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NEXT STOP: JACKSON HOLE Rick, Elizabeth, Judy, Dick, Greg, John, Paul, Dick, Jan, Duff, Charlot & John

By Peter Weston

Twenty nine members of the Carrabassett Valley Outdoor Association recently traveled to Colorado and skied at Snowmass, Aspen, and the Aspen Highlands Ski Resorts. Kathy Gagne did a fantastic job arranging the trip, according to everyone who participated. The group stayed in condos at the Snowmass Village golf course with use of the beautiful health center included in the deal. The two outdoor hot tubs and heated lap pool saw lots of use after skiing.

And speaking of skiing, it was "awesome," "amazing," "beautiful," and/or "fantastic" depending on whom you talk to. The three ski areas are located within a few miles of each other, and the package included 6 days of skiing at any of the resorts. There was no new snow during the week, other than 2 to 3 inches the first night and snow flurries the last day. The first five days of skiing were clear, warm, calm bluebird days-what a great change from the weather back in Maine this winter. Sunscreen was definitely a requirement, but not to worry, as the ski areas were giving away tubes of sunscreen along with the free coffee and muffins while we waited for the lifts to open in the morning.

Snowmass

Snowmass is the largest of the three resorts (about 5 times more acres than Sugarloaf), and has fantastic groomers, glades, and some great steep runs off the top. The meadows off the Big Burn and Sheer Bliss lifts are amazingly wide, long, perfectly groomed trails with Fraser firs sprinkled around to make it interesting. Despite the lack of new snow, the conditions were excellent thanks to the 30+ inches of snow they received the week before. Many of the CVOA group also enjoyed the groomed trails off the beautiful Elk Camp lift, although a few may have been going a bit too fast to enjoy the scenery!

Aspen

Aspen is a classic, historic area; and skiing there was especially meaningful for CVOA member John Chapman. The last time he skied Aspen, it was 1948! Others on the trip enjoyed hearing his stories of what it was like back then. At the base of the mountain there are bronze statues of several of the Aspen founders, and John knew and skied with them all. A local TV station was broadcasting from the bottom of the lift the morning John returned to Aspen after 61 years away. When they heard the story, they quickly set up an interview on the spot. It was great to see John’s expression as he made his first run at Aspen since 1948.

Aspen Highlands Rick Skiing Highlands Bowl

The Aspen Highlands resort has lovely long groomers, and some amazing steeps, including the famous Highland Bowl. To get to the top of the Bowl, you first have to take two lifts up to the top of the ridge. Then, ski over to a snow cat that takes you to the start of the Bowl rim. From here you put your skis on your back and start hiking. It takes 45 minutes to hike up to the top, which is at 12,392 feet elevation. Once you get your skis on (the toughest part!), you are looking at over 3,000 vertical feet of challenging skiing starting with a 45° pitch. It’s a run the six CVOA members who hiked the Bowl will never forget.

One morning after flying down the perfectly groomed top-to-bottom runs at Aspen Highlands a large group of CVOA’ers stopped for coffee at the Merry-Go-Round, the mid-mountain restaurant. It was a beautiful, warm day so they sat outdoors, enjoying the brilliant sunshine. The restaurant was playing classic oldies and one well-known Sugarloafer, wearing his signature railroad coveralls, couldn’t resist dancing. He even got a dollar tip from one of the other restaurant patrons. He was definitely good entertainment!

The Snowmass/Aspen area has a great free transportation system so getting around was never a problem. A typical day might include skiing at Aspen Highlands, back to Snowmass to get cleaned up and a quick soak in the hot tubs, then over to the town of Aspen for happy hour and dinner. CVOA members got together for several evenings, including a Super Bowl party at Duff, Jan, Peter and Judy’s condo, a group dinner at the health club restaurant, and a ‘clean out the refrigerator’ party the last night at Mike, Jeannette, JJ and John’s condo.

One member of the group came down with a serious case of altitude sickness, and ended up in the hospital for a couple of days. She had to be on oxygen for the rest of the week, until she was back in Boston. This type of ailment can happen to anyone who isn’t used to the higher altitudes. It’s interesting that this same person skied in Utah just a few weeks before with no problems. Must be the ice cubes are better in Utah! The only other injury was a wounded finger, cause unknown. But the person was seen chasing Rick through the trees at Snowmass!

Jackson Hole

CVOA is already starting to plan next year’s ski trip, which will be the seventh year the group has traveled out West. At an after-Aspen ski party at Marcel, Jan and Duff's, CVOA members voted to make Jackson Hole their next destination. Dick Foote will be the trip organizer.

Stay tuned to the web for details. Or, if you'd like to talk about it, click on our new blog. The link is on this web site. You can post a comment here or send it to: cvoablog@gmail.com and we'll post it for you.