• Travel

    Jackson Hole, WY

    Rendezvous Bowl Having heard so much about Jackson Hole I needed to make a special effort to travel to and ride this mountain. Winter 2018 had 1,275 cm(502 in) which was above the average snow fall of 1,166 cm (459 in) for this mountain. As a budget traveler and having booked for a late season trip in March, I didn’t have any expectations, I just wanted to ride a new location and tick another famous mountain off my list. There were a couple of late snowstorms that came through with 20 cm to 30 cm (8 to 12 in) during my stay. The lower-mid elevations were warm, with rain falling…

  • Travel

    Snowbasin, UT

    Strawberry Peak How did I come to be riding in Utah, at Snowbasin? My goal was to ride Jackson Hole, in Wyoming. Well it comes down to research, Jackson Hole airport isn’t exactly an American Airlines hub, however Salt Lake City is a more common flight route, and therefore cheaper to fly into. The savings from flying into Salt Lake  City I could put towards a three night stay in Ogden, UT, where I could then achieve my favourite thing, riding a new mountain. Ogden has plenty of history in the frontier days. Originally residing in Mexico, it became the first European settlement in Utah, and a rail hub in…

  • Travel

    Steamboat, CO

    Valley Below The middle of winter, the best time to go to the snow. For one week in February 2017, suddenly, it wasn’t the best time to be in Colorado, unless you wanted to work on your tan. With the highs up into the 20s C (70s F), the snow is going to suffer. While my timing was unlucky, Steamboat was still a fun mountain to ride, especially with my experience riding the east coast ice pack. Steamboat has some elevation to help keep the snow closer to the optimal temperatures near the summit of 2,050 m (6,732 ft). Steamboat Ski Resort is easily accessible from Denver airport, I took…

  • Travel

    Copper, CO

    Back Bowls Following on from my disappointment at Keystone, I came to Copper Mountain to fit in a few more days on the slopes. There was a few more lifts open here, but also a lot more people. At a much higher altitude than Keystone I thought I’d give my lungs and brain a stretch. I had more fun here than at Keystone, but only because there were some black runs open. The Mountain At 3,792 m (12,441 ft) Copper is high. The only lifts running were the American Eagle, Super Bee, and Excelerator. Excelerator was closed most mornings as the USA ski team had it booked out to train…

  • Travel

    Keystone, CO

    View down Schoolmarm Keystone, CO is often in competition with Araphoe Basin (A-Basin) for which is the first ski resort to open for the USA ski season. So with this bold claim of typically opening sometime in October I booked a trip for Late November. The weather gods weren’t shining on me. Twenty-seventeen was possibly the worst snow season Colorado has ever had. I even started planning alternative activities to do while I was there instead of skiing. Luckily enough snow fell in the days before my arrival to continue with the ski trip. My plan was to ski at Keystone for 3 days and A-Basin for 3 days. The…