Copper Mountain (Day 6 of 6)

Packed and ready to leave the condo

Tuesday February 16, 2010

We were up early and got out pretty much when we had planned. It was a clear day for the drive back to Denver. We stopped by the nearby town of Frisco on the way back and loved all the cute storefronts. We were going to drive through Breckenridge as well, but the route wasn't clearly marked and we ended up back at I-70 so we just got back on and headed east to Denver.

The roads were clear, but dirty. Our rented SUV was filthy and I kept having to spray my windshield to wipe the grit away. That's one thing about Atlanta, everything stays pretty clean without all the snow and grime. My sister Kelley always remarks about how clean Atlanta is (except for the smog) when she comes back home from Alaska.

Several years back when we were returning from Keystone, I was so worried about making our flight that somehow I got everybody up and ready in the wee hours of the morning Atlanta time so that we were at the Denver airport a little before 6 am Denver time instead of the intended 8 am. That was brought up a number of times again this trip.

The rental SUV was a GMC Terrain. It was nice and well appointed, but it's always a little strange figuring out the controls for a car that is not a Honda since we've been driving Honda's for so long. We stopped to fill the rental car up with gas before returning it and searched for a good 10 minutes, including looking in the owner's manual, for the switch to unlock the gas tank before I finally gave up and went out to see if you needed to use a key or something. It still took me another minute or two before I finally figured out that there was no lock.

We returned the car and took the shuttle back to the airport. We had to do all the check in stuff and then the security. I'm pretty sure that it would be worth a couple of planes going down every once in a while as a trade off for not having to deal with the security stuff. Every time we go through it's different. Things that have passed time after time all the sudden get flagged or that particular airport doesn't like how you've arranged certain things. Then throw in the kids and it is a royal pain. This time it was some little swiss army like device housed in a credit card like container that I keep in my wallet. It has passed security many times. This time it got flagged and it took a while to straighten it all out. They offered to mail it to me for a fee. I told them I didn't even remember I had it and never use it so they could keep it. I didn't really see the danger. There was a small nail file like thing about 2 inches long with a pretty dull blade.

We had a nice leisurely lunch at McDonalds and Domino's. Food courts are great for the variety, but sometimes it's so hard for everyone to decide. Helen even splurged on a Carribou Coffe. And then somehow I messed up with the gate assignment. I could have sworn that the gate assignment that flashed on the electronic check in showed something like gate 514. Well it turns out that the gates stop at 515. We figured that out and then realized that our actual gate was something like 547 - all the way at the other end of the concourse. I think it was about a mile away. So after thinking we had plenty of time, we ended up being the last people to board and had to check some of our carryons because, of course, there was no more room in the overhead bins. And the space we did find for one of our bags was way in the back of the plane so when we landed we had to wait for everyone else to get off before we could retrieve it...nice.

We landed in Atlanta and, thankfully, there were no problems with our baggage. I told Helen I would pull the car around, but she said everybody could walk so we had a long walk to our car. When we tried to pay the automated parking machine on the way out, it had trouble reading our ticket. The parking attendant in a nearby booth mumbled something and led us to believe someone was coming to address the problem, but after waiting for a while we finally had to back out of the line and get into the parking attendant line and then wait for her to call someone to figure out what was wrong with our ticket.

On the way home, we stopped by the store for some milk and picked up some chinese takeout at Panda Express. We were home about 7 pm, but it was after 10 before we got things unpacked and settled. We fell into bed not looking forward to facing the 3 remaining work\school days ahead of us before the weekend.

Copper Mountain (Day 5 of 6)

A beautiful day ahead

Some fun and some work

Adam, Me, and Derek

Helen works her way down - at a very measured pace

Trail heading down to East Village

Helen at East Village with the Super Bee lift and tubing park on the right

Better view of tubing park in the daylight

Adam, me, and Derek at the top of the Super Bee lift

Eating lunch at East Village overlooking the Super Bee lift and Rosi's Run in the background

Adam's ski bindings were always a pain to get into

Last run down the mountain

Derek and Adam point to the black diamond run they did

Monday February 15, 2006

We woke to a beautiful day. It was nice that it snowed each of the previous days, but we were hoping one of our days would be sunny. It was nice to see all the mountains around us that we couldn't see the previous days.

