High and Dry on Colorado's slopes

JEREMY SWANSON

OVER THERE: Cutting through Snowmass's aspen groves in waist-deep powder is an exotic experience for Kiwi skiers.

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It is hard to beat the sensation of floating in a sea of icing sugar. Somewhere below the powder my skis are turning effortlessly as I sail through the glade of lodgepole pines.

A few minutes earlier I thought it impossible to manoeuvre between those body- breaking tree trunks, but Kiwi ski instructor Dave Grogan said it was easy as apple pie – "Look at the gaps, not the trees. If you look at the trees you'll hit them. Remember the powder will slow you down." And by the way, "Don't forget to breathe". Enough, says Dave, and disappears into the trees. I follow. Terror is replaced by exhilaration and yells of delight.

We are skiing Snowmass, four hours' drive from Denver into Colorado's Rocky Mountains and a great base to ski or snowboard the four Aspen fields, all within 20 minutes on a shuttle bus. You don't have to carry your gear: just leave your skis in the corral at Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands or Buttermilk with a note of where you're skiing the next day, and your gear will be waiting at the bottom of the lift.

The accommodation, restaurants, bars and shops are on the slopes at Snowmass. Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich has a house on one of the runs, but if you're not a Russian billionaire there are condos at reasonable rates.

Like most Colorado skifields, the terrain is diverse but Snowmass is strong on family skiing with great kids facilities. They have fireworks every Friday, and open an upgraded Treehouse, a kind of super-creche, this season.

My dream of skiing higher than Aoraki Mt Cook was realised on the first day of a seven-day tour of the ski fields around Aspen and Vail. A couple of warm-up runs with Dave – who commutes between Aspen/Snowmass and Canterbury's Mt Hutt, where he heads the ski school – and we slide off a small solar-powered chairlift into a meadow of fresh snow not far above the tree line. We are at the top of Snowmass, 60 metres above the 3754m Aoraki.

It is an effortless slow-motion journey through the calf-deep powder down towards the trees, then into them, my second ski dream.

Back home, I find "powder" heavy, almost wet and hard to turn in. Here it is dry. It's like skiing in goose down.

An hour-long lunch at a mid- mountain lodge sets us up for an afternoon of cruisy runs before the aches and pains get soaked away in spa pools set in the snow. Then it's apres ski drinks, a hearty meal and a blissful sleep.

Twenty minutes away by shuttle bus is Aspen, a silver mining town turned haven for the rich. The average house price is NZ$10 million. More valuable to keen skiers is Aspen Mountain, a testing skiers' mountain. It is steep with plenty of bumps and high-speed runs that sweep past the trees. There are no green runs here. On the world championship downhill course, your heart is in your mouth as you think you are going to drop into the town 1000m below.

Our guide here is another Kiwi, Georgie Bremner, who heads the Aspen ski school. She gets to pick the best talent and employs 2500 instructors.

We check out a silver mine halfway up the slopes – they're barbecuing bison ribs on the deck – then slide into the trees to see one of the many shrines to dead musicians. John Denver, of Rocky Mountain High, fame is there in the form of photos stapled to a tree trunk and beads and wind chimes in the branches. Among the others are Jerry Garcia and Elvis. Is that marijuana I can smell?

The sundeck restaurant atop Aspen has great views of Aspen Highlands and the legendary Highlands Bowl. This steep off-piste bowl dropping from 3700m peaks is prepared by locals who boot-pack the early snow for the price of a season pass.

It snows throughout the night and it's still coming down when we get into a Hummer for the short trip to Beaver Creek. The Hummer's owner is a former Pentagon analyst who came out west after a passenger jet slammed into his workplace on 9/11. He is now very happy renting out Hummers and Mini Coopers.

At Beaver Creek, they boast luxury and service. You ride escalators to the snow and the jewellers open by appointment. The cheapest piece in the window is US$10,000.

I supplement breakfast with codeine, paracetamol and ephedrine and suddenly I am back in top form, screaming through 13cms of powder on top of freshly groomed trails. This skiing is effortless. Wide turns kick up clouds of powder and following someone is like driving second on a dusty road. We spend the day with Nanette and Nick Kuich, retired folk who are among the 150 mountain hosts at the resort. This couple can sure ski and we are shown the best the mountain can offer.

Diving into Thresher Glade, I forget Dave Grogan's words, and look at a tree. Somehow I miss it but find myself buried headfirst in snow and have to dig for my skis. In waist deep powder on a steep slope, I can't figure out how to get my skis back on. Fellow Kiwi Simon Louisson knows the technique, though: put your back against a tree, stand your ski up in front of you then lift your leg at right angles to your body and push your foot into the binding. Those yoga stretches come in handy.

Each day has got better, but can Vail beat Beaver Creek? Next morning I'm crook as dog and figure I will cruise Vail's groomed trails. My guide Pat has other ideas. We warm up on the front side, skiing the 6.5km Riva run on the groomed snow then it is out back to Blue Sky Basin, 9km from the base. There are tracks to get you there, but Pat – who can just about dance on Telemark skis – has us into the powder straight away. What a buzz.

Forty-five minutes around the corner is Breckenridge, a mining town that became a ski resort. Unlike, Aspen it still has the wild west feel. There was no prohibition in Breck because the locals would have killed the sheriff if he had tried to shut the pub.

Breck has a great range of terrain and the highest lift in the United States, the Imperial Express, which climbs to 3914m. It offers some of the best skiing above the treeline.

In the spring sunshine and a mild minus 4C one forgets how harsh the climate can be. The local paper has the story of a 28-year-old New York banker who left a town bar drunk on February 8 this year. His body was found just along the road when the snow began to melt in April.

Cream of Colorado:
When the Colorado ski season opens on Thanksgiving this week, Aspen/Snowmass will unveil more than NZ$65 million of new products and upgrades, including two new restaurants, a new chairlift, a 22-foot Olympic-sized halfpipe, and more ski terrain.
Snowmass Largest of Aspen Ski Company's resorts. Vertical runs: 1343m. Ski area: 1267ha. Trail types: easiest 6 per cent, more difficult 50 per cent, most difficult 12 per cent, expert 32 per cent. Features: purpose-built children's centre, excellent beginners' facilities.
Aspen Vertical runs: 996m. Ski area: 272ha. Trail types: easiest 0 per cent, more difficult 48 per cent, most difficult 26 per cent, expert 26 per cent. Features: Celebrity "shrines" (remember John Denver). Aspen Highlands Vertical runs: 1108m. Ski area: 409ha. Trail types: easiest 18 per cent, more difficult 30 per cent, most difficult 16 per cent, expert 36 per cent. Features: Highlands Bowl. aspensnowmass.com
Vail Largest ski area in America. Vertical runs: 1052m. Ski area: 2141ha. Trail types: 18 per cent beginner, 29 per cent intermediate, 53 per cent expert/ advanced. Features: great off-piste skiing Beaver Creek Designed for an upmarket clientele. Vertical runs: 1231m. Ski area: 730ha. Trail types: 19 per cent beginner, 43 per cent intermediate, 38 per cent expert/advanced. Features: World Cup downhill race course.
Breckenridge Vertical runs: 1036m. Ski area: 954ha. Trail types: 14 per cent easiest, 31 per cent more difficult, 19 per cent most difficult, 36 per cent expert. Features: highest chairlift in North America.

* Jon Anderson was hosted by Colorado Ski Country and Air New Zealand.

- © Fairfax NZ News