Nighttime rail jam in downtown Breck

Ski Day #2

I did more exploring the 2nd day on the mountain. The snow conditions are still not optimal. Today they had the qualifiers for the Chevy Grand Prix of Snowboard superpipe competition. It was pretty cool watching the best snowboards in the world riding the pipe. I'll try to post pictures later and video later. The best riders were getting 10-12' out of the 25' superpipe. Some people were doing 1260s as well. At night there was a rail-jam competition in town with many of the same snowboarders from the superpipe. They had a big staircase set up with three different rails. It was basically a best trick competition. The riders were doing all sorts of cool grinds, transfers and flips down the rails. I think the winning trick was a backflip down the stair set.

Breckenridge Trail Map - High resolution version here

Me at the top of Chair 6 at the end of my first day of skiing

Ski Day #1

Today was my first day of skiing in the 2004/05 season. I bought a Ski 3 pass for $330. The pass is good at Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin. It is quite a deal considering a single day lift ticket is $71. It snowed about 4 in yesterday so the snow was decent, although I couldn't find any fresh powder stashes. I spent most of the day exploring Breckenridge and getting a feel for the mountain. My new skis and boots were working very well. The mountain is big with a large diversity of terrain. A lot of the expert terrain and big high alpine bowls above treeline are not yet open due to lack of snow cover. Currently Peak 8 and Peak 9 are open. I think the best run was 4 O'Clock run when I skied right up to my condo. In the afternoon I took a trip to Walmart and Safeway to begin furnishing my condo.

View out of living room window - 4 O'Clock Run

Moving into my Condo - Kitchen and Living Room

The Housing Search is Over

After an agonizing 3 days of looking for housing and being on the verge of settling for a room in a poor location, I found a spectacular place to live. It's a 2BD/2BA condo which is located on a 4 O'Clock Run which is a ski run that goes into town. I can ski up to the back door of my building and it is only 20 steps to the front door of my condo. The snowflake lift is a short walk up the street and main streets is less than 2 blocks away. This is exactly the location I was looking for. I probably won't need to use my car much to get around or go shopping. Most of the units in the building are short term rentals. Units the same size as my unit rent for up to $480 a night. The unit I am living in is normally reserved for employees of the condominium complex, but this year they didn't need it, so they rented it to me. There is a hot tub, a pool and a fitness center in the complex as well. Unfortunately, the condo is mostly unfurnished and doesn't have a washer/dryer. Those are the only flaws I can see so far. I'll have to find a roommate as well, although that shouldn't be to hard considering the location of the condo. Tomorrow I'm going to move all my stuff into the condo and begin to unpack.
The place is pretty big which is nice. There is plenty of room for guests to come and visit.

Entrance to Summit County, Colorado's Playground. Home of many world class ski resorts including Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin. (It is hard to take clear pictures when you are driving 75mph)

Glenwood Canyon, CO. For all of you structural engineers, I-70 through glenwood canyon is an impressive feat of engineering. The canyon carries the Colorado river, a railroad track and four lanes of traffic. The westbound traffic lanes are elevated for several miles. The bridges are all of precast segmental construction. (yes I know I'm a nerd)

Glenwood Canyon, CO

Hot springs in Glenwood Springs, CO

Mountains near Grand Junction, Colorado

Big cut in the road in Utah

Dawn in the snow covered Wasatch Range. Near Soldier Summit on US-6

Driving Day 2

450 miles from Salt Lake City to Breckenridge. This drive was much more scenic than day 1. Salt Lake City is nestled right against the Wasatch Mountain Range. I took US-6 Southeast through the Wasatch Range through Price to Green River. It was beautiful seeing the sun rise over the snow covered mountain passes. From Green River I took I-70 all of the way to Colorado. This part of Southern Utah has pretty cool rock formations. The Rockies Mountains are pretty spectacular as well. I stopped in Glenwood Springs for lunch and then drove straight to Breckenridge. I spent my first three nights in the Wayside Inn just north of Breckenridge. It was a pretty run down motel, but it only cost $38 a night, so I couldn't complain. I spent the rest of the day getting oriented with the town of Breckenridge and looking for housing. I had dinner at the Breckenridge Brewery which has some pretty good house brews. I got to watch the ridiculous Monday Night Football game between the Titans and the Chiefs. 87 Points and nearly 1000 yards of total offense, I guess the defenses stayed home. Tomorrow I plan on continuing my housing search.

Sunset in Salt Lake City - The Wasatch Mountain Range is right on the edge of the city. Many ski resorts (Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird, Alta) are less than 30 minutes away.

The Great Salt Flats (They were as exciting as they look in this photo)

Snow covered mountains in Nevada

On the Road in Nevada

Driving Day 1

Today I drove from Oakland to Salt Lake City, Utah. It was about 740 miles total going through California, Nevada and Utah mostly on I-80. The landscape was more scenic than expected. It turns out Nevada is not just a big flat desert. I stopped for lunch in Elko, NV and ate a Big Mac meal at a McDonalds despite watching "Supersize Me" a few days earlier. It was still tasty. I stayed at a Super 8 motel south of Salt Lake City. The lady at the front desk was named Sandeep. For dinner I went to a nearby restaurant which was kind of like a sports bar. I was surprised that I could buy beer so easily at a restaurant in Utah. Apparently the state law is that you can buy alcohol if you buy food, but you can't just get a beer without food at a normal restaurant. I got a local brew named "Polygamy Porter." At least some people in Utah have a sense of humor.