re: 2022-2023 Ski Thread

Headed to Denver tonight from Houston for our annual guys trip. About 18 of us going to Winter Park until Tuesday.

That's quite the drive.

Although arranging flights for 15+ people is also hectic. SW cancelled half of our groups flights last year out of MSY. It was a shite show.

Got back from Aspen a few days ago, was a great trip. The four mountains make full Ikon a great deal, skied onto multiple lifts on MLK weekend. The Elk camp area and the base are really the two main areas of congestion to avoid.

Snowmass is a paradise for intermediate to advanced skiers, love powerline and sneaky's glades over by big burn. Some really nice cruisers over there as well, was flying down some corduroy. Also enjoyed the bumps in Garrett Gulch...

I of course did the hike up to longshot, some great views up there of the maroon bells and a pretty much a five mile run to myself on the way down...

I did three days at Snowmass and one day at Highlands. My legs didn't have enough in them to do the Highlands Bowl but still were fresh enough to ski some cruiers and glades. This sherwood forest...

Staying in Glenwood was kind of a pain with a 45 minute drive to Aspen, but parking at Brush Creek was easy and you can catch a quick bus ride to any of the four mountains from there. Easy to do for a solo trip, can save a lot of money making the drive but a group or family trip probably not the most ideal. Aspen though is an amazing place, going to try to make in an annual trip.

We do a yearly drive from Houston to Zion-ish so it's not too foreign to us. Regardless, maps saying 24 hrs drive time to J Hole so it will be a trek.

Booked my flights to Denver next week with the we goofed points Southwest gave everyone. A little nervous, but staying optimistic no problems!

I haven’t had lessons since I was 12, but I would wonder how much you would benefit from a group lesson at your level. Any chance you could get a private one so you could tell them what you wanted to focus on?

I’ve been boarding for 15 years going for 2-3 trips a season most of those years. I probably quit taking lessons by year 6 but I did find it helpful to take 1 group lesson during years 4-6 especially on the first day/first trip of the year. It can help to have someone observe you and help you fine tune some things. They should group you by ability too and if it’s a new mountain for you, it’s also a great way to learn the mountain

Didn’t think they could possibly cost that much. Group sounds good to me

If you are taking an intermediate level lesson you may luck out and be in a very small group.

If so you will get some good individualized instruction, if not take what you can to get a little better.

If you are flying into to Denver and want a lesson I suggest this place Snobahn. You will need a car or Uber to get there.

They taught my kids how to ski and my kids rip now. You schedule a 30 minute private lesson. You will board the entire 30 minutes. They have mirrors so you can watch yourself also. It is legit and I recommend it to everyone. Much cheaper and better than a group on the mountain. Body Miller is one of the owners. Parents drive their kids in from Vail in the summer to get better for racing.
There is a Surefoot nextdoor and a bar inside if you have a couple buddies who will have to wait for you.

Day 1 of Vail was great. Blue bird day. Main runs are pretty packed down but I explore a bit so found a lot of powder. I actually lost my speed in this one spot in the trees and sunk down to my damn waist. Had to unstrap and dig my damn board out. I was fricking wiped out after that but I still went on. Did my first double black which was a mistake. Haha. It was fun but it kicked my arse big time. And it was right under a lift so I felt like everyone was laughing at me. But I didn’t wait in a line one time all day. Not once. Not even for skyline which is usually packed for people going to bsb. Only time I had a decent amount of people around me was on a couple cat walks but it wasn’t even that many. All in all it was a great day. Got 14 run in according to my slopes app but my legs disagree. They think it was 85.

4 days left!!