There were relatively few people on the slopes with no waiting for the lifts. By Wednesday morning the skies were still gray, but the snow had stopped.
The snow started coming down on Sunday night and did not stop until Wednesday morning, 35 inches of new powder snow!!! those first few days.We haven't had that much in NC if you totalled all the accumulation in the past 15 years!
There were relatively few people on the slopes with no waiting for
the lifts. By Wednesday morning the skies were still gray, but the
snow had stopped.
By Noon the sun started to come out and it stayed clear for the rest of the week. Colleen took Tuesday and Thursday off and got to ski with us. Otherwise, we said "Howdy as we got on and off the lifts where she worked. We got to see her in action as a little boy and his father behind us, fell as they got off the lift, then the two people behind them fell avoiding them, She pulled the little boy to safety. The "Lifties" as they call themselves earn the little money they get.
The Yellow lines are all the paths that
I took during the 6 days. You can see I was trying to get my monies worth
out this mountain!! Mom had a great time on the front face on lifts 2,3,4
and 6. I got on all 10 of the lifts, but not all the paths. The "intermediate"
slopes on the back side sure looked liked the black diamond expert slopes
to me. I made it down Boogie, but just barely!!
The slopes are just 30 minutes north of Durango. We arrived on
Monday, in a little flurry of snow in Durango, but a blizzard up on the
mountains. They had over a foot of fresh snow when we got to the slopes
on Tuesday. It was a little difficult coming down the first few times making
our own tracks in the fresh deep snow. It snowed all day off and
on and added ANOTHER foot of snow. By Wednesday, there was 35 inches of
new powder!
Colleen was able to ski with us on Tuesday on her day
off and again on Thursday.. GREAT FUN.
(She is also Snow boarding!! Wish the whole family could have been
here. Patrick and Kevin would love it! THere are Gazillions of ways to
come down the mountain...of course some of them are INSANE!! We Thought
Wednesday was great, but arrived thursday morning with the sun shining
brightly. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. The mountains that we could not see Wednesday
were out spread around us up and down the valley. From the Top it
was a sight that only panoramic pictures
can capture. but of course we left in such a hurry to catch the bus
to the slopes, that we forgot the camera.
This place is EXPENSIVE!!! but Colleen has been taking care
of us with the Lift tickets. We have had two free days and another one
tomorrow. At $43 each a day, that is quite a savings.
This was our home base each night. A 1 bedroom and 1 all purpose apartment
in a former 1800's brothel on the main street of the historic district
of Durango, CO. We had use of all kinds of outdoor equipment of the two
guys who allowed Colleen and her roommate of Samford, April, to use while
they worked for the Census Bureau for three months. I used one guys snow
board pants each day, and on the last day, used one of the Ski boards.
You can see it is FILLED with all kinds of play things. a kayak on the
wall above three snow boards, three sets of skis along with shelves of
all kinds of snow boots, hiking boots, climbing shoes, ski boots, fishing
boots, fishing poles, etc. We had use of the 4 wheel drive Nisson
Pathfinder the last few days. It was easier to ride the bus the twenty
miles the first few days. The bus had to stop and put on chains 3/4 way
up the mountain.
The ski rentals were so high, that we went down the street from
the apt to a used sports store and I bought skis and boots for less than
what I would have rented them for during the 6 days here. Of course mom
bought a brand new pair of boots and new skis new pants, new hat Goggles,
etc : That ski resort is not cheap, but we had three days of free ski passes
from Colleen, we brought our own sandwiches and drinks and we slept in
sleeping bags on the couch and floor. Our only luxury was we went out each
evening for supper in a different local eatery. Buffalo burgers, italian
pizza, mexican tomales, and. Greek salads.
