Skiing With Steve & Jim 19Jan22-21Jan22

I snuck up to Summit for some runs with Bro Brown and Yoho. Steve & I started on a cold and dry, but sunny, day at Keystone. We ran a 17.5K day starting in the back on Outback and working forward - that's kindof our typical play. While I chose the wrong skis, since there was no new snow I needed more stability at speed rather than 118 underfoot float, we had a great time capped with some Last Chance pizza and beers.

Jim arrived Wednesday night and we enjoyed some closeout NestT tunes before resting for an onslaught at Breck with some hopeful snow conditions. We did get some needed snow and headed to Breck all three in the Crusher Too. We started on Pk 7 to access Pk 6 and made a number of runs there before getting Steve on Freedom for the 1st time. It wasn't powder conditions, and I did choose the 105s given yesterday, but we found some stashes in the trees. We cooked up a plan to self-award a badge for skiing every peak @ Breck on this day and so crossed quickly using the T-Bar, then down Pk 8 to E, then down Pk 10 to Interconnect, then down Pk 9 to our bus pickup. We got them all and I laud our efficiency in hitting every peak in the least number of lifts - we crossed Breck's very wide trail set quickly. We stopped at Broken Compass for some ColoRADBro and lamented there are no food trucks there ~ we capped the outing with some ORB beers and Bird Cafe thai food. The night continued at the Nest with spa time (yeah, it blew up), Dave's pizza and voyeurism on good backcountry outings via Mediocre Amateurs.

We rallied to again hit Keystone on Fri. There was more snow and more people this time - but conditions are still pretty thin IMO. We ran the normal back-to-front scheme sketching out on occasions when ice patches weren't evident or when big hard moguls were the only path down. Our best softer runs were on Big Horn. Another fine day capped with a stop at Steep Brewing (not the one at the hill 'cause it was mobbed, but the one on Rt 6). We headed back to for a spa soak at Steve's where my Saturday plan's changed when Steve slid out on his spa steps and gouged his back. Jim and I had a NestT session that eve after enjoying good bowls of pho.

I installed a space heater in the drained spa and made a service appointment with Heavenly... grrr.