Maui Ski Bus

Departing the Vail Valley led us to the entrance to the Aspen Valley, with a slight detour to the left in a town called Eagle. Soaring with eagles, breaking new trails, and pushing the limits, is in my comfort zone. One past experiance encompasing all of the post three was a solo overnight windsurf trip that I did from Kapalua, Maui to Waikiki, Oahu. The winds were 25 plus knots and the seas were 10-15 feet plus.

There is a rythym to these huge open ocean waves and I can maneuver between the larger ones when I feel their rythym. However, a rogue wave has no rythym, no warning, and a surprise attack happens, as it lurches at anything in its path. The wave beast did dive on me, as an eagel dives on its prey. A 20 foot plus wall of whitewater towered over Da Slippa{my first custom built windsurfer} and my safety reaction was to dive into the face of this beast. As an added danger, this all happened at 2 am, in the middle of the Molokai Channel, within view of the lights of Waikiki.

A Cruz, a Cara, and a Chan, all live in Eagle and welcomed MauiSkiBus.com, Carolyn, Franklin, Gykaiya, and myself with a true  meaning of Aloha. The warmth of their home was most enjoyed by Gykaiya, as she seems to be the one least enjoying sleeping in the non-heated tropical looking MauisSkiBus.com. A huge Mahalo goes to the Tri C’s of Eagle, Colorado.

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The ocean attracts many for numerous reasons. Was it our original birthplace as humans? The mysterys of her depth? Maybe there are secret wonders that trigger our sub-consious? The fear of storms, creatures, or of the inability to breath underwater? Of course many delight in and around the ocean as a playground, whether a walk along the beach, a dip in her wetness, or extreme adventure above and below her beauty.

As evaporation leads to rain or snow, this process leads back to the ocean, starting with a creek. In this case it was Beaver Creek, #18 on the list. A well designed and planned out village, with plenty of elbow room in between, added with a conservative flair. Activities abound, smiles are everywhere, and the latest of everything is here.

A bit of warmth will greet you at first and the “scene” will delight you at the end. We stayed and enjoyed the post-skiing activites, watching all that enjoyed, and sharing in the excitement as well. Beaver Creek was evolved from the success of Vail, two sister resorts just a few miles apart. Which one is better? That is a question I feel can not be answered. What is the best car, the best wine, the best of anything at this level of elegance? Why dwell on that question, just enjoy, as neither will disappoint and both will leave a skier or snowbarder yearning to return, especially on powder days with no lift lines, and this does happen at both resorts.

Many thanks goes to Jen Brown and Evan for their open arms welcoming MauiSkiBus.com to their reosrt. The Ski Patrol here also showed an interest to this adventure, as most that we met had read the article that was written by John La Conte of the Vail Daily[Dec. 30, 2011}

Contact MauiSkiBus.com at mauistyl@maui.net

On New Year’s Eve day in 1988 or 89, I was one of the first Haole’s{caucasians} to join in a peaceful protest on Maui of the proposed building of the the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua, Maui. This Hawaiian Kanaka{Hawaiian bloodline} organized event attracted pure blooded Hawaiian’s from all over Hawaii. Why? The Ritz Carlton Kapalua was to be built on a Hawaiian cememtary where over 1500 remains were buried.

This was a cloudy overcast day and the event was very well organized and peaceful. Around mid-afternoon the Makani{wind} came Wiki{fast} and blew ten miles down the coastline to a more modern cemetary called “Hanakao’o”. The Makanl Wiki was so intense, around a dozen electric powerlines were blown over and blocked the access to Lahaina from the resort areas to the north.  The way that locals and tourists  got around this area was the Sugar Cane Train that ran all New Year’s Eve.

The day that I skied Vail, the largest ski resort in the USA, Colorado had winds of 50-100 mph. On the upper peaks of Vail,  the winds blew so hard, on some of the slopes it was hard to go downhill. The most interesting part of this day was that Vail was packed with skiers and snowboarders. Why? Because it is Vail. A resort with a class and reputation known world over. I heard numerous differnt languages, saw the newest and best gear, and marveled at the organization that this huge resort has.

Liz Biebl, Vail Mtn. Communications Mgr., set myself up with a pass to enjoy Vail with John La Conte, a free lance reporter with the Vail Daily. John is quick witted, snowboards like a pro, and knows the Vail Ski Resort well. He works in his own “Boardroom”, introduced me to one of the Ski Patrol huts, and knows all the secret “Local’s Only” spots. This was the third interview that I did concerning MauiSkiBus.com.

Vail, a resort that I have visited before and one that I will ski again. The frontside is abuzz with energy and the back bowls are known world over. Moguls skiers play on the bumps with a grace and ease, instructors seem to be everywhere, and my legs yearn for another day on this mountain. It is appropiate that Vail was to be my sweet sixteen resort on my quest to ski over 100 this year. Aloha to you, “Nani Wahine”{beautiful lady} Vail.

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75 years is the average age that most Americans will live and that also equates to 900 months. That is also how old Loveland Ski Resort is, on the east side of the Loveland Tunnel. In the early days of skiing, wooden skis and leather bindings were the norm. Now heated boots and gloves are easy to come by, skis almost turn themselves, and snowboarding is the rage for the younger set. So a question is written here, what will skiing/snowboarding be like in 75 years?

The marketing manager, John Sellers, welcomed MauiSkiBus.com with a parking spot upfront, access to wi-fi, and a pass to explore this very high ski resort. The mountain tops out at over 13,000 feet, has extreme chutes, opens in late October, and closes in May. A good mix of beginner and expert skiing is here and the mountain is big, but the feel is small in the lodge. One run actually goes under I-70 and the access to this resort is easy. Lift tickets are more than fair and the drive from the Vail/Breckenridge area is very scenic. I would reccommend a day here, as everything about Loveland seemed easy. Some love was left for this ski resort when MauiSkiBus departed.

