For the rest of MLK weekend we moved to Aspen. Both Highlands Sunday and Aspen Mt. Monday were very quiet. Aspen was in a lull between just ended Gay Ski Week and the X-Games starting on Jan. 22. Aspen like Vail had last had new snow 5 days earlier. Surfaces were similar but more obstacles were evident at Aspen due to both steeper terrain and about 2/3 as much season snowfall. Nonetheless it was impressive that most of Temerity’s steeps were open while Crested Butte has yet to open any runs on the North Face with similar reported snowfall.
Paul drove over separately and skied with us. We took a warmup run on Golden Horn/Thunder Bowl, then headed up top. View of Highlands Bowl from Loge Peak.
Paul led us to Y-12 as a preview of the steep skiing in Highlands Bowl.
The “Y” runs are more challenging than the bowl itself due to south exposure with crunchy snow and sketchier coverage.
After this experience Liz took a pass on the bowl while Paul and I started the hike about 11:50AM. He took some pictures of me on the hike.
It took me 47 minutes, similar to my first time there in April 2011.
More pics on Highlands Peak.
We started with G8 in the upper part of Highlands Bowl.
Snow was excellent soft chalk, with a layer of loose snow on top at the tree line where we shifted over to G6.
We traversed through some trees to ski the bottom of G3 and avoid part of the bumpy runout in the bottom of the bowl. We rode Temerity up, arriving about 1:15. At this point I was pretty beat, so I went into lunch and and extended break at Merry Go Round with Liz while Paul took some more Temerity runs.
We skied down ~3:30 and drove into Aspen. We spent the next 2 nights at the Limelight Hotel, a very nice and convenient spot, perfect for some relaxation in the middle of our extended road trip. It’s easy walking distance to most of Aspen’s dining spots. We chose Element 47 at Little Nell our first night.
Of the 3 times I’ve hiked Highlands Bowl, this one provided the best improvement in conditions over the lift served terrain. As before I had been in Colorado a full week and thus had no overt altitude symptoms. However, at my current level of fitness it’s close to a “one and done” experience for the day. I could ski groomers afterwards, but wouldn’t do too well in the demanding Temerity terrain after that hike. 12,000 vertical was enough for me.
Paul drove over separately and skied with us. We took a warmup run on Golden Horn/Thunder Bowl, then headed up top. View of Highlands Bowl from Loge Peak.
Paul led us to Y-12 as a preview of the steep skiing in Highlands Bowl.
The “Y” runs are more challenging than the bowl itself due to south exposure with crunchy snow and sketchier coverage.
After this experience Liz took a pass on the bowl while Paul and I started the hike about 11:50AM. He took some pictures of me on the hike.
It took me 47 minutes, similar to my first time there in April 2011.
More pics on Highlands Peak.
We started with G8 in the upper part of Highlands Bowl.
Snow was excellent soft chalk, with a layer of loose snow on top at the tree line where we shifted over to G6.
We traversed through some trees to ski the bottom of G3 and avoid part of the bumpy runout in the bottom of the bowl. We rode Temerity up, arriving about 1:15. At this point I was pretty beat, so I went into lunch and and extended break at Merry Go Round with Liz while Paul took some more Temerity runs.
We skied down ~3:30 and drove into Aspen. We spent the next 2 nights at the Limelight Hotel, a very nice and convenient spot, perfect for some relaxation in the middle of our extended road trip. It’s easy walking distance to most of Aspen’s dining spots. We chose Element 47 at Little Nell our first night.
Of the 3 times I’ve hiked Highlands Bowl, this one provided the best improvement in conditions over the lift served terrain. As before I had been in Colorado a full week and thus had no overt altitude symptoms. However, at my current level of fitness it’s close to a “one and done” experience for the day. I could ski groomers afterwards, but wouldn’t do too well in the demanding Temerity terrain after that hike. 12,000 vertical was enough for me.