EMSC
Well-known member
Guys Trip Day 2
Much of the guys trip was pre-planned given the huge day ticket pricing out this way but we did have some flexibility in our schedule and this was essentially it. The snowfall was a bit less than anticipated at some of the resorts, the temperatures had plummeted overnight to the single digits and the winds were howling and it was still snowing lightly. The choice ended up being Beaver Creek which was reporting 5" of new snow (the highest amount of any that day) was at lower altitudes - good for temperatures and wind, but not good for previous base surface from the warm up. We took the chance and it mostly worked out.
After driving over snowy and near white out at times Vail Pass we had made it almost to our parking in Arrowhead when a car in front of us jammed it's brakes on and only the first of 2 SUV's was able to stop with the 2nd hitting the first. two cracked bumpers later we pulled in and got ready to ski after plunking down $139 a person for lift tickets (I had long warned about the price, but no one would commit early enough to picking out specific resorts to ski). Insanity level pricing for sure considering that with a group of 12 (a 3rd car was running late by 20 min from the first two cars) Vail Resorts got approaching $1700 from our group alone.
All in all ignoring the price it was the right choice. While windy, it was not what Breck or etc.. experienced that day. While very cold, it was way warmer than anything else in the area given the 7400' altitude of our Arrowhead starting spot. We quickly did a couple of laps in the ~4-5" in Arrowhead/Bachelor Gulch area before heading for Grouse Mtn. As one would expect for a weekday at beaver Creek there is some, but not a ton of competition for powder. Fortunately for us it was more like 8" of moderately dense new snow up on Grouse. Still thin enough to hit scratchy under-surfaces on occasion, but not often enough to impact the skiing. We ended up with 5 of us on the Grouse lift before whittling down to two of us lapping Grouse all the way until the Elk Glade closed at 2pm when we eventually grabbed a late lunch as the rest of the crew was heading back out. During the day the clouds slowly broke up and the wind decreased though didn't stop. Our legs beaten into submission by 8 or 9 Grouse laps, we took one run down the men's downhill course before taking the ~5 mile traverse back to Arrowhead and finishing a cold day.
Much of the guys trip was pre-planned given the huge day ticket pricing out this way but we did have some flexibility in our schedule and this was essentially it. The snowfall was a bit less than anticipated at some of the resorts, the temperatures had plummeted overnight to the single digits and the winds were howling and it was still snowing lightly. The choice ended up being Beaver Creek which was reporting 5" of new snow (the highest amount of any that day) was at lower altitudes - good for temperatures and wind, but not good for previous base surface from the warm up. We took the chance and it mostly worked out.
After driving over snowy and near white out at times Vail Pass we had made it almost to our parking in Arrowhead when a car in front of us jammed it's brakes on and only the first of 2 SUV's was able to stop with the 2nd hitting the first. two cracked bumpers later we pulled in and got ready to ski after plunking down $139 a person for lift tickets (I had long warned about the price, but no one would commit early enough to picking out specific resorts to ski). Insanity level pricing for sure considering that with a group of 12 (a 3rd car was running late by 20 min from the first two cars) Vail Resorts got approaching $1700 from our group alone.
All in all ignoring the price it was the right choice. While windy, it was not what Breck or etc.. experienced that day. While very cold, it was way warmer than anything else in the area given the 7400' altitude of our Arrowhead starting spot. We quickly did a couple of laps in the ~4-5" in Arrowhead/Bachelor Gulch area before heading for Grouse Mtn. As one would expect for a weekday at beaver Creek there is some, but not a ton of competition for powder. Fortunately for us it was more like 8" of moderately dense new snow up on Grouse. Still thin enough to hit scratchy under-surfaces on occasion, but not often enough to impact the skiing. We ended up with 5 of us on the Grouse lift before whittling down to two of us lapping Grouse all the way until the Elk Glade closed at 2pm when we eventually grabbed a late lunch as the rest of the crew was heading back out. During the day the clouds slowly broke up and the wind decreased though didn't stop. Our legs beaten into submission by 8 or 9 Grouse laps, we took one run down the men's downhill course before taking the ~5 mile traverse back to Arrowhead and finishing a cold day.
