Breckenridge Day 18

Saturday 11th February

Well, it has taken a good deal of organisation, but I am now staying here with Paul until he leaves, so I am here until March 21st. We have changed the date of my flight, and arranged accommodation for the extra month, partly here in the Inn and partly in the condo we had for the first 4 days. I only hope my body can stand up to the strain! I also hope Paul doesn't regret persuading me to stay, because he can't get a lot of entertainment out of the kind of skiing I am able to do.

It snowed heavily last night, so the snow was lovely this morning, and the day began with sun and blue skies. Being a Saturday though, everything was very crowded. We managed to get out earlier than usual, and caught the bus to Beaver Run on Peak 9 again, where we joined a truly enormous crowd waiting to get onto the Quicksilver lift. There must have been hundreds, but it's a 6 person chair, it moves fast, and the lift personnel were really efficient in forming people up into groups of 6 so there were no spare seats. So in the end, it only took around 10 minutes of queuing before we were in the chair and heading up the mountain. Weekends are always crowded as people from miles around come skiing for the weekend, especially when there is really good snow.

We headed right over to the right of the mountain, where the slopes are slightly steeper, heading towards the Peak 8 Superconnect chair. It was difficult at times, because the runs were so very crowded, with a mixture of very fast skiers and snow boarders, lots of beginners, and hoards of children. Children can be difficult to avoid because usually they pay no attention to what is happening around them, they just go. Paul found a little trail through some trees which allowed us to move even further to the right of the mountain.



I didn't find that bit of the run particularly easy because the snow was fresh powder, and my skis disappeared from sight, and I had to avoid the trees.



Anyway, I got down it eventually, and then we skied further down and caught the chair lift over to Peak 8.


It's a very long ride, so I was able to have a good rest before we got to Peak 8 and the Blue run which is somewhat steeper than the simple runs I have been doing so far. The US have a slightly different system of classifying runs than is used in Europe. The easy ones are Green, and the less easy are Blue. There is no Red, as there is in Europe; after Blue it's Black, which I have no intention of doing.

I managed to negotiate the top part of the steeper run, but by the time I got to the top of the next chair lift, my legs were aching and we had to sit on a rock and rest for a while.



You can probably see that the snow is fabulous, and the view is wonderful, but the run is a very long one, and I had already completed a steep part higher up. I skied down the remaining mile or so of the run, but my leg muscles were aching, and I was finding my parallel turns almost impossible. I was so relieved when I could see the end of the run, with the chair lift stations; I knew I'd be able to sit down and rest my legs.



By then it was lunch time, so I decided to call it a day, and we walked the relatively short distance to the Gondola, which took us back to the bus station.



This is the Gondola from the bottom, where we got off. It takes people to some intermediate stations before arriving at Peak 8, and is usually very crowded. It was reasonably crowded this lunch time, but my photograph is taken on the opposite side from the queue, so there is the view of the little cabins going up the hill towards the peak. The little cabins you can see are already full. The journey takes 12 minutes. You can probably also see the sun has gone in and the clouds are gathering.

We were able to get the bus back to the Inn - it isn't that far from the Gondola, but the hill up to it is very steep and my big heavy ski boots are hard to walk in - not to mention skis and poles being heavy to carry.

We arrived back for a late lunch, and Paul went straight off again to have some proper skiing on his own, while I relaxed in a chair, from which it is hard to arise because my leg muscles are so painful! I am certainly paying the price of no visits to the gym since August, when we started travelling.

By 2 in the afternoon, clouds had completely covered the sky so I think I had the best of the day. Paul came back about 5, completely wrecked, and thought he'd go to bed early, as he fell asleep in the chair.

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Breckenridge Day 17

Friday 10th February
It was lovely bright sunny morning, but we failed to make an early start as Paul was sending emails to try and organise me a longer stay here. He felt I had lost 2 weeks of skiing because of bronchitis, sinusitis and acute mountain sickness, so I should stay longer. This necessitated a change of accommodation as he had been planning hostel-type accommodation in a 10 bed mixed dorm after I left, and I wasn't thrilled with that. I don't insist on an en-suite bathroom, but I really do prefer my own bedroom. Now he needs to be able to change my flight booking, so I can travel home with him. I am keeping my fingers crossed!
We eventually set out, and as it was such a sunny morning, I decided Paul could take my photograph skiing down the trail. We agreed where Paul would stop, and I would ski down to him. Unfortunately, I set off before he was quite ready. Then, a group of 5 or 6 novice snow boarders descended the slope just as I was doing my turn towards him. They screamed in terror as they saw me turn towards them, and several fell over. So I had to turn away from them and by the time I could turn back towards the other side of the trail, I was well below Paul. So I just skied down to the bottom - about a mile, probably - and we started again. This time we were more careful, and Paul managed to take two pictures. One cut my head off, the other shows me at the top of the slope, where it is almost completely flat. And you can't see me anyway, because I am against the trees.

