Copper Mountain

Today we finally got back to the mountains to ski. I'd worked late Sunday and yesterday trying to get stuff done so we could go up. Kyle wanted to hang with friends and Kendall was still sick, so Delaney and I packed up and left after I checked on email this am.

We grabbed my iPod and Kendall's Nano, then lost the Nano when Kendall woke up and refused. So I grabbed Tia's and then just as we were pulling out of the garage, Kendall came out and gave us her Nano again. Headphones don't go in there, so we were thinking that there was a different size plug, so we stopped at Target, but couldn't find anything. It wasn't a big deal, and Delaney and I took turns with my new Giro audio helmet, listening to my iPod. On the way back we stopped at Best Buy and they confirmed it's the same plug. Then we realized that something was stuck in there. We think Kyle broke headphones in there and then traded with Kendall, but who knows.

In any case, we were just outside Idaho Springs when traffic ground to a halt. We managed to creep to the exit and get off for coffee (yes, I made it to Idaho Springs without coffee), and we checked the Internet on my Sidekick to see what our options were. No news on an accident, and when we checked Eldora and Echo, both just behind us, they were closed. How crazy is that?

We drove through town, got back in traffic, and around the bend at St Mary's, we saw there was a 5 car accident in the left lane. They were towing things and we got past and then raced out to Copper Mountain.

We were there late, about 11, and quickly geared up, got Delaney's ticket and got in line. The first lift had a really long line and when we got to the front, my 4 pack was invalid. This is a blackout week, so we had to get out of line, go buy a ticket (I still got the $20 discount) and then jumped back in another long line. Fortunately we got through it and made it to the top.

It was a great day, sunny, very little wind except near the top, about 34F, and we had good snow. Delaney struggled the first run, very nervous and worried, especially on a narrow patch, but we ate lunch and then went back up and he did great. I took a few pictures and then decided to chase him with some video. So I held the camera in my hand and rode down behind him. The video is downstairs, but I'll upload some tomorrow. It's pretty cool.