The trip was mostly for leisure, but Helen and the kids did have to do some schoolwork as well. Derek read a book about World War I and wrote a paper about the ski trip.

At the equipment rental place, we asked some workers for recommendations on finding an easy black diamond run for Derek to do on his last day. The workers recommended "Rosi's Run" because it was groomed and, therefore, less bumpy than most of the other black runs.

We cut our teeth on some blue runs before heading over to the East side of the mountain and the more difficult runs. Many people like Copper Mountain because the mountain is setup to keep the beginner slopes separate from the more advanced slopes.

Helen wasn't happy about the more difficult runs, but she took her time (a long time) and made it down some steep blue runs. We took the Super Bee lift up to the top and were locked and loaded to do Rosi's Run. Helen wasn't up for that so she took an "easier" route that turned out to be a nightmare. She ended up having to come down a blue mogul run on her butt while we waited for about 30 minutes for her to show up.

Rosi's Run was steep but we made it down. It was amazing to watch all the people flying down it like it was nothing. It definitely takes more energy for me to concentrate and fatigues my legs more. I prefer the rolling green\blues to the steep stuff.

We broke for lunch and then Derek wanted to go back up the Super Bee so we could take a picture of the Rosi's Run sign. Helen and Adam waited at the top while Derek and I went down for the picture. Derek ended up skiing right past the sign so he didn't get the picture after all that.

We got to the top again and met up with Helen and Adam and then headed back to the other side of the mountain to finish up on the green and blue runs. We had fun skiing through more trees and Derek got frustrated again when he got stuck. Adam and Derek had skied into some trees and then a little while later Adam called out to me that I needed to see something. I figured it was just his usual request for me to come and see whatever was of interest to him at the moment. I told him no and headed down. A little while later Adam came busting out of the trees and when I asked where Derek was, Adam said that was what he wanted to show me - Derek was stuck. Derek ended up making it down, but it took a long time. Helen was worried when she made it down before Derek. She knew if that happened then something must really be wrong.

We returned our equipment, hit the hot tubs, finished off as much of the remaining food as we could, and packed for our return trip in the morning.

Copper Mountain (Day 4 of 6)

Adam, Derek, and me during our lunch break



Helen makes her way in the shadow of the snow covered trees

Derek shows us how to stay warm

Helen, Derek, and Adam make their way down to the Timberline Express lift

Derek tries to get back into his ski's after getting stuck while riding through the trees

Derek says he's never skiing again after getting stuck!

The weather finally started to clear - offering a beautiful backdrop to the skating rink

Adam and Helen pose in front of some shops in the village

Center Village and a view of our condo building in the background on the left

Adam loved this hot chocolate drink at JJ's

Me and Derek pulling our tubes at the tubing park

Me about to get sent down the hill

Adam arrives at the top of the hill via the magic carpet

Adam and Derek are ready to ride

Adam and Derek check out a snow fort at the tubing park

Sunday February 14, 2010

There was more fresh snow Sunday morning, Valentines Day. I met up with my friend, Dave, his friend, John, Dave's dad (who is 75!) and Dave's sister for some early morning skiing. Skiing on the fresh powder was a blast! I did have one good wipeout. Once I knew I was going over, I tucked and rolled. I popped up with snow all over me and it took me a couple minutes to find one of my ski's. But the powder was nice and fluffy so no worries.

