Day 1: The mind is willing, the legs aren't.
The day's fun began when I pulled into the Entry 2 parking lot, sliding into a space next to Bobby Danger. Holy shit, the boy's stylin' this season:
Apparently gone are the Karbon jacket and pants. It's a whole new look for Bobby D!
Actually, Tele Jon, Skidog, Bobby and I all ended up within a half dozen parking spots of one another, and we made our way to the Tram Plaza for a rendezvous with Salida. Nowhere to be found, we got in line for the first public tram of the season before we spotted him a couple of rows back with his boss Justin. We all made the first cabin.
It was a fine, fine opening day. The only thing open off the top was Regulator Johnson, although all of the Mid-Cirque was perfectly skiable. Patrol was working over there so that if Peruvian Gulch doesn't open before Sunday's storm it certainly will afterward. Rounding the curve by Tower 4, we immediately shot out into Little Cloud Bowl for some fast arcs through untracked wind-sifted snow.
Lower down we cut across Regulator to ski the lower flanks of Shot 13 below the rock band and above the top of GadZoom, some of the best turns of the day through more untracked, before cruising down Big Emma to GadZoom for a welcome seat.
Groomers skied very well today, but when you're used to a relatively smooth surface, it's sure different when all of the ground imperfections aren't yet filled in with snow. Road cuts are deeper, lips are bigger, and you find your muscles tensing up to absorb the irregular surface.
That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it. Riding back up the Tram my legs just wouldn't quit shaking. By the fourth run, again down Regulator to Shot 13, my legs were Jello even though I paused to shoot photos of the group:
Apparently a diet of beer and fast food does nothing to prepare you for the season. I'll sit in the tub, pop some ibuprofen and take some more runs tomorrow.
We bumped into Tirolerpeter however briefly at GadZoom, and everyone else's friend Boarder Becky filtered in and out of the group on several occasions. The best turns of the day, though, were the final 30 or so through untracked thigh deep down Harper's below Bass Highway back to the truck.
2008-09 season powder day ratio: 100% :wink:
The day's fun began when I pulled into the Entry 2 parking lot, sliding into a space next to Bobby Danger. Holy shit, the boy's stylin' this season:
Apparently gone are the Karbon jacket and pants. It's a whole new look for Bobby D!
Actually, Tele Jon, Skidog, Bobby and I all ended up within a half dozen parking spots of one another, and we made our way to the Tram Plaza for a rendezvous with Salida. Nowhere to be found, we got in line for the first public tram of the season before we spotted him a couple of rows back with his boss Justin. We all made the first cabin.
It was a fine, fine opening day. The only thing open off the top was Regulator Johnson, although all of the Mid-Cirque was perfectly skiable. Patrol was working over there so that if Peruvian Gulch doesn't open before Sunday's storm it certainly will afterward. Rounding the curve by Tower 4, we immediately shot out into Little Cloud Bowl for some fast arcs through untracked wind-sifted snow.
Lower down we cut across Regulator to ski the lower flanks of Shot 13 below the rock band and above the top of GadZoom, some of the best turns of the day through more untracked, before cruising down Big Emma to GadZoom for a welcome seat.
Groomers skied very well today, but when you're used to a relatively smooth surface, it's sure different when all of the ground imperfections aren't yet filled in with snow. Road cuts are deeper, lips are bigger, and you find your muscles tensing up to absorb the irregular surface.
That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it. Riding back up the Tram my legs just wouldn't quit shaking. By the fourth run, again down Regulator to Shot 13, my legs were Jello even though I paused to shoot photos of the group:
Apparently a diet of beer and fast food does nothing to prepare you for the season. I'll sit in the tub, pop some ibuprofen and take some more runs tomorrow.
We bumped into Tirolerpeter however briefly at GadZoom, and everyone else's friend Boarder Becky filtered in and out of the group on several occasions. The best turns of the day, though, were the final 30 or so through untracked thigh deep down Harper's below Bass Highway back to the truck.
2008-09 season powder day ratio: 100% :wink:
