end of season

Bill's visit;

The view to Garrett's looking west from Sneaky's

                                         Upper green Cabin

                                         On the bumps - lower Garrett's Gulch and note correct position of ' weight back'. What style !

                                          Gwyn's for breakfast on 2nd ( and last ) day. Fuel for Long Shot

         

                                          Top of Long Shot looking South to Maroon Bells

                                         Boarding with EJ- aged 78. Not bad eh?

                                          5 days to go to closure and an epic powder day. Ripping it up on our boards on the Big Burn in almost a foot of new snow, followed by a violin lesson with Heidi in Aspen.    Last visit to Highlands Bowl tomorrow April 10. Promises to be one of the best of the season with good cover and 18 inches or so of new snow. Helped hopefully by my latest pride and joy - these DPS fat skis with touring Dynafit bindings. See above.
PS Fabulous last day with Peter - right up to expectations. A foot to 18inches in the trees.

Taos

We had delightful visits from Luke and Kate from Indiana ( friends of D & K ) and Martha and Dick from Atlanta. Sadly no pics of any of them. Martha was a star in skinning up to Gwyns with us for breakfast one morning and then x country skiing with M up to Pine Creek Cookhouse on another day.

Aggravatingly I tore a calf muscle on Upper Green Cabin and this is the result. Ice pack for a day, but afforded chance for much needed practice to keep up with Mary's progress under the skilled tutelage of dear Heidi. Note the Amazing Slowdowner facility on our Apple in background that gives facility of accompaninent at whatever tempo you want.

 Not serious enough though to stop the weekly hikes to summit of Highlands Bowl with Peter and as ever a brilliant ski down.

 We left Snowmass after work for both of us on Sat evening at 4 and got to Poncha Springs 4  hours or so later via Minturn and Leadville. A fabulous little motel there with an excellent Italian restauraunt next door.  Left there by 6 the next morning and had breakfast at this recommended cafe in Alamosa.

 Taos by 11 and skiing by 11.30 thanks to generous discounted lift tickets left out for us by Dadou. This is at bottom of chairlift with the St Bernard owned and managed by Dadou's brother Jean where we were royally entertained.

 Built and run very much as a French style ski lodge. This was the table M & I were placed at in the evening for a superb dinner with a delightful family from New York.  Jean personally came out  to "present" each course describing in French the ingredients.  He and his brother Dadou ( who works there when not private ski instructing ) that we have got to know so well are legends from the pioneering days of skiing in New Mexico. 

 Dadou's house outside the historic town of Taos some 20 minutes drive from the ski resort and where we stayed for 2 nights. The perfect host.

 In addition to being an incredible skier ( ex French ski team ), instructor, chef, and who in his earlier days built houses and owned/ran hotels,  he grows his own coffee beans in Hawaii.

 Looking up to Kanchina Peak. Approached by an hour's hike along the ridge from the right.  Next time ... !

 A typical run on the ' back side ' of the mountain, Mary displaying Dadou's edging & weight back technique.

 The St Bernard Hotel right at the bottom of the main lift.

 After a good breakfast in Taos, we drove back via the Great Sand Dunes National Park and the  Rio Grande river gorge, lunch in Salida and back in Snowmass by 7. Almost 8 hours of driving ,  but stunning scenery for almost the whole journey passing under at least 8 of Colorado's 50 odd 14er peaks

 A great 3 day trip.  Thank you Dadou for all your kindnesses. To New Mexico we shall return.

Mid Jan to mid Feb highlights

The Buddy Programme lay on an eve of the Buttermilk X games gathering when little buddies can meet some of the stars and watch the practicing close up. Some pretty amazing stuff. Gabby just visible through the layers with half pipe in background.

Dadou returns to Meadow Ranch for 2 weeks. What a guy! And we got another ' private' ! He's now gone back to Taos to help his brother but will return we hope at end Feb. Meanwhile Alex is in our studio flat and joins us occasionally for our regular Monday skin trip up to Gwyns.

Lee returned from Hawaii for a few days and joined us for breakfast at Gwyns.  We skinned ; he took the lift! Sorry Lee - no A/T equipment not an excuse next time!

Chip Foster ( TOSV Transportation supervisor ) gave me the day of the season on Feb 12. Back country skiing off Richmond Ridge. As it turned out , the conditions were about as ideal as they could be.  Bitterly cold, but not a cloud in sky all day.  Just the two of us, we took the gondola to summit of Aspen Mtn and skinned south along the first section of Richmond Ridge. Then dropped down in to the Little Annie side of the mtn (towards Maroon Creek). Good powder but always the risk of breaking through to a bottomless layer beneath which made it ( for me - not Chip ) tricky.

This at the bottom of the first pitch looking west over to Highlands Bowl

Ditto with the view to the southwest.  The Five Fingers clearly visible. The shoulder of Mt Hayden on far left. Chip's skis look more like water skis. Maybe that's why he rode the powder better than I did. Sounds like a good excuse anyway. I'll use it anyway.

We skinned back up to summit of Ridge and skied down the other side ( towards Castle Creek ). This taken near the bottom of that pitch.

Another skin back up nearly to the Ridge, had our sandwiches and hot tea, and skied down one of the Macfarlane bowls. We started our descent just to the left of where the sun is setting in this pic. No one had been near here since the last snowfall , so fabulous unbroken powder.

This is an extension of the pitch just referred to . Zoom in and you'll spot Chip and a very pretty set of tracks. From where I took this pic (and it was well after 3.30 by now), we had a long skin out to get back into the Aspen Mtn ski area boundary.

Here we are back in relative civilisation at the bottom of Walsh's. Took skins off , skied down under the Gents Ridge lift and down Copper to base of Aspen Mtn. A memorable day. I had been nervous about it . A lot can ' happen ' out there ( we were at over 10,000 feet all day ), so was with huge relief to collapse that evening in the warmth and comfort of Meadow Ranch .  Chip is hugely experienced in back country skiing and knows the area like the back of his hand. Thank you Chip for being such a great guide and companion.