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February 1 - 18, 2002

Friday, February 1, 2002                                                                Breckenridge, CO

We had a much warmer day today and enjoyed some great skiing.  I am really starting to feel much better.  I hooked up with two guys on the Peak 10 ski lift this morning that let me ski with them on some of the tougher terrain.  Joe and Ed had been skiing with each other for over twenty years and knew some of the more challenging runs here.  I had been avoiding the double black diamond runs until now.  I didn’t want to get stuck anywhere by myself.  Joe and Ed did a great job of leading me down some great runs that really pushed me to stretch my skills.

I was really fired up after doing several runs with those guys.  I then joined Christine for lunch.  I found her sitting at an outside table in the sun with a snowball being held against the side of her face.  She had taken a fall and slammed her head pretty hard against the ground.  Her sunglasses had left an impression on the side of her head.  We enjoyed our lunch outside and then cut the day short.

Sunset from Campsite.jpg (22882 bytes)

This sunset picture was taken from the window of our RV.

Saturday, February 2, 2002                                                             Breckenridge, CO

We made today our Saturday trip into town.  We filled up our propane tank this morning, which lasted a whole week from the last fill up.  I’m pleased that the propane is lasting this long, considering how cold it has been getting here each night.

Our first stop in town was the auto parts store.  I finally bought a new battery for the RV.  The original one had accidentally gotten completely drained in November while the RV was parked in Wisconsin.  It just wouldn’t hold a charge any more.  We then drove down the road to Vail to check out the condo where we’ll be staying later in the month.  We picked up some visitor information and tried to figure out where we’ll be parking our RV the week we stay there in the condo.

We came back to Dillon and saw an afternoon movie, “I am Sam.”  It was very good.  Then Christine did the weekly grocery shopping before we went out to eat at the Dillon Dam Brewery.  Both the beer and food were good.  The brewery had a lot of clever merchandise playing on the “dam” in its name.

By Christine: I got up and took the shuttle to the Recreational center this morning were I attended a really good step aerobic class.  I'm not sure it was the smartest move as my neck really hurts from the fall yesterday.  But hopefully the exercise will help to loosen my neck and limbs in the long run.  I'm to the point with my skiing, that I don't fall often but when I do fall, I'm moving pretty fast.

Sunday, February 3, 2002                                                            Breckenridge, CO

I wanted to ski today, but Christine decided to give her sore neck/head another day to recover.  She took the shuttle into Breckenridge with me so that she could see the final results of the snow sculpture competition.  Only one of the sculptures had collapsed before the judging on Saturday.  The other twelve sculptures turned out very well.

I went ahead and enjoyed an amazing day of skiing alone.  I really concentrated on more of the challenging runs that I had been introduced to on Friday.  I really felt great about my skiing today.  I got back home in time to watch the Super Bowl with Christine.

To see pictures of the ice sculptures, click here.

Monday, February 4, 2002                                                            Breckenridge, CO

We had another very sunny day today, but not quite as warm.  I decided to take an all day ski lesson today.  I joined a Level-8 (there are levels 1-9) group lesson that only had eight students.  These eight were split into two different groups; five chose the easier pace while I was one of three that chose a hard-charging pace.  The lesson was amazing.  I was forming some bad habits that I wasn’t aware of.  Gary, my instructor really broke it all down for me.  We spent most of the day working on bump/mogul skills.  I had really been approaching these the wrong way.  I was worn out after the demands of this all day lesson.

Christine cooked up a feast of a meal tonight.  She cooked a venison roast with a garlic-mushroom gravy, mashed sweet potatoes and steam vegetables.  We had a fine Ravenswood Red Zinfandel to accompany the dinner.  It was really an excellent meal.

Tuesday, February 5, 2002                                                            Breckenridge, CO

We were disappointed to learn that we only got one inch of new snow last night.  The forecast had called for a much needed 4-6 inches.  We took advantage of the sunny day anyway and put in a good day of skiing.  I worked hard practicing some of the new skills I learned yesterday.  My ski boots are fitting better ever day, especially after I flex them hard on the mogul runs.  After 12 days each of skiing Breckenridge, Christine and I are planning on taking the bus over to Keystone tomorrow to ski something new to both of us.

Wednesday, February 6, 2002                                                    Breckenridge, CO

The shuttle over to Keystone worked out very well.  We rode our normal 10-minute bus ride into Breckenridge where we immediately transferred to an express shuttle that goes directly to Keystone in just 25-minutes.  Keystone is very different from Breckenridge.  There are three mountains to ski at Keystone, but you get to them via consecutive lifts.  We were disappointed to find that many of the more interesting runs were closed due to lack of snow.  We found a few runs that we liked and repeated them several times.  We had to be careful to avoid the exposed rocks, roots and stumps that plagued the open runs.  I found some runs on which I could practice my bump skills.  We locked up our skis at Keystone with plans to return there tomorrow.

