skiing -- winter usenix meeting in denver
Evi Nemeth
evi at boulder.UUCP
Wed Jan 1 11:34:15 AEST 1986
here is some information on skiing in colorado around the winter usenix
meeting in denver.
GENERAL INFO
--------------------------
snow -- in the areas close to denver (arapahoe basin, keystone, loveland,
winter park, copper mountain, breckenridge, vail, beaver creek, berthod, xxx)
we had lots of snow early in the season, but have had little or none
in the last two weeks. xxx is a small area just beyond winter park,
whose name escapes me. all areas are open, some only partially. they often
save slopes for the christmas week crowds, so i would expect everything to be
open by mid january. the southern part of the state (crested butte, telluride,
purgatory, wolf creek) have had record snowfalls.
prices -- ouch. lift tickets are typically $20-$27 per day, adults; kids
are usually defined as being 12 or under and are about half price. half
day tickets are usually 2/3 to 3/4 the cost of the full day ticket. ski
americard works at all areas in the denver area except vail, breckenridge,
and beaver creek. it gets discounts from a few dollars to half price.
for example at arapahoe basin, the regular price is $26, but ski americard
gets a $9 discount every day and gives a few $5 days or half price days.
vail valley card gets $5 off everyday at vail or beaver creek for the card
holder and for a friend on 10 different days. last year you could spend
all 10 friend days at once, now you cant. ski international card gets a
few dollars off at breckenridge. loveland, winterpark and berthod are
a bit cheaper than the others, if you have no discount cards. discount
tickets are often available at sports stores and a king soopers grocery
store.
lift lines -- in mid january, the lines should not be too bad. beaver
creek is always less crowded than vail, tickets are interchangeable.
arapahoe, loveland and berthod are usually less crowded than the others as well.
during the week there should be no lines at any of the areas.
weather -- january weather can be very cold, but the rockies are so far inland
that the weather is very changeable. i went yesterday and it was a balmy
20 degrees. dress in layers and you'll be safe. the sun here goes thru
a couple of miles less atmosphere than at sea level and so you should use
sunscreen on sunny days even in january. the climate is also very dry so
lips will crack etc. without chapstick.
altitude -- most areas are 9-10,000 feet at the base and 11-12,000 ft
at the top. if you havent skied here before watch out for altitude
sickness (headaches, nausea, dizzyness). eating regularly (a bite
of a candy bar each lift ride up) helps, so does eating rolaids. the
altitude means there is less oxygen in the air so you may find yourself
out of breath.
difficulty -- here is a prejudiced view of the areas mentioned above.
keystone - good beginner and intermediate, no advanced even though
there are trails marked with black diamonds. has lots of
snowmaking.
keystone/north peak - good intermediate, ok advanced, since
the lift accident here a week ago, you can ski north
peak but have to walk/pole out. the way out is along
a road 3.2 miles that is downhill, but not enuf to keep
you moving all the way. it takes about 20-30 minutes to
get out and a bus takes you back to the main area. the
lift servicing north peak is running fine, the one that
broke is the one going between north peak and keystone.
arapahoe basin (a-basin) - poor beginner, good intermediate, good
advanced. palivichini is one of the hardest runs in colorado.
most of a-basin is above tree line, it can be windy.
breckenridge - good all around mountain, really 3 mountains, peaks 8,
9, and a new one peak 10 open this year for the first time.
trying to become another vail, so lots of locals (especially
the ones with ski americard) prefer a-basin.
copper mountain - like breckenridge, a good all around mountain, has
lots of snowmaking.
loveland - an old area, under-rated, cheap, lots of locals, good mix
of difficulties.
vail - huge, takes a long while to ski it all, best with someone who
knows the mountain. has new fast quad lift that helps the lift
lines at mid-vail. back bowls are great on powder days.
beaver creek - sister area to vail, fancy, mostly beginner and
intermediate with a couple of expert runs. small, easy to
ski all of in one day. generally not too crowded. you have
to park and take a bus into the area, end of the day makes
for long bus lines. lift ticket is interchangeable with vail.
berthod - another oldie, cheaper, small, above tree line so can be
windy. even mix of difficulties.
winter park - good all round mountain, beginner and intermediate at
winter park, advanced at adjacent area called mary jane, one
lift ticket, you can ski between the areas (or take a bus).
