SkiChicken.com

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.

We are starting a new service here at SkiChicken Central: It’s called Ask SkiChicken. We already have a few questions rolling in via our visitor logs, including this query: “Map of ski resorts near denver airport”. Now, we’re Ski Chickens here, not mappers. But here goes:
Loveland is closest to the Denver Airport: Maybe 1.5 to 2 hours drive. It’s right on the continental divide, and you can ski over the top of the Eisenhower Tunnel! But it is stormy, and does not itself have overnight accomodations. If you choose Loveland, it is possible to get 1 hour more ski time. Also, it takes less time to get back to Denver. However, you may have snow blowing in your face at tremendous speeds.

Breckenridge, A-Basin, Keystone, Vail, Beaver Creek, and my beloved Copper Mountain Resort are not far behind (And usually have less wind in the high season. They also have places to sleep). I recommend Copper Mountain, just 30 minutes past Loveland. It has a great mix of terrain, and I haven’t had a bad ski day there yet. Once my buddy Mike and I let our toes approach frostbite, rather than leave the mountain! But it was 5 below that day – before the sun went down – and usually isn’t that cold.

This hasn’t been scientifically mapped, measured or manhandled, but those are my initial thoughts. And if you need a shuttle, see my previous post about this new Denver Airport Shuttle Service.

Feel free to send your questions to us at: ask ski chicken at ski chicken dot com. It’s a free service, with questions answered in no particular order. We aren’t relationship experts or anything, but we’ll even take a crack at that if one or both of you ski or ride.