I met up with Helen and the kids at the bottom of the mountain at 10. They weren't so sure about skiing in all the powder. It's different than skiing on nice groomed trails. We skied some and then Adam started complaining that his stomach hurt. We broke for lunch hoping he would feel better. He did, but still wanted to go back to the condo with Helen. I think he wanted some alone time with Mommy. We talked him into skiing some more and then when we said that he could go back with Helen he said he wanted the whole family to go. We told him we weren't ready to go yet so he stayed.

We had fun skiing through the trees again. Derek and Adam both got stuck good towards the end of the day. Adam managed to wriggle free fairly quickly, but Derek was stuck for a good while and didn't appreciate me taking pictures and video of his effort to right himself. By the time he got down to the lift he said he didn't want to ski anymore, but we persuaded him to keep going.

After skiing we went to see about reserving a time slot at the tubing park. We decided to reserve a spot for that night. Even though we were beat, it seemed like the best option. We opted not to go back to the condo for fear of not having the energy to go back out. We headed to the East Village where the tubing park was located and had a nice dinner at a place called JJ''s. We finished dinner a little early and would have had to wait an hour for our tubing reservation, but the tubing park let us go an hour early.

It was kind of neat tubing under the lights. There were 5 runs of varying speeds and one of the runs had a big jump that sent you flying. That seemed to be everyone's favorite. We did various combinations of pairing up and riding single. We were tired, it was cold, and we were fat, happy, and warm after our dinner but we had a good time. Where do kids get all that energy? We took a bus back to our condo and crashed.

Copper Mountain (Day 3 of 6)

We woke up Saturday morning to fresh snow

Peak Sports where we rented our equipment

Looking out from Peak Sports to the American Eagle lift

Helen helps Adam get into his ski boot (I don't know why he can't do it himself)

View of one of the trails from the chair lift

Some chairs in front of ours as we head up

Me, Derek, and Adam

Helen with her arm around Adam on the Lumberjack lift

Breaking for lunch at Union Square village

Helen starts the food fest after we get back to the condo

Much to our surprise, our friends from Atlanta, the Williams, were staying in the same condo complex

Adam does a cannonball

Saturday February 13, 2010

We woke to a fresh blanket of snow and were eager to hit the slopes. We were fairly well rested with some skiing under our belt and not too fatigued yet. The temperatures were still in the low teens so we all stayed bundled up with gaiters over our faces, except Adam who still claimed he couldn't breath with the gaiter over his mouth. We still made him pull his gaiter up from time to time when we saw his lips turn too purple.

We had a good time on slopes. The weekend was a little more crowded, but the Beeline lift tickets you get for staying at a Copper resort allow you to enter a separate line and get in front of the regular lift ticket people which was nice!

The boys and I did a lot of skiing through the trees on paths along the sides of the regular ski trails. We had a lot of fun, except when the trail turned out to have some big bumps that launched us into the air or when we sometimes failed to navigate one of the turns and ended up stuck in snow up to our waist.

After skiing we bought some groceries from the market in the village and spent a while that night trying to figure out how milk, bread, gatorade, orange juice, and a frozen pizza could cost $30. I'm all about transparency and it annoyed me that there were no prices on the items and that we didn't get an itemized receipt. The guy just rang it up and gave us a total. I should have confronted him right there, but didn't. We went back the following day for answers and found out that the milk was $6, the bread was $5, the gatorade was $3, the juice was $3, and the pizza was $12. They didn't seem to appreciate me questioning their non-transparent pricing system.

We got back to the condo and stuffed our faces. The kids were dressed and ready to hit the hot tubs and were giving us play by play descriptions from the window of the people currently in the hot tubs. I ventured over to the window and looked down. I noticed that our good friends, the Williams family, from home was in one of the hot tubs! I went outside on the deck and hollered down to them. They were as surprised as us. We went down and had a great time visiting with them.

I setup an early morning ski outing with my friend Dave Williams and his friend they were staying with from Colorado, but we didn't really bite on any of the other social offers. Helen and I discussed once again how we're rarely into meeting up for social stuff with other people because we would rather just hang with our immediate family on our own schedule.