xxx - new area about 10 miles beyond winter park, cheap, good beginner
and intermediate, good family area, small. free bus from
winter park.
eldora - local area west of boulder, small family area, good beginner
and intermediate, cheap.
for the areas away from denver (4-8 hours) i have less information, but since
this article is much too long anyway, will include it.
crested butte - my favorite area, never lines, medium size, good
beginner and intermediate, good advanced, great out-of-bounds
skiing (you hike 10 minutes to get to the head of the trials).
good snow this year.
telluride - nice hard mountain, but bad lift design. new lifts may
have fixed it. spiral staircase is about the steepest you'll
find in colorado. good beginner and intermediate on the back
side.
purgatory - never skied there.
wolf creek - nice small/medium sized area, incredible snow, gets the
most snow in the us, no accommodations at the area.
steamboat - big, nice tree skiing, bad lines over vacation times,
good all round mountain, reasonable accommodations nearby.
aspen - three areas, ajax, aspen highlands, snowmass, vailish but
with a european alpine flavor. ajax is intermediate/advanced,
highlands too, snowmass the best all rounder.
------------------------------
SPECIFICS -- DAY TRIPS
we intend to have daily ski buses during the conference for folks who dont want
to attend each day. they cost about $500 and hold 47 people. you can have
beer, wine, coffee, etc. on the bus, so we could do breakfast (coffee and
donuts) and munchies and booze for after. the cost per person would be about
$20. the buses leave at 7am, arrive back about 6pm.
there is also a train to winter park, it is a bit more expensive than the bus
and gives you a short day of skiing. it costs $16 each way; leaves at 7:30am
arriving at 10:20am, returns at 4pm arriving at 7pm.
if you would like to participate, mail ...ucbvax!hplabs!hao!boulder!usenix
with the following information:
day you want to go - wed, thurs, fri
area you prefer - use only the ones close to denver
a return address for us to confirm to
we will collect info for a week or so and then firm up the buses and
destinations.
------------------------------
SPECIFICS -- WEEKEND TRIPS, FAR AWAY
weekend buses that go up friday evening and return sunday evening to the far
away areas like aspen, steamboat and crested butte are about $2000, and so
would be about $50/person. again, if a large enuf group is interested we
will arrange one, please mail in the following info if you want to go:
which weekend, before or after the conference
area you prefer
return address to confirm to
if there is sufficient interest we will follow up with info on condos etc.
------------------------------
SPECIFICS -- WEEKEND TRIPS, CLOSE IN
weekend buses to the areas a couple of hours west of denver would cost
about $1000, cost per person about $30 each. we have info on condos at
silverthorn.
Luxury - indoor swimming pool, hot tub, the works
1 bdrm - $80/night
2 bdrm - $105/night
3 bdrm - $150/night
Deluxe - no pool, hot tub, etc
1 bdrm - $70/night
2 bdrm - $90/night
3 bdrm - $135/night
Economy - spartan
1 bdrm - $60/night
2 bdrm - $80/night
3 bdrm - $120/night
All rentals are furnished with linens, kitchen utensils, firewood and have
a hide-a-bed in the living room where you can sleep additional people.
Rates are based on 2 people in 1 bdrm, 4 people in 2 bdrm, 6 people in
3 bdrm. Children under 12 are free, additional adults(if you tell them about
them) are $10 each.
The rental agency is Wildernest, Box C, Silverthorne, CO 80498, (303)
468-6291. The location is in Silverthorne on the hill to the left as you
continue past Silverthorne on I-70 toward Vail. A local bus runs every
20 minutes serving Silverthorne, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin. Breckenridge
and Copper Mtn are 20-30 mins away, Vail about 45 mins away, Loveland about
30 mins, Beaver Creek 50 mins. Would need your own transportation to
get to areas other than Arapahoe Basin and Keystone.
again mail boulder!usenix if interested.
we will try to schedule buses if there is sufficient interest. there are lots
of condos available at the time of the meeting in other areas, the ski info
booth at the denver airport has complete ski info for the whole state. trail
maps from the major areas will be available to peruse at the usenix desk at
the meeting. restaurant menus too.
evi nemeth
computer science dept
university of colorado
boulder, co 80309
303-492-5385 after jan1
uucp: ...ucbvax!hplabs!hao!boulder!evi, ...nbires!boulder!evi
csnet: evi at boulder
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