bubble run

Funderland

mother of dragons

Field Trip & Other April Pix

Field Trip & Other April Pix 29 View album

Matchy matchy

Colorado 2018 - Snowmass & Telluride

We had a good trip to Snowmass and Telluride -- both in Colorado -- for the kids Spring Break.  I had not been to Snowmass for a dozen years and had never visited Telluride.  The latter is pretty hard to get to. 

Snowmass has changed extensively since our last visit in 2006.  It has had a massive amount of base area development, and lift improvement.  When we were last there, it was kind of embarrassing how many old, slow lifts they were still using.  Now everything is fast express lifts and gondolas, which given their lift ticket prices, and general upscale attitude, is expected. 

We began by taking an American flight connecting in LAX to Eagle, and picking up a rental to drive over.  There was some flight delays in LA and some passengers who should have known better started acting rather poorly.  It's strange to me, since flight delays during ski season aren't something to be surprised about.  Upon arrival we picked up gigantic Tahoe from Budget, and it was pretty impressive with its gadgetry, but I found the vehicle a bit ungainly. At least we had lots of room for our gear.  The drive from Eagle to Aspen was straightforward and scenic. Most of the way its a very good, divided highway, with guard rails. 

Our condo in Snowmass was right by the base village.  It had a great location and was blessed with a shuttle bus every 15 minutes.  This was the first trip this season where the kids didn't have to share a room with their parents, and I think they were quite happy with that.  We enjoyed relaxing in the hot tub, just around the corner.  Snowmass is a very family friendly mountain.  There is a wide variety of ski runs, and in general, they are not as steep as other areas, while still offering good length.  In addition because the area is high altitude, snow conditions were good, even late in the season, or in low snow years like this one.  The kids have gotten much better and went up to the top of Elk Camp with me.  They really enjoy the wide open, gently pitched cruising there.  It's a great zone for everyone.   After they got tired, I went by myself to the Sheer Bliss lift, up high, but on another part of the mountain.  I want to come back here next season.

After several days there, we drove to Telluride.  The last part of the drive is nerve wracking, since there are limited road shoulders and guardrails.  We stayed in town at the superb Hotel Telluride; we had a nice room here, right next to the hot tub again.  The town is at the end of a box canyon and is tiny, maybe only a mile long, with a few streets width.  We would take the hotel shuttle bus in the morning to the gondola, and walk back in the afternoon, browsing among the local storefronts.  Telluride is a glitzy enclave of the jet set, but the skiing is still good, if hard to get to.   One night we had a fancier dinner (for a ski trip) and I had a great Trout Almondine.  I have not made that home in quite some time, but should try it again.  Telluride's snow conditions were a bit icier/slushier than Snowmass's, but we still had a good family day when we took everyone to the top of Lift 10.  After that the girls went shopping, while I went back to the main area to hop around the blue runs.  It takes a while for them to soften up, so skiing late afternoon there in the spring is still perfectly fine.  Telluride is ok, but I'm not in any particular rush to return.

Returning from Telluride to the Eagle airport is a long 230 miles, but we stopped for lunch at a Long John Silvers (!) which has to be one of the last remaining ones in America.  I am not sure I've been in one in at least a decade.  It was as tasty (and salty) as I remember though.  That'll suffice for the next decade.  We had to fuel up the Tahoe a couple of times; it's one thirsty car.  We had an easy flight home, connecting in Phoenix, where the kids had some airport Chinese food, which was not as bad as it sounded.  Picking up our car at SMF took a long time, since they seem to have reduced the shuttle buses to the parking lot.  It seriously took 25 minutes.  Next time I'm going to have weigh taking a car service, since its tough on the kids at the end of a long travel day to wait, even if parents are bringing the car to the terminal for them.

There are lots of pictures below, including the final ones of my now retired (after 20 seasons!) purple Solstice ski jacket. 

Colorado 2018 - Snowmass & Telluride 82 View album Get the Google Photos app

A blast from the past

Shamrock Shake Time

The one thing everyone can agree on - March is Shamrock Shake season!

Note the new - and painful - braces.

