Category: Resort Skiing

2009-10 Season in Review

Posted by Brittany – July 19, 2010

The hot weather this past week has had me glum. Yes, Crested Butte CAN have temperatures above 80-degrees- which, for us, who are used to temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s, 80+ degrees seems ridiculously hot. To keep from wilting away in the sun, like the flowers have on my deck, I’ve turned my thoughts back to skiing. Oh, how do I wish it would be snowing again.

I have never done a season in review post before. I never really felt the need. But, this season was full of story after story – from healing from last year’s ACL surgery, hosting several women to Crested Butte to my 14er project and other goals. To top it off, this season was my first season to top 100 fantastic days of skiing. I’ve been close to 100 before, but have never actually been able to top it in a season. This year was the year :)

I set out this season with some huge goals, most of which I was not able to fully accomplish. I was hoping to ski 120 days this year, but my knee and work prevented that from happening (although I will be fairly close!). I was also hoping to finish my 14ers this year, but was unable to finish my 9 remaining peaks. I was unable to hit Pyramid in good conditions, and then the line melted out as I sat around waiting for a week-long round of 50mph winds to settle. This left me with 2 14ers left to ski- Pyramid and Pikes, which I am saving for last. Though I didn’t accomplish all of my goals for the season, it was still a season to remember and I am happy with what I did accomplish. So, to honor and reflect upon the stories of this season, I’ve decided to do this season in review. By no means does this account for every ski day or every ski tour, but focuses on the highlights. I hope you enjoy.

Early Season
My season started off back in October, skiing at Loveland shortly after they opened. After not having been on snow since February due to tearing my ACL, I had anguished over actually getting on skis again. But, when I strapped those planks back on, I was ecstatic, despite being terrified of other skiers on the slope.

I enjoyed some early season skiing at Wolf Creek.

My knee didn’t feel right, so I took my time to get into the backcountry. The last thing I wanted to do was to re-injure my knee on some obstacle not fully covered with the early season conditions. But, skinning felt good on my knee, as I found when I began skinning at the resort in November.

December
December marked my first backcountry trip, to Redwell Basin off of Red Lady. I felt like a whole new person.

More…

TR: Whitewater and Nelson (2/28/2010)

Posted by Brittany – March 14, 2010

Similar to how Boulder was about 10-15 years ago, Nelson has a lot of good things going for it.

The next morning, we headed to Whitewater.

This mountain, called Ymir, caught my immediate attention.

We met up with Juho and Laura, who are in Nelson for the winter from Finland, and their British friend, Gavin. Then, after purchasing a one-chair-ride ticket, out for a nice slackcountry tour we went! Frank and Juho checking out the choices.

Shortly after, we found ourselves hiking this ridge.

Juho, admiring the views!

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TR: Roger’s Pass and Revelstoke (2/25-2/26/2010)

Posted by Brittany – March 13, 2010

After Kicking Horse we headed over Roger’s Pass to Revelstoke. We stopped for a day of backcountry skiing at Roger’s along the way.

Check out Frank’s Roger’s Pass full TR.

We also spent a day skiing at Revelstoke Mountain.

Also, please check out Frank’s Revelstoke TR

TR: Kicking Horse (2/24/2010)

Posted by Brittany – March 9, 2010

After a great day in the slackcountry of Fernie we packed up our things and hopped in the car for the 4 hour drive to Golden. The long day in the slackcountry definitely had made us weary and the drive was a bit harsh. But, we arrived in Golden safely, ready to check out Kicking Horse the next day.

Ethan was our local guide for the day, who had also shown us around Whitefish just a few days prior.

Kicking Horse ski area, as seen from town. This mountain has an interesting story. A little over 10 years ago kicking Horse was a tiny ski area where only locals skied. But, a Dutch company came in and expanded it, as part of a settlement for a contract to build a bridge in the Maritimes.

So, Kicking Horse lies as it is today, largely unvisited, with fantastic terrain.

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TR: Fernie (2/23/2010)

Posted by Brittany – March 8, 2010

After crossing the border into Canada, the mountains suddenly seemed more interesting.

The drive from Whitefish to Fernie took us less than 2 hours. We were there with plenty of time to grab some dinner and drinks.

The views of the ski area from town are stunning.

