USA 2005 - PART 1

I arrived safely in Montana at 11.30pm on March 15th after 3 flights and the best part of 24 hours after I left the house. I picked up the Q'Mobile(4 door Nissan Sentra) and headed to the Days Inn, Kalispell for the night which offers nice rooms for $50 including coffee, juice and muffins in the morning.

As I had to pick up my skis on the Wednesday I decided that I would head to Big Mountain. It was only when I bought my new ski boots in Kalispell that morning that I found that BM were closing early for the 1st time in history(March 27th). I took a look up but did not bother skiing as conditions were hardly enticing. I met a British couple who were with Inghams in the Stube bar and I felt really sorry for them as they were doing the 2 resort trip between BM and Fernie. Poor sods picked the worst year in history.

Anyway, I headed off to Drummond for the night picking up my skis on the way. A night at the Sky Motel costs $30 and the owners Bill and Kathy Wiese always give me a superb welcome. This year Bill was bemoaning the lack of moisture as he is a fireman during the summer and he was getting ready to do a 'Naked Snow Dance' for me. I still wonder if he did because the snow gods certainly obliged! A night of pool, lost 6 games against a lady, and beer in the Canyon Bar got me in the mood.

March 17th - Too Much Snow

Thursday morning brought a big change to the weather. The clouds rolled in, the temperatures dropped, snow was in the air. An early start as I had a long drive up to Showdown(210 miles). The further I went the harder and deeper the snow got but eventually I reached the resort. All I had to do was get my bindings mounted and I would get access to the 40" of fresh that had fallen in the last few days. Unfortunately this is when the problems started. No jig, so I had to head to Great Falls to get them fitted. I wish I had hired some skis but off I went. The journey was awful. Deep snow, snowploughs overturning and cars off the road all around. Doing 20-30mph in 6" of snow was quick enough for me. Not for one twat who raced up my rear, overtook on a corner. 'Arsehole' I thought and man did I laugh several miles on when I came across him walking from his car which was 30ft off the road in a ditch, served the twat right!

Eventually I got the job done, turned around and headed to the Guest House Inn in Livingston, Montana. Once through the worst of the snow I had to totally de-ice the car. Every bump brought a grinding which turned out to be block ice/snow that had totally filled the wheel arch. It took almost 30 minutes of hammering with my ski boot and scrapping and poking with the windscreen scrapper stick to clear them. The car seemed so much lighter after that. Priceless.

The guest house was a strange place. Rooms for $35 were clean and comfortable but the reception reminded me a little of 'The Shining' and the corridors of a prison.

March 18th - On The Snow At Last

Friday morning I headed out in the sun to Red Lodge(2400ft, 1600a)(150 miles). I was greeted by a packed parking lot and I was beginning to think that skiing during spring break was not the best idea. Anyway, it turned out to be great sport with plenty of fresh snow, deseted slopes and lift lines only for the groomer trails lifts. I headed out to the Cole Creek lift that services mainly black trails and above. Some great skiing amid great scenery, I stayed here for most of the day.

The day lodge bar was very busy and seemed to have a real feel to the place. The local Red Lodge Brewing Company supply 6 or so quality beers. A perfect end to my first days skiing. It was great to be back in Montana.

Back to Livingston I headed out for a few beers. Most of the bars were quiet and the ladies must have heard lies about my good name as they were clearly in hiding. Around midnight it was snowing hard, flakes the size of an old 50p. Brilliant I thought.

March 19th - Bridger Bowl Delights

My plan was to head to Showdown on Saturday, but the roads were sheet ice so I headed up for another day at the nearby Bridger Bowl(2600ft, 1500a) which I visited last winter. Class place, lots of steeps, no queues even though the parking lots were overflowing and tons of fresh snow blanketing the slopes. The area is serviced by a mixture of old lifts and a few newer ones. Its certainly a mountain for good skiers and boarders and above with lots of chutes and bumps. You can hike 400ft vertically above the ski lifts to ski or board the real knarly stuff. Not for me this time.

March 20th - Free Skiing

Sunday morning brought another covering of fresh as I headed south towards Utah taking in Moonlight Basin(2070ft, 2000a), which opened as a resort in 2003-2004.