We got back to the campground in time to clean up for the wine and cheese social and the potluck dinner that followed.  The turnout was impressive and the food variety was pleasing.  There were over forty people that stayed for the dinner.  Christine’s contribution was a tasty tray of Kahlúa brownies.  We ate at a table with Ron and Elsa, a couple we had met two weeks ago at the Wednesday social.  They were preparing to leave tomorrow for Florida and invited us over to share a bottle of wine with them tonight.  Ron and Elsa are recently new to full-timing, but have adapted to it well.  They have a beautiful 40-foot Class ‘A’ motorhome with some very nice features.  We enjoyed a relaxing visit with them and wished them well.

Thursday, February 7, 2002                                                        Breckenridge, CO

We returned to Keystone today to find that the conditions had worsened considerably since yesterday.  We had both gouged some deep grooves in our skis from the rocks we couldn’t avoid.  Our skis are seriously in need of a tune up.  We’ve been getting them waxed and edged each week, but this time we’ll need some plastic filler applied to fill in the gouges.

We finished skiing Keystone today and agreed that it had some really fun and interesting runs, but that we won’t be back until they get an appreciable increase in snow.

Tonight we reached Ron by phone, a friend of mine from my days at Pomeroy in Cincinnati.  Ron was out for a long weekend to ski at Vail with his wife Terry and another couple, Gerard and Janet.  We made plans to hook up with them tomorrow to ski at Vail.

Breckenridge from Keystone.jpg (46862 bytes)

From the top of Keystone Mountain, you can see across a mountain range and valley to the slopes of Breckenridge.  As you can see, it was a perfect ski day.

Friday, February 8, 2002                                                                Breckenridge, CO

We made our rendezvous with Ron et al at the Lionshead gondola at 10:00 AM as planned.  It was a lot of fun to ski with them.  The forecasted snowstorm moved in as we were enjoying a great lunch atop the mountain.  Ron and Terry went down on the gondola while the rest of us toughed it out in near whiteout conditions.  The wind-blown snow became so uncomfortable that we all bailed out after a few more runs.  Nobody was complaining though, since we were all so glad to finally be getting some fresh snowfall.

Christine and I returned to the RV and cleaned up a bit before stopping at the store for some beer before meeting up with the gang at their condo.  It was great to kick back and relax knowing that the snow was really improving the ski conditions outside.  Some of us soaked in the hot tub before finally cleaning up and heading back into Vail village for dinner.  Christine and I enjoyed some fine steaks (Ron’s treat) at the Ore House restaurant.  It was such a fun day spent with great company.

Christine and I then turned our attention to the return trip to the campground.  The dark ride over Vail pass in the snowstorm required my full attention.  The RV however had no trouble at all.  I really appreciate its steady performance in these harsh conditions.  We finally pulled into the campground and got hooked up just before midnight.  It had been a long day.

Saturday, February 9, 2002                                                            Breckenridge, CO

We slept in after the long day yesterday.  We planned our normal Saturday activities of laundry, shopping and a movie.  The movie ended up being a rental, but it was still a fairly productive day.  We were second guessing our plans not to ski today after the big snow yesterday, but we heard that the top half of Breckenridge was closed today due to extremely high winds.  Our timing had again been good.

Sunday, February 10, 2002                                                          Breckenridge, CO

We rose early with plans to meet up with Ron and the gang at Vail.  The lift lines were so slow and long though, that we missed our rendezvous and skied the rest of the day with the hope of running across the others.  We took advantage of the warm sunny day to ski the back bowls.  The conditions were quite nice, but the mountain was quite crowded with the weekend masses.

I finally reached Ron by phone at the condo while he was packing to catch an early flight back to Cincinnati in order to make a Monday morning meeting that came up at work.  Christine and I finally hooked up with the rest of the group for après ski and then a good pizza dinner.  They were really a fun crowd to hang out with.

The drive back to our campground in Breckenridge was easier tonight than it was on Friday.

Monday, February 11, 2002                                                           Breckenridge, CO

Christine decided to make today a recovery day.  I went ahead and enjoyed a good day on the mountain at Breckenridge.  We noticed that the recent cycle of cold nights and warm days had created a condensation problem in the area of our bed.  The foam pad had absorbed enough moisture to wet my pajamas during the night.  I decided that I would not ski tomorrow so that I could remedy this uncomfortable situation.

