We remembered...how to snowboard, that is. Snowmass is a huge beast of a mountain, with more vertical feet (4,406) than we had encountered in one helping ever before. And it is now officially spring in the skiing world. The snow was in abscentia on the lower elevations (they'd gone so far to put a white fuzzy carpet where the snow should be at the lifts), and even the top of the mountain had had it's share of sun and warmth. We boarded over thick slushy crystals, and loved it. The sun shone brightly and the slopes were unforgiving in their length...they just went on and on and on! The longest run at Snowmass is over five miles long! Needless to say it was taxing on our legs, but it just made us appreciate the breaks on the lift that much more.
Aryn carving from the top.
The lift ops were having fun with the season, too...it's one of the things that makes spring skiing so much fun. The combination of few crowds, cheaper lift tickets, free food, great weather and fun games more than make up for what the snow quality may lack. At each lift there were rotating trivia questions, and tips of the day poked fun at the quickly melting snow, offering such advice as "Waders recommended this afternoon." There was a free barbecue at The Village at lunch time, and unending vertical feet to work off the beef after lunch.
Brant catching air from the trees.
Apres ski (such a chic term), we headed back up into Aspen Village to visit the local internet shop for a bit of downloading. We had also promised the vendor at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory that we'd come back for some Apple Pie Caramel Apples, (they didn't have any the day before) and she was going to have them made up special. Well, things didn't quite work out like we planned, since the internet shop closed 15 minutes after we got there, and the apple maker had called in sick. So we left Aspen empty handed, but not before a young man on a Harley drove by our rig calling out, "Check your email, I wrote you last night!!!"
Brant really didn't like Snowmass.
We had in fact gotten his email, a request from him and his girlfriend to meet us, since they saw our rig and were planning a similar journey in a few months. We tried to hook up via email and phone, but with the snow melting we had to keep moving...hopefully we'll be able to get in touch with them again as we pass back through the area.
Aryn, the smallest eagle.
We spent the night in Glenwood Springs (where else but at the local Wal Mart), had quite an epic sushi dinner, and then headed early in the morning towards Vail. We spent the day surveying the situation around Beaver Creek, and checked out the span between the area resorts that we wanted to hit the next week: it was the last week they would be open for the season. We bemoaned our timing, since there were at least ten resorts in the immediate area that we would love to have hit. But spring wouldn't stop for our trip...we'll just have to be selective, and come back next year.
We stopped in Frisco for diesel and visited the Info Center to find a campsite for the night. Red Mountain RV Park in Kremmling sounded ideal, so we headed thataway. It turned out to be much farther away than we had anticipated going, but as we soon found out, the spot was well worth the drive.
