Jump to content
Note to New Members ×

Yo Lci!!


big mario

Recommended Posts

Relocating to Littleton area this summer as some of you may already know. Road tripping with the family next week and will likely be up Monday April 4 on the way out after our final scouting mission. Family in tow of course. Hope to meet up with some of the locals.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hope you Feel better soon Mario... 

Thanks Bob, After a weekend of horrifically boring couch surfing, I am feeling 100% better just in time to go back to work.....

 

Relocating to Littleton area this summer as some of you may already know. Road tripping with the family next week and will likely be up Monday April 4 on the way out after our final scouting mission. Family in tow of course. Hope to meet up with some of the locals.

 

Hey Lance, Too bad you cannot make it up a day sooner on sunday, you would have a better chance of meeting up with more of us since the majority of us are weekend warriors. Since I wont be able to make it on monday, I will let anyone that is going up know where to look for you....

Edited by big mario
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yesterday...

 

Occasionally, you just have to say, "What if?" What if I had got up on time? What if I had blown off breakfast? What if I'd paid attention, not fixated on Odd Job and NOT chosen to complete a double gainer, to avoid collision with a beginning boarder? Well I didn't, carbs are carving food for the soul and while I have some oddly placed soreness, contact with another person mid-turn could've been disastrous! 

 

Both arriving late, I met up with Odd Job and we briefly spoke with Daniel in passing before discovering even though last week's 20"+ soft groom tracked out early, it wasn't that bad and the scraped-off areas allowed a decent grip! Ptarmigan was quickly trenched to the cheers of lift riders above, so we moved to Roulette and even I managed a few decent turns, while readily schooled by Odd Job, who proceeded to gain ever-increasing air between turns! Where we/I failed, was returning to Ptarmigan and the onslaught of untold one-day-pass minions! Juhwan led the charge and was giving me a mid-run thumbs up and... well... after the impending bodily assessment and readjustment of my face-planted optics at the entrance to Drifter, I limped to the bottom, met up with Ice and we were joined shortly by Odd Job for a refreshing beverage and exciting snow tire conversation! We never caught up to Daniel, so we were relegated to yelling harsh critique from the lift! I think he was wearing mittens, so it was hard to see, but yes Daniel, we are #1! There were even some rumors floating about that Shelley was in attendance, searching out unspoiled stashes!

 

Lesson learned: Set alarm for AM, not PM... allot time for carb intake... a little soreness does a body good (although I still can't figure how my armpit got whacked)... and ultimately, last milli-second decisions are best left for video games with reset buttons! Plan ahead and pay attention!!!

 

And for the traffic fanatics, except for the morning Georgetown ice patch, I-70 to and from was surprisingly tolerable...

 

Next Sunday...

James

Edited by Dusty Bottle
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So renewal of a pass is now $409.... Really?  Mario, you might not need a rake next year.

Hmm... I guess they want to cut back on the overflowing parking lots and the Carhart clad OklaTexArKansian interlopers!  Besides, gotta pay for that new/old lift!  I wonder what the summer/fall price (usually more) will be and how this will affect the 4-pack pricing?  But seriously, it's been the best deal in town for years (all things considered) and probably still is, however, A-Basin offers a 2-season pass for about $500 (rake optional)... maybe someone needs to drop a hint!

Edited by Dusty Bottle
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely not the best in term of value.

 

A couple of alternatives:

Keystone/A-Basin pass for $300.

WP OR Copper pass for $400 and that includes a kid pass for free!  ($500 for Copper/WP/Eldora)

A-Basin (no blackouts) pass - $329.

 

Eldora $289.

 

At $429 for a new pass ($409 for renewal) it's FAR from being the best deal in town.

 

I really like Loveland but I'm looking at over $1200 in passes for the family (vs $800 for WP)  absolutely no contest!

 

(You can tell I'm pissed)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's why I feel Loveland is the best deal for me...

- Closest and most accessible resort...

- Free, close-in parking...

- Seemingly less crowded than the hoards at other resorts, especially holidays...

- Relatively non-existent lift lines...

- Usually opens sooner and closes later than all but A-Basin...

- Small resort feel... (if you want attitude, we've got Mario and his rake)

- Down-to-earth employees...

- Comparatively inexpensive day lift tickets for visiting family and friends...

- Affordable food and beverages... no $10 slices of pizza and $18 hamburgers

- No Eisenhower tunnel... it does close w/o warning and I've been stuck on the west side for 3 hours trying to get home from Breck!

- No peaks or passes to traverse and possibly close... if Loveland Pass closes, A-Basin is an extra 15-20 miles, through Dillon... If Berthoud Pass closes, you're SOL for WP...

- Carving board friendly...

- and of course, there's always the LCI!

 

jus' sayin'...

James

Edited by Dusty Bottle
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perspectives

I shared some things with some of you today about the journey that the love of my life and I are about to embark on. Its not going to be easy, and its not something anyone would chose, but things change, sometimes quickly and unexpectedly. My rants and bitches are part comedy, part reality, part entertainment, and ultimately, petty, in the grand scheme of things.  We live in an amazing place that affords us opportunity's that many in this great country only dream about, and sometimes we take them for granted, bitching about traffic, snow conditions, tourons, blah blah blah. Get out and enjoy as much as you can, nirvana is here for your taking, it just requires a little bit of effort.  I just wish there was an ocean nearby that I could drive to in less than an hour

 

EMS

The Ellis/Mario scale, developed by John E, is a measurement of snow firmness based on the trench depth at the apex of one of my turns.

It is an inverse relationship, the higher the number, the softer the snow:

An EMS of 5 would correlate to a 5" trench depth,  while an EMS of .25 would be a 1/4" trench depth, or as some East coasters would have you believe, a powder day.

Look, a handy Chart:

EMS#   Conditions

4-5        Grab the 23cm Monster, COWABUNGA!!! Surfs up!

3-4        Still riding the monster, could gently load the nose, Riding surf style highly recomended 

2-3        Skinny Boards Okay, stay off the nose, getting firmish for anyone under 200lbs. Damn near bulletproof for Pete

1-2        Ahhh, the sweet spot, skinny boards, racermonkey style and the BIG virus for the Win!

<1         Contrary to popular belief, this does happen here. Spring melt freeze, water injected race courses, and wind scoured/burnished trails are not uncommon. It takes a few runs and a lot of whinning, but Colorado riders have been known to adjust their technique, or wait in the bar for the sun to soften things up

 

Sunday, April 3

My favorite time of the year, 5 weeks left in the season, spring break is over, the thoughts of the masses have turned to bikes and golf, the slopes are wide open and the melt freeze cycles have not started up on high. I made my triumphant return to lovey today after being sidelined by a nasty little cold last week. Conditions where variable, with the practice field having an EMS of 2.5, Firecut a 4, Roulette a 3, and Spillway and Richards clocking in with a solid(pun intended) 1.5, making for some great carving. I made the decision to hop on the shortbus, since it is the last weekend for the valley, and partake in its offerings. Our initial disappointment over the closure of Twist for race training was quickly forgotten upon finding Switchback empty with an EMS of .75 perfection!! Too bad my legs where only good for 4 more runs, but they where all excellent

On the hill today, in order of arrival, where Odd Job, myself, ie; captain obvious, Arne Burner, John E, and Dusty Bottle. Notably absent was MR. POSITVE,  whom was off racing BX, and getting beat by his sweetie, Racer H

That is all

Edited by big mario
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...