Spring Break @ Vail

Using our spring break to do winter activities... We headed to Vail for some skiing/riding. The forecast had called for snow, but nothing like what actually dumped from the sky. During the five days we were there the town of Vail had 5 inches, 3 inches, 13 inches, 11 inches, and 1 inch. Needless to say conditions were for the most part good. The first day was mostly sunny as the masked skiier(Lindsey) got some nice turns while in Game Creek Bowl on our second run of the day. We made our way ALL over the mountain. On the right is a picture from China Bowl after Brian leaped of the catwalk trail that traverses past.

As the days progressed it got snowier and much deeper. On the right Lindsey poses in front of China Bowl. We did NOT ski there during that afternoon.

The following morning the snow was knee deep or deeper in some spots. There were many great photo opportunities, but stopping for pictures took soo much time. So we just have a few.

On the left is Brian surfing the powder in Sun Up Bowl. On the right is Lindsey making a money turn in Sun Up Bowl.

Needless to say those few days were the best days skiing of the year, as well as the most exhausting!

The last day the skies were clear(er). We even skiied over some drops and cornices that had been blasted that morning for avalanche control. All in all it was a great few days and a great way to end our first year of skiing in Colorado. The last picture is us with Blue Sky Basin and some of Gore Range behind us.

RMNP in Winter

Being the last weekend of winter and that we had guests it seemed we had to make a trip to the park for some snowshoeing and sight seeing. Parking at the Bear Lake trailhead, which was surprisingly packed for a March day. We picked a loop going around Nymph, Dream, and one other lake. Lindsey wasn't up for taking pictures, but we posed anyway.

After doing the loop we then took a short stroll around and over a frozen Bear Lake. See next picture. The last picture is again on Bear Lake.

Skiing/Snowboarding Keystone and Breckenridge

This post will have more pictures per word...

Sunday we skiied Keystone for a few hours(after fighting road closures to get there) in the late afternoon and evening. Visibility was poor so we didn't take any pictures.

That night we ate at Old Chicago because it was close and neither of us had been there before. If you haven't been there, I recommend a calzone.

Monday morning was cold, 7 below in Silverthorne. The sun eventually warmed us up around 10am as we skiied Breckenridge. We explored some new territory at the resort we hadn't been to before. On the right Lindsey lands after going off a jump.

Later on we ended up in a never ending tree run... see left

While traversing to Peak 7 where the blue runs are like greens we stopped for this picture...

Eventually we took a break on a mid-mountain sun deck to have sandwiches and granola bars out of the back pack. Also we tried Tiger Wood's new Gatorade(King Sooper's special) which I'm sure cut at least 2 strokes off our handicaps. The view of Mount Quandry was spectacular. You will likely find a summer post detailing a climb of it later on...

Here it is in the background in both pictures.

Next trip will be a trip to Vail's back bowls. Stay tuned....

Chasm Lake, Attempt

We sought some adventure with Scott and Katie. After not being able to rent cross country skis we decided to snowshoe/hike up to Chasm Lake which is at the base of Long's Peak. Initally the hike went well as we could stay on top of the trail with only boots on. As you can see the weather was great.

On the right are Scott and Katie.

As we were breaking tree line our ability to stay on top of the snow was lost. We began "post holing," which means your feet would break through the snow up to your knee and occasionally a hip. It would have been nice to have snowshoes at this point. Above treeline it got really windy as well. Unfortunatly we didn't get to measure the wind speed, mostly because it was too windy to stand stationary. It easily went 40 to 50mph and likely even higher. Because of the wind we turned around. This pictures shows us where we turned around.

Another picture of us taking a break...

Overall it was mostly a nice day.

6 miles total, 1500 ft elevation gain

Vail/Beaver Creek over MLK weekend

Both Lindsey and Brian had a 3 day weekend over MLK Day weekend so they headed to Vail and Beaver Creek to use 3 of their 10 days allowed at these two ski resorts. Tucker stayed with his good friend Henry in Loveland.

Saturday they skied Beaver Creek which they both liked due to being so much bigger than other resorts they had skied previously this winter(Keystone, Breckenridge, and Arapahoe Basin) Throughout the runs there are houses everywhere. And big houses with features like heated driveways and large stone arches to enter the driveways. Here is a picture of 1 house, which is fairly average...

The condo was much smaller than it looked in the pictures, but it was nice. Instead of going out to dinner, meals of pasta and brats for the Packer game were cooked. The fireplace was a nice touch as well.

Sunday they skied Vail, an ENORMOUS mountain. The day was absolutely perfect with temperatures in the 30 degree range and bright blue skies. Runs in the China Bowl were the favorites of the day where it seems you have the whole mountain to yourself because of it's vastness. A picture of only a few of the bowls here.(Picture courtesy of Vail Resorts as the camera was left home)

After a fantastic day skiing the only thing better would have been a Super Bowl birth for the Packers. Of course we all know what happened and it is not to be spoken of again...

