USA 2006 - PART 1

March 15th - The Wait is Over

As I sat in the bar at Aberdeen airport with an ice cold beer in my hand I wondered if I would be as lucky as I had been in my trip last year. One thing was for certain, I would have fun regardless and watching everyone else heading offshore to work brought a wry smile to my face as I contemplated four weeks away from the grind.

I follow a pretty similar routine before my annual trip across the Atlantic and this year was no different. Eating little the previous day I head into Aberdeen and have a couple of pints at Aberdeen airport, buy a book and then head onto the plane to Amsterdam. After a couple of beers in Schipol airport I board my second flight of the day to Minneapolis and due to the films yet again being absolute rubbish I settled down to Gordon Strachan's autobiography. Sitting on the aisle I had nobody in the two seats next to me and a few glasses of wine helped pass the 8 hour flight and it was not long until we were just a few hundred feet off the ground and in our final approach to the airport. With the plane gliding in there was a sudden and unexpected roar of the engines and we begin climbing rapidly. After a few minutes the captain announced that we had been cleared for landing but another plane was on the runway. Perhaps not that close a call but it was good to finally get to the terminal.

With a little over 2 hours to fill I headed into an airport bar to sample a Minnesota brewed red lager. Very nice and it was great to be back on US soil with a decent beer and the NBA on the TV. There would be plenty more of this in the weeks to come!

We landed bang on time in Great Falls, Montana and I headed to the Alamo desk to pick up my pre-paid Cavalier. Travelling alone I can't really justify hiring a 4x4 but when the offer came for an upgrade for $210 I simply could not refuse. I was upgraded to a Nissan Murano which would serve me very well during the month.

Heading to the Super 8($60pn) in Great Falls I found the motel fairly easily and settled down for the night before heading to Showdown for my first turns of the winter.

March 16th - First Turns

I set off early for the trip down to Showdown(1400ft, 640a) which is an easy hour's drive south of Great Falls. My attempts to ski here last winter were scuppered by a failure to get bindings mounted on my new skis so it was great to finally get there.

I arrived in a fairly quiet parking lot and bought my $25 ticket. Great value and with the resort claiming 3" of fresh overnight this was to be an excellent start to the trip.

As I arrived at the summit on my first lift of the holiday I was serenaded by the liftie who was singing, or rather out of tune talking, on a microphone along with a song playing on his stereo. Very funny and I wondered if he had been one of the first rejects of American Idol!

The resort has two main lifts that take you to the summit and I spent most of the day skiing off the two man chair that drops below the day lodge and accesses the majority of the resorts advanced terrain. Dynamite trail was to prove one of the trickiest of the day and by 2.30pm my legs were beginning to burn so I decided to call it good and headed back to the car for the 3 ½ hour drive down to Billings where I would stay at the Motel 6 for the night. At $33 a night it cannot be beaten.

Eventually I arrived at the motel after a fair bit of searching and headed to the supermarket for some supplies. I stopped at a local casino for a few bottles of Bud and at $1 a bottle it was great value and the friendliness of the locals made me feel at home. It was great to be back in Montana. I headed back to the ranch and caught up on some much needed sleep before another early start.

March 17th - Custer's Last Stand

Again I was up early and by 7am I was en-route for Big Horn(1000ft, 160a) which was a drive of around 230 miles south across the Wyoming border.

However, my aim was to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield, scene of Custer's Last Stand on June 25th 1876. Custer ignored his scout's claims of the number of Indians in a nearby camp and allegedly disobeyed his superiors. The end result was that he, and all 196 of his men, were killed in 20 minutes on that day. Although this was the biggest victory for the Plains Indians over the US Army, it ultimately was the beginning of the end for the Indians.

Although the battlefield was closed I was able to take a few long distance shots of the memorial before heading on the road again.

I arrived at what I can only describe as one of the most stunning small resorts I think I have ever seen. A compact day lodge housing all the resorts facilities and a view to the top of the mountain which showed a few runs dropping thru huge rocks. I was going to have some fun today!

