Spring break 2006 presented an opportunity to check out a ski area that was within a reasonable distance (avoid flights) and promised a decent amount of snow. I surfed the web last week seeking such a destination and found Whitecap, a resort that Ski Magazine has posted favorable words on the years. Those reviews, along with a very attractive package ($199 per person for 3 nights, 3 day lift tickets, 2 dinners, 3 breakfast meals, rentals and a one hour daily group lesson) sealed the deal.

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I’ve been avoiding trips to local ski areas from many years. The AA tag on my ski bag tells the story. The last time the bag was used was a flight from Albuquerque to Dallas – our last pre-children ski trip. The ski bag, along with my boot bag made the journey from Dallas to Madison in 1993.

Living in a four season climate, my recreation thoughts have generally drifted toward warm weather vacations. However, and perhaps giving in to the inevitable, I put my fun but evidently outmoded skis (purchased at Denver’s Gart Brothers during my days there) in the car and made the short drive to Tyrol Basin early Saturday morning.

A glorious, sunny day, there were perhaps 15 cars in the lot as we walked toward the ticket office. The temperature and conditions were quite good, with only a bit of ice detected here and there.

Moments later, standing on top of the basin, I enjoyed the view and thought that it was quite pleasant to be within an hour’s drive of this place.

While checking out the basin’s runs – all except the moguls, my thoughts turned to:

• Training:
  I saw two (surprising) examples of skiers evidently losing control and requiring ski patrol assistance. Years ago, when I learned to ski in a more serious way (via a Swiss instructor at Loveland), he advised that I take a lesson at the beginning of each ski season. I think this is correct – and I spent a bit of time on Tyrol’s bunny hill last weekend, regaining my alpine perspective.
• The Road Not Taken:
  Like Frost, I prefer the less travelled and popular routes. Tyrol makes it easy to turn right off the main lift and ski down toward another lift, where very few people where skiing (moguls – not for me, but the black and blue runs were enjoyable). I chose this route quite a few times and very much enjoyed the views, serenity and a rather quiet late morning outing.
• Safety:
  There’s quite a bit more safety enhancements than I recall. A large, orange plastic fence now greets the skier as she turns off the triple chair. An out of control skier will be caught in this, rather than careening down the hill.
• The rise of snowboarding:
  Just starting to take off when I last skied, snowboarding is big time, today. I can see the friction between traditional alpine downhillers and snowboarders.
• Variety:
  Snowboarders, downhillers and telemark skiers mingled reasonably well at Tyrol. It’s great to see a few telemark folks sliding downhill.

Finally, my eldest added these notes:

You are weird skiing is odd and my lower back is sore!!!!! Overall it was a fun experience, and I would love to go more often next year!!! Thank you Nora for teaching me!!