By Christine:  Today was mostly a day for myself.  I enjoyed a great workout at the Breckenridge Recreational Center this morning and then hopped on the shuttle to Frisco.  I enjoyed walking around the shops of Frisco, while running some errands like getting a haircut.

Tuesday, February 12, 2002                                                        Breckenridge, CO

Christine went ahead and skied without me while I stayed behind and wrestled with the mattress.  I painstakingly removed the foam from its zippered cover—only after thawing the ice inside that behaved like a glue between the foam and the cover.  I took advantage of the sunny day and laid the foam mattress on our dry driveway to bask in the sun.  The temperature was barely above freezing, so the drying went very slowly.  I finally brought the mattress inside and had it crowd Christine and me throughout the evening as it stood vertically in our narrow living space.  The final wet spot was dried with a hair dryer before we reassembled everything for a good night’s sleep.

We dealt with this condensation condition last year.  I had checked for it a few times this year, but it had been so cold the first couple weeks that there was no problem to address.  I just neglected it after that point.  The remedy is to prop the mattress up during the warm days to keep the melting condensation from being absorbed by the mattress, and to allow air to reach that space and aid in the evaporation process.  Everything seems pretty resolved now.  We’re just adding one more process to our daily routine.

Wednesday, February 13, 2002                                                    Breckenridge, CO

Christine and I both got an early start to take ski lessons today.  Christine got moved up into a Level-7 group, and I moved into a Level-9 group.  The only other student in my group was a 16-year old kid named Mike.  Our instructor Phil spent the whole day taking us down double-black diamond runs and working on our bump/mogul skills.  Mike is an incredibly quick and agile skier that lacks a little control and discipline.  I am a much more deliberate skier, but I lack the quickness in my turns.  Phil was able to use each of us as examples to the other for the improvements we desired.

I really had trouble with my morning lesson.  Phil was trying to teach me a new philosophy about bump skiing that differed drastically from the lesson I received last week.  I was pretty frustrated trying to sort out the different approaches.  I met up with Christine at lunch and learned that she was even more frustrated than I was.  Christine’s Level-7 group was focusing almost entirely on learning bumps.  Christine has never enjoyed doing bump runs and did her best to avoid them in the past, but bumps can’t always be avoided.  This is what motivated Christine to stay in the class and become more comfortable with navigating bump runs.  I encouraged her to drop back into a Level-6 group after lunch if she felt over her head, but she persisted with the bumps.

I finally cleared the cobwebs after lunch and began to execute the skills Phil was teaching us.  It ended up being a great lesson, and I committed to coming back tomorrow to continue the progress.  Mike felt the same way and agreed to join me for another lesson tomorrow.  I caught up with Christine at the end of the day, and she was actually happy about her day.  She had just suffered through an entire day of doing bumps—and had enjoyed it.  The root of her pleasure was the realization that she was truly making progress.

We decided to reward ourselves with some $2 pints of beer at the Breckenridge Brewery.  We kicked back and enjoyed several pints at the bar while reviewing our achievements of the day.  We caught the bus home and Christine cooked up some venison chili that we ate while watching the Olympics.

Thursday, February 14, 2001                                                    Breckenridge, CO

We joined our ski lessons this morning and were pleased that it began snowing right away.  It snowed steadily all day long with nearly 10-inches accumulating at the top of the mountain.  This was the driest, fluffiest snow I have ever seen.  It was the best snow to ski in.  Phil, Mike and I spent the day chasing freshies (unskied runs of fresh fallen snow) all over the mountain.  The new powder made our bump runs quite a bit easier.  There was no wind and the temperature was mild.  All this made for the best day of skiing that I’ve had all season.

Mike and I had both pressed Phil to teach us some jumping skills.  After lunch we entered into the jumping park to play on the ski jumps there.  I’m a pretty aggressive skier and usually attack any run I go down, but the idea of launching myself into the air had me very anxious.  Phil gave me some verbal pointers about posture, timing and weight distribution, and then he told me to just go for it.  The landing area below the ramps is very steep to aid in a soft landing, but it is totally out of sight as I ski toward the jump.  This approach to the unknown is very unnerving to me.  I went for it and managed to land without wiping out.  I completed five more jumps and improved my landings with each successive try.  I called it quits before we tried any aerial maneuvers.

I caught up with Christine after our lessons, and she agreed that today had been a great day of skiing.  I was so proud of her, and she was so pleased with herself that she’d gotten through two days of bump lessons.  Her teacher named her the most improved skier over the two days.  We returned to the RV where Christine cooked up an excellent Valentine’s Day meal of grilled venison chops stuffed with blue cheese.  We were both feeling pretty good.