The lift ticket came in at a very reasonable $36 and with fewer than 20 cars in the lot I would have the main chair to myself for most of the day. I tried most of the trails off the summit but found the few runs that drop off the right of the mountain as you look up to have the deepest snow and the more advanced terrain. After a steep drop through the rocks the untouched 12" deep snow was simply superb and with so few people around there was no rush to find untracked powder.

I noticed that a lot of the lifties and other staff were from South America. Pretty useless really and I overheard a patroller telling one that he would have to shuffle snow onto the run-off at the summit which by then had been through to the dirt! By 3pm and with another 3 hours on the road I headed into the lodge for a quick bottle of Guinness to celebrate St Patrick's Day. I was glad I did. Sitting at the bar, I was quickly chatting to three Americans, Jim, Steve and Glenn who had spent the day snowmobiling in the area.

As we left the lodge I was offered a try of a snowmobile and after tentatively following one of the guys out onto the frozen lake I was shortly blasting around at over 50mph and bouncing around in the plentiful powder. Back to the parking lot I was beaming from ear to ear and after saying my goodbyes I was heading into South Dakota for the first time.

The music channels on the radio pass the time and I always enjoy taking in the scenery although I found the drive east to be a little flat for my liking. Eventually I rolled into the Howard Johnson Inn in Spearfish where I found the huge hotel to be absolutely packed with families and kids. I laughed when I saw a "how many kids can fit in a hot tub" world record attempt and decided against a nice relaxing soak myself preferring a wander outside in the cool night temperatures. I found that the only restaurant was on site and there were no bars within walking distance so I headed to my room and cracked open a bottle of wine and settled down in front of the TV.

March 18th - Skiing South Dakota!

I absolutely love seeing new places and for me the more unusual the better. Coming down the eastern side of Wyoming and into Colorado I felt that a trip to South Dakota would be something that I would never forget.

Arranging such a trip is not always easy. Working around days that resorts are open and trying to see as many places as possible meant that I decided to spend the morning at Terry Peak(1100ft, 450a) before some lunch and an afternoon at Deer Mountain(850ft, 300a). Both resorts are situated within a few miles of the historic towns of Lead and Deadwood in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Old saloons line the streets of Deadwood along with a cemetery containing the graves of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok who was shot in a local saloon on the 2nd August 1876. I wish I had known that as I would have loved to have taken the time to explore.

Anyway, I arrived at the Terry Peak parking lot at 8.20am under clear skies and waited eagerly for the first chair of the day. Terry Peak is a modern resort with a couple of high speed quads amongst its lifts. It is also the highest lift serviced ski area east of the Rockies with the summit sitting at 7052ft.

I scored the 3rd chair with just a handful of people ahead so I had a quick blast down the trail under the Kussy Express before spending most of the morning on the Empress chair. Although the conditions were fairly packed I had a great morning and felt that my concerns that the queues would be lethal were completely unfounded despite the local spring break holiday for schools and colleges. All the locals I spoke to said that midweek I would have had the place to myself.

As it began to get colder at around 11am I headed down to the base for a couple of Hefeweizen beers before making my way to Deer Mountain.

Deer Mountain is just a few miles down to road and by the time I arrived it had turned sunny and very much warmer. Arriving at 12.30pm I took advantage of the $21 half day ticket. A couple of hours passed very quickly and I blasted all over the mountain. The snow was very much softer but the locals were very much of the opinion that it was down to Terry Peak having snowmaking throughout the area making their slopes unnaturally compact.

The question that I have been asking myself and trying to answer for others is whether or not I would go back and whether I would advise people to visit. In terms of the skiing I would have to say that there are better small hills throughout the western US but simply for something completely different I doubt they could be beaten. If I were to go again I would certainly spend more time in the area and sample some of the local history. The more I think of it, it really is a fantastic area of the USA.

I was back on the road and decided to stop and have a beer in one of the bars that I had spotted on the way up to the mountain in the morning. I stopped at the Hideout Bar which resembled a large old shed and settled down at the end of the bar. 3pm on a Saturday was hardly rush hour and there were only a handful of others around. I got chatting to a couple of locals, Ron and Rob, and after a couple of bottles of Bud they had convinced me that I was more than welcome to stay for the night at Ron's house in Lead.

