Days 12, 13, and 14: Keystone 36 and Breckenridge
Monday, December 3rd, 2007
What a crazy yet kick’n weekend. I drove out to Keystone 36 Friday after class. I arrived around 5:30 to find relatively good snow conditions, not too much of a crowd, and perfect weather. This was my first night boarding experience - and what a treat. Riding at night is a lot of fun! When I rode the first lift up into the blackness, I felt like I was on a ride at Disney Land. I expected a volcano to explode or a dragon to jump out. Around 9:00, Keystone started to get packed and the atmosphere was party central. Even though they were patting people down at the entrance, there were a lot of trashed people around. When the crowd got too thick, I took off for the night.
I thought I was going to be spending the night in the Xterra, but some friends of mine invited me up to their condo in Vail. I got to crash on their couch in front of the fire listening to the logs crackle. In the morning we woke up to huge puffy flakes slowly falling from the sky and landing on a wonderful white blanket of snow. They headed up to Vail and I headed back to Keystone. After a full night of heavy traffic, the Keystone snow was packed down hard and the fluffy powder that hit Vail hadn’t made a visit. Still, it was a good day. The party was still going strong as a couple of party girls insisted on sharing their flasks of… something… on the gondola.
I had to make it back to an engagement Saturday night, so I left Keystone around 2:00. That’s when the powder hit. I almost skipped my engagement! I managed to tear myself away and traverse home in the worst driving scene I’d seen in my life. I saw at least half a dozen pile ups totally up to dozens of smashed cars. I drove around wrecks on the shoulder and in the ditches.
I can’t fully chronicle the entire story of the super hero snow plow that saved me… but wow. He zestfully fish tailed out of the lot onto the icy roads and commenced to clearing the way for those of us brave enough to follow. Stuck on the soulder just a couple of cars behind one pile up, super plow came along blaring his horn while flying down the side of the road with the blade down - throwing snow and mud into the air and down the side of the cliff. A pick-up truck and I jumped in the ditch behind him and flung mud in every direction until we managed to clear the scene and get back up up on the ice coated roadways. For the next few miles, traffic was pretty clear!
Anyway, a couple of friends and I headed back out Sunday morning to check out the 10 inches of fresh powder that landed at Breckenridge. The traffic was horrible. The resort was crowded. However, the snow was excellent. We got in a full day of riding, giving me my 14th day of the season thus far. This morning I woke up groggy with wobbly sore legs - what bliss!
86 days left…
