One of the options that we considered for this year of travel was to purchase a season pass for skiing in Montana. But even with a year off, you can't do it all, and we decided that the season pass for skiing would have to wait. We really wanted to be in a Spanish speaking environment for at least 6 months, and the winter months are the driest and nicest months in Central America. Plus we usually get to ski and visit family in Saskatchewan and Montana during spring break each year, and we have very long winters in Sioux Lookout, so we decided to take a year without winter. Except I love skiing and my idea of a perfect year of travel had to include at least a few skiing days.
Loveland Ski Area in Colorado is located 53 miles west of Denver at the Eisenhower pass on the I-70. It sits at 12,700 feet. Unlike many ski areas in Colorado which close in April, the ski season at Loveland often runs into May or June because of it elevation. The resort had over 60 inches of snow in April. Loveland will close this year on May 6th. We skied on May 3 &4.
We towed our camper to the Denver West KOA in Central City and got some warm gear and ski rentals in Idaho Springs. It was cold and raining in Idaho Springs and at our campsite in Central City. The technician advised us that a snow storm was on the way and May 3rd was going to be a snow day.
We woke up in our camper in the morning and found snow on our camper, our bikes, the BBQ, and the picnic table. Meritt made a snowman. Maelle made a snow robot. Up at Loveland ski resort they had 14 inches of snow! We are probably the only family ever to wake up in a camper and be excited to find that it snowed!
Usually spring skiing is icy in the morning and slush in the afternoon, but we were going powder skiing in May! It was more than you could ask for on a spring skiing trip.
The snow was deep! You had to go fast and steep or you would get stuck in the snow. Maelle took a tumble and we had to search for 20 minutes to find her ski in the deep snow! We normally ski in Montana in March after 3 months of cross country skiing at home. With less ski training, over a foot of new snow, and an elevation of 12000 feet, it was a workout!
The next day was warm and sunny. The groomers had packed all of the powder from the day before and conditions were perfect. We took it easy and skied a green run called the Mambo on chair number 1 for most of the day. It was wide open and still below the tree line with some nice tree skiing on the side. Just a great run for cruising down together as a family.
Beside the gift of perfect snow in May, we had a few surprises in Colorado which made our ski trip even better. The owner of the Exit 420 Ski Rentals shop in Idaho Springs gave us his corporate season pass to use for 2 days (good for 1 ski ticket/ day). While standing in line to buy tickets at the ski hill, a man gave Twylla another free ski ticket for the day. It was part of a 4 pack and he couldn't use them all this season. While in the parking lot at the end of our first day of skiing, yet another stranger gave Twylla another free ski ticket for the next day (Guess he couldn't use up his 4 pack either). In the end, Twylla and I skied for free in Colorado! We only had to get rentals for $15/day, and kids tickets for $29 each.
Finally, we discovered that the KOA Denver West campground had a hot tub. This was the only KOA we stayed at this year - and how awesome is that to have a soak in a hot tub after a day of spring skiing!
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