A couple more beers and we headed back to Ron's to drop off our cars and headed down to an ex-serviceman's club in town. I met Ron's sister and Rob's wife and we had a go at a darts competition. It was funny as we tried our hand at throwing darts while blindfolded, with the board covered by a black bag, from long distance and finally facing away from the board and using a mirror to sight your throws. Suffice to say it was great fun and I hardly did Scotland proud. I was happy to represent Scotland none the less!

We visited several pubs throughout the evening and my poor sports form continued as I struggled to win a game of pool. Great fun and good company although there was a distinct lack of people in every bar we visited. Deadwood was the place to be. Maybe next time.

March 19th - Driven Crazy

Staying in Lead had put me a couple of hours behind schedule and as I awoke at 7am I was hit with a massive drop in temperature and 3 inches of fresh snow. Saying my goodbyes to Ron I was quickly on my way to Hogadon(600ft, 60a). A drive of almost 300 miles I decided to stick to the main roads all the way and although progress at times was slow I arrived at the resort at 1pm and took advantage of the $23 half day ticket.

Hogadon is another resort that I have visited that has its parking lot at the top of the mountain. The others include Blacktail Mountain in Montana and Powder Mountain in Utah.

The queue for the two man lift was steady at times but I never waited more than a minute or so and I was quite happy to have a nice afternoon cruising around the mountain exploring the variety of slopes on offer. Most had a decent pitch and I felt they were deceptively long for a resort with just 60 acres and a vertical of only 600ft. A couple of hours was plenty of time to see the resort and I called it good before heading down to Laramie for the night.

The information I had read on the internet suggested that I should stick to the main highway to Cheyenne. This would take over 3 hours and a distance of 230 miles. I decided that I would ignore this and head south to Medicine Bow and see some more of the countryside and shave 80 miles off the drive.

Making good time I was able to drive in light snow at 70mph, until I hit real snow. Like driving on top of the Cairngorms in a whiteout, I don't think I have ever been that scared while driving. Poles marked the road at 20m intervals but you could only ever see one ahead of you and it amazed me that despite driving at about 30-40mph I was being overtaken by numerous trucks and vans. Still, when I came round one corner and a guy was getting towed out I was glad that I reached the Motel 6 in Laramie in one piece. After checking in for a reasonable $32 a night I had two jobs. Find a Chinese and batter the solid mass from under the car and the wheel arches!

Cars and lorries were sliding off the road and there were serious rumours that I-80 would be closed overnight. Just a mile from the motel I found the The Great Wall and opted for the Pu-Pu platter and sweet and sour prawns and I headed back to my room and sat and feasted like a king with a nice bottle of wine to wash it all down. Having a last look out the window before bed I knew that if I could get to the resort then I would have a superb day. The snow was coming down thick and hard.

March 20th - Tired

Snowy Range(1000ft, 250a) is 32 miles up the road from Laramie and my initial impression was that the base area had a modern and well organised feel to it. After buying my $38 day ticket I headed over to the Sundance lift for the morning and was practically the only person on the lift. While the terrain was not particularly steep I had great fun in 6" of untracked fresh powder. The pitch and snow made for some very nice turns and by 12pm I had built up a thirst and headed into the huge lodge for some lunch. Settling for a burger and fries I took up the offer of a beer to wash it all down and sat and took in the views of the mountain.

I headed back out and decided to spend my afternoon blasting down the trails off the Virginian lift. The upper mountain was reasonably steep in places and I was amazed that the terrain park was both deserted and holding some superb snow. Skirting between jumps I put in some pretty nice turns and called it good at around 3pm.

Driving east to Cheyenne it was becoming clear that the snow had left its mark in the area. I-80 into Nebraska was completely closed and I was slightly concerned that the road south of Cheyenne into Colorado would be a nightmare but I was able to drive most of the way on dry roads and got to the Motel 6 in the suburbs of Denver at 6pm.

Days of skiing and driving great distances had taken its toll and I was pretty well knackered so I decided to drive up to McDonalds and get some take out before watching a bit of TV. Flicking between Titanic and the weather, I think I just about saw 10pm. Rock and roll lives on!