Colleen is one of many "Lifties" people who work the lifts. She
let everyone know we were coming, so they say, Hey Dudes, have a great
day as we get on and off!!! Her rommate April is
at the right in the middle of lift 4 and Colleen is at the top of lift
4. They mover around several times each day to keep from getting
too bored. So they get to ski down to the next station or get pulled up
behind a snowmobile like the are water skiing! Only UP hill!! Colleen is
definitely in her element here. She and April have calls all the time to
go out with the gang. Several have dropped by here while we have been here.
All of them seem like really nice kids. There was 4 of them here last night
who run an outdoor camp for kids in the summer. They want her to come work
for them this summer leading trips, hiking, rafting, biking etc. She wants
to work as a river raft guide this summer, so it does not look like she
will be going to the Wheaton outdoor education program.... but who knows
where this little butterfly will light. She is having a blast, though working
very hard, shoveling snow, running the lifts, helping people on and off
. Just after we took the picture above, we saw her jump out and grab a
little 6 or 7 year old out of the way when he fell off. The chair
almost hit her as she pulled him away. She has lots of bruises where
she was not so quick in previous acts of heroism.
Well, just a little of what is happening here and we have
only been here three days of the 7. I have brought no school work, so it
is truly a BREAK from school. We are too tired to do anything but eat and
go to sleep early in the evening. We are looking forward to
going with Colleen on the back side of the mountain tomorrow. It has not
been crowed at all. Sometimes
Barbara and I are the only one on our path down the mountain.
The Powder snow is SOOOOOOOO much better than the Made stuff in NC. The
ride up takes about 15 minutes and about the 2o minutes to come down.
SUPERB.
Well I think you got the idea that we are having a good time.
Only a few spills in DEEP soft snow the first day. Packed today,
so no falls. Hmmmmm COlleen just came in and is
not feeling so good, so we may do something else today. Will let
you know. Be sure an let us know how your European trip went before
you take off on your Bahamian trip! Just reply to
this message.
We had our baggie lunch each day on the deck next to our favorite
plastic palm tree.
Friday March 10 and March 11
Greetings again from us Dudes and Dudetts in Colorado,
I told you in the last message
that we were having a WONDERFUL time and the weather had been great.
Well TODAY topped all the other days. We woke up to clear sunny
skies and it stayed that way all day. It was the first day
since we arrived that it did not snow sometime during the day. 
GLORIOUS!!!!!!!! Of course we both look like owls where we got sun on our faces, but not were the goggles were. Of course everyone else looks the same way
Notice that even on this beautiful day, there was hardly anyone on
the slopes I took off for the back side again and tried
the BOOGIE trail today, thenPEACE, WHERE,
AIRMAIL, The
BANK, DEAD SPIKE (I probably should have skipped that
one. I'm Pretty sure that the last part of that run was an expert run.
I stopped at the rim because I could not see what was below. It was
almost
vertical, but I had already committed myself, so just took it easy
with a LOT of ZIG ZAGS It was definitely exhilarating. Harris Hill Run,
the day before it was CHERUB, UPPER HADES, PARADISE
(oddly enough these are right next to each other!) TINKER's
DAM, and DEMON. I have used all 6 of the major lifts.
To get to the back side, I had to go up and down three lifts. Just about
the time I got back there it was time to meet Barbara to catch the bus
back to Durango. It took a half hour of
constant skiing going through many different pathways to get
down to the base. WONDERFUL!!! The longer lifts on the back side take about
12 minutes to get to the top , then it takes ME about 15 minutes to get
to the bottom(I don't go straight down like some ....most of these young
kids) Now in NC, it takes about 5 minutes to get to the top and less
than 5 to get to the bottom. An there is no ICY trails like NC. With
the 30.5+ inches that Purgatory has gotten since Sunday, there is
PLENTY of nice soft snow to cruise.
Barbara has been happy to stay on the front side in the easiest runs.
She is having a great time too. We pretty much stayed together the first
few days, but I really wanted to see some of the other runs. so we
did a couple together and took some great pictures, then split up for part
of the day. We are waiting now for Colleen and April to get back from their
day's work.
She and several of her Lifty friends (people who work on the ski lifts)
are stopping off at a friends condo and using their HOT TUB They
are taking US tomorrow.
