I have a 3 day weekend so I am taking full advantage of it. I am a snowboard bum. A very tired, busy snowboard bum.
Even on a holiday weekend of parties and celebrating Halloween here in Steamboat (I was a naughty cop) I still managed to grab friends and ride Loveland both days this weekend. This required early morning Starbucks or Red Bull and riding on about 4-5 hours of sleep each night. Tonight I should get about 9 hours of sleep before I hit the road again for A-Basin riding tomorrow.
SATURDAY
I went out Friday night and closed out the bar in town but I still managed to drink lots of water and wake up at 8am to snowboard. So I grabbed my friend Pete to come ride Loveland. I didn’t really grab him, just stopped by his house, walked upstairs and woke him up telling him to come ride for the day. It worked and we made our way down to Loveland.
It was the typical bluebird sunny day at Loveland which I love. The terrain wasn’t bad, it was hardpacked and it wasn’t groomed so a bit choppy throughout the day.
It was a lot of beginners again to avoid collisions with. I even saw some people who had to resort to walking down the run after they realized they didn’t know how or what they were doing. I know it’s tough…but investing in lessons is a smart choice.
The most fun part of the day was making sure it was only Pete and I on the chairlift with the exception of the ski patroller who was hell-bent on riding up with us. The others that wanted to ride with us were the jean-wearing skiers on straight skis and the beginner snowboard who could barely stand. Luckily we worked our magic and managed to not have to deal with them throughout the day.
It was a good day, we left in the afternoon to make sure we had time for relaxing before getting ready for Halloween parties last night.
Sunday
I slept but didn’t get home till 8am this morning and at 9am my friend Amy calls me asking if I’m still planning to ride and an hour later I’m getting ready to pick them up to ride.
I picked up Amy and John and we left Steamboat around 11am arrived around 12:30 at Loveland. It was their first day on snow for the season and first day for some of their gear as well so they were looking forward to it.
Even with getting there later in the afternoon, the lift line was the longest I’d seen it since opening but even then it wasn’t bad just meant enjoying each other’s company in the lift line. I saw some skiers I knew in the line and had a good time chatting up the Pow Shocker Gloves.
Conditions were good, another bluebird sunny day. I liked the riding conditions today better than yesterday and it wasn’t too bad with avoiding the beginners on the mountain. There were a couple more rocks that made their way onto the runs but no big damages.
Rode till last chair and made it back to Steamboat before dark. Now I’m tired and ready to head to sleep…knowing that tomorrow I’ll be riding A-Basin.