March 21st - Day and Night Skiing

Well rested I awoke early and headed to Eldora(1600ft, 680a) and although the traffic north from Denver was fairly busy I made good time to Boulder and then took the scenic route through Nederland towards the mountain. The road in places was very scenic as it cut its way through the mountains. Perhaps the 3-4" of fresh powder in the trees along the side of the road made it even more pleasing on the eye!

Arriving in the parking lot I quickly put on my sunscreen and headed up to the lodge to get my ticket and I was impressed by the look and feel of the resort. Although busy there were no queues at the base but I felt that I should get as far away from the crowds as possible and made my way over to the Corona lift which accesses the baulk of Eldora's challenging terrain.

A steady amount of skiers were using the lift but it really did not constitute a queue. On piste conditions were good with at least 6" of reasonably fresh powder. I did however wonder to myself how little snow was underneath in places as I seemed to be catching rocks, grass and other objects with regularity.

After a few blasts on piste I met a local guy on the lift who had taken the day off due to the fresh snow and he told me to duck into Salto Glades. I try to always listen to local knowledge so I headed into the trees even though I am the first to admit that this is hardly my speciality. Perhaps if it had been 3 weeks later I would have enjoyed it even more but even still, it was great skiing and in places it was knee deep although the trees were a little bit too thick to gain much momentum.

By 1pm I was struggling with my knee. I put the initial damage down to a bad fall at Glenshee many years ago when I fell and both skis failed to come off but there is little doubt that too much weight and not enough exercise has paid its price!

Due at Mike Richard's house in Keystone the following night I had some decisions to make. I could not remember his room number and I also wanted to pay a visit to the newest resort in the USA, Echo Mountain Park, that had opened just two weeks earlier. Originally I planned to visit Echo en-route to Mike but decided to stop early today and head to Nederland's library to check my e-mail and then drive down to Echo for a few hours action and then head home to Thornton.

On my final run at Eldora I witnessed a very bad accident that I can only assume was a consequence of people not looking and it was very lucky that nobody was seriously hurt never mind killed. From what I saw it appeared that a couple of people were crossing a piste to take the cat track out to the base. I turned around and saw a guy colliding with one of the two skiers. He landed around 20m down the slope and the guy he hit disappeared 3m off the edge of a steep drop to where a massive trail sign had been erected. Unable to get out of the hole it almost brought a chuckle as he floundered around trying to get skis off so he could get onto his feet. Everyone ok I headed down to Nederland.

After an hour on the internet I headed down to Echo and arrived at around 4.30pm. With $10 tickets starting at 5pm I was in no rush!

With snow falling it was interesting to watch guys working on the lodge that was under construction. Rather them than me because it was absolutely freezing. Eventually I got the boots on and headed into the lodge. A lot still to do but they had coffee and snacks available and an old Atari computer with the old games that came in cartridges that you stick into the machine which seemed to fit in well with the park mentality.

I headed out and had a good couple of hours on the slopes with a short break to warm the hands a little as it was freezing and the snow was falling thick and hard. My honest impression of the place is that they will have to work hard to attract business. Despite spring break, $10 tickets and great conditions there were maybe 20 people out on the slopes. A number of boxes, rails and the like were scattered around the slopes for people who like that sort of thing.

My main complaint was that the lighting covered the area that was not covered by the snow cannons and the end result was that you could ski great conditions in the dark or ski rocks in the light! Another slight complaint was that the signposting up the access road was a little vague at times but I am sure that will be looked at next season. Anyway, I had a lot of fun and by 8pm it was time to head back to Thornton.

March 22nd - Buffalo Bill

Up early on the Wednesday morning I was headed for the internationally known resort of Winter Park(2610ft, 2762a) a drive of some 75 miles. First however I wanted to visit the grave of the legendry US figure, William F Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill.

Buffalo Bill died in 1917, and although doubts remain as to his final requests, and he was buried on the summit of Lookout Mountain which overlooks Denver and the surrounding mountains and plains. An overcast morning I was delighted to climb above the cloud and by the time I arrived at his grave there was an inversion and the setting was simply wonderful. Luckily as I took a picture of the grave I met a parks ranger who took my picture and it was nice to actually appear in a photo for a change.