It got worse after that! We had agreed to go up the 'A' chair, which would take us higher up the mountain, so I stopped at the crossway leading towards the chair, so Paul could catch me up. He didn't see me, and whizzed past. So then I was behind him, and had to wait for a number of people passing down the main trail before I could cross safely. When I got to 'A' chair, Paul had already left, thinking I had gone on further, so I started skiing further down to try to catch him up. Then my phone went, which was him calling me. I had to find a safe place to stop, plant my poles, take off my gloves, undo my ski jacket and get my phone from an inside pocket, by which time the phone had stopped ringing! So I called him back, but he didn't pick up, having presumably put his phone away. So I waited a minute or so, then put my phone away, did up my ski jacket, put on my gloves, turned towards the slope again, when - you guessed it - my phone rang! So I had to start the whole process again. Again I missed his call, but called him back and this time he picked up and we were able to shout at one another - we both wear ski helmets, so you can't get the phone up to your ear unless you take the helmet off too - also the balaclava in his case. I told him where I was, and said I would be down in a few minutes. Then I had to put my phone away, re-dress myself, put on my gloves and pick my poles up, as they had by then fallen to the ground. I had just started to descend the slope when my phone rang.... Paul though he had misheard where I was, as I was taking so long. I didn't bother to go through it all again, I was beginning to feel as if I was in 'Groundhog Day'.
All that grief, just for two completely hopeless photographs! Then Paul had to go into the Restrooms at Beaver Run to warm up and put on some warmer clothes.
After that, went up the slope again and took a completely different route down, finding some steeper slopes, so instead of going up 'A' chair, we went up and down several times so I could practice my parallel turns. The slope was good, but there were a lot of people on it, and I always find heavy traffic difficult as the experts ski so fast they are likely to knock you over, and the beginners fall over in front of you. Once my legs were tired, about 1.30, we caught the bus home to lunch. This is a view of the south part of the village, through the bus windscreen.

There's still quite a bit of snow, but it's melting fast. I imagine the place will be very crowded indeed over the weekend, so I probably won't ski because I don't want to be knocked down. I have some shopping to do anyway, apparently I should be having multi vitamins with iron. I am feeling a bit less breathless, but am still having the oxygen at night.
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Breckenridge Day 16

Thursday 9th February
We woke up this morning to snow, quite a lot of it. However, visibility didn't seem to be so bad, so I put on all my gear and we went out much earlier than yesterday. The snow was absolutely beautiful because it had been snowing all night, so everything was powder. We caught the bus outside the Inn up tp Beaver Run again. This the restaurant and shop complex at Beaver Run.

The bare Tarmac area is heated, so it isn't covered in snow and slippery ice as you walk over to the area where you can put your skis on. You can probably see it is quite grey and gloomy, though the snow is delightful.
We went up on the big lift again, and I took this picture when it stopped for a few minutes.

You might notice how the upper runs and the tops of the mountains have disappeared in the mist. I wasn't worried about visibility higher up, having been told by the doctor to stick to the lower slopes.
Some of the lifts going higher weren't even running. This is the 'A' Chair, which I have sometimes taken in the past.

This did mean that it was easier skiing to the right of Ten Mile Station, just after you get off the Quicksilver lift; the slopes immediately above it, which would have been served partly by the 'A' Chair were much quieter, so there were no hoards of people coming very fast down the slope without much awareness of the traffic they would encounter at Ten Mile Station.
I was delighted with the wonderful soft powdery snow. I was able to ski reasonably fast and do proper parallel turns. I can only do this when the slope isn't too steep (fear brings back my snow plough) and when the snow is dry and powdery. Paul said he would take a picture of me, but as he had left his camera behind he would have needed my camera, and he couldn't catch me! I was able to do the whole run without stopping, so my body is remembering how to do some things.
We had to stop part way through the morning and go into Ten Mile Station to get hot chocolate, because Paul's hands got so cold. After that, we carried on until lunch time. By 1 o'clock, my legs were aching, so I thought it was time to go home to lunch and for me to call it a day. I don't want to overdo it, and ruin my holiday through injury. After lunch, Paul went out on his own.
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Breckenridge Day 15

Wednesday 8th February
Well, did manage half a day of skiing today, before my leg muscles gave out. We spent yesterday evening experimenting with my boot linings, bending them and moving them and generally trying to soften them a bit, and this morning, Paul used the hair dryer to warm up the plastic bits so they could be more easily moulded to my feet. This seems to have worked, and my boots are wearable, if not really comfortable. Still, they weren't the agony they were yesterday.
We caught a bus in the morning, up to a place called Beaver Run, where there is quite a choice of green slopes. This is the foot of the main run, down which I shall shortly ski.

