1st Chair on a June Powder Day

Today was a real powder day at A-Basin (It is June 4th!!!). I got up early not even knowing it was going to snow overnight and looked out the window to see several inches of snow on the ground. I drove up to A-Basin and was one of the first in line when the Exhibition lift opened. Fresh tracks all the way down with about 5in of snow. After riding the lift up again I waited for the Norway lift to open on the upper mountain. I got first chair and once again had fresh tracks all the way down. Fortunately, since I skied here on Wednesday, I knew which runs had good snow coverage. The new snow provided a precariously thin cover over the countless bare spots and rocks. I got a couple of good runs in before the snow started to get skied out. I left pretty early, but had a great time for skiing in June.

Driving up to the Basin

Summit County, Colorado - June 4th !!!

This is what happens if you get it wrong in the pond. I never fell in, but a few of my friends got pretty wet.

Pond Skimming

One of the fun things to do at The Basin is pond skimming. The melting snow has created a lot of ponds and standing water on the ski run at the Basin. If you go fast enough you can skim across the ponds on skis or a board. It is surprisingly easy. You just need to go fast. The longest ponds are about 80ft long I would guess.

Powder Day in May

Not really, but it has snowed 2" in the last day so there was a little bit of new snow. I had to laugh when my friend was pointing out his "fresh tracks." Not bad for May 31st though. Last week my doctor cleared me to resume risky activities again, so today I was back on alpine skis at The Basin for the first time since my surgey. The skiing was fun. Really soft snow and a lot of fun things to do. A-Basin closes this weekend, but the skiing is still superb.

4 out of 5 looking at the camera isn't too bad

Natalie reeling in a big one at Hahn's Lake

Yoda and I out on the trail. The scenery was amazing.

Hahn's Peak

On Saturday, Mark, Yoda and I attempted unsuccessfully to climb Hahn's Peak. We lost the snow covered trail briefly before realizing that it was impossible to follow the trail at all. Because of a late start the snow we were hiking on was getting too soft for walking. We turned back, planning to attempt the peak the next day, but never got a chance again due to poor weather.

Steamboat Lake

I spent Memorial Day weekend camping with my cousins at Steamboat Lake in Northern Colorado. It was a cool campsite and the weather was great for most of the weekend. We had a great time hiking, boating, fishing and eating great camp food.