See ... it can still snow on the planet!

Day 26 - Sunday 3 February 2008 (Superbowl Sunday!)

(My apologies any blog-fans but the format of the blog software is driving me nuts and so, for this edition, the photograpsh are all at the end and you'll have to guess where they came in the texty bit! They are all in the right order!).

Well I'm definitelty sitting in the cosiest, most beautful, quietest spot yet to do the latest entry in what I'm hoping will turn into a bloody long book by the time this year is over!

I'm sat in stunning Frisco nestled right in the heart of Colorado's Rocky Mountains. If I look outside I can see the snow gently falling (it has been since I pulled back the curtains this morning), people walking their husky dogs, the restaurants welcoming evening patrons and the street lights glimmering off the white landscape (Dylan Thomas has got nothing on me and all he wrote about was a wet Welsh sea-side village if memory serves me correctly - a prize for the first person to name that dreary novel?!) . But I digress ...

Now this was what I came on this trip to see! Screw me if I've never seen so much snow! I've been transported back to the 1980s and the snow is sitting all around me in feet of drifts and those piles when humans shift it all somewhere only for the pile to finally melt in about June. They're having a record year here in Colorado and it's snowed on 33 of the last 35 days!

This is the quaintest little town and one that all the package deals from the UK would miss. There's no big hotels or chain restaurants. I struggled to find a cash point and not a Starbucks to be seen - hurrah! By luck I've landed right where all the locals in-the-know stay and then ski (more coming up soon). And here I am and here it is! Admittedly a couple of days ago and we've had another foot just today! I love how the snow falls so fast they can't keep the roads clear. I've not seen that for yonks. I ended up here after a great couple of days in Denver where the California Zephyr left me last Sunday morning. The train journey was a beauty and gave me a good glimpse of the Great Plains and a dusky view of the Mississippi River (and yes that is the right spelling if you're wondering). Now that's a really huge stretch of the USA and is so flat it makes Norfolk look like Victoria Silvstedt. Real tornado alley. Farmland, farmland, farmland with the mid-wests arable land giving way to the prairies cattle land as the ground rises into the mountains. Magical stuff and sunsets/sunrises. Check this out and notice how these Amtraks run on a line that's in the middle of nowhere. No adjoining road running in the same direction. It lends a nostalgic feeling of travel to this modern age.

Denver was a really laid back place and the people there (in fact all over Colorado) are the happiest people I've met yet. And why wouldn't you be when you live in, arguably, the world's greatest playground. I spent much of my Denver time organising my trip into the mountains but had a great experience staying in what I thought was the Innkeeper of the Rockies Hostel but turned out to be the nicest bed and breakfast accommodation you could imagine (after 3 weeks on the road and sleeping in a room with at least 2 other people). Linda (who owned the place) and Hanne (a friend of hers from Holland) made me sooo welcome and, again, it was proper America away from the downtown area. Before I left Linda gave me sun block tips and Hanne planned my trip to Utah giving me the map I needed as well! They were stars!

I did get in a trip to the Colorado Museum of History of cousre and learned about where I'm spending the next couple of weeks. A potted histoiry of this amazing state is: Pueblo people, Ute Indians, fur trappers, gold miners, Indians put in reservations, cowboys, mountain sporters. Now I must add that I'm sure I've missed out many significant generations of people and offended anyone reading this from Colorado. To them I'm sorry but I've given it my best shot. Gold was found in 1859 here and they have huge trouble keeping water (it flows out of Colorado state and into everyone else's!) They also had a few belting displays.

But that was almost a week ago now when I was still just a Jedi Knight following the path to eternal happiness and fighting for the good guys. For the Growbags, Billys, Thruss', Swiftys, Gars', and all the other skiiers in this world my transformation is complete. I have turned to the Dark Side ... You'll notice that I've decided to dress in black in homage to the Sith lords and I'm riding Copper Mountain on a Ride Control snowboard. And what a wild experience I'm having. I've landed on my feet here and learned a valuable lesson that I'll take home from this trip already. Get to the source, avoid the middle-men and make things you thought too expensive achievable. By asking around, not being frightened to request a deal and phoning places myself (admittedly getting really spawny when someone cancelled at the hostel making a bed available) I'm paying the following to stay here in some of the world's best winter sports territory.

Accomodation (motel 6 nights and hostel 9 nights) average of 32 quid/night

Board, bindings, boots ands helmet (Elliott) 13.50 quid a day (I can't find the pound sign on a keyboard and can't be arsed to do all that Insert/Symbol stuff!)

Lift pass (that covers 5 resorts including Aspen) 25 quid a day

'Pardon?! Did I hear you right my friend a few doors down who's sorted me out an international lift ticket. You only want me to pay you 25 quid a day to take my pick of the world's finest borading? It's a deal. 14 days please'.

I'm currently loving Copper Mountain!!! http://www.coppercolorado.com/
It's the mountain that all the local Coloradoans rate way higher than the other, flashier resorts (Aspen excepted) and they all ski or board at 'Copper'. I don't think I've heard a single British accent although I had a conversation with a Kiwi snow fox. Admittedly I've been lured to this mountain by the babe on the cover of their trail map! I'd help her into her bindings any day of the week. Sadly, I think she's a model and not a lift attendant!

I'll save my views on the switch from skiing to boarding for a later blog. Perhaps I should do a Growbag 'The Art of ...' and dedicate a blog to the study of learning to snowboard. But for now I'll tell you that it's going well and I wished I'd arrived having trained for a bit! Just like the old Andorran days the quads are burning and the most exercise I've done lately is bending down to read the ntoice telling me whether that's a Picasso or an Andy Warhol. I get knackered too quickly but I'm pretty sure the altitude's playing a part. We're at over 10,000 feet here and the air is noticeably thinner. I'm getting used to it but it's a factor. I think! Billy/Thruss can you tell me if you noticed this at Breckenridege. Or am I being soft?!

But the conditions are easily the best I have ever experienced. There's so much snow you're riding in powder/packed powder all day. And it's so dry it doesn't stick to you or your skis/board. And it's not too cold. I mean it's cold. I've had about 5 layers on but, apart from late today when I fell regularly trying to negotiate a black diamond run because I took a wrong turn, I've not been freezing. (Well you can't turn back can you? You have to trick your head, lean down the mountain and take it on). The whole experience of these conditions is unbelievable. I'll leave you with a couple of photographs from the mountains, wish you well and blog again soon-ish I guess ...

BTW: The North Face shop in Breckenridge (TNF must be from the USA because it's everywhere across all of the country) sold me a top pair of snowboard pants (TNF Freedom 60 quid) and goggles (Oakley A Frame and blue iridium 60 quid). The goggles are stunning. Fog-less and, if you zoom in, show the photographer of every one of these snaps of me ...!!!