Ski Day #6

Due to the lack of snow, I have taken my old skis (200cm GS straight skis) out of mothballs. They are now officially designated my "rock skis". It is fun to ski with these because you can ski over rocks, dirt, through bushes and over bare spots without caring about damaging the skis. Many of the runs around the mountain are getting bare because of lack of snow. In the morning I skied the newly opened Peak 7. All of the runs on the lower part of Peak 7 are sort of rolling terrain. When they cleared the trees they didn't flatten out the bumps, so there are lots of natural rollers and lips going down the mountain (ie things to get air off of). It is a lot like the Northwest Territory at Mt. Bachelor, but not as steep. The runs were wide open and not very crowded. The lack of crowds was probably due to the temperature. It was -4 degrees Fahrenheit up on the mountain. That is the temperature, not the wind chill which was much colder. I think this is the coldest weather I have ever skied in. My feet got cold for first time ever while I was skiing. The rest of my body was pretty cold too. Breckenridge has warming huts near the top of each of the 4 peaks. These huts were essential on a day like today. I could only do 2-3 runs before I began to loose feeling in my extremities and had to go into the warming hut.

My parents and brother arrived today for Christmas. They took a shuttle from the Denver Airport to Frisco. I was supposed to pick them up in the early afternoon in Frisco. When I went to leave to go pick them up, my car would not start because of the cold weather. Luckily, I was able to get a jump start from the staff of my condo complex. Even with the added juice from a big truck, it was a chore getting my car started. I guess I need a new battery. I picked up my parents only a few minutes late, but it was a hectic time trying to get everything worked out. I think the temperature in town was in the single digits during the day. It snowed a little bit this evening (<1 inch) but it was nice seeing everything covered in white. My mom loved the snow. The temperature dropped well below zero at night (see nearby picture). The forcasted high for tomorrow in town is 1 degree. I don't think I'm going to be skiing tomorrow.