By the time I was half way up the access road to Moonlight and Big Sky the road was completely white and visibility was non-existent. I carried on until I eventually pulled, rather skidded, into the parking lot. Unfortunately the bafoons running the resort had failed to clear any snow and I was completely stuck in 18" of snow. After much swearing, digging with the windscreen scrapper stick again, I abandoned the Q'Mobile in a reasonably sensible place!

The main lift was broken down so I got free skiing for the day on the 2 lower lifts. It was epic stuff, 12" deep and the snow just did not stop all day. Well worth a visit for that alone, the 6 Shooter and its proximity to Big Sky makes Moonlight well worth a future visit and certainly a place I hope to visit again soon.

Onwards towards Utah I took the scenic route south that skirts the Yellowstone National Park. My destination for the night was the Days Inn in Logan in which my single room cost just $28.50 yet had the motels only balcony. Lovely motel, superb value with breakfast included in the rate.

March 21st - The Deserted Beaver

The drive up the scenic Logan Canyon takes you to Beaver Mountain(1600ft, 664a). It was snowing heavily and there were less than 50 cars in the lot.

Beaver is a gem of a resort. Deserted, cruising trails with lightly treed areas to gain confidence in are the norm here. Although the map shows a lot of blacks, most were blue in my opinion. Cruising the deep powder on the pisted runs was amazing and runs through the trees allowed me to find totally untracked bowls. Anyone visiting Utah should make the effort to head north to Beaver Mountain.

On my way again, I headed down to the Motel 6 in downtown Salt Lake City for a couple of nights. $36 for a room within walking distance of the city centre although the one way system made it a little tricky to get to if you took a wrong turn! Was my luck over I thought, or was this only the beginning. Watching the weather forecasts over the weekend it was becoming apparent that big storms were rolling in. They were talking about storms rolling one after another off the Pacific and the long term forecast called for snow all through the coming week.

March 22nd - On The Jazz

I awoke to a fairly overcast morning in downtown Salt Lake City and set out for a day at the The Canyons(3190ft, 3500a). After a quick wrong turn where I found myself heading to Reno I got to the resort. I had been warned by Mike Richards and Tom Wilson-North that The Canyons was a pile of crap, but I had to find out for myself and even if it was I had to go just for the hell of it.

My initial impression was that the resort was fairly high tech with a open gondola lift taking you from the parking lot to the base station. However this is where the resort becomes a little bit of a joke. You then leave that lift and queue for the Flight of the Canyons gondola. Once at the top of it there are a few options, but to access the decent terrain you need to take another lift up and then a short ski down to the Ninety Nine 90 lift. All in it took well over an hour to get my first real turns in. Pants, nothing else you can say. Had some decent turns and decent views. Getting back to the car is even more difficult with what seemed like hours of ups downs and round abouts. Poorly designed but knee deep fresh made up for that. Would hate it in mediocre conditions. My advice, stick to Park City.

I made a conscious effort to get back to SLC sharp as I was heading out to the NBA match between Utah Jazz and the LA Lakers. A quick shower and I was ready to go. Off I toddled to the Delta Center via a private club. The size of the beer made a complete mockery of the Utah liquor laws but I was not complaining. Half trolleyed, and only had a couple!

After a few wrong turns I go to the match, bought my Jazz top and grabbed a couple of pints to take to my seat. The middle aged guys next to me were Jazz fans and kept me right. They noticed me rubbing my hands attentively as the Nu Skin Jazz Dancers came into the arena. 'Here, take a look of this and fill your boots' as they handed me their binoculars. At one stage they pointed out a girl in the crowd at the far side with the biggest bazoombas. We did not even need to zoom in!

The match, for anyone who has never been to one is a fairly stop-start affair, but like me you probably would not realise that every stop is met by something or somebody coming on to entertain you which you never see on the TV.

Each short stop brought the dancers, longer stops the mental drummers and gymnasts who summersaulted over the old oil drums while beating them and slam-dunked. Free throw comp for the fans and all sorts. Sensational night and something that anyone paying Utah a visit to ski or board should make the effort to see.

