder skiing and boarding on deserted slopes right up till Christmas when it started to get busy. Busy though for Aspensnowmass is is a very different type of busy from European resorts. These great conditions carried on throughout Jan and Feb , but not that many powder days with 10'' or more of fresh snow which has been a feature of previous good snow years.
the two of us had 2 lovely days skiing Sun Valley, ID again courtesy of Mary's employers Aspen Skiing Co who own the Limelight Hotel there. So 3 nights in luxury at no cost!
Harry came out to ski for 10 days and as usual we had a terrific time with him. A model guest.
Then my nephew and grand nephew Alastair and Rutherfurd Cairns from Savannah , GA. Another big success and they got by huge good fortune they last 4 days of the season.
Between times M and I beavered away at our seasonal jobs and skinned up the mountain on at least one of our days off each week, downhilling or boarding on the other - mostly at Buttermilk with which we're in love ! Deserted slopes , right pitch, big varieties of runs , treed and otherwise.
Then THUMP, evening of Sat March 14, the Gov of Colorado announced the compulsory closure of every resort in the state with immediate effect. Since then we've looked like a ghost town. M and I still skiing every day either here or at Buttermilk, climbing on skins, enjoying a flask of coffee and a muffin at the top and skiing down. Occasionally with some of my bus driving pals but more often just on our own. Bliss !
Here are some pics. Mostly out of order , but give a taste of what we've enjoyed on the last 4 months.

TOSV bus driving pals Jaimie, Jonathan and Brady

This is one of the whisky poles they gave me as present. Hollow shaft - I filled one with Bruaichladdich and the other with a good blend. Jamie here getting stuck into the former with some enthusiasm!

Post coronavirus - M skinning up towards top of Sam's Knob

a post virus empty Coffee Pot

back to the beginning of the season - Buttermilk in late November

Ditto

....and again

Sun Valley, ID with Art on First Tracks

M fills this almost daily - hungry little tits. Make short of this in a 24 hour period.

Got diverted , but no big deal. Aspen to LA and LA to Haley, ID

Looking south from the top restauraunt at Sun Valley

And looking the other way back to the town of Ketchum

The base of the ski mountain at Sun Valley

Harry skiing as neatly and as keenly as ever. Powder snow came a day or two later much to his delight.

We persuaded him to do the full moons skin up Buttermilk followed by a terrific dinner at the top. Skiing down in the dark.

Rutherfurd and Alastair at top of Buttermilk

R - Aspen gondola

A - ditto

A skinning expedition post virus to the Wine Cabin at top of Sam's Knob with Brady, Jaimie andJonathan

Post virus x-country ski trip from Ashcroft to Pine Creek Cookhouse ( closed ). I narrowly avoided a major collision with an aspen tree a little earlier. The things ( gifted to me by Lee a month ago ) are like matchsticks !

M doing a little better with the wind behind

One of the more "hairy' days bus driving in the season. On this occasion I could only watch as my colleague Phil Bob started sliding down ( initially sideways ) Snowmelt Road at the start of another loop from the Mall depot.The underfloor heating on the occasion of this ferocious storm just couldn't keep up.