Breckenridge & Bay Area Visit

Writeup by Bill Whalen

Randy Schader, Howie Finch, Dick Deacy (neighbor of Howie) and Bill Whalen. 4 days of skiing (Breckenridge, Vail, Keystone, Copper) and then 2 days in the Bay Area staying at Leah’s house

Our Breckenridge hotel was the Taunhauser 2 on Main Street in the historic district. ($1400 for 4 days). We booked the 3rd floor because a write up said the street is noisy. And it was. Even on the third floor, every night we could hear partiers, plows, etc late into the night. Great location for walking about, but bad for sleeping. Randy had his private room with a king-size bed. Dick and I shared a room while Howie was on the couch. The hot tub was lukewarm and usually empty. There was a motor home parked out front illegally overnight and collecting daily tickets. They were staying at our hotel but our parking lot was too small for such a big vehicle.

Sat: usual airline snafus. Up at 4:45am. I was on the 2nd Chicago flight that morning. The first ended up being canceled. Overheard that there was no pilot. Those passengers were getting cranky. There were only 2 ladies working and they both disappeared with no explanation. My Syracuse flight was originally moved up 45 minutes earlier and then I had a one hour delay. Before leaving, the pilot informed us of an alternative landing (Dallas) if he is unable to land in Chicago. Comforting. No problem to Chicago. I was on-time in Denver (11:30am). Randy’s flight was bumped up an hour earlier so he arrived at 10:30am and had to wait for me. Howie, who was also supposed to land at 11:30 am, got delayed in Syracuse because of no pilot. He arrived late. Since he arrived at the last minute at his Syracuse gate, his luggage got placed on a different later flight. Now we had to wait for his luggage. By then (3:00pm) Dick had arrived. Since we were late to pick up our Liberty Jeep rental, they gave it away and upgraded us to a Dodge Durango. This was good because we totally filled this huge SUV. We stopped at King Scoop supermarket for lift tickets and food. Arrived in Breckenridge at 8pm.

That night the temperature was minus 1. After a small walk-about and watching the 10 best spring break locations on TV, we crashed early.

Sun: woke up at 4am. No room available for reading so I lied in bed till 6am. All of us slept poorly. Skied Breckenridge that day (10am -2:30pm). They called it partly cloudy, but I considered it full sun. Every ski day was hot and sunny. Always way overdressed. From our room, it was a short walk to Quicksilver lift and then up to Peak 10 for the Crystal and The Burn. (tree skiing). A few runs on Peak 9. Lunch at Vista House on Peak 8. a few diamond tree runs on lower peak 8 - Bone Yard, Amen, No Name. Psychopath gave Randy, Howie, and Dick a workout. We took the Imperial Express up Peak 8 to 12,840 feet. Extra height left to hike another 150’ to the peak and take Whale’s Tail over to the lift-less Peak 7. Not us. Didn’t ski any of the bowls. Face and nose got sunburnt. Outdoor happy hour at the Irish Pub. Went into Dillon for a steak dinner at The Mint. Picked out your own steak in a butcher’s cabinet and then cook it yourself on a huge 4x8 grill. They provided all the seasonings. Small walkabout in a warmer 25 degree Breckenridge night. Watched the 10 best beaches on TV and crashed at 9pm.

Mon: Up at 6am again. Skied Vail. Skied one run on Sun-up Bowl, China Bowl, and Outer Mongolia Bowl and then crossed over the creek to Blue Sky. The back bowls were OK. The Blue Sky region was the best. Soft, easy turning, blue-black and double black diamond tree skiing. Only made 2 runs on the entire front face of Vail – one to get to the Buffalo Lodge for lunch and the other to get down to the car.. Met up with an obnoxious guy, Dr Mark. He made it a point to tell us he was a doctor and he was always busy telling us which trails to take down. Happy hour at The Tap Room in Vail Village. Howie saved me from getting drenched by a huge water runoff when I was standing under a roof overhang. $4 snicker bars. For dinner, we signed in at Giampietro and then walked over for a beer at Jake’s Dive Bar. Had to have a “Man Beer”. Back to Giampietro for a great pizza. Home by 9pm and in bed at 9:40pm.

Like we need more sun.

Tues: up at the usual 6am but listened to my MP3 player till others woke up at 7am. Randy, of course, was already up and reading in his private room. Went to Keystone’s 3 mountains. It was the least enjoyable of the 4 days due to their snow conditions. The furthest mountain was an ungroomed collection of icy moguls so we skipped it completely. The first 2 were mainly wide groomed flat cruisers which got monotonous after a while. There were some limited fun mogul runs. However, they had an awesome outdoor lunch area in the sun (50 degrees) with blasting rock music. It was difficult to not to have a few beers and call it a day, but we rallied and skied on. Randy hurt his knee on the 2nd to last run (Jackface). I had plenty of energy to walkabout Breckenridge. With a cloud cover, it was much warmer. Randy was nursing a bad knee. Dinner of killer burgers at Kenosha. The Irish Pub was too crowded for a drink so we walked more and crashed at 9pm.

