EMSC
Well-known member
By far the most exciting part of this TR will be from the night before, trying to get to the Aspen area. After one false start we were on the road a bit late and cruising along until about 200 yards before the Eisenhower tunnels when the guy in front of me decided to slam into the concrete Jersey barriers dividing the highway with the front end of his Suburban.
75 MPH to zero in no time flat. With my brain not quite comprehending what I saw. I thought for sure that I was going to be rear-ended for the first 10-15 seconds, then braved getting out of my vehicle to see to the people inside the suburban. Fortunately with full front, side, etc.. curtain airbags they were dazed but OK. The front quarter panel had shoved backwards enough that it was tough to open the drivers side door and even then only by just enough for him to slide out of the wreck. Fortunately some of the CDOT crew from the tunnels immediately recognized the wreck and came down with a truck to block traffic down to one shoulder lane within ~3-5minutes. Have to say I've been on scene pretty quick for a couple of car wrecks but usually 5th to 10th or so. So never been the one to call 911 until now.
Anyway we'll just call it a rather late arrival ahead of a race day.
Super warm in the valley with temps ~36F and sunny at 8am at Highlands. Surprisingly up on the very top of the mountain about an inch of new snow had fallen which made all the difference in conditions for the groomers. They skied surprisingly well first thing. The new snow must have fallen earlier in the night as it seemed to have prevented the immediate surface underneath from freezing to hard ice, instead remaining soft-ish. I managed 4 Loge Peak laps before heading back down to the race. The lower mountain was truly softened for the day only in spots at first mid-am, eventually becoming a bit too soft and slushy down there by mid-afternoon.
By the same mid-afternoon Cloud Nine lift was in prime softness, and the race which ended fairly early allowed my son to ski a few laps up top then. But given the long prior night and early arrival we ditched the slopes ~2:45p. With late day temperatures down valley at Carbondale at a super warm 60F.
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It doesn't look like much but 75mph into the wall means that thing is totaled. The engine is pretty much on the ground though you can't see it behind the daughter in this pic. Tunnels and Loveland ski area in the background. That's my front headlight on the right. Don't recall tires squealing, though mine must have been close to doing so.
Hey there's a ski race, you better do some planks to warm up....
In a non-surprise move, racers load 30min ahead of public....
1" makes all the difference...
Highland Bowl and Deep Temerity on delayed open for the Inferno race...
Oh yeah, a ski race...
This is a terrible picture. You can't really even see the person salting the course, but you can see part of the back pack and the spray of salt coming out if you look close. @nd run was delayed since they needed to salt. Kind of a vacuum in reverse blowing the salt out and aimed up in th air to get a more even spread. At least an improvement from hand throwing salt from when the dinosaurs roamed (eg when I coached).
I have no idea what was going on at the ever popular Cloud Nine bar, but they had ropes, security guys and a huge line to get in at 1:30p...
To add to the weirdness, 4 women with violins unpacking at the mid mtn lodge too...
75 MPH to zero in no time flat. With my brain not quite comprehending what I saw. I thought for sure that I was going to be rear-ended for the first 10-15 seconds, then braved getting out of my vehicle to see to the people inside the suburban. Fortunately with full front, side, etc.. curtain airbags they were dazed but OK. The front quarter panel had shoved backwards enough that it was tough to open the drivers side door and even then only by just enough for him to slide out of the wreck. Fortunately some of the CDOT crew from the tunnels immediately recognized the wreck and came down with a truck to block traffic down to one shoulder lane within ~3-5minutes. Have to say I've been on scene pretty quick for a couple of car wrecks but usually 5th to 10th or so. So never been the one to call 911 until now.
Anyway we'll just call it a rather late arrival ahead of a race day.
Super warm in the valley with temps ~36F and sunny at 8am at Highlands. Surprisingly up on the very top of the mountain about an inch of new snow had fallen which made all the difference in conditions for the groomers. They skied surprisingly well first thing. The new snow must have fallen earlier in the night as it seemed to have prevented the immediate surface underneath from freezing to hard ice, instead remaining soft-ish. I managed 4 Loge Peak laps before heading back down to the race. The lower mountain was truly softened for the day only in spots at first mid-am, eventually becoming a bit too soft and slushy down there by mid-afternoon.
By the same mid-afternoon Cloud Nine lift was in prime softness, and the race which ended fairly early allowed my son to ski a few laps up top then. But given the long prior night and early arrival we ditched the slopes ~2:45p. With late day temperatures down valley at Carbondale at a super warm 60F.
****************************************
It doesn't look like much but 75mph into the wall means that thing is totaled. The engine is pretty much on the ground though you can't see it behind the daughter in this pic. Tunnels and Loveland ski area in the background. That's my front headlight on the right. Don't recall tires squealing, though mine must have been close to doing so.
Hey there's a ski race, you better do some planks to warm up....
In a non-surprise move, racers load 30min ahead of public....
1" makes all the difference...
Highland Bowl and Deep Temerity on delayed open for the Inferno race...
Oh yeah, a ski race...
This is a terrible picture. You can't really even see the person salting the course, but you can see part of the back pack and the spray of salt coming out if you look close. @nd run was delayed since they needed to salt. Kind of a vacuum in reverse blowing the salt out and aimed up in th air to get a more even spread. At least an improvement from hand throwing salt from when the dinosaurs roamed (eg when I coached).
I have no idea what was going on at the ever popular Cloud Nine bar, but they had ropes, security guys and a huge line to get in at 1:30p...
To add to the weirdness, 4 women with violins unpacking at the mid mtn lodge too...
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