Blizzard at The Beav

Beaver Creek is a sister resort to Vail but in sibling terms it's definitely the classier, more affluent sister. This is the place where you see just as many fur coats as you do ski parkas and frequently many of those staying at the resort don't even pretend to ski. But, since getting to Vail includes me either paying $25 to park or taking the bus (and the corresponding hike that goes with it), today I opted to check out Beaver Creek.

It's a quick drive to "The Beav" (what locals call it) and I got to the free shuttle parking lot by 8:15 or so. The lifts didn't open until 8:30, so I perused the facilities and discovered that not only do they have self flushing toilets at The Beav, they also have heated toilet seats! The bathrooms were honestly stunning: floor-to-ceiling marble, free tampons and hand lotion and leather couches in the lounge area. Beaver Creek's tagline is, "Not exactly roughing it" and they mean it! Mark, for your benefit, Beaver Creek is the sister resort to Lech/Zurs in Austria (if that gives you any clue)!

After the lifts opened, I enjoyed the resort almost to myself. Apparently rich people don't get up early to ski. I mixed up my runs and was happy to have a day to ski solo. It's great because you can ski any run you want, stop whenever and focus on your form a lot more than if you were skiing with someone else. I alternated a black run with a blue run, but the black runs at Beaver Creek really weren't as challenging as they would've been at Vail. Again, rich people like to think they are better skiers than they actually are.

It was snowing all day, but the powder was piling up and made for some great conditions. I skied through lunch again and headed up to an area of the mountain called the Rose Bowl, which is at the top of the resort, about as far away from the base as you can get. About half way down my first run in that area, the steady snow flurries suddenly turned into a blizzard in the matter of 30 seconds. I could see the snow cloud work it's way across the mountain and in moments, it was blowing horribly and I could barely see my hand in front of my face. But of course, when I got to the bottom of this run, I had to take the lift back up because I needed to take another trail to get to the bottom.

Before getting on the chair lift, I asked the lift op (definition below) what was the quickest route to the bottom. He told me the direction and to hurry down, because he just got word they were closing the mountain for the rest of the day. I had seriously never seen conditions this crazy in my life.

Lift Op (aka Liftee): The cute guy or girl who runs the chair lift. They make minimum wage, but get a free season pass. They are usually from some other country. It makes resorts like Vail and Beaver Creek appear uber global and hip.

The lift ride up was like something out of the "Everest" documentary. The chairs were blowing sideways and I couldn't feel my face. But I had no choice, I had to go up to get back down. Once at the top I skied as quickly as I could to get out of the blizzard conditions. The wind was literally pushing against me so forcefully that I could barely traverse the mountain. I made sure to keep an eye on someone in front of me so as not to get off the trail. Everyone on the mountain at this time was heading down, so there was no worry that the person I was following would be heading anywhere else.

I made it down and headed directly to the bus. I got back to my car and stopped off at Loaded Joe's (my new fave coffee shop) for some caffeine before the drive back to West Vail. I ran into Colleen and her new beau, it's amazing how small it can feel after only a few days. Then I sat in some wicked traffic on I70 since it was snowing and there was a bad pile up. It took me about an hour to get back when it should have taken me about 15 minutes. Good times!

But I'm home safe and sound now. It's pretty ugly out there tonight, so I think I'm staying in and taking it easy. Karyn and Ed are supposed to fly in tomorrow to ski for the weekend and I'm super excited to see them. But the weather in Chicago and here may have an other idea. I just hope their flight gets off safely and they don't have to cancel their trip. Cross your fingers that the weather isn't as bad as they predict it to be in Chicago tomorrow morning! I'm ready for some ski buddies!