I don't ski this part of the run run if there are a lot of beginners or a lot of snow boarders - it's sufficiently steep for people to make mistakes and fall over right in front of you, or get completely out of control and ski into you. If there are lots of people, I choose a quieter route. Incidentally, I took this photo when I was on the lift - those are the ends of my ski poles you can see in the bottom left.
While on the lift, we noticed all the little animal tracks cris-crossing the powder at the side of the piste.

Those are the tips of my skis you can see at the bottom of the picture.
The lift is one of the biggest on the mountain.

It is very popular, because there is a restaurant called Ten Mile Station very close by, so people go there for coffee or for lunch; it is also a useful meeting point.

We didn't stop there today, as I only intended to ski for half a day.
Certainly, by 12.30 I was very glad to ski back to Beaver Run and catch the bus back. After lunch, Paul went out to ski and I volunteered to visit the supermarket. Unfortunately though, I got into the hot tub first as I had cooled down very quickly when we came indoors and was quite cold, The tub was probably too hot, and raised my pulse rate very markedly and I noticed my blood oxygen level was back down to 89%. So instead of walking to the supermarket, I had an hour with the oxygen machine. Poor Paul had to walk to the supermarket instead of me, and it had started snowing, so it was not a pleasant walk.
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Breckenridge Days 13 - 14

Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th February

I wrote nothing on Monday because I did nothing! We woke up to snow and a temperature of 0 degrees F - that's more than -17 degrees C. I decided not to take my recovering bronchitis out in that, so I stayed indoors all day. The snow stopped after lunch and it did warm up a bit, but I didn't go out. The weather report said that Tuesday would be sunny, so my skiing was postponed until today.

Today was lovely and sunny, so I put on all the gear including the big knee braces. Then I tried to put on my boots, and that was a disaster. Paul persuaded me to buy boots two years ago when we were last here, on the grounds that buying was cheaper than hiring every year. At the end of our holiday, I bought a pair that were exactly the same as the rental boots I had been wearing for two weeks, and they were very comfortable. However, we didn't ski last year because of Paul rupturing his Achilles Tendon, so they have never been used. This year, my feet and legs are a completely different shape, and the boots were really painful. I clearly couldn't wear them to ski, the left one was agony and I couldn't do up the right one at all!

So, we took them back to the shop where we had bought them, to see if they could help. They didn't sell boots any more; however, they adjusted the position of the buckles so that they weren't so tight, but the boots were still uncomfortable. So I tried on umpteen rental boots, and they were all uncomfortable. They sent us to another shop to try a different make of rental boot, and I managed to find something there that I could bear to have on my foot. They said they would think about whether anything might be done with my own boots, so we left them there, and i took the rental boots to try out. It was by then 12.30, so we went back to have something to eat and collect our skis and poles. When we got back just after 2 with my skis, they adjusted the skis for the rental boots and we set off. I found it really hard to walk in the heavy ski boots, and had to stop to breathe every 10 steps or so, so we made very slow progress to the bus stop to catch a bus the rest of the way to the snow.

I found the afternoon snow very sticky, and started to dislike the skis Paul had bought for me. He says I have to give them a chance on better snow. I started on the beginners button lift, just to see if I could remember what to do. It was slow going at first, I found turning difficult, in spite of the fact the new skis are short. After a few goes on the beginners slope, I felt ready to tackle something else, and we skied down to the Quicksilver chair, a 6 man chair, where I managed not to fall over, either getting on or getting off. The snow higher up was slightly less sticky, but still made my turns difficult. I did manage to stop to take some pictures.



That is the slope I am just about to ski down, that is my shadow you can see, and Paul waiting for me a bit further down the slope. My shadow looks quite a strange shape because my ski jacket is open - it was really quite hot in the afternoon. The sun was quite low by then, so photographs were difficult.



You can see that this run wasn't crowded - most people had gone home already. When my legs became tired, I thought I'd better call it a day too, and we went to catch the bus back to the village so I could go back to the shop to see if they had been able to do anything with the unsatisfactory boots.

