Durango Mountain Ski Resort - Purgatory

When Karen asked us if we wanted to go skiing with her in Durango, we said, "Um, YES!!"  We spent two whole days enjoying the long rolling runs in 50 degree weather while Karen took a class in adaptive skiing.  She learned how to ride a ski bike so she can spend all day on the mountain instead of just doing a couple of runs and heading home.  The guys did a great job of teaching her how to ride a ski bike and she had a huge smile on her face the entire time.  It was great to see her so happy, and of course we enjoyed ourselves as well.  It was fun to ski someplace new and we appreciate Karen taking us.  Wolf Creek is still our favorite, though, and probably always will be.

I'm sorry the quality of these pictures isn't very good.  We tried a new camera and it was a real disappointment.  They don't blow up any bigger than this.  :(

This map shows where all the runs are.  They have 10 lifts!

Sitting here outside Purgy's you can watch people coming down the mountain.  There is a jump right there too so you can watch people hot-shotting.  So cool to watch!

That lift takes 6 people up at a time.

The view from the lift is indescribable and these pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.  We are so blessed to have been able to ski here.  What a beautiful part of the world we live in!

That is the resort down below.  We stayed in town.

Karen and Ken outside Purgy's.

This is Karen's ski bike.

And these were her instructors, Bill who has 16 years experience teaching skiing, and Rene who just started this year and had tons of enthusiastic support to offer.  Karen goes back next week (Durango is 99 miles away) for one more day of training and then she gets a certification that hopefully will allow her to bring a ski bike to Wolf Creek.  The two you see here have even offered to come to Wolf Creek to help her adjust.  Now that is something!  We were all so pleased with how her instruction went.  It wasn't easy for her, not emotionally or physically, but she set those fears aside and followed through and now she can certainly be proud of herself.  I know we are sure proud of her.  Limitations smashed!  Here are some pics of her on the mountain learning a new way to ski.  She even did a black diamond run!

She wore little skis on her feet too.

Since we were skeeing (I like it better spelled that way, like they did in the old days) on Ballentine's Day, Ken and I got each other new hats.  I needed a new one with a ball on top.  :)

It wasn't easy to find just the right ones with so many to choose from!  We had fun trying lots of them on and I took pictures of just about every one, but unfortunately we lost the entire first day's pics.  :(

I really like Ken's choice of hats.  Don't you?

A side view of a very thin Ken wearing his new hat. 

Oh yeah, and look at the view behind him.  Whew!

The guy in the yellow vest is on the Mountain Safety Patrol.  In other words, they pull you over for speeding.  Ken got lucky when he had his jump/wreck next to the "Slow - No Jumping" sign because this guy wasn't on duty yet.  :)  Wish I had pics of Ken's wreck.  He caught LOTS of air!

There was no shortage of runs.  Mostly an intermediate ski area we were able to explore most of the mountain.  We thought the blue runs were more like green runs. In other words, it was easier to ski than Wolf Creek.  The runs at Purgatory were like a roller coaster, though, winding through the trees with lots of ups and downs.  It was wonderful!

It was impossible not to stop and just stare at the views.

Freestyle area behind me.  We only saw a few people on it all day.  Weekday mornings mean hardly anyone is there.  We like that.  :)

Ken says, "I can go down that.  I can go down anything."  And he can.

Together on top of the world... in more ways than one.

Three exhausted happy friends.  

THANK YOU Karen!

Snow Snorkeling or "Snowkeling"

We had a great snow storm last week and when Karen said, "C'mon, Jen!  Let's go snow snorkeling!" I was ready to go.  We donned our masks and snorkels (okay, ski goggles and snorkels) and headed out to play.  We did a room service, walked around the block and talked to a trucker, and we thought about stopping at Biggin's Restaurant, but doubted if they had any seafood.  Snicker.

 Karen tries to snorkel in the hot tub.

 Coming up for air

Ick!  Tastes like old ocean.

So silly.  :)

"Heroes"

The following is an article that appeared in the JRLiggett's February Newsletter.  A wonderful lady named Joy Richter was the author and I think she did a FABULOUS job.  What do you think?

