Breckenridge Days 36 & 37

Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th March
On Wednesday we went out with a Chinese girl who had been staying in the Inn and trying to learn to ski. It was a beautiful day, and we went up to Peak 8, where she had never been before. She wanted to find somewhere steeper than the beginners slopes on Peak 9. We took a slow chairlift up to a green slope, but she felt it was a bit steep for her; we went down to a beginner's slope where she was able to practise and we were able to ski the steeper slopes.



We are about to ski down to the left of this picture. The beginners' slope is straight ahead. The snow was very nice and I was able to ski quite well and quite fast. We returned to this point several times to check on our Chinese friend, and on one occasion persuaded a man who had brought his wife, a woman who had never had a pair of skis on in her life, to try the beginners' slope as well. The slope on the left was far too steep for a complete beginner. It is amazing that people think they can put on a pair of skis and just do it. I suppose there are a small minority of people who find it easy to learn - naturally athletic people who have strong sporting ability, good balance and no fear - but most of us have to start on beginners' slopes and take some lessons.

We came down when our Chinese friend got tired, and as it was still early, we changed our huge heavy boots and our helmets for walking boots and wooly hats and went down to the supermarket again. As it was early in the day, we were able to get the 5 pm bus back.

On Thursday, I had another lesson - on Peak 8 this time. Paul says I need to move in to Level 5 lessons, but I really do prefer to be on the easier slopes. He felt I didn't get any teaching in the lesson, because I am already skiing mostly parallel, and the rest of the class weren't. But I am reluctant to be on much steeper slopes. There was another woman in the class who was 80. She too could ski better than the rest, but didn't want to be on the steeper slopes in case of accidents.

On the way to the lesson, I took pictures of the terrain park.


This is the best picture of the humps people use for jumping. My camera just wasn't fast enough to catch them jumping, though there were quite a few, both on skis and on boards. Some just jump, while other jump and twist or somersault when in the air. The terrain park has other features too.



This shows a rail that people can jump up and ski along. In another part, there's a flight of stairs with railings. The park was quite busy, with it's being such a lovely day.

I also took some pictures of the much higher slopes where Paul likes to ski.

That triangular peak at the centre of my picture is where he likes to go. The slope at the bottom of the picture is where I prefer!

Once my left knee had started to protest about the wear and tear, I knew it was time to stop. I managed to get some pictures of the Terrain Park and the Half Pipe on the way down in the Gondola, though they aren't good pictures because of the reflections.

This one shows the two Terrain Parks and you can just see the Half Pipe in the background, between the trees.
This is a clearer picture of the Half Pipe.

Again, you can see all the reflections, and this is taken from more than a mile away, with a lot of digital zoom, so it isn't all that clear. One day when I'm not skiing, I need to see if I can get up the hill to the Half Pipe and take some better pictures.

Paul was able to spend the last part of the afternoon skiing on his own, and had a much better time than following my class.
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Breckenridge days 34 & 35

Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th March

I didn't write anything about Monday because I wasn't well. I came off the hill on Sunday afternoon with a stomach ache, and it didn't get any better when I had a very nice curry with friends on Sunday night. So I had a rather disturbed Sunday night, and after breakfast on Monday, I decided I didn't feel well enough to go out, in spite of its being a blue sky day. In fact, I spent quite a lot of Monday asleep. This gave Paul a chance to ski on his own, mainly in the trees because it was very windy, though it was sunny and warm.

In spite of sleeping a lot on Monday, I also managed to sleep well at night, so I was ready to go out this morning, which was another blue sky day. Over breakfast, Paul arranged to take some people down a difficult run, so I knew I would have to spend some time sitting at Ten Mile Station waiting for him to return from that. We went up the Quicksilver lift, then I skied down to Ten Mile Station to wait for Paul. It was such a sunny day, it was hard to find a place to sit where my face wouldn't fry, but I sat in a chair facing the lift but with my back to the sun. Even at 10.30, the place was quite busy, with quite a few people sitting outside, as it was so nice in the sun.





You can see all the skis piled up outside. Paul wasn't gone long, because one of the people he took up developed a problem with his snow board, so they didn't go to do the difficult run, they went down to go to the shop to get it fixed. Paul agreed to meet them again at 1, and skied back for me and we went off. The skiing wasn't entirely pleasant in the morning, it was very crusty and difficult to get the edges in, but I persevered.

We met the other people somewhat before 1, and had some lunch. The place was much busier at lunch time, and you may just be able to see the tiny figures of the skiers on the slope above, all making their way down to lunch.




Paul went off at 1 to take the others off for the difficult run, and I waited until he got back, then we went off together again. Unfortunately, he had skied into a tree on the way down, and hurt his thumb.

The snow was much softer in the afternoon, so I found it a bit easier to get my edges in. This is the bottom of the run we were doing, where it is quite steep going down to the village.



