Massive Snowmass
February 14, 2005
Today we went to Snowmass, the big daddy of Aspen-area mountains.
In the morning, we went to the Big Burn, a wide-open, high-altitude location. When the sun is out and the skies are blue, it’s a great location, with spectacular views. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a great day, for several reasons.
The “burn” in “big burn” may be a noun, to describe the forest fire that years ago took out many of the trees that were there. But today, “burn” was the condition of my feet, which were in pain the entire run down to the lift. Ski. Stop. Ski. Stop. Ski. Stop. Agonize.
Compounding the problem was poor light, which made navigating a relatively unfamiliar terrain a lot of work. Throw in a lot of people flying around me, and you have not a great way to start the day.
Once at the end of the run, I waited at a restaurant for my wife and her father to take another lap. It seemed like a 45 minute lap, a much-longer rest than I had hoped for.
Once they returned, we took a long traverse (Trestle) down to the Alpine Springs lift. But there was a small surprise at the end of the traverse: a mogul field.
It was not a mogul field in the traditional sense. I don’t think it was designed to be one. It was simply the result of the casual approach to grooming that seems to characterize Snowmass, combined with a lot of new snow and plenty of traffic.
Still smarting from foot pain, the last thing I wanted on the snow was to deal with moguls. I don’t ski them, for one thing. My few attempts to do so have not been spectacular. But here I was, apparently with no other way down.
Not knowing any better, I tried to traverse the field rather than taking a straight-down approach. I got more speed up than anticipated, and when I went at what seemed to be a high speed over the top of one bump, I let loose a vulgarity that I thought must have filled the valley. But somehow, I stayed on my feet, and eventually worked my way out to smoother terrain.
We took lunch at the High Alpine restaurant. Given its location and where we wanted to go next (Elk Camp), it was a reasonable decision. Still, I was bothered by the fact that, when we had finished eating, it was 12:45, and I had taken only two runs, neither of them successful or enjoyable.
But the rest of the afternoon—until 3:50—was a different story entirely. We spent the time at Elk Camp, an intermediate (blue) area that is my favorite location at Snowmass. It’s got compound slopes, enough trees to make things look nice but not so many that they get in the way, and pitches steep enough to make things interesting but not so much that getting down them is a lot of work.
We started out on a trail (Bear Bottom) that was allegedly groomed. There’s no way it could have been, with all that pushed-around snow and mini-piles. Other trails in the area, such as Bull Run, approached mogul run status, at least for me. I’m not saying that I now enjoy bumps, but I got some experience learning how to use them. It seemed like I spent a lot of time “jumping” off the top of them. I appreciate the experience enough that I may take a bumps lesson next year.
Another thing I enjoy about skiing (or riding) is to explore new territory. We traveled in the Creekside region, which is an interesting mix of semi-steeps followed by a much longer section of a very gentle slope.
Throughout the day the sun teased us. Occasionally it almost appeared from beyond the clouds. But most of the time we dealt with difficult light, and when we finally had excellent visibility, we were nearly finished for the day.
Visibility, it turns out, played a role in my foot pain. At least that’s my theory. Unable to see very far ahead, I used a lot of short turns, especially in the morning. In the afternoon, I loosened my buckles, and the pain was almost always gone. What may have been equally important, though, is that I got more comfortable reading the terrain. So I was more willing to let my skis run out to the bottom of a small pitch, which meant less turning, and less pain.