Wed: Goodbye to Dick. He only could stay for 3 days. Off to Copper Mt. Weather again was 100% sun, 50 degrees and the back bowls were perfect spring conditions of soft mushy steep moguls. So much fun we skied thru lunch. There was a cat to take you to another non-accessible bowl. No time for us to check it out. Took us 2 bus rides to get back to our car in the parking lot. Dinner again at Kenosha – soup, Thai coconut wings, and chili fries washed down with a bottle of merlot. Went home, changed into sweats, and then rallied to go out for a nightcap. Back to the Irish Pub where Howie treated us to a Middleton Irish whiskey. Watched a woman collapse to the floor. Thought she was drunk at first, and then decided she probably fainted due to over-exertion from climbing up the many steps to get in the pub.

Bill & Howie @ Copper

Thur: fly day. Leisurely breakfast. Mountain peaks in clouds. Time to leave. Left at 9am. Arrive airport 11am. Randy pre-paid for gas on the rental car and wanted to return it on fumes. We were low on gas so he bought one gallon at Breckenridge. The gas light was on for most of the trip back to the airport. We were watching the “miles to empty” gauge very closely. It was at 33 miles to go when we returned it. Too close for my comfort. Next time we’ll buy two gallons. Checked in our luggage and then found Howie at Concourse A at noon for a beer, burger, and watch the 1st half of the SU basketball second-round NIT playoff game against Notre Dame. Arrived in Oakland and rented an Avis car. Had to stop and ask an employee how to release the foot brake. A quick tour of Leah’s house and she was off to teach dance. We followed her and toured the building. 40 years of antiwar posters. Cool place. Then we went to Berkley for dinner. Bird House noodles at Saigon Express. Walkabout followed by a sambuca night cap at Becket’s Pub.

Bill @ Golden Gate Bridge

Fri: up at 6:30am. Had a breakfast of yogurt with Leah’s homemade granola. Randy and I drove over the Bay Bridge, across San Francisco to the Golden Gate Bridge. Stopped at the vista spot to admire the scenery and call Dad. Drove down to Sausalito for lunch at the Danish Lighthouse Café. Walked along the pier. They had an old 1929ish racing sloop. 60-80’ in length and winner of many races. Hiked through Muir Woods to see the giant 200’ tall redwoods. They live up to 1000 years. Randy’s bad knee prevented us from doing any extensive hiking. Drove down to Muir Beach to hear the crashing of the ocean waves. Then back to San Francisco to visit the City Lights Bookstore- famous as the center of the beat generation. (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg). Drove down the famous curvy Lombard Street. Walked Columbus Street, passed the Stinking Onion. I tried to see the Buddhist Church (largest in North America) but it was closed. Misread the map at first and thought it was torn down and replaced by a tall Hilton Hotel. Wrong corner. Oops. Hiked up towards the Coit Tower for a panoramic view of the city. On a loop back to the car, we went thru a girly-bar section. Seemed so out of place. A nightcap of gelato/espresso and then off to catch up with Leah. She was at a Zydeco dance hall in Alemeda. She was learning/practicing Zydeco for her upcoming church trip to help with the New Orleans’ cleanup. She was the only one from her church to show up. $15 cover and everyone but Randy and I were dancing. Some brought a towel and an extra shirt. Sweaty. Serious dancers.

My two best friends

Sat: breakfast at Leah’s and then off to Sonoma Valley for a winery tour. Luckily for a missed exit, we had to cross the Bay Bridge, cross SF and the Golden Gate Bridge again in order to head north to the wineries. Great view. Perfect weekend timing for the valley was having a “barrel tasting” weekend. $10 cover got you a glass and admission to dozens of wineries. We stopped at 8. – Dry Creek, Mazzocco, Rued, & Rocholi. I bought none since you can’t take them on a plane. Leah will deliver Randy his bottles when we all meet at Half Dome this June. Drove past the Raymond Burr winery. A beautiful sunset as we drove back to Leah’s. Diner at Café Raj to expose me to some good Indian cuisine. Took the scenic tour home thru many of Oakland’s districts.

Sun: Fly day. Spring forward time change. Lost one hour of beauty sleep. Leah had to be up at 2 am for some business work. Unfortunately, she set her watch to the new time zone prior to going to bed, so when she woke up at 1:45am it was one hour too early. Time didn’t change until 2am. A leisurely drive to the airport. Goodbyes and see you until we meet again in 10 weeks for the Half Dome climb.

Quotes: at Keystone after I skied partway down a narrow black diamond mogul field “this got ugly quick.” They must have heard me because they didn’t follow.

Breckenridge & Bay Area - March 2007

Costs: Airfare $585
Room 350
Ski pass (4 days) 309
Food/drink 304
Airport parking 60
Oakland misc 63
Misc cash 120

TOTAL $1800