Keystone, Breckenridge, and Copper Mountain

We left the Lady Luck Casino Hotel in Blackhawk this morning after a good night’s sleep. After about fifteen miles of winding mountain road, we entered onto I-70 to head west for a bit. We immediately encountered slow traffic and road construction. Traveling on the interstate, we realized that driving in Colorado in the winter is serious business. Apparently, when conditions get back enough, vehicles are required to be equipped with tire chains. We saw several of these signs, all on the interstate.

Fortunately, we weren’t on the interstate for very long before we exited at Georgetown. We planned to see a little museum in the town’s power plant. This town still uses the same power generating technology that they built in 1900, based on the water flowing down the mountain. Unfortunately it did not open until 11 am. We noticed the town had a wildlife viewing area nearby, so we tried that. It was a nice little raised area with a free binocular machine. Phillip and I scoured the hill for Bighorn Sheep, as the signs told all about them, but none were to be seen on that mountainside. So, I took a picture of the nearby reservoir with the mountains in the distance.

Instead of getting back on the interstate, we took the scenic route out of Georgetown toward Keystone, on a mountain road with went thru Loveland Pass. You made read the word “pass” and think that the road was the valley route thru the mountains. Nope. The road wound up and up with more of those hairpin turns. Maybe there’d be a guardrail, maybe not. And another thing, the roads all seemed to go up the mountain in a way that put the passenger side, my side, on the outside of the hill. The higher we got and the snakier the road became, the farther over toward the console I moved. By the time we made it to the top, I was practically sitting on the console like Zelda does. Phillip was laughing at me, but he was considerate enough to take his half of the road out of the middle if no cars were coming and he could.

The drive did make for some spectacular photographs. Some of these are from the pull-off at the continental divide.

After coming down the mountain from Loveland Pass, we arrived at Keystone ski resort, a planned stop. We wanted to check out some ski resorts in case we decide to ski somewhere else than our usual, Angle Fire in New Mexico. At Keystone and the next two ski resorts we visited, the facilities are used in the summer with mountain bikers. Because of all the off-road trails available, the bicyclists weren’t an issue for the motorized vehicles on the road. Keystone didn’t have a chair lift operating, so we walked around the resort. We stopped at the Starbucks and talked with the barista (he was male, so was he a baristo?) about Keystone and the other resorts. I noted that I prefer green runs. He referred to those as “mellow.” I sure like that better, to know that I am a mellow skier, not a wimpy skier, which is how I thought of it before my discussion with him.

Our next stop was Breckenridge Ski Resort. It is the largest in the area. We saw the gondolas operating, carrying folks up the mountainside. Phillip and I were prepared to pay up to $20 each to ride the gondola, so imagine our surprise when we went to the lift ticket window and found that the ride was free! The resort was not crowded and we did not have to share our six-person enclosed gondola on the three-stage ride to the top. At the top, and this is probably why the ride up and down was free, we found the family park area. Many activities (for a fee) for kids, including an area with snow that they could play in, bungee trampolines, and bobsledding. We ate lunch, walked around a bit, and rode the gondola back down the mountain. The pictures from our ride were taken thru the scratched plastic windows of the gondola.

The Keystone barista had mentioned Copper Mountain ski resort as a good one for mellow skiing. We made that our next stop and sure enough, it has an entire side devoted to green slopes. We saw that the open chair lift was operational. It was 3 pm and the sun was out, so the chair lift would not be uncomfortably cool. We approached the chair lift operator, again prepared to spend $20 each. This one wasn’t free, it was $10 each; however, for every $10 of food or merchandise we bought at Copper Mountain, we’d get a free lift ticket. So, inside the closest store, which happened to have all their ski gear, including ski socks, on sale, 50% off. I hadn’t bought a new pair of ski socks for about five years. Two pair of ski socks later, spending a total of $23, and we had our lift tickets! The chair lift took a full thirty minutes for the round trip up then down the mountain. It was great, comfortable but not cold, and no plastic between my camera lenses and the scenic view. Copper Mountain was our favorite because it was not a large as Breckenridge (which had plenty of green slopes but was too huge for us) and it was more “mellow” than Keystone.

Although our day started out badly, no museum and no bighorn sheep, it actually turned out quite well at the three ski resorts. We returned to the town of Dillon and a room at the Comfort Suites. The town grocery store is half a block away and we stopped there en route back and picked up dinner: (fresh) sushi, cherries, chocolate milk (for Phillip) and beer (Buffalo Gold, brewed and bottled in Colorado). Tomorrow, we head for New Mexico. It is actually a travel day that may have too much in it, a planned 260 driving miles as well as museums and other stops. We’ll either stop closer than planned or not have time to post a blog once we get to a hotel in Taos.