http://www.RealAdventures.com/vacations/184974_articles-colorado-denver.htm Check out some of the recently updated travel & vacation listings on RealAdventures. Be inspired, go explore! en-us Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:27:33 GMT Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:27:33 GMT http://www.RealAdventures.com http://www.RealAdventures.com/vacations/184974_articles-colorado-denver.htm 100 100 http://www.RealAdventures.com/listings/1024233_Colorado-The-West-s-Winter-Institution http://www.RealAdventures.com/listings/1024233_Colorado-The-West-s-Winter-Institution Articles Colorado Tue, 27 Mar 2001 00:03:00 Colorado offers 33,143 acres of ski terrain (excluding backcountry acreage). Though the state offers yearround entertainment for the outdoor lover, winter is the specialty here. -
Colorado offers 33,143 acres of ski terrain (excluding backcountry acreage). Though the state offers yearround entertainment for the outdoor lover, winter is the specialty here.


Colorado, as you know, is a big state with big mountains. And a big state with big mountains equates to a bigtime ski hub. Colorado offers 33,143 acres of ski terrain (excluding backcountry acreage). Though the state offers yearround entertainment for the outdoor lover, winter is the specialty here.

There is the Summit County area with 6,814 skiable acres all its own. Summit County skiing consists of four ski areas Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Keystone. This is perhaps the most heavily skied areas in the state as it is only an hourandahalf drive from Denver on I70 West. The crowds come for good reason though Summit County offers fantastic skiing from the lessdeveloped and steepterrained ABasin to the very well developed and popular resorts of Breckenridge and Keystone to the balanced Copper Mountain.

Then there is Aspen. Aspen offers four mountains for the ready skier. Though the prices may be higher at Aspen than other ski areas, you'll have plenty of room to roam. On the four mountains are the extreme Y and BZones of Highland Bowl along with plenty of terrain for those not yet ready to tackle such precipitous lines.

Down in the San Juan Range, Telluride displays the spectacular beauty of Colorado like no other ski area. The San Juan Mountains contain the highest concentration of 14ers in Colorado. So whether you are out to enjoy the slopes or you want to spend a day checking out the town, expect aesthetic pleasure from the Telluride area.

In another valley deep in the San Jaun Mountains lies Silverton. Silverton's locations allows for superb wintersports with relatively sparse traffic. You certainly won't find the resort atmosphere of a Breckenridge or Aspen. What you will find are frozen cascades waiting to be climbed and fresh snow ready to be skied. Silverton is much more than a ski area. If you are ready to mix you winter ski vacation with some other winter sports give snowshoing or ice climbing a try while in Silverton.

Winter Park is the perfect place for the beginner and the extreme downhillers. The Park consists of two parts Winter Park and Mary Jane. The former being the domain of those somewhere less than advanced and the latter for the advanced. Another desirable feature of Winter Park is its location less than 70 miles west of Denver.

Eldora, just a short drive from Boulder on US Highway 119, is a great place to hone your skills. They may not have the extreme lines of some resorts or the size of others, but Eldora is Colorado skiing all the same. Come prepared for a great day of skiing or boarding in uncrowded conditions. Find food and lodging in Nederland.

In Durango rises a mountain named after Dante's second canticle in his CommediaPurgatory. Although Virgil won't be cutting down the slopes with you, you are sure to enjoy yourself on runs (Catharsis and Pandemonium, to name two) that might have shaken Dante's confidence.

The Wolf Creek Pass area is no joke when wintertime. Because of its location, this pass gets enormous amounts of snowfall every year. The location also keeps the amount of skiing relatively low giving those who do make the trip some excellent backcountry slopes to jump on.

Colorado is the state for winter fun. The amount of skiing available borders on excessive, but go ahead, gorge yourself on the fine white stuff. Come to Colorado and experience all that winter sports should be.
Details & Reservations: Colorado The West's Winter Institution
RealAdventures | Colorado Articles

]]> http://www.RealAdventures.com/listings/1024378_Peace-Freedom-and-Enlightenment-at-Telluride http://www.RealAdventures.com/listings/1024378_Peace-Freedom-and-Enlightenment-at-Telluride Articles Colorado Tue, 27 Mar 2001 00:03:00 A Story of Skiing Bliss at Telluride, Colorado -
A Story of Skiing Bliss at Telluride, Colorado


by David Huebner
Snow flakes sparkle in the light streaming through the gladed trees of Log Pile. Lines appear in every opening and shot, small powder bumps leading fall line and off fall line, and like water, I bounce and flow through each trough, around each trunk, over each stump, and through every brief stash of untouched powder. I'm the river, flowing over and around each bump as if it were a stone in my streambed. Now and then I drop even lower and my hand brushes the mountain, a pat on the back, thanks for the ride.