"Heroes" by Joy Richter

Our SUPER Long Fleece Hats

When we weren't able to find any weird/cool ski hats in the stores around here, I got online and discovered these REALLY great hats made by a man in Virginia named Ryan Williamson.  His company is called TheMouseWorks and you should really check out his unique polar wear.  Not only is it made from recycled fleece, Ryan also generates nearly ZERO trash because he recycles everything, and he sleeps outside most of the time!  An interesting fella to say the least.  Anyway, my dear friend Elizabeth got Ken and I each a hat for Christmas and now they are the only hats we wear skiing.  They are so long, 4 feet long to be exact, that you can wrap the tail around your face and neck as a scarf or you can let it fly and slap people with it as you ski past them.  We get LOTS of compliments on them.  Here are a few pics of us wearing our hats at WCSA yesterday:

 Ken taking a little break.  His beard is getn long!!

 Ken showing off the bottoms of his Faction skis.  Snicker.

Me sitting proudly by my Fatypus E-motion skis.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

WCSA (Wolf Creek Ski Area)

Yesterday was another fantastic day for skiing.  Warm weather in the 40s means some of the snow up there is melting and that's not good, but it sure does make it pleasant for skiing.  We are down to one camera now, so these were taken with the Nikon.  We don't plan on taking it with us every time, though.  Slows you down worrying about it getting hurt.

 Since we've become Intermediate skiers we can take this lift up to the steeper stuff.  This is the Treasure Lift and from the top of it you get to see this:  (Click on the pictures to see them much better)

You have to be sure and stop to take it all in so you don't get distracted by the views while you are trying to ski.  This area is my favorite part of the whole place.  So far.

Ski Patrol.  Thank you.

 Snow Dog.

Snow Cat.

 Down there below me is Ski School.  A field trip from Monte Vista meant lots and lots of VERY excited short people on the slopes.  They were so much fun to watch, and to yell at from the lifts.  Their energy reminded me of when I took Alex skiing so many years ago.

 The instructors earned their paychecks yesterday.

 Lots of people start their kids early but this is the youngest I've seen.  This baby girl already gets to feel what it's like to snowboard with her Daddy!

 As they get older they are tethered to their parents.

That way they don't get too far away.  I think it's so great that people take their kiddos skiing. 

Vintage lift.

 Ken, realizing I was still snapping pictures after his spill, began posing.

 Our classic pose.  I don't know why I always put my foot up.  :)

 Walking is the hardest part of skiing.

Black Diamond Blizzard

On the 28th of November Karen took us skiing - in a BLIZZARD!  We were worried about going since there was a SEVERE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY in affect.  She said, and I quote, "This is a perfect day to ski."  So up the mountain we went and she was right!  I still prefer sunny skies but this experience was something we will never, ever forget, and I am sure we will be talking it about for years to come.

 The day started out great!

 That's me in the front and Karen coming up behind me.

 Karen's looking down on me because...

I am down here!  I fell down while I was just standing there.  How dumb.

 It was about this time that the snow really started coming down.. .

 And then WE started falling down...

 We couldn't see the trail signs, took a wrong turn, and ended up in these moguls in a black diamond area for expert skiers.  It was so cold that my goggles froze up so I had to take them off so I could see well enough to get down and I got snowflakes in my eyeballs.  Lots of them. I don't know how, but I made it down without falling (bragging rights).  Afterwards we were all exhausted, but after some hot coffee we kept on skiing.

 Ken cleaning up after his Yard Sale.

 Once he had gathered all of his equipment, he tried to put the skis back on in the deep snow.

 Karen, who has much more experience than we do out there, realized it would be a better idea to walk back out to the slope.  

Look at how deep that snow is!

 It was like we were inside a huge, white, cold cloud.  When it snows this much everything gets muffled and quiet.  It's very surreal and as long as you are properly dressed, you get to experience a peaceful yet intense connection to Mother Nature.  Immersed, yes, that's the word...

 Look at all the ice in his stache!  Brrr!  

 Time to call it a day...  We sure bought the right vehicle for up here.  

Many, many thanks to Karen for getting us up there on the mountain.  Left up to us, we probably would have stayed home and missed out.  We are now Powder Hounds!