It is now tomorrow, and we have just gotten in from the HOT TUB! Another
AWESOME( highly rated perception of beauty)and TOTALLY (an
expression of completeness) experiance to be had on this very RAD
(another expression implying an event of great significance)
Sunny almost cloudless SWEET(denoting pleasure rather than taste)
day Where all the DUDES and DUDETTES (the younger generation)and
even the ANCIENTS (the rest of us over 30) enjoyed the day.
I wish I could remember all the other expressions that these kids used.
It really is another culture! Temperatures around 4O, no wind And STILL
not very crowded even though it is the beginning of he weekend. It
is hard to believe that MANY times I am alone on a trail. Barbara
and I went down one of the trails that the
ski mobiles use which is just wide enough for the snowmobiles and winds
in and around the trees.
We were the only ones on it. Lovely time. The girls went to work early
while Barbara and I slept in. I was going to take the
snow board and try it out today, but we watched a video of these EXPERT
young guys coming straight down these HUGE humongus (very steep, narrow
top of the mountain, no ski lifts, only a helicopter to get them there)
mountains., So I opted not to take them today. However, I feel bold
tonight and I tried on one of the boys boots here at the apt and laced
myself into the board on the floor. April gave me a few pointers,
so TOMORROW, I will start out on the Bunny slope and see how it goes.
This will be our last day of skiing, so I may go out with a bang.
We have been dinning out at different
little eateries. Tonight was Mexican tomales, last night was Mama's Pizza,
the night before was Buffalo burgers. One night the girls fixed us supper.
We bring our lunches every day and eat our sandwiches on the patio outside
and watch the Colleen or April as they help people onto the Lift in front
of us.
So... stay tuned for the
last exciting chapter of our skiing vacation which will come to an abrupt
halt on Monday evening when I must prepare a two hour lecture for my class
on Tuesday evening. Having a great time, Wish you all were here. You all
would enjoy sitting at the bottom of the hill watching everyone come whizzing
in, some gracefully and some not so gracefully as they sprawl out in a
heap
. 
The last days were Glorious. Even on Saturday
and Sunday, there were times that Barbara and I were the only ones on our
path down the mountain. No picture to prove it, but I borrowed one
of the guys snowboard and boots and tried it out on the last day. After
an initial hour on the bunny slope where I sat in on a group of 6
and 7 year old snowboarders lessons, I was ready for the big time
and went up to the top and took one long run down. On one of my "rest
stops" in a nice patch of soft snow, Barbara happened by and we went
down the remainder together, So she is my proof, that I really did it.
I think I could enjoy it with a little more padding in certain areas of
my anatomy.
Monday morning we headed back and got in about midnight on Monday.
Tired but Happy. Guess we'll have to do it again, because this 6
inches of man made icy snow slopes in North Carolina just won't make it
after 35 inches of new powder on top of 40 inches of packed snow in the
West. Besides we now both have skis and boots. It was actually cheaper,
to buy used skis, poles and boots, than it was to rent them for a week!
Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I am sure the Taylors and Wells have
some to match all these in Utah and Montana.
Here are two other pictures of Patricks 14th Birthday Party. It was
his decision not to go to Colorado. He had several important events, concerts
and baseball games that week. He is going on his 8th grade trip to Chattanooga
next week.That is Eric next to Patrick with his hair color of the week,
green.
Then of course there are our other two hillbilly children. They did a country duet for their talent at Christmas time with authentic missing teeth and good mountain accents.
And finally a blurry picture of Kevin's last Musical "Into the Woods"
where he was Jack (of the beanstalk fame).
We will have some of his Junior recital when we ge them developed.
He sang wonderfully. He was a little worried that no one would come because
he sang one hour before the Carolina/Florida game, but he had an almost
full recital hall. We walked down to the Dean Dome and cheered in the dark
with several thousand fans while we watched the game on large screens.
It was kind of fun.