Onwards I arrived at Winter Park at around 9.30am and parked in the Mary Jane area. For me this is the best place to park as it's beside the best terrain and very quiet for the size of the area.

The Super Gauge Express whisks skiers and boarders 1700ft vertically in minutes and I was surprised at just how quiet the lift and lower runs actually were. With the sun on my back I decided to take a look up towards the Parsenn Bowl which would offer some of the best terrain on the mountain. However, seeing 100 people flocked round the old 2 man lift quickly changed my plans. With so much other terrain to see I was not about to queue for half an hour for my first turns.

I spent the morning skiing Winter Park's legendary bumps off the Challenger lift and found some really nice powder off the Super Gauge lift but with the queues on the upper mountain still long I headed for an early lunch at the Club Car Restaurant. Chips of onion deep fried in a spicy coating washed down with a couple of pints of locally brewed beer. Life just does not get any better!

An early lunch means that by the time I am back on the slopes the queues for the Parsenn Bowl lift has gone and I am joined by a local girl who said that although heavily tracked the skiing up there was superb. Looking for the best turns I noticed that almost right below the lift was as good as anything. With a nice and steady fall-line I decided to absolutely crank it up and see just how deep the snow was. Ankle and above and in some places knee deep made for some fantastic turns and with little or no queues I jumped on a few more times before heading back to the car at 3.30pm.

Tonight I was heading to Keystone to meet up with an old friend Mike Richards who was working as a ski instructor at the Mountain House Ski School. Not sure of his plans I felt sure that he would have ventured out for a beer after work so I headed to the Snake River Saloon for a couple of beers before heading down to Mikes.

Mike shared a room with Nikki Langley, a young English guy, whose girlfriend Aileen happened to be visiting at the time. They shared a kitchen with two Australian lifties, Kyp and Tim, and there was a really nice feel to the place. After a few beers we headed down to Dillon to the Arapahoe Café and Pub for a few games of pool and burgers and fries.

I had to laugh really as I cursed a bad shot with my normal "Jesus Christ" only to be told that I should not use his name like that. I was playing a religious pool player and from then on had to keep my blasphemy in check! Even Mike was having a little snigger to himself. With cheap pitchers and good company the evening all too quickly was over and we caught the free shuttle back to Keystone.

It was good to see Mike again and I went to bed looking forward to skiing with him at Keystone in the morning.

March 23rd - Well Fed

Staying so close to the resort there was little point in rising early so I took advantage and had an extra half hour in my bed before we made our way for breakfast at the ski hill. Today we would ski at Keystone(3128ft, 2870a) with another instructor, Englishman James Hallett.

After a few runs we found ourselves in the Outback area of the resort. Dead quiet we decided to use the snow-cat and Outback Express lift to do laps of North Bowl. The skiing was superb and in places we were finding 12" of fresh so we landed up hiking twice and taking the $5 cat twice. Great skiing, stunning scenery and blissfully quiet.

By 1pm James had to leave for an appointment and Mike and I headed to the Alpenglow Stube for lunch. The Alpenglow Stube is the highest AAA Four-Diamond™ dining experience in North America and I was more than impressed. The first course was a lovely buffet selection of cheeses, biscuits and breads followed by a choice of two soups. I went with the stilton and broccoli while Mike had the seafood bisque and they were both superb.

Next up came the seafood and cold meat buffet followed by a choice of two main courses. We both went for the rack of lamb and I was beginning to wonder where I was going to put it but happily it was two lovely pieces of lamb with just a little mashed potato and vegetable. Just the right amount and all washed down with a gin and tonic. Unable to think about desert we settled for a coffee and slowly got ready for a blast back to the base and called it good at around 3pm. Although it cost $70 for the two of us to eat it was worth every cent and I would recommend the Alpenglow Stube to anyone heading to Keystone.

The best bet for après ski in Keystone is the Last Lift Bar and we headed in for a few pints of Samuel Adams. With the gorgeous Steph serving, March Madness basketball and a live band in action it was a nice end to the day. Stuffed and tired we headed back to the ranch for a few snacks and beer before another day on the road.

This article was written by Quintin Chalmers, a 31-year-old skier from Aberdeen in the north of
Scotland. Quintin has skied at over 70 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.