Once again, I found walking in the ski boots really difficult, and went very slowly. The shop expert had no suggestions to make about my boots - he said they were too big for my feet, which seemed strange when my problem was that they hurt my ankles. So I put my hiking boots back on, and we went off to try to catch the very last bus back to the Inn. Unfortunately, we missed it, so we had to walk home. This took a very long time as far as I was concerned, since I was out of breath all the time, and had to keep stopping to rest. While I was resting, I took some photos in French Street, where there are some historic buildings. I don't know if this one is really old, but it certainly looks a though it is



I was extremely short of breath and had to sit with the oxygen on when I got back, hoping to feel a bit better before too long.

The irritating thing is that the problem still isn't solved, and we have to go out again tomorrow to see if we can get a boot fitter to manipulate the interior parts of the boots to make them fit without hurting. This will undoubtedly mean more walking about with huge heavy ski boots on, and getting exhausted and out of breath again.

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Breckenridge Day 12

Sunday 5th February

Today has been another very cold day, 20 degrees F, so well below freezing. The slopes were very crowded, so I did not think it would be a good day for my first day out on the slopes. I will probably go tomorrow, as long as it isn't snowing. Actually, there hasn't been good snow here this year, for the first time for years. Denver had about 4 feet of snow last week, but it didn't come as far as the mountains.

Because I am still finding it hard to breathe, I decided it would be sensible to invest in a loose pair of ski pants so I have plenty of room to breathe. I repeated yesterday's expedition and caught a bus to the village and then walked down Main Street. Main Street is the oldest part of town and seems to be mostly wooden buildings, so it really is very picturesque.




I tried to take views down the street, but there are too many trees and far too much traffic.

Just off Main Street to the west is the Blue River, which was where gold was first discovered in the area in 1859. The river is iced over at present and covered with snow, so it looks very charming.



There is a river walkway along the riverbank, but most people don't seem to have bothered with it, they've just walked directly on the snow covered ice.

I was successful in buying a loose pair of ski pants, so now I am all set. I also bought a hat, as I failed to find my wooly one in the storage, and the one I have been using kept being knocked over my eyes by the high collar of my ski jacket.

After shopping, I walked back up to the village and caught the bus home, which was a shorter distance than walking home. I was still out of breath though, which is why I probably won't do too much skiing tomorrow. Paul has not gone out either today, as he has a stinking cold. I just hope it's a cold and not my bronchitis and sinusitis.

In the afternoon, one of the other guests here gave us a lift in his car down to the supermarket and back, which was great because it's a longish way down and then up a steepish hill in the ice and snow, and the alternative to walking is to take two buses. The buses stop running around 5, so you need to shop during the day if you want to avoid the walk, and that means missing some skiing.

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Breckenridge Day 11

Saturday 4th February
Today has been sunny and bright, though very cold. It has been 20 degrees F, which is just under -7 degrees C. As it was so nice and sunny, I decided to go for a walk. The pavements are piled quite high with snow, but the sun has melted most of the snow and some of the ice on the roads.

This is the scene outside the Inn, which is a historic building dating from the 1860s.

As it was such a lovely day, the horse and buggy was out, hoping somebody would want a ride.nI was waiting for the bus though, which I caught up to the village, then I walked back to the Inn, very slowly.
Breckenridge is a town which had a lot of historic wooden buildings.

There are also statues all round the town. This one commemorates the donkeys used by the gold prospectors.

There is also a town clock.

I crossed the road, and went to look at the snow sculptures. Every year, Breckenridge holds this international competition, and people come from many different countries to carve amazing sculptures out of huge blocks of snow. My favourite was the bear with the salmon, though he didnt win any prizes. One of his paws has dropped off too. You can see the very artistic entry from Finland just behind him.

One of the reasons I liked the bear was that the back of the sculpture was also very interesting, with a baby bear and more salmon.

My hands got very cold, since I had to take off my gloves to take the pictures, and I took lots. There were many fewer sculptures than there were when we were here two years ago though. I imagine there isn't so much money to finance trips from other countries.
After I had admired all the sculptures, I walked back to Main Street and continued back down it towards the Inn. The road up the hill from Main Street is very steep, and I made the mistake of walking on the side which has no pavement. The snow was piled high, and I waded through it up the hill, having to stop many times to catch my breath. I was completely out of breath when I got back, and had to rest on the sofa for quite a while before I felt able to climb the stairs back to our room. Once I got there, I had an hour of the oxygen, and was reassured later to see that my blood oxygen level was 95%. Obviously, I must be getting better, though I am still very breathless and still coughing and sneezing a bit.
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