February09

2009 Snowboard Trip, By El Numeros

Another year, another snowboarding trip. Sadly, this time there were only two of us. But when it's January, it's time to head to the mountains and so that's exactly what Eric and I did. This year's trip took us to Keystone, Colorado. We usually take a shuttle, or taxi, from the airport to our final destination, but this year with only two of us, it was around $100 cheaper if we just rented a car.

What we didn't know about Keystone is that it's called the "Donut Hole" of resorts. It's called that because when the other local resorts are getting tons of snow, Keystone ends up with a very minimal amount. After a record snow-fall in December, the yield wasn't as plentiful in January. Luckily for us, the snow came back the night we arrived and each morning there were 2-4 inches of new snow to ride. Keystone is one of the smaller mountains we've been to, but it was really cool and a lot of fun. Two and a half days on the mountain were about perfect.

We also rode Vail for a day due to some special with our lift tickets. Last year, I thought Steamboat was the biggest mountain I've ever been to. Without comparing number of trails between the two, I'm willing to bet that Vail has more groomed acreage than Steamboat. The mountain was gigantic. Not only did the normal peaks have groomed backsides -- but at the base of one of the backsides, you could hop another lift to ANOTHER mountain. That's a LOT of ground to cover in one day. Unfortunately, for as big as Vail is, there are a TON of roads, and that makes snowboarding sometimes difficult.

Just as I've done in the past, here is the trip breakdown, in numbers:

Basics

...dudes on the trip: 2
...snowboards taken: 2
...laptops taken: 1
...phones with internet access taken: 1
...iPods taken: 0 (unless you count the iPod Phone)
...some other MP3 players taken: 1

The Flights

...bags checked: 3
...times asked if we had received our free t-shirt by signing up for a new credit card with Capital One: 4 times in 30 minutes, wtf
...hours spent in airports: 2, if that
...number of seats empty on both flights (total): 67
...correct answers on the "difficult" crossword puzzle: 28
...sudoku puzzles worked: 2 (one "warm-up," one "expert")
...pages of Bloodlines (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 2) read: 170
...times we said, "who on Earth would buy that," while looking at SkyMall: 17

The Rental Car

...minutes to get from Denver's International Airport to car rental facility: 15
...miles between Denver's International Airport and Keystone Resort: 98
...number of seconds the central console would tell us the car was a Ford Focus when we started the engine: 5
...number of car radios capable of interfacing with an external mp3 player: 1
...number of cords to hook-up said mp3 player with car radio: 0
...minutes it took to realize we had satellite radio: 35
...times we didn't realize we were listening to a pro-GOP radio station and then promptly changed it: 4
...times Eric drove the car: 0
...miles of stopped traffic going back to Denver while we were on our way to Keystone: 15
...average miles per gallon inside the Focus: 45ish (yeah, seriously)

The Condo

...bedrooms: 1
...beds: 2 (one normal, one hide-away)
...WiFi connections found: 3
...WiFi connections able to use: 2
...average number of minutes before WiFi connection stalled: 8
...hot tub visits: 1
...guys that worked on the mountain and REALLY wanted to go to Loveland, ride their sleds and get some "footy": 3
...times we asked what sleds and "footy" was: 1
...inches of snow that fell while in the hot tub: .25
...episodes of Extras watched: 6 (only had season 1, sorry Eric)
...episodes of Lost we missed: 1
...episodes of Lost we really didn't miss after all: 1
...minutes of Lost we missed due to thinking we missed it: 4
...documentaries watched about Ted Haggerty: 1
...times we felt sorry for Ted Haggerty and his now-crappy life: 13

Keystone, Dillon and Breckenridge

...cases of beer purchased at liquor store on a SUNDAY (yes, Sunday): 1.5
...grocery store visits: 4
...beers consumed during lunch at Breckenridge Brewery: 4
...Breckenridge Brewery beers purchased to take back to condo: 6
...Breckenridge Brewery beers that busted in the condo garage: 4
...hours spent in Borders Books while waiting for the movie: 1.75
...movies watched at the Dillon Trans-Lux Theatre: 1 (it was that one movie about dirty animals and a really, really rich guy)

Meals of Food

...dinners cooked at home: 5 (chicken salad, beef salad, spaghetti, roast beef, pizza)
...roast beef wasn't really that good, at all: 1
...items we left behind because we didn't finish them: 3 (not bad at all)
...lunches on the mountain: 3

Keystone (see map)

...days on the mountain: 2
...nights on the mountain: 1
...times I had to remove my lift ticket to be scanned: 0 (I LOVE RFID)
...times we went down Elk Run (or started on it and went wherever the snow took us): 9
...days it took us to find the best run on the mountain: 1
...times unbuckling on “roads”: 2 (I think)
...minutes spent digging out of incredibly deep powder: 0
...times older ladies told Eric that they "really liked his jacket": 2
...hours we spent in the A-51 Terrain Park: 1.5
...rail sliders we did in the A-51 Terrain Park: 15
...times I forgot you can't really jump off an edge while on a box: 1
...times I ate shit because you can't really jump off an edge while on a box: 1
...slightly bruised tailbones, ribs and asses: 1 of each

Vail (see pdf map)

...days on the mountain: 1
...minutes it took to get to Vail: 65
...times I was white-knuckled while driving on snow/ice to Vail: 11
...minutes to find a parking spot in the parking garage: 2
...dollars it cost to park in Vail all-day: $24
...times we said, "damn, Vail is huge!": 7
...roads we had to skate on because Vail is so huge: 7
...trails we went on before finding one we liked: 14

Misc.

...balaclavas purchased: 1
...new jackets I really wanted to buy: 2
...new sets of gloves purchased: 1
...times we wish we had more Session beer after we ran out: 6

Conclusion

...times I was glad to be there: around 1,000

+ original post date: February 9, 2009 09:36 PM
+ categories: Family/Friends, Travel/Vacations

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Icestorms experienced while you guys were gone: 1
Times I wished I was there: 1000
Times Todd cut the cheese in the office while you guys were gone: 1000
My favorite number: 1000

+ author: Dustin Bartholomew
+ posted: February 9, 2009 11:11 PM

Wouldn't that be "los numeros" instead of "el numeros?"

+ author: smanley
+ posted: February 13, 2009 12:06 PM

Not in my mundo, Sam. Not in my mundo.

+ author: seth
+ posted: February 13, 2009 12:52 PM

February09

2009 Snowboard Trip, By El Numeros

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