On February 3rd I set off for Colorado on my own, Paul having departed 10 or 11 days earlier. Once I had worked out the high cost of taxi to the station, peak time train fare to London and tube to Heathrow, I paid a bit extra and had the incredible luxury of a taxi all the way to Heathrow! We'll probably get one back as well, as with two of us travelling, it will probably cost the same as public transport but save us humping heavy baggage and skis up and down stairs, not to mention taking about a third of the time!
My journey to Denver was surprisingly comfortable, as the plane wasn't completely full and I was able to have a two hour nap, the food was acceptable and there was a huge choice of entertainment, so I didn't have to rely completely on my Kindle.
I had a two hour wait in Denver before Paul flew in and we caught the courtesy bus to our overnight hotel. Paul had decided that I might adjust better to the altitude if we didn't rush up to Breckenridge but stayed a night in Denver, which, at a mile high (1600 metres), might give some people problems anyway. Breckenridge is higher, 2900 metres or 9600 feet, and it does seem to give me problems breathing. Even with one night in Denver, I am still gasping for breath after the slightest exertion - like walking across the room!
Next morning we caught the courtesy bus back to the airport and the very wonderful Colorado Mountain Express took us up to Breckenridge in a mini-bus. It was obvious there had been lots of snow, and when we finally reached Breckenridge, there was more snow than we had seen before. This is the Inn where we always stay.
You can see that the fence is completely covered in snow, so it's at least three feet deep. You may notice the upstairs balcony in the building at the back of the photo. That's the second entrance to our current room, which is the biggest one at the Inn. We only have it until February 13th though, then we move to a slightly smaller one. Paul booked too late for us to have the same room for our entire stay - the Inn is very popular, many people booking for their next year's stay at the end of their current one.
We arrived at lunch time, and Paul immediately used one of the downstairs cloakrooms to change into ski gear so he could hit the slopes. We weren't able to get into our room until 4, Paul having omitted to warn our friends of what time we might arrive. I had no ambition to root about in my suitcase for my ski clothes, I prefer to unpack properly first, so I stayed chatting comfortably in the lounge in front of the fire.
Our first full day was cold but clear, and I was able to ski more successfully than I had in France, as the snow was so much better. I didn't take any photographs on the slopes, as I filled this blog two years ago with lots of photos of the Breckenridge slopes, but there were beautiful views and the slopes were wonderfully empty. On several of the runs, we were the only people, though we could see other people on different runs nearby through the trees. The snow was soft and squeaky under the skis because it was so cold, and I felt more confident than I had in France; I haven't been on good snow for two years though - Paul is convinced the altitude will give me a heart attack so I didn't come last year. I will have to start re-learning to ski parallel, I'm skidding all my turns again and my balance is poor because of the head cold.
By the time I came back to the Inn in the afternoon, the sun had gone in, but I did take some photographs of the snow. This is the bus stop where we catch the bus to the slopes.
You can hardly see the bus stop, it's the sign saying 'free ride', to the right of the 'Stop' sign. The sign giving the bus times is completely buried in the snow, which led to our missing the bus on the second day, as Paul had mis-remembered the times.
Although the pavements (sidewalks) are kept reasonably clear, there are heaps of snow all round the town, as well as some quite spectacular icicles, like these ones on a nearby building.
After I had taken this, I noticed some even more spectacular icicles on the workshop at the back of the Inn.
They won't get any longer at present, as it's still below freezing all the time. The stairs, the rail of which you can see on the right of the photo, are the ones the fox usually climbs to reach the roof and get a view of his surroundings; I published a photo of him in this blog two years ago. He doesn't seem to be using the stairs at present though, they"re completely covered in snow - or perhaps he hasn't survived the heavy snowfall.
Some of the snow has been removed - there's a wonderful machine which sucks it up and blows it into a huge truck to cart it away; unfortunately, it took me too long to undo the zip on my pocket to get my camera out to take a photograph so I missed it. No doubt I'll have another opportunity, there are plenty of heaps of snow still around, like the one above at our bus stop, or this one nearby.
This is one of the bigger ones near the Inn. Just opposite it, you can see the state of the normal suburban road here.
Most people drive very slowly indeed, and the majority of vehicles are four wheel drive ones, as the roads are very slippery. I walk quite carefully. The sidewalks are kept reasonably clear for pedestrians.
This is a view looking down the hill towards Main Street. You can see some of the ski runs on the mountain in the background. You can also see the heavy clouds above, bringing snow for my second day.
If the sidewalks weren't cleared, they would be deep in snow, as you can see from the front gardens.
Most people have dug paths to their front doors through the thigh deep snow. As it's still snowing, it's a never-ending task.
On my second day, it was a good deal colder - 1F in the early morning, which is -17C - and it was snowing as well. I went out to ski, but didn't last past lunch time. My face got very cold on the chair lift, and my thigh muscles weren't strong enough to keep going for long. The snow was superb though, with powder even on the lower slopes, courtesy of the snow which continued to fall. Paul found his hands were freezing and we had to stop at one point and go into a restaurant so that he could warm them up.
Paul continued to ski after I had returned, but I stayed in the warm to nurse my aching legs and looked out through the falling snow.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment