Ski Your Tail Off

Oh Eldora Eldora - a cool locals mountain near Nederland/Boulder. Neil checks out the double black diamond...

...and steadily teli-marks on down the mountain.

Now I've got to follow him...gulp.

Here is Neil and Connie's market in Lyons, CO. If you're ever in the Lyons area and/or heading up to Rocky Mountain National Park/Estes Park area through Boulder/Lyons, you have to stop here at St Vrain Market and load up...including fresh made breads, locally cut meats, deli, and coffee. Neil and Connie did an awesome job of upgrading, renovating, and painting the joint...and I saw it 1.5 yrs ago before they started to work on it. On top of that, they also adopted 4 yr old twins from Ethiopia last year....they've been very busy. It was great visiting the whole family. Thanks Neil for also introducing me to some tasty locally brewed Colorado IPAs. Neil is who I went back country camping/hiking with in summer 2009.

The drive through Rabbit Ears Pass on the way to Steamboat was a snowy one. I started out driving in ice on the way out of Lyons and into Boulder. This was the edge of the same storm that hit the midwest and east coast so hard last week.

Aahhh....snow

Dan

The view of Steamboat Ski Mountain from our place. Thanks Bill for the awesome hospitality!

The birthday boy Greg (left) and Bill

Bill and Greg

Birthday Boy Greg

Powder

Greg, Bill, and Dan at the top of Steamboat.

Elk

My drive leaving Steamboat started out in -37 degrees. The storm earlier in the week left crazy cold temps in its wake. We were dressed for it and had a great time skiing at Steamboat. There was hardly anyone else on the mountain. We virtually had it almost all to ourselves...zero lift lines.


Colorado sunrise

My legs are spent!