Kobe Bryant, alledged rapist who bought his freedom, was superb for the Lakers hitting a staggering 43 points. His every free-throw was greeted by boos. I took part fully! In the end the Jazz won 115-107 to stop the run of record equalling defeats at 9 matches. Best sporting event I have ever seen, and that includes Scottish Cup finals that I have been to back home.

A few beers and I have no real recollection of getting back to the ranch!

March 23rd - Skiers Only

Wednesday morning I was up and away to Deer Valley(3000ft, 1750a), a skiers only mountain and an all round exclusive sort of place.

By the time I was in the parking lot the snow was chucking down hard. Another epic day on the cards. I headed up the mountain and it felt a little funny not seeing boarders. Deer Valley has a series of mountains connected by a host of modern high speed lifts. Spent most of my day in deep powder on Empire Canyon and had a a sensational burger in the Empire Lodge and better, although twice the price than my previous favorite at Powder Mountain. Anyone who skis and boards then I would really recommend a day at Deer valley although it is an expensive place.

Off I set for the long journey to Craig, Colorado for my first Colorado turns. After booking myself into the Travler Inn in Craig for the night I bedded down for the night with the prospect of more snow in the forecast.

March 24th - My First Taste Of Colorado

I awoke the next morning to yet more snow and overcast skies. I was still a good hour from Steamboat(3668ft, 2939a) but I was away by 8am and on the mountain by 9.30am. Well almost. I parked down in the free parking lot and got the extremely well run and regular shuttle to the mountain to be greeted by along queue for the gondola. Not one to normally use the singles line I made today the exception to that rule.

Its not often that I shake my head but it was obvious that this was the singles line yet some idiot(middle aged skier in bright yellow all in one) was taking his 5yo daughter up the line. I had to chuckle when he got to the front and the liftie roared 'SINGLE' and he pipes up, 'But there are two of us' Fuck it, I'm away.... My cabin was full of trailor trash from Alabama. Weird lot to say the least.

Anyway the skiing at Steamboat was superb once you got away from the day trippers who stuck to the main trails. It was chucking it down and visibility was virtually zero. I stuck mainly to 3 areas during the day. Morningside Park which is a back bowl, The Storm Peak Express and Bar-UE lifts that service the Storm Peak area and the deserted Pony Express that serves fairly advanced terrain with plenty of treed sections.

I hiked up from the summit of the Morningside Park lift into expert only terrain and decided since everyone else was dropping into North St Pats that I would continue over to the next chute, East Face. I really have never imagined that 5-6 turns on skis could be quite that good. The new skis that I had bought really gave me the confidence that I would not cross my tips and I threw myself into the turns with waist deep powder the reward. The long run-out however dampened it a little, but at least it keeps the crowds away.

Two points that came to me more and more over the holiday were:-
1) Number of skiers and boarders going right to the 'wait' line for the lift and then standing around. Get out of the way!
2) More worrying for me over the month was the number of people who simply do not look above when starting downhill again. The number of kids was frightening. Perhaps instead of insisting that helmets are the way forward we should be educating people. I would be really interested to know if the number of kids killed each winter that are blamed on skiers and boarders going too fast were indeed the result of people starting without looking.

I had passed the sign for Howelsen(440ft) on the way through Steamboat Springs in the morning and after getting back to the car at 4pm I decided to head out for a look and to take some photos and suss the place out.

To my surprise when I arrived in the parking lot it was actually open. A couple of cold pizza slices, a will I wont I dillema and I was back in the ski boots and heading to the day lodge. The sun was beating down by now and $5 to ski between 5-6pm would be worth the view of downtown Steamboat Springs and the Steamboat ski area alone.

Howelsen is the oldest Colorado ski resort still in use and has sent more skiers than any other hill to international ski competitions. It has been the training ground for more than 50 Olympians. This I can say with 100% certainty is not for downhill skiing and more likely the ski jumping facilities which looked incridible when you look up from the parking lot. Suffice to say, I did not try a jump!