Copper Mountain (Day 2 of 6)

Copper Mountain Trail Map (pdf)

Adam and Derek are dressed and waiting on Mom and Dad

Adam checks out the mountain from our balcony

Can't wait to hit the hot tubs below after a day of skiing

Derek carries his ski's to the lift

I'm all bundled up

Derek is ready to enter the lift line

Adam, Derek, and I waiting (as usual) on Helen (in the background)

Helen and Adam heading down

Me and Adam enjoying the hot tubs after skiing

Me striking a pose

Cuddling with Mommy after a long day is what it's all about

Friday February 12, 2010

The kids were up too early (still on Atlanta time) after getting settled so late the night before. They were eager to get it going. The weather looked nice as we headed out to pick up our equipment near the lifts.

Copper Mountain has 3 villages. We stayed in Center Village (map), just a few minutes walk to the lifts. We rented equipment at Peak Sports, which is right next to the American Eagle lift.

It's always pretty hectic trying to get everyone settled with their equipment. I expect everyone to "take care of their own business" (as I am fond of saying) and I have no patience when the kids (or Helen) fumble around with their equipment.

Our usual ordering is that I lead, followed closely by Derek, Adam lags and then runs to catch up, leaving Helen who had originally stayed behind with Adam. It's not that I have to lead but everyone else is so dang slow that I lead and assume everyone else will follow - or be left behind.

I was heading to another area of the store to reserve a bin for our shoes and was wondering what the heck was taking everyone so long. I turned around and found that nobody was behind me. I disgustedly backtracked and found everyone fumbling around. I shot Helen a disgusted look and she shot one right back at me. It seems that Derek had just barely made it outside to puke while all his stuff lay scattered in the walkway.

We finally got everyone squared away with their equipment and headed for the lift. Derek said he felt better after puking and acted eager to ski. We were closest to the American Eagle lift, but we had to walk a little further to the American Flyer lift because it led to easier green runs.

As we all went to get on the chair lift - I looked back and Helen was saying something about Adam not being ready as she fell down. I got on the chair lift and turned around to see that my family (much to my obvious disgust) had failed to get on the lift and the lift had to be stopped while my family untangled. So disappointing. Of course, Helen was irritated at me because I had left everyone to manage for themselves - exactly.

For our first run we chose, Coppertone, a nice long green run. Derek's eagerness quickly gave way to whining. Obviously, he had gotten altitude sickness like he had the year before. He kept falling and crying that he didn't want to ski anymore. We told him that he had to at least ski down the mountain before he could go back to the condo. After some crying and falls he finally made it down and he and Helen headed back to the condo. I don't think Helen minded. Before the trip Derek kept talking about wanting to ski a black diamond run, but after the first run it didn't look very promising.

Adam and I stayed out and skied most of the day. A lot of the lifts stop running about 3:30 and they all stop running by 4:00. Adam and I had a good time and talked about all kinds of things. The temperature was in the mid teens with blowing snow. I had my ski gaiter up over my face, but Adam insisted that he couldn't breathe with his gaiter over his mouth so he ended up with some rosy red cheeks and purple lips.

Helen said that Derek was pitiful on the way back to the condo and at one point a maintenance person gave him a bag in case he needed to puke again. When Adam and I got back to the condo, Helen was looking nice and rested. Derek came out of our bedroom looking a little groggy, but started to pep up as the evening wore on. Just like last year, after some pizza and Dr Pepper for dinner Derek seemed to feel much better.

Adam and I hit the hot tubs and then we all watched the Olympic opening ceremonies. We always laugh about how, during our first ski trip several years back, we made dinner and activity reservations for a bunch of nights prior to the trip and hated having to go back out for those reservations.

Now whenever we get back to the condo, we eat (like there's no tomorrow), hit the hot tub, shower, eat dinner, and then try desperately to keep our eyes open and stay up until at least 9:00 or so, otherwise we we would be waking up at 4 am.