Monday brought a Packer hangover that was accurately identified by the an employee who saw Wisconsin plates on the Jimmy as it was being parked. Who was this employee? None other than high school friend Josh Bergeman! Very random indeed.

The snow wasn't great, in fact it was very icy and with flat light it was hard to ski in. Here is a picture of Lindsey posing with her new K2 skis.

New Years/Pat Rudd's Visit

With Jacob visiting for New Year's we couldn't just sit around the house. So we made many appetizers for our dinner. We went to the Backdraft Lounge in Windsor for a few drinks where Kareokee was sung. The next morning we went to the same place to watch the Badger game which was televised on ESPN, a channel we don't get. Even though Jacob was bleeding red and white he couldn't will the Badgers to victory over Tennesse. After the game Jacob and Brian went snowboarding on a hill near Windsor where the jump was too big and our skills too small. Getting ourselves good and sore in about an hour we called it quits.

January 4th brought Pat Rudd and his lady friend Lindsey. The next day we toured downtown Fort Collins and two breweries, New Belgium and Odell breweries. Odell brewery made us wear these sweet glasses, just in case somebody with a sharp stick tried to poke us in the eye. After Odell we went 1 block to New Belgium brewery, home of Fat Tire beer. After trying all of New Belgium's beers and deciding the majority just weren't that good we went another block to downtown Fort Collins known as "Old Towne." We went to a bar called a Drunken Monkey where you sit on swings as seen here.

The next day, Saturday, a hike of Horsetooth Mountain was in order. So setting out with temperatures in the 50's on a wet, muddy trail we went, Tucker, Brian, Pat and two Lindsey's. With the trail alternating between a foot of slushy snow and pure mud the go was slow. We did manage the top though.

On the right is us taking a break.

On the left is Lindsey at the top.

After a late night the group got moving on Sunday for a snowshoe hike in RMNP. Deer Mountain was the selected trail due to great views. On this day however, conditions were snowy and visibility poor. We made it half the way up to the top, but turned around. Here are some pictures. On the right are Pat and Lindsey.

Jacob on the above/left with no jacket, no boots, and borrowed gloves for a snowshoe hike at 10,000 ft in January.

The elk on the left is in Estes Park. It almost ate us...

Hiking totals for the weekend 8 miles, 2700ft elevation gain.

November, December update....

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years have come and past. Unfortunately we haven't updated this site during that time period. So here goes nothing....

Thanksgiving week/weekend involved a trip to Eau Claire for turkey and almost as important, football. Driving through the night 13 hours and 982 miles each way we made our way through WY, NE, IA, MN, and WI. We ate two Thanksgiving dinners, one at the Dahlke's and one at the Scheibles. Friday was the big game known as Turkey Bowl. Aided by a bagpipe entrance Team Stallone won 28-12. MVP awards went to Brian for his excellent play at QB after starting QB Pat Rudd went down with an undisclosed injury.(He was actually just being a big baby)

December in Colorado was colder than what the "natives" as they call themselves told us to expect. 29 inches of snow, which didn't melt, and the fact that only main roads are plowed made for a winter wonderland. Our house was decorated and we did get a Christmas tree from King Stupid's. No pictures, but it was pretty. We did manage to get a weekend skiing in to Keystone and Breckenridge as well. The snow was great as we skied powder at Breckenridge and still managed to find some stashes left at Keystone on Sunday. Only problem was that it snowed so much and was cloudy so we couldn't get a picture for our Christmas card like we desired. This picture comes from Copper Mountain early Sunday morning, the only time it was clear all weekend.

Again for Christmas we drove home. First to Madison, then to Eau Claire. While in Madison Tucker saw his old friends Dinah, Rider, Mokie, and Maddox for a play session, we celebrated the Scheible christmas with who else, but the Scheible's, and we even had time to see a few friends at Pedro's Mexican Restaurant where our favorite bar tender, Markie Mark, makes tasty drinks. Sunday brought a drive to Eau Claire and a change of scenery. This picture shows the road conditions we endured. Enough said.....

After arriving in EC and trying to avoid watching the second half of the Packers playing well against the bears we hiked in the woods.

Christmas eve brough church, ice fishing!, and a prime rib meal. On the right is Mom Dahlke showing Tucker how it's done. Christmas day brought with it Lisa and Scott from Hudson. Scott got a sweet outfit to wear when he flies planes as shown here.

As soon as it started it was over for Brian to catch a flight to Denver. Long story made short, instead of getting to Denver at 8:05pm to catch a shuttle to his car in Loveland, he instead got to Denver at 12:45am without baggage. Luckily a Delta pilot named Greg offered a ride to Loveland.

Stay tuned for results of New Year's and a visit from Jacob and Pat Rudd....