The downhill area is limited to say the least with just 2 lifts. One chair open weekends and a poma tow for nights and midweek. Its a 440ft decent and my 5 runs were varied to say the least. The decent down the front is quite steep and was fairly icy. I joined what seemed like 100's of kids on the 1 mile blast round the back of the hill. Its a scenic run but basically a cat-track. The kids seemed to have a laugh with some of them going up the poma backwards. $5, great views, 2200ft of vertical for my night and another Colorado resort bagged. Priceless!

Anyone in Steamboat really should take a step back in history. Too many of us forget the history of the sport and think only of express lifts, powder and posing.

Although I had a few great days I was glad to be heading onto some of the less well known resorts for the next few days with the hope that conditions would continue to deliver.

March 25th - First Lift

My next stop was the Frontier Motel in Granby before skiing Good Friday at Solvista Basin(1000ft, 406a). Overcast with the occasional break in the cloud I caught the first lift up the Conquest lift which seemed to serve the slightly tougher runs. The mountain is basically 2 lifts servicing the East and West Mountains. The East being about 50ft higher and serviced by a express quad.

The groomers were packed powder and rather firm after skiing waist deep pow the day before but after a quick reality check I was back in business and blasting down run after run on the almost deserted slopes.

As I had a long drive and the call was for heavy snow through Winter Park(20 miles from Solvista), Berthoud Pass, Vail and Loveland Passes I headed off at around 1pm.

Would I go back, well, there are a lot of other resorts to see 1st but I would certainly recommend it for a day if its not a powder day at Winter Park.

The drive over Berthoud Pass was pretty amazing and I was glad I left when I did as the snow was chucking it down up top. It must have been an amazing place to ski and board when there were the lifts up there. The drive through Vail et al was ok but for me the drive between Vail and Glenwood Springs was far more scenic with the last few miles up Glenwood Canyon that follows the Colorado river being amazing. Just a pity there were no scenic stops as it was incredible. Glenwood Springs sits at one end of HWY-82 to Aspen and would make a cheaper base for anyone on a budget wanting to visit Aspen/Snowmass some 40 miles down the road.

March 26th - Sunlight

But for me I was here to thrash up Sunlight(2010ft, 470a). Another covering of snow was cleared from the car and 10" of fresh was reported at the base. Parking spaces was a bigger problem.

4 lifts service the area but it is really only 2 chairs that access the entire area. The Primo chair services the top of the mountain and from here there seemed like endless fresh lines considering the area is only 470 acres. Its a real locals hill and the guys I spoke to could not believe that I was there and had heard of the place. I struggled to tell them that I had been to smaller places!

There were lots of activities going on all day on the Saturday including a speed test with one guy reaching an impressive 60 something miles an hour. In the afternoon the bumps competition saw locals throw themselves down a heavily bumped black trail. Some excellent crashes and after a few beers it was back to the ranch.

Sunlight, definately worth a day from the nearby Aspen and now one of my favorite local hills.

March 27th - The Grand Mesa

Easter Sunday and I was off to Powderhorn(1650ft, 510a) which had made the news during the week as it was closing day and had a greater snow base than any other season in its history. This as it turns out seemed to be a little white lie with a ski patrol guy telling me he reckoned that they were actually 2" short of the 'all-time' record. Anyway, there was tons.

Powderhorn sits on the side of the Grand Mesa, the worlds largest flat-topped mountain. On top there are mile after mile of snowmobiling and X-country terrain.

The resort has 2 lifts although only one is immediately visible. The Take Four quad leaves the base area and from here you have access to a mixture of blacks and blues but in all honesty they were not blues and blacks and were perfectly groomed. I headed for most of the morning to the West End lift which is over to the right as you look from the base area.

My last run down was right in front of lodge and unknown to me also all the local camera crews. Think I was the first Scot to make the local news!

After a morning of spring skiing it was time for the long drive back to Salt Lake City with another storm warning claiming crazy stuff.

The long drive between Grand Junction, Colorado and Salt Lake City is almost 300 miles and for vast distances is not dual carriageway. I always find these drives, particularly when the only radio stations are religious, are a time when random thoughts start to creep into my mind. What the hell would I do if the car broke down in the middle of nowhere, had I read the rental small print, would they shock me by saying 'its only unlimited mileage upto xxx', where is the best resort, where will I go next.....