Paul said I was making quite good linked turns, and we went up and down quite a few times. The chair lift at the bottom was not easy to get onto, because the snow had melted and then frozen to ice. On one occasion, 6 people attempting to get on the chair all fell off - a child in the middle fell, so she clutched her father, who also fell, and then they all went, rather like skittles. Quite some time had to be spent sorting them out of the resulting heap and finding all their skis. Unfortunately, I didn't get my camera out in time to get a good picture of the muddle. When our turn came, Paul was too far to the left and the chair just poked him in the back, so then he fell over. However, his skis didn't come off, so the chair was stopped and he was able to get back on.

By 3 o'clock, my legs and knees were tired, so we caught the bus back to the Inn again. It was such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist taking this picture through the bus windscreen.



This is the parking lot at the Ice Rink. It is fairly empty mid-week, but it will be completely full at the weekend. I hope the clouds in the background are full of more snow! The snow in the village has mostly turned to slush, and it gets very icy when the sun goes down.

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Breckenridge Days 32 & 33

Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th March

I didn't write anything on Saturday because there was nothing much to say. There was a snowstorm again in the morning and it was bitterly cold, so I didn't go out. Anyway, Paul was anxious to have a Level 9 lesson, so he wrapped himself up warmly and went out. Apparently, the wind was ferocious, and the falling snow and the blowing snow made it very hard to see where you were going. This would have been quite dangerous for me, as I am only using the lower slopes where it is very crowded at the weekends. On the steep slopes that Paul uses, there are far fewer people. However, some of the slopes had no people on them at all, since some of the higher chairs were closed because of the high wind. Paul was back about 3.30, feeling very cold.

That night, we went out again for dinner with friends. Fortunately, the snow had stopped, but there were still some huge heaps of it in Main Street.



This heap is about 5 feet high, making it impossible to cross the road at this point.




Here, you can see how the walking space down the street is between two heaps of snow; the space where Paul is standing is the way into a shop.
Breckenridge is always pretty at night, because a lot of the pine trees have coloured lights on them.



On Sunday, we moved out of the condo and back to the Inn. So we had to get up early, pack everything and move it 200 yards up the hill. Once we were packed, Paul did most of the moving of luggage, while I made sure everything was neat and tidy in the condo.

By the time we had moved everything into our room at the Inn, it was midday, so we had some lunch and then went out to ski. The snow is still piled up by the bus stop.



However, you can possibly see the roads are clear - the heat today has melted the snow, and there is thick slush and deep puddles. You can get quite wet if you are too close to the road when cars go past travelling fast.

Once we were up the mountain, the snow was wonderful, and the day was bright and sunny and quite warm. The 'A' Chair was running and we skied down to it from the first chair we had taken, and used it to get up to the slightly steeper slopes, as the lower slopes were very busy indeed. I found even the upper slopes busy, mostly with ski school classes.




It isn't so bad when the run is as wide as this, but I seemed to be on narrower ones where I was worrying about lots of other people.

Once my legs were tired, we made our way home for tea.
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Breckenridge Day 30 and 31

Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd March

There isn't too much to write about Thursday. We woke to a heavy snowstorm, so I had no intention of going out. I don't like not being able to see where I'm going - and I don't like being cold. Paul went out, promising to come back at lunch time if the snowstorm stopped, but it didn't. He said the snow continued all day up the mountain, and the wind was fierce. The snow did stop in town for a while in the afternoon. While it was clear, I took some photos out of the windows - I thought it was too cold to go out. This is the view from the bedroom window, along Ridge Road.




The snow ploughs and scrapers can't keep up, the snow is falling so fast.

This is the non-view from the living room



The trees right in front of the window shut out quite a bit of the light. You can see the snow lying on the branches; the strong winds soon blow it off.

Paul came back very cold and tired, saying he had enjoyed himself but was glad he had put on an extra layer of clothes.

Today (Friday) we awoke to a fairly bright start to the day, and learned there had been another 6 inches of snow (15 cm). Paul decided this would be an auspicious day for me to have a ski lesson, so we took an early bus and I joined a Level 4 lesson. (Paul usually takes level 9, or Level 8 if the level 9 are very young). I managed the lesson and didn't find most things too difficult, but by the time we stopped for lunch, my legs were starting to feel a bit wobbly. We had skied twice through the trees, once in deep snow, and once I tense up in fear, my legs quickly give out. We had also done quite a few exercises, and Paul said I was skiing a bit better - though most things I have learned go to pot as soon as I am on a steep slope. We ate our lunch at Ten Mile Station. This is the view from inside.



You can see the day looked very grey and cold - it was so cold that very few people were eating outside. Paul's fingers were very cold, and my toes were freezing, so we had to wait for a table inside.

After lunch, we skied down to the ski school assembly point, but my legs and knees were feeling too worn out to do much more, it had started to snow again, and was bitterly cold and the teacher was suggesting a Blue Run. I thought it time to call it a day, so we caught the bus back.

It took a while to walk from the bus stop down French Street to our condo, as the snow was deep and the ski boots are heavy.



The snow plough had scraped the road, though more snow had fallen since it had been done. The pavements (sidewalks) had not been scraped, which was what made walking in the ski boots difficult.

Paul decided he was tired as well, and stayed in and had a snooze. I had some oxygen, as I was feeling very breathless.

