I headed west recently — and of course I brought my skis!
I skied during Vail's last five days of the ski season in late-April. Despite the calendar, it was winter. I bundled up and enjoyed some freshies. Soft, swishy snow was only found toward the bottom of the mountain. The snow firmed up each night so we followed the sun (or partial sunshine) and waited for it to loosen up.
Then spring came in early-May. I skinned at Beaver Creek ski resort for a couple of super-soft outings. Luckily I had partially acclimated to the elevation by then. I also skied alongside bear and mountain lion footprints. (Here, kitty-kitty-kitty!)
Finally, I got over to Breckenridge for their high-elevation, late-spring skiing. I picked a gorgeous bluebird day and I scored big.
Very few people were riding the five lifts open on Peaks 6, 7 and 8 on a Tuesday. (This included a high-elevation T-bar — bringing back memories of skiing as a kid!) It was an awesome day of skiing corn snow and soft snow mostly above treeline. Fun stuff!
It was a fun way to wrap up the ski season. And I then enjoyed returning to Vermont’s lush, green springtime!
Time to enjoy the off season, y'all!