My destination for the next few night was the Motel 6, Midvale, SLC. Its an ideal motel for visiting the resorts up the 2 Cottonwood canyons and a couple of turns out of the car park and you are on the road to Brighton and Solitude. It is also easy to get the local UTA busses to the various resorts.

March 28th - Butch And Sundance

With snow yet again in the forecast I had decided that Monday would be my day to visit Sundance(2150ft, 450a), the resort owned by Robert Redford.

The journey from Midvale to Sundance takes a little under an hour and I listened intently to the local news in the car as they described an incident from the previous week. Thankfully nobody was injured and I was able to chuckle as they announced that a howitzer shell fired from Sundance had missed its target by some 3 miles and exploded in somebodies garden.

On arriving at Sundance a few things sprung to mind. Firstly, would I see anybody famous? Would I recognise them anyway and would they make the 'Q Totty List'

Secondly was the inadequate signposts for parking. Such an exclusive resort can surely afford signs that don't point in different directions each time the wind changes.

3rd was how quiet and stunning the area was.

The mountain has 3 main lifts but only 2 were running which gave access to the entire mountain. The lower chair serves mainly easy terrain with the steeper stuff off the upper lift. I headed up top on the first lift with just a boarder and skier in front.

The views up the lifts were stunning and once up top you could see the beauty in every direction. Unfortunately the sun from Sunday along with freezing conditions overnight had rendered the piste on par with Scotland on a good day. Hard packed verging on ice made each turn tricky and after such good conditions over the previous weeks it was a real test. I watched a young boarder lie waiting for his skier buddy for about 10 minutes as the poor skier fell every 20ft, picked himself up, adjusted his bindings and boots, fell. I had around 3 runs up the chair and still they had only advanced about 100m. I felt so sorry for them both, it was not a day for beginners.

The wind up top along with intermittent snow and hail made the chair pretty uncomfortable and at times it was so strong that getting downhill was tricky. Around 100ft from the top of the chair it suddenly ground to a halt. Swinging fairly violently back and forth the chairs ahead looked certain to hit the pylons. Please tell me I am not going to be left swinging and have to be rescued from the chair in this weather! After a couple of minutes it started up again and I noticed the liftie coming out of his shed. Certain the mountain was closing I prepared for the worst but luckily he just came out to apologise for having to stop the lift. 'It was either stop it or risk the chairs coming off the rails' No problem I chortled.

By 1pm I had kinda had enough. It was cold and on my only decent to the base area I had got absolutely soaked when the snow turned to rain lower down. Back to the car to dump the gear and then off to the Owl Bar which features a restored rosewood bar that was frequented by Butch Cassidy and the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Fortunately the door was open, unfortunately no sign of life and I had to make do with taking a few photos.

March 29th - Epic Stuff

Tuesday morning I was up early as the snow gods had been kind overnight. The sun was shining as I left the motel for the short drive up to Solitude(2047ft, 1200a). By the time I reached the mouth of the canyon the lights were flashing and only cars with chains were allowed further. The park and ride at the mouth is perfect for days like this so I parked up and after a short wait jumped on the bus to Solitude for $6 return.

With between 12-18" of fresh on the mountain, no queues and the sun on my back I headed towards the Powderhorn and Summit lifts. I jumped on the first lift and met a local guy, Kendall Wardle, who offered to ski a few runs with me. Jumping over cliffs I began to think that I would be holding him back a little and offered to head off alone. Undeterred he took me onto the summit lift and then into Milk Run, a steep double black diamond. Skiing with someone who knows the mountain gives you so much more confidence and I was quickly jumping into turns in knee deep powder as Kendall lead the way into what seemed like untracked bowl and chute after another. Sensational stuff.

Laps of these two lifts were followed by a hike up Honeycomb Canyon. Kendall was going to the real gnarly stuff so we said our goodbyes after around 10mins of hiking as I took the easy route down getting a few fresh turns in untracked, soft pow.

