Archive for April, 2008

Colorado ski slopes close for the 2008 season

Friday, April 11th, 2008

Copper Mountain closes April 13, 2008
Snowmass closes April 13, 2008
Highlands will be open for the next two weekends, but has closed during the week (It was a great closing day party, though!)

More closing dates for Colorado Ski Resorts coming soon!

Ask SkiChicken: What makes snow slippery

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

Here at SkiChicken.com World Headquarters, we study all sorts of interesting questions. For one, why is Guinness such a lovely brew? Why does a third glass make me giggle sometimes? Other questions we sometimes find in our server logs.

For example, I can tell someone recently came to our website after searching for answers to the question “What makes snow slippery?”. I’m not sure why our site came up in the search engine results from that query, but we take it as a suggestion – NAY, a mission statement – to respond to each and every question we find this way. Within the bounds of good taste, of course.

So here is the answer, Victoria (Or whatever your name is):
I think it’s because it melts a little bit with the friction of a ski or snowboard gliding across it. The very thin film of water that results makes you slip down the slope.

That answer based upon my liberal arts degree (Hey, it was BS – you probably guessed that). But really, aren’t there more qualified sites out there to ask? If your life depends on it somehow(like in episode 12 of MacGyver, starring Richard Dean Anderson), maybe you should ask a more scientific-minded website.

Copper Mountain Closing on April 13, 2008!

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

Get up to Copper Mountain ASAP if you want to take advantage of this last batch of snow. Copper Mountain Ski resort is closing on April 13, 2008! The snow will probably be great. The weather will be great. And yes, the beer will be great (I know you were concerned).

Spring snow at Aspen Snowmass that will make you giddy

Saturday, April 5th, 2008

Snowmass Village Spring skiing is amazing. I arrived at 2pm and found free parking in the C lot, allowing me a short ski down to the lift.

We switched lifts to the Elk Camp Goldola and rode up the Elk Camp lift. Our first run down wasn’t on Gunner’s View(one of my favorite runs), but it was still a GREAT run. We then made our way over to Alpine Springs and made a run down “Naked Lady”.

Naked lady is such a pleasant run, I was giggling while I skiied. It’s such a great reminder of the ski fervor Snowmass gives me. I hadn’t skiied for 11 years, then skiied Snowmass in 2001. It changed my life. Snowmass is just that great. Smooth slopes and plenty of room. It just makes skiing some much fun! Have you ever giggled while you skiied? If not, get your butt over to Snowmass!

Naked Lady is a curvy little run, and there are a few unexpected bumps. In fact, I had my first big crash in years due to a bump that caught me a little offguard. Jason witnessed it, and thinks maybe I flew off the side of a nipple on Naked Lady. To me it felt a little more like a belly button. I lost both skies(Something Jason said even he had never seen) and skidded down the hill 40 or 50 feet head first on my stomach. Another great reason to have a helmet. My Goggles were full of snow and down around my neck by the time I stopped. I tasted the snow and IT WAS GOOD! A little salty perhaps.

Of course, I am fine. Thanks to the sweet spring powdery goodness of Snowmass, which lovingly held me. I was brought to a safe stop in the caressing embrace of it’s sweet snow cleavage.

Excellent Spring Skiing at Copper Mountain Ski Resort

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008

Copper’s April is off to a great start. While the Temperatures are warming, there was just enough wind yesterday to keep the snow in PERFECT packed powder conditions.

Skiing on a Tuesday means smaller lift lines, but yesterday was a little different. Copper was hosting the USASA, and had a few lines closed over on the American Flyer lift. The combination meant a bit of a wait, but the Timberline lift (over beside the T-REX cafe) had almost no one there! Once I was on the mountain, it was run after run. The slopes didn’t feel crowded, and the snow was amazing. I might need to ski every Tuesday, just to experience it. Hopefully nothing will warm up too quickly.

I followed the day up with a Copper Bowl Brown Ale and Empenadas at Endos. Yes, they were out of Guinness.