Alpine Meadows March 2018

Alpine Meadows March 2018 15 View album Get the Google Photos app

Sun Valley & Snowbasin 2018

We had a smooth trip to Sun Valley, Idaho and Snowbasin, Utah for the kids February ski week.  I had not been to these places in quite some time: 13 years for Sun Valley and 7 years for Snowbasin.  However, neither mountain had changed much.  SV has a new gondola which made getting to one area a little easier, and Snowbasin seemed a little more crowded than I remember, but we were also visiting over a holiday period.

We began by taking a short midday direct flight into Boise, and picking up a rental vehicle to drive over.  We had originally booked a car from Enterprise, as that was all they had for a point to point rental, but were pleasantly surprised when we were upgraded to a full size Expedition.  So we had lots of room for our gear.  Later I found while chatting with another skier on a lift in Utah that there was a shortage of SUVs in Salt Lake City, so the company likely viewed our point to point rental as a free way for them to get a truck from Boise to SLC.  In any case, that was nice, whatever the reason.  The drive across Idaho was fairly desolate, with limited rest stops, views or gas stations.  The rural undivided highways are not lit at night either, so its best to make those drives in the day.  Taking the interstate is longer, but advised when weather or visibility is poor.

Our home base in Sun Valley was the Tyrolean Lodge, an Austrian style hotel right at the base of the River Run ski lifts and lodge.  It had a great location, a breakfast buffet, and to the kids delight - a cocoa machine in the lobby whenever they wanted something hot.  We enjoyed relaxing there with the fire and board games we had brought along as well.  The hot tub was outside, and we tried that once, but it was very cold (outside, not in the water).  Bald Mountain remains as challenging as ever;  it's a steep mountain, with very long sustained ski runs -- 3000 to 3500 feet.  These are double to triple the typical length in Tahoe.  The kids improved their abilities and even went to the top of the mountain, trying both the long College run, and parts of the Warm Springs run.  Once upon a time you could earn a pin for skiing Warm Springs without stopping or falling, but they don't award that anymore (and it's actually hard to earn).  This is a very charming town, and our time on the mountain was generally very sunny.

After several days there, we drove down to to Snowbasin, this time staying in a city, Ogden, at a Hampton Inn.  We had a much bigger suite here, but the building had been converted from a bank, so there were lots of odd things about the room and building.  Our floor was distinctly not level for example.  But the breakfast buffet, service, and cookies were good and it is incredibly convenient for taking a bus to the ski mountain as the #675 stops literally in front of the hotel.  However, because of our schedule, and tardiness, we ended up driving to the mountain every day, so missed that nice amenity.  Snowbasin, as the name suggests, was the opposite of Sun Valley and very snowy during our visit.  The girls proclaimed it to be the best powder they had experienced.  It'll probably be the best they experience for years, as the timing was indeed, very lucky.  Overall the American West has had a low precipitation year, but we've been fortunate in both our trips -- going to snow-sure Mammoth for Christmas, later catching a storm right before Alta/Snowbird and then catching storms at both SV and SB.  And despite all that, the weather didn't delay our travel, another break.

One plus of staying in a city is that we didn't have to eat the eventually tiresome ski town fare of pizza, burgers, etc. every night.  So for the latter part of the trip we had Japanese and Thai food.  From Ogden it was a short drive down to the SLC airport, an easy rental return, and an on time Southwest flight home.  Normally, something always goes wrong on trips, and other than losing a few small items, this jaunt was a smooth, easy trip.  These are all places we could have driven to -- and we have twice before -- and there is some advantage to not being limited by airline/rental car constraints, but it was nice to fly this time.  

I'm sure I've forgotten things I wanted to mention, but there are lots of pictures in the links below.

Sun Valley & Snowbasin 2018 48 View album Get the Google Photos app

Twins , Bear and sun valley

Crazy hair day!

One is supposed to be dog and the other a unicorn

A big beautiful wall

The cat now has a big beautiful wall to keep out nosy foreign invaders from her litter box.

(Note the little door at the bottom, which she barely fits through)

Sometimes she'll sit behind the fence, sneering at the dog, flicking her tail, baiting him.

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