By 1pm the snow was coming down thick and fast and after dropping into Honeycomb Canyon from the top of the Powderhorn lift a few times I headed back to to the base taking in a few runs on the lower lifts.

Struggling to find a local watering hole was a bit of a problem in Midvale and I was glad to have my 1 1/2 litre bottle of Corbett's Canyon red wine that I bought in the supermarket in Colorado for $6.48. A few glasses each night in front of the basketball and the endless news about Terri Schiavo certainly hit the spot. Despite the story being constantly on the TV I still have not made up my mind. Very difficult and certainly made me think about my wishes should I ever land up in that situation.

The big story overnight was the weather forecast. God knows how much forecast between 6pm and 11am Wednesday.

March 30th - A Day Off

The rain battered down all evening and by 6am it had turned to snow and a 6" covering in SLC spelt big trouble for rush hour. I packed the car and headed off but unfortunately things were so bad that after an hour I was barely a mile down the road. As I required some shopping and a new ski bag I made the decision to head to the shops. Luckily as I later found out 6ft of snow over the last 48 hours had closed both canyons and I had missed nothing.

Although the skiing would have been epic it gave me a good chance to catch up with news back home as well as giving the legs a rest.

March 31st - Olympic Downhill

By Thursday morning the sun was shining bright at 7am. The local news was conflicting and it was unclear whether or not the canyon for access to Alta/Snowbird was open, would be open and when. I made the decision to head north to Snowbasin(2950ft, 2660a).

I spent the morning in the Strawberry Express area and the turns in Sisters Bowl were superb. An easy hike and traverse took me into the De Moisy area and the views made the climb worth every bead of sweat. With the sun beating down it did not take long for the snow to turn ever so slightly heavy so I decided to head across to The John Paul Express area.

Having skied a few FIS World Cup downhill courses in my time I decided that it was time to complete the Olympic downhill course and headed up the short Mt Allen tram. Setting a new worst ever time I eventually made my way to the base area. I bet Fritz Stroble, winner in 2002 did not have to plough thru 12" of chopped fresh powder to get to the bottom though. I preferred my powder turns any time!

The John Paul lodge was full at lunchtime and I was joined by a couple from SLC but originally from California. They had spent 2 hours digging for a ski lost the previous day in thick snow. A great burger and good company.

April 1st - US Skiing The European Way

As a resort bagger I was in danger of not hitting my 'new resorts target' and I made the decision that there was no way I would miss Alta(2020ft, 2200a) and Snowbird(3240ft, 2500a) so I headed out from my new base in Motel 6, Ogden early on Friday morning.

Heading to Alta the signs in the ticket shop said that the link between the 2 resorts was closed. I decided to buy a joint ticket anyway and if it did not open I would drive down at lunch for an afternoon at Snowbird.

As it happens the link was open and I skied all over the mountain getting some decent turns in nice powder with the sun beating down. My final run of the day saw me take the tram from Snowbird and then drop back into the slopes of Alta. To say the tram journey was fun is putting it mildly. I was in the far corner when the shouting and swearing started. Although unclear what was going on it appears that an over zealous skier decided to barge into everyone in an attempt to be the last aboard. Whether fists flew I cannot be certain but the guy was not allowed on and I assume had to wait for the next lift when he had calmed down. 'Welcome to European skiing' was the shout!

The usual safety talk by the lift operator ended with a 'lets all just get on on the slopes'. Once off two female boarders were being dragged off for being drunk on the slopes. I chuckled a little as they tried to say they had not been.

Although a large resort I just did not get a feel for the place at all and I am not particularly sure I would go back. Brighton and Solitude in my opinion are superior places where boarders are welcome too.

There was still plenty of fun to be had.....

This article was written by Quintin Chalmers, a 30-year-old skier from Aberdeen in the north of
Scotland. Quintin has skied at over 50 North American resorts and is in the process of setting up
www.offthebeatenpath.co.uk designed to help like minded people find the best turns in some of the
more unusual resorts in western USA. He has over 20 years skiing experience and enjoys nothing
more than seeing new places that many people write off as being not worth the hassle.