I moved to Telluride to escape the city life which seems to trap more than it liberates, seems to kill more than it produces. I also moved there because I have recently discovered that my only true path is the trail, the slope, the ridge, the talus, the meadow. I love the mountain rhythm, the beat of the empty ridges, and windswept summits, the religion of powder skiing, the flow of skiing through the trees. I moved to Telluride to continue my search for Flow, for that ultimate feeling of intimacy with the environment, for true skiing freedom. Telemark skiing and sweet trees are what I found

The Plunge lays before me, choppy powder, after 20 inches new, I let 'em run, long tele turns, now and then my rear knee drags in the powder. I reach the steeper section, and continue the long turns, hugging the right side of the run, and towards the bottom launch big alpine air turns off the edge into deep blown in powder, catching snow in the face and at my waist. I reach the bottom flat before lower Bushwacker, and my turn transitions are seemless, just walking on the clouds.

Pure Flow is a feeling I try to achieve when I'm skiing, a communication between me and the mountain. To feel as if I'm skiing a line with the mountain, as if it is guiding me along, showing me where to turn, how fast to go. I feel no resistance, no harsh impact, no aggressive turns, just floating gliding, flying, flowing. It's like I'm one with the mountain, not a skier skiing the mountain, but just another aspect of the terrain.

There's a good eight inches of fresh in the trees, a couple quick turns through the untracked tight trunks and branches, and then a line opens up, varying between fall line and off fall line, small bumps covering in untracked powder, my speed picks up, and I make fast floating turns, around trees, over bumps, off stumps, without ever feeling an edge really bite in, without ever feeling impact, without ever feeling resistance from the mountain. I stop and smile, laugh a little bit, because I just found a true line, a line that made the mountain smile as big as I smile, that pleased the mountain, found a line that flowed with the mountain, scratching the kitten's back.

I used to think I wanted to be good enough on my alpine skis to compete in free skiing competitions, but I've now realized how completely against the idea I am. Competeing on skis is just about the last thing I want to do. Since I began tele skiing a year ago early December, I've found true flow with the mountain, and I need nothing more. Life has nothing more to offer me than pure flow. I have no desire to be among the attitude ridden, rock star sponsored skiers out there on tour. I just want to find a nice line, and figure out how the mountain wants me to ski it, how to best fit myself into the mountain environment, how to find the technique of least resistance.

I just skied another euphoric Log Pile run, now I'm standing on the cat track above the middle section of West Drain. I take off onto a traverse, bouncing like a pinball from one odd mogul to another, rolling, swerving, absorbing, basically out of control, flying through the trees, a chute opens below me, and I keep going until another secondary tighter chute appears, I drop in. Tele jump turns in packed powder, trees all around, watching for twigs, even some fresh snow lying around days after the last storm, out of the chute and into a tight glade, more fun turns, then onto a bump line traversing out to the next cat track above the lower section of the West Drain. I go for more of the same, taking a high line, cutting through the trees until a chute opens up below, single fall line bumps, lovin' it, technical, then angling right again on a bit of a traverse, into another chute, bumps, trees, and the occaisional log poking through. In the actual drain now, low angle bump line, with junk poking through everywhere, blast out of the exit onto the groomed and back to the lift for another lap. Another lap of the hidden lines, the hidden poetry of the mountain, the soul waiting to be discovered.

This life used to be a dream I never fathomed would come true. I strived to improve my alpine skiing 20 days a year, strived to find flow with the mountain, dreamed of being in competitions, dreamed of being the best, and now, now I'm a tele skier, communicating with the mountain, living within the mountain rhythm, and skiing every single day of the week, 122 last season, starting off with 50 straight, and I could give a flying heck about being "the best". Flow is my life, my soul, and everyday I'm absolutely blown away by the intense feeling of communicating with the mountain, feeling the mountain, flowing with the mountain.

I just love wild places.



peace



Details & Reservations: Peace, Freedom, and Enlightenment at Telluride
RealAdventures | Colorado Articles

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