By Christine: Not enough can be said about what a perfect day of skiing we had today.  Happy Valentine's Day to us!  One of the great things about getting so much snow today and taking a lesson was getting a lot of tips about skiing in powder.  For those of you who don't ski, 7"s of powder is much different than nicely groomed runs.   This afternoon we were skiing where we couldn't even see our skis, as they were under the snow.  Once we had a lesson in the powder, it was so much easier to ski.  The secret is balance.  The snow also did a good job of making the bumps much friendlier, or softer when we fell.   

Friday, February 15, 2002                                                                Breckenridge, CO

Christine and I agreed to get an earlier than usual start this morning to beat the crowds and try to ski some more freshies.  The bus was standing room only and the highway into town was jammed with cars.  Yesterday’s fresh snowfall and the beginning of Presidents’ Day weekend had brought the masses to the slopes.  We didn’t find any freshies where we skied, but there was still a lot of powder to play in on the mountain as we strove to avoid the crowds.  Christine and I split up to ski different terrain.  I went back to some of the runs I had worked on the past two days.  I came out of my skis on three separate wipeouts, but still improved on my lesson skills.  I finally realized that my legs were fried.  I was worn out from the tough terrain I had been skiing, and couldn’t even complete a run without feeling like my legs were chunks of concrete.

Christine and I met up for lunch and agreed that the lift lines had gotten too long and that our legs were too tired to continue skiing.  I was very concerned about Christine when she began telling me about the bump runs that she had chose to go down on her own.  Christine has never knowingly chosen to go down bump runs in the past.  I’m amazed at the progress she has made through her ski lessons.  We called it quits for the day and got off the mountain.  It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed piddling around the RV the rest of the afternoon.

Keystone from Breckenridge.jpg (36974 bytes)

This picture isn't as good as the one from Keystone, but this shows how we can also see the Keystone runs from the top of Breckenridge mountain.  Of course, Joe took the picture as you have to take the t-bar to get up that high on the mountain (12,300 feet), and I don't like the t-bar.

Saturday, February 16, 2002                                                    Breckenridge, CO

We had a productive day of not skiing today.  After getting the propane tank filled, we drove into Dillon to attend a local bazaar of merchants.  Christine bought some fine foods there.  We did some miscellaneous shopping before arriving for our 2:00 massage appointments.  Christine and I scheduled a double massage and truly enjoyed it. 

Our mood was dampened after the massage when we smelled a strong odor of propane around the RV.  The propane tank was actually leaking liquid propane.  It had been extremely overfilled by the campground this morning.  Propane has a high level of expansion as it warms.  For this reason propane tanks are considered full at the 80% mark so as to permit room for expansion.  The tank had been wrongly filled to 100%.  The RV sat in the afternoon sun and the propane expanded beyond the capacity of the tank.  The initial pressure release features of the tank/regulator were overwhelmed causing a failsafe valve to release under the tank expelling liquid propane.

I was very very concerned by this condition.  I dropped Christine off at the grocery store and then returned to the campground for help with the tank.  The campground management was also very concerned about this situation.  It is hard to understand how this could have happened.  The tank has a pressure release valve that indicates when the tank is full, and all propane pumps have a backpressure shut-off sensor.  Both of these redundant measures had to fail in order to overfill the tank. 

The campground personnel released some of the pressure, but there is no easy way to quickly get propane out of a tank.  I was advised to park the RV in the shade and run my furnace on high until the tank gauge returned back to 80%.  This whole event really diminished the positive effects of my massage.  Christine and I continued with our plans for the day; we had a good Mexican dinner (including a couple margaritas) and then saw the movie “The Lord of the Rings.”

Sunday, February 17, 2002                                                           Breckenridge, CO

We had plans to get up early today and hit the slopes before the holiday weekend crowds accumulated, but we were both pretty tired from our late evening yesterday.  We opted for a quiet day in the campground.  I also wanted to keep an eye on my propane tank situation.  It seems to have returned to normal conditions, but I am wary of any damage resulting from the stress to the components.

Monday, February 18, 2002                                                          Breckenridge, CO

We hit the slopes this morning of Presidents’ Day and enjoyed tolerable crowds before it began snowing.  The lift lines really shortened once the snow came blowing in.  We had a pretty full day getting in ten good runs down the mountain.  We both got to work on some of the skills from our lessons last week.  We won’t ski again until we hook up with visiting friends at Vail on Thursday.  We have both now skied 21 days this past month.

To continue with February 19, 2002 click here.

 

If you have any questions about this website or want to contact Christine or Joe for any reason, please email us at christine@lustik.com or joe@lustik.com.