SkiChicken.com

I should pack up today and go to the mountains and ski! My buddy Mike was over last Friday(We drank beer and threw knives at my dartboard – it was great!). He asked me “A Basin is open – Why haven’t you gone?” I suddenly knew I had failed God and man with my delay.

Am I preparing for the full season, or delaying? It’s hard to say. Sure, I’m finishing up some projects, and waiting for the amazing snow to fall. Sure, I’m waiting for Copper to open. We’ve got to get up there- Who’s with me?!!

              

Arapahoe Basin is open! Unfortunately, I was not one of the happy ski folks shown on channel 4 news tonight. The snow looked like packed powder. I licked the TV set, but couldn’t tell anything else about the snow. A Basin always seems to be the first to open and last to close. I haven’t skied there before, but this may just have to be the year. I’ve heard the bowls can give you a little vertigo, and I’m excited to see what that’s like. Anyone been to opening day at A Basin this year?

              

Snow is falling in the mountains!

In Denver today, we only had what one weatherman said was going to be a “temperature contrast”. There wasn’t snow down here, but you could see it failling in the mountains just west of us.

Channel 4 just showed photos of snow on Beavercreek and Silverton. Although Silverton doesn’t open until December, they said some lucky employee (bastard) was snowboarding down the thing. At any rate, here comes the season!

              

Another dusting of snow happened a couple of nights ago up in the mountains. Ski season soon approaches.

Speaking of dusting, I need to dust my mannequin. I have kept my mannequin Debbie in ski garb all year, eagerly awaiting the return of skiing. She’s gotten a little dusty. I brought her home from my last employer, who had stored her in my office for most of the 10 years I worked there. When I left, I asked if Debbie could come with me. The request was just weird enough to work. I was quite a site driving home on the interstate that day.

A year or so before that, I asked if I could change her outfit. Again, request granted – “no questions asked.” I dressed her like Laura Croft (She had big guns) for halloween, a hula dancer in the summer, and ski bunny in the winter. Since I’ve become self employed, she’s pretty much kept the same ski outfit on. And since my wife has joined me working from home, Debbie’s clothes changes are conspicuously less frequent. And mannequin bathing is clearly out. Er… forget I said that.

I’m starting to realize not every home office has a mannequin. What weird thing did you bring home from work?

              

Copper Mountain Ski Resort opens November 2. As many visitors to this blog know, Copper Mountain is one of my favorite local ski resorts. Skiing during the week is especially nice. I can’t wait for the season to start! Their website says “the snow guns are blowin'”. November seems way too far away, so I might have to steal away to loveland or A-basin.

Oh crap: CBS 4’s Stacy Donaldosn just mentioned in passing a “warming trend” coming up. I’m going to call them and see if that can be canceled. Will keep you posted.

              

Free skiing?! Could two more perfect words ever be placed next to each other? Not in my book. And hats off to Crested Butte, a lovely little resort off of the beaten path. I’ve been wanting to try crested butte, and this will definitely be the year. The resort will give away free passes at ticket windows from November 25 to December 15, “no string attached”. They open for the season November 17.

              

Yes, closed due to SNOW. Snow in September isn’t strange for Colorado. It’s normal here. It signals that soon we will be skiing, snowboarding, and throwing the fluffy stuff at each other. Sweet sweet snow.

Apparently westbound I-70 was closed at the tunnel due to “Quick, Heavy snowfall”.

In other – very related news – Loveland and A-basin have begun making snow. I love this guy in charge of snowmaking, quoted in the news:
"We'll have 30 guns going tonight...We go and we don't stop from this point,” said Marc Abrahamson, Loveland's Snow Making Manager.

Typically, it takes 14 days from this point for Loveland to open for skiers and riders.

Yes, love is a strong word. And yes, you heard me correctly.

              

The Denver weather folks just showed snow over the Eisenhower tunnel, up at the Continental Divide. Loveland ski area is up there, but I don’t think they’ve started the lifts. I may check their website just to be sure. Has anyone notified Copper Mountain Ski Resort?! I’d like to think there is a crack team of lift operators scanning the horizon for snow, their hands poised upon a giant power lever. At the first hint of a snowflake, they pull the lever when sounds a horn and starts the lift. If I ran a ski resort, that’s exactly how it would work.

Anyway, the snow dance is working. Despite protests from neighbors with small children. And good taste.

              

Summer is clearly over in lovely Thornton, Colorado. There is a certain nip in the air that makes me start to jones for snow. The heat has been excessive this summer. No one in the Denver Metro region has said “Gee, if it could only have been hotter”. They never do. Of course, they don’t really talk like that anyway.

And now begins the time of year I perform my snow dance. It’s an eclectic mix of hip hop, funk, and goof ball. Just enough to get the snow’s attention in that upper atmosphere. But not enough to make anyone want to call the cops. It’s directed skyward anyway. “Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you, SNOWFLAKES”. They zoom overhead watching, waiting to fall on Colorado’s ski country. A good dance – well, a dance anyway – is what makes them want to land.

If you feel the urge, and I know you do, help out and do your own little snowdance.

              

A pint of Guinness makes the perfect end to any ski day. It’s long been a tradition with my buddy Mike and I to finish the day with a tall glass of Guinness. Why is Guinness the perfect beverage after a day of hard skiing or riding? Simple: Replenishment.

The B vitamins. Guinness is full of them. B6, B12 and um… 13. Mix in Endos‘ giant nachos, and you’ve got a full day’s supply of a lot of things.

And you know the antioxidants that makes blueberries blue? Tomatoes red? Well, Guinness has them too. But it has so many that the drink must be black. Think of the damage a nice healthy pint can repair. Drink several and you can almost feel it happening! (Drink responsibly, make sure your buddy Mike is doing the driving, etc.)