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TR: Whitefish, MT (2/21-2/22/2010)

Posted by Brittany – March 6, 2010

Frank and I enjoyed our two days in Whitefish. Sunny, bluebird skies are rare there. And we enjoyed them like a rare jem, admiring the views from Glacier National Park from a distance. Someday we will get back there to tackle some of these amazing peaks…

But, for now, enjoy Frank’s trip report from Whitefish.

Other Montana-Canada Road Trip Blog Posts
Road Trip Update
Itinerary
Bridger Bowl

TR: Bridger Bowl (2/20/2010)

Posted by Brittany – March 4, 2010

Our road trip to Montana and Canada was amazing. But, like all good things, it had to come to and end. We are back in Crested Butte, and finally have some time to put up the TR’s from various segments of our trip.

Our first ski stop was Bridger Bowl. Bridger has a lot of steep terrain similar to what we have in Crested Butte. A good area for some playing :)

We had our friend Tony show us around and he showed us the goods!

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Road Trip Update

Posted by Brittany – February 24, 2010

As many of you know, Frank and I are on a two week long road trip enjoying skiing in Montana and Interior British Columbia. For our itinerary click here.

We’ve been busy skiing, traveling, and enjoying our experience on this road trip, so sorry we haven’t been posting much. But, tonight we had a bit of free time and I thought I’d post up a few pics of our trip so far.

Stop 1: Bridger Bowl, Montana. We enjoyed spectacular terrain and good snow.

Stop 2: Whitefish, Montana. Two days of skiing the resort and slackcountry allowed us to explore some good terrain.

But, we also enjoyed the lofty feeling (town of Whitefish and the lake below)

And we admired the peaks of Glacier National Park, with hopes of coming back some spring to check this area out further.

Stop 3: Fernie, British Columbia. The skies couldn’t be more blue, which is typical in Colorado, but not so much in BC.

Our friends took us out on a good backcountry tour, where we slayed these lines.

Stop 4: Kicking Horse. Only 10 years old and this resort has a lot to offer. I was impressed over and over by the terrain choices, both in and out of the ski area boundary.

Areas like these were plentiful.

And we hit up a nice backcountry couloir.

So far, it’s been an awesome trip :)

Our trip continues to Roger’s Pass, Revelstoke, and Red Mountain. We’ll do another update or two along the way. And stay tuned for full TR’s from each segment of our trip!

Other Montana-Canada Road Trip Blog Posts
Road Trip Update
Itinerary
Bridger Bowl
Whitefish

TR: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Posted by Brittany – February 9, 2010

They came from all over Colorado, Nebraska, and even California just to come to Crested Butte- nine fabulous women who are as passionate about skiing as I am- who came to share their love and sense of adventure with other ripping women. I was psyched to show them around the ski area on Saturday, and even more excited to take them for a tour on Sunday.

A few pictures from the ski area on Saturday:

Amber

Ann

Group shot after hiking out of Teocalli Bowl:

Photo courtesy of Fast Froggy

Me

Photo courtesy of Fast Froggy

Carol, Lauren, and Julianne after having a minor collision with one another :)

Photo courtesy of Fast Froggy

After a hard day of skiing, we hit the hot tub, and then went over to Laurel’s house to experience her delicious cooking. A fantastic chili dinner with some of the tastiest corn bread and carrot cake muffins I’ve ever had.

After dinner group shot.
Back row: Ann, Corien, Lauren, Laurel, Ashleigh
2nd row: Carol
Front Row: Amber, Julianne, Me, Andi

We had a lot of fun :)

Pictures from the ladies Sunday backcountry adventure coming next!

Skinning up the mountain

Posted by Brittany – January 30, 2010

This year, I’ve done a lot of skinning up Crested Butte ski resort. I am extremely lucky to live across the street from this ski area, which I can call my playground. I’m also thankful that they allow people to skin up their slopes before 9 am and after 4:30 pm everyday. This has become my favorite form of easy winter aerobic exercise, free of worries of avalanche danger. Plus it has it’s social benefits, as I usually can recruit my friends Sydney or Heather to join me. Skinning up the mountain has allowed me to see several fantastic sunrises, and plenty of colorful sunsets, which I otherwise would have missed.

On Friday night, Heather and I headed out for our ritual skin. The full moon decided to join us and was glorious.

Everyday I’m in awe of where I live. I love it here in Crested Butte :)