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A stones throw away from I-70 at Silverthorne is Keystone Ski Resort. I had tried to contact them and had no success, so I ended up buying a twilight ticket that runs from 2pm to 8pm. Keystone is busy, real busy, and there are many good skiers there, as the mountain is loaded with black colored advanced ski runs and a huge terrain park. Signs stating slow skiing abound, lifts run side by side, skiers and boarders move around like wild ants, and most people have to use the bus from the parking lots to get to the slopes. I actually enjoyed the buzz and the scene.

Keystone has a bit of a wild feel and if the snow was better, I could see that there are great runs that are challenging and not busy. The front side of the mountain seems to be more of the attraction for intermediate skiers/boarders and the back is what I like. The night skiing was good and there are many runs dedicated for the later crowd. Just remember that when the sun goes down, so does the red of the thermometer. Brrr…

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MauiSkiBus made it from Avon, CO. to Copper Mountain over the Vail Pass, 10,622 feet high on Christmas Day. A speeding ticket was not even a concern, as the speedometer registered 25mph. So, what’s the hurry, ever heard of “Maui time”?

Copper is an excellant mountain that does not get as much exposure as other Summit County ski resorts. The Ski Patrol got a kick out of MauiSkiBus, the guys working in the deli added extra vege patties on the house for MauiSkiBus.com stickers, and the legs got a workout from some local skiers that knew the mountain well. Due to the lack of Summit County snow, many of Copper’s mogul runs were not open. So wide open groomed runs were the slopes of the day.

Contact MauiSkiBus.com at mauistyl@maui.net

After skiing in Angel Fire, we drive at night in a snowstorm on a mountain road through the Cimarran Pass of New Mexico. I had at first decided not to go straight north from Angel Fire and drive to the Vail/Beaver Creek area. That was my one mistake and I decided to have only one mistake and double back through the same storm and go to Wolf Creek. This storm had cars and semi-trucks in the ditches, snowy icy roads, and steep mountain passes to ascend and decend. MauiSkiBus handled the roads with no problem, as I bought the best snow tires I could find. I drove within an hour of Wolf Creek and decided that a rest was in order. I found an electrical outlet at a closed gas station, plugged in the engine block heater and interior heater, and went to bed. When I awoke in the morning, it was -10 degrees. So much for that Maui tropical 80 degree weather.

The drive to Wolf Creek is through a wild side of Colorado. Not too much as developement goes and the resort attracts skiers/snowboarders that want a snowy mountain, not a fancy lodge. Go to Wolf Creek for the mountain. Forget the rest of what many ski resorts have. The snow was great, the runs were terrific, and the down side of this “Tropical Ski Bum” adventure is that I had just one day there. Onward to Summit County.

Contact MauiSkiBus.com at mauistyl@maui.net

One of the things that takes hours of time is contacting the marketing departments at all of the different ski resorts that I have on my list. Some have hard to find contacts on their web pages, some do not respond at all, and some have marketing managers that are awesome. Ann Powers of Angel Fire was our Angel for the day. Not only did she contact us to find more details of arrival, she skied with me, introduced me to the Ski Patrol manger Hawke, had coffee in the lodge, and did follow-up after our visit. This is what will make a medium size resort have a good reputation of a large size resort.

Angel Fire Resort is about 30 minutes from Taos, on a beautiful drive through the New Mexico Rockies. The village itself is newer in design and offers extensive mountain biking in the summer. The slopes are excellant for the family and the skiing will be easy on the wallet. Wildlife abounds in this area and they have plans to add cross country on their activity list.

Overall, the Sante Fe/Taos area is an excellant area to visit,offering Indian and old West history, wildlife, scenic vistas, 12,000 foot mountains, great skiing, and tasty food with an abundance of characters living there.

Contact MauiSkiBus.com at mauistyl@maui.net

http://www.taosnews.com/news/blogs/article_947d54f4-2a51-11e1-8e47-0019bb2963f4.html

Check out this article

The Sante Fe/Taos area is rich in Indian history and it is interesting to try to imagine what life was like back in the real Indian days during the winter. No heat other than the fire that constantly needed attention. A winter bubble bath did not even exist. Nor a hot shower. Sleeping under deer/buffalo hides at night. Food was not at a crazy Super Walmart, nor a dinner for two with wine and a romantic candle.

This area also is rich in the old cowboy history. Many cowboys were like many sailors of that era, a bit on the rowdy side. Cowboys had whiskey and sailors had rum. One rode a horse, one rode a ship. One carried a Colt and the other a dagger.The cowboys that lived on the edge were called outlaws and the sailors on the edge were called pirates. Cowboys were known to rob and sailors were known to pillage.

MauiSkiBus ended up in the repair yard of Hal Burns for four extra days repairing rod/main bearings on the crankshaft. During this time we were able to borrow a company truck and hike up the 60 year old Sipapu with the dogs and ski down. Franklin again was the speed king down the mountain and we had to wait for Gykaiya at the bottom. Carolyn ended up getting sick after this trek and did not ski for over ten days.

Ski Sante Fe is a 45 minute drive up a steep windy road from from Sante Fe itself, to a base of 10,300′. The mountain has a nice slope line and the view from the top back down on Sante Fe and the surrounding desert is interesting when one is on skis and snow at nearly 12,000 feet.  This is a fine mountain and I would have liked to spend more time here.

Contact MauiSkiBus.com at mauistyl@maui.net