Later, Paul made a quick trip to the supermarket for milk and said the snow was so deep by then along French Street that walking was difficult even in hiking boots.

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Breckenridge Day 29

Wednesday 29th February

Thank goodness, I've caught up again!

We woke to find that the storm had dumped 11 inches (28 cms.) of snow on Breckenridge. Although we didn't go out early, it was still difficult to walk in some places.



The town has all sorts of machinery to clear the streets. The roads are cleared with ploughs fixed on the front of trucks



There are slightly smaller things for the pavements (sidewalks)




This was the Bus Stop, when we finally got there



We started by trying Peak 8, because the 'A' Chair wasn't running so I had no access to my favourite run on Peak 9.

This is the view from the Gondola - you can see why I don't take many from here, the surface is so badly scratched it is hard to see out.



This is another view from higher up




I don't like the lift we took, it has no footrest. When you get off, you appear to be standing at a cliff edge.




The run down was very windy indeed, sometimes the wind blew me along. But the snow was wonderful.

Later, once I was getting tired, we went back to Peak 9 so I could do less stressful runs, and the wind was slightly less strong there.

I was back home by 2 for a late lunch, and Paul went back out again immediately, but returned after only 90 minutes, saying he was very tired.
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Breckenridge Days 27 & 28

Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th February

Monday was a bit of a dull day, but I went out to ski. However, the conditions were poor. The nice snow had all been skied off at the weekend, and what was left was very hard and not nice to ski on. It was very difficult to get your edges in, and I didn't enjoy it at all. It was cold and the wind was very fierce as well.

The restaurant at Beaver Run had opened an ice bar, it was so cold.



I didn't notice anybody trying to sit in the ice armchairs!

I went home at lunch time, and Paul didn't stay out very long once it clouded over and got even colder.

On Tuesday, I looked out of the window to see - nothing! There was a heavy snowstorm, most of the time you couldn't even see the buildings around us, so I stayed in and kept warm. Nothing keeps Paul from the slopes, so he went out, but he needed to wear a balaclava with face mask under his helmet. I can't really see the pleasure in that! He came back completely exhausted and fell asleep in the armchair.

We were going out to dinner with friends, so left the house at 7 pm to find it was still snowing, as well as being windy, with blowing snow, and the snow along French Street was deep. I felt a bit like the page from 'Good King Wenceslas', as in 'Mark my footsteps, good my page, tread thou in them boldly', because that's what I had to do. I trod in Paul's footprints - or anybody else's. The snow was deep, and we both only have ankle boots. We had to wear our ski trousers and make sure the gaiters were pulled well over the boots, but it was a cold experience.

Paul took pictures, but his hands were shaking with the cold, and the air was full of both falling and blowing snow so most of them are useless.



You can see how the snow has drifted in places until it is quite high.

This is some of us in Main Street on the way home - I am in the middle.


You might notice that some of the snow behind me had been moved from the pavement (sidewalk) to the gutter, where it is nearly waist high. This makes it quite difficult to get across the road. You can't cross on the crossings either - you can't see them! The wind was bitterly cold, and blew snow into your face, and walking down to the restaurant and back home again was a cold and unpleasant experience.

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Breckenridge Days 25 & 26

I have got dreadfully behind again!

Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th February

Owing to the aching of the left knee, I did not go out on Saturday - in fact, I had a very lazy day and did absolutely nothing apart from reading an e-book. Paul was able to go without me and ski to his heart's content.




On Sunday, Paul decided it was time that he too had a rest day, so we decided to go for a walk. It was a lovely sunny day as you can see, and I understand the slopes were very crowded indeed.



This is the view from just outside our front door - we are on the first floor of the building, and it is at the top of a hill. This is the building itself, from the road outside.



It is not a historic building. There are some other attractive buildings nearby.



We went to see a local museum, the Edwin Carter Museum.


This is the back, it is much more attractive from the front.



Edwin Carter came originally from the eastern US, and did many different things, including mining. In the 1870s he became concerned about the impact of mining on the local wildlife and the environment, and he began to devote his life to collecting and documenting the Rocky Mountain wildlife. In 1875, he built this log cabin as his home and workshop. The workshop was for taxidermy - he shot and stuffed the local wildlife, so that the memory of the type of animals that had existed in the mountains would not be totally lost. A great many people came to see his stuffed animals during his lifetime, and his cabin became very crowded. His specimens apparently played a significant role in the development of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and most of his collection is there. Some is still in the log cabin though.




The museum is most interesting, with lots of interactive things to do, like a form of a deer with a deer skin you can try stretching over it, to see how difficult it would be to do. There are also lots of reminders of the way things were in the 19th century.




This is a photo of the man himself with some of the skins, but I took the photo to show the wall. These are the original 1875 logs, and apparently he was a good carpenter, so the place was weather proof. It was only more recently, when the logs had shrunk a bit, that it became necessary to put in the chinking between them to keep out the draughts.

I couldn't resist this bear, though we were told it wasn't Edwin Carter who shot or stuffed it.



The little animal in the front is a fox.

There are other museums in the town, so we will have a look at them on another occasion.

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