If you are fortunate to spend 2+ months living over 10,000 feet in summit county you will learn ...
- that 2 months can pass VERY quickly.
- that spring never came to Summit county in 2013. The day we left our condo in Blue River, we had 6'' of snow on our car overnight and nearly whiteout conditions on the roads. After a rough first half of the season, the snow started a week before we arrived and never stopped, which made for amazing skiing. The last week, i skied a day at A Basin in which the high temp for the day was 5 degrees and wind chill was estimated to be negative 20. In the middle of April. And yes, the snow was great.
- that you need boot heaters after awhile, even if you grew up skiing in Maine.
- that people enjoy visiting you when you live here. We hosted over twenty folks in these two months and are so thankful to the dear friends and family from near and far that went to great lengths and expense to come on out. We sure got to shred a bunch of the resorts together and create many wonderful memories. Relatedly, Denver seems to be about a 2 hour flight from most of the United States.
- that skiing nearly every day can cause the days and runs to blend together. I had separate stretches of 19 and 17 days skiing in a row, which was a physical challenge and exactly what i had hoped for when we made these plans. There is a pleasing fast tracking of the sharpness and precision that comes from repeating a loved activity hour after hour and day after day. This is unambiguously positive. On the less positive side, the concentration of the activity into such a condensed period of time does not allow for much reflection, nor anticipation. Having all your cake at once does make it harder to enjoy every last bite.
- that you can ski an absolute ton in two months, i put in over 850,000 vertical feet at the Vail resorts (Breck, Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek) across 42 days on the hill, with another 7 ski days that were not tracked. That vert is almost as much as i skied the previous 2 years combined at vail resorts in Tahoe (Heavenly and Northstar at the time).
- that Breck is as nice of a town to live in as it seems when you visit. The town retains quirkiness and a great vibe, even though the ski mountain is one of the most visited in the US (last year it had the 2nd most of any resort). We loved exploring the town, as well as the surrounding trails.
- that the Korol household prefers Tahoe to Colorado. We prefer that awe inspiring lake and the warmer temps. But we would be very happy to live in Colorado for a few years, at least.
- that a soccer game in the snow is an epic night. Attending that US men's national team World Cup qualifier in denver was a trip and one of the most memorable sports viewing experiences i have had in a lifetime of innumerable games.
- that the CO snowpack is as bad as advertised. Coming here, we knew that the avalanche danger is generally higher than almost any place in the US, primarily due to the low temps that persist through the entire winter and never allow windows for the snow to settle. This year was the worst in 30 years, according to the avalanche forecasters in the state, and there have been 11 deaths as a result thus far. The high avalanche danger was primarily driven by a deep persistent weak layer in the snowpack that dated back to the start of the season. For example, last weekend this weak layer precipitated an avalanche last week that was eight feet deep and hundreds of feet across, killing 5 experienced riders in summit county. As a result, we did not get to do as much backcountry touring as we had hoped, because the risk outweighed the reward for almost 100% of our time in CO.
- that going backcountry with a float bag (basically an airbag you wear on your back to buoy you in the event of a slide) is comforting, even though the system is far from foolproof in the event of such an incident.
- that going on a ski tour from your house door is a special thrill.
- that bagels are super expensive in summit county. Twelve bucks a dozen expensive.
- that you can really cover some ground in a day with modern 'miracles' like airplanes and highways. We had two separate days that reinforced how diverse, yet close, this country can be at any one time. One day, we woke up in Austin, Texas and went rock climbing and trail running in 90 degree heat. Then, we went to the airport and took a flight to Denver, walking out of the terminal to our car with temps hovering in the teens and a huge slab of snow on top of our car. Mu wanted to turn around and head right back to Austin, while i was foaming at the mouth for the fresh pow. Either way, the contrast between these two palces separated by less than a 2 hour flight was so stark. Then, last week we left Blue River for the last time and drove to Moab, UT. This is a roughly 4.5 hour drive, and we left in that snow while arriving in Moab to desert sun and heat by the mighty colorado river. The contrast in the face of such proximity had the same disorienting affect.
- that skiing is one of my favorite activities ever.
- that i am already looking forward to the next ski day, whenever and where that may be. Chile? Peru? Tahoe?
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