It's Official...

...it has finally snowed in the Vail Valley.  For real.  Which left one question in most of our minds up here in the mountains:

Where the F&#K has this been!?!?

Last week the area managed to get a decent blanket of snow.  And it kept snowing.  And kept snowing.  And kept snowing.  Finally, by Sunday this week, both The Beav and Vail were hit with enough of the white stuff that you couldn't find a spot on the mountains that sucked.

Made it out on the hill last Sunday morning for a couple hours.  Yes, I know it was President's Day weekend.  But you see, there was a new 9" reported at Vail; this being the first potential Powder Day of the year for me, I had to make the trip.

I was completely setting myself up for a letdown.  I thought that the snow had been sooooo bad this year, that they were inflating the snowfall.  I figured it would be the average male snowfall:  reported as 9", but really only 5 or 6 inches, and so-so quality.  [note:  yes, I thought of that joke on one of the chairlift rides.  Made me laugh out loud just thinking about it.  So I had to use it.]

And I was completely wrong.

While all you President's Day vacationers were heading straight for the Bowls or Blue Sky, I was chillin' easy style on the frontside, just running some laps over above Lionshead.  Couple of trips down Bwana and Simba, followed by four straight runs down Minnie's (pic above) - a field of bumps covered in thick, soft, creamy powder.  And each time I went back down it, my tracks were the only ones I saw.  It wasn't 9".  It was more like 12".

The key is, it kept snowing all week.  This past weekend was even better...good enough that I made it out both Friday afternoon and Sunday.  Sunday ended up being an all-day crush-fest with the B-Lob, ripping through the Back Bowls repeatedly.  Shin-deep the whole day.  No pics - you don't get to know where my secrets are...

OK - rant of the day:

$15.35.

Fifteen effing dollars.  AND thirty-five cents.

For this:

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you.  That's:

• A brownie, albeit with dried cranberries, toasted coconut, etc.
• A 20oz lemon-lime Gatorade
• A 12oz yogurt parfait, with fresh blueberries, raspberries, and toasted oats.

To Vail Resorts:  Yes, I really like skiing at your mountain resorts.  Especially when you cloud-seed, and we get a bunch of fresh powder.

But fuck it, I'll starve next time.