edpaffjr.comWe headed out yesterday for our first snowboard outing of the season. This is after collectively spending over $500 on new equipment in the couple of days prior. Needless to say, we were ready and very excited to head out! We decided on Keystone, since we’ve heard that A-Basin is very difficult and Breckridge tends to be the most “touristy” and thus the most crowded.
As an added bonus, we went to Keystone a couple of years ago and were already a little familiar with the mountain, or should I say mountains. When driving there the first time, we took the Loveland Pass, but this time that route was closed and we went through the Eisenhower Tunnel and Dillon, Colorado. This route feels safer than through the Loveland Pass and possibly a little faster.
The time spent on the mountains was great! The mountains got a little snow on Saturday so there was some good powder and many groomed trails. I love my new board and new boots. The bindings leave a little to be desired, but they might be replaced soon anyway. Kim got some new boots and bindings for her board and for the first time went the whole day without severe pain and discomfort in her feet! The day ended when after a short break inside we attempted to get going again only to find that a small piece on one of my bindings was gone. Instead of risking injury, we took the gondola back down to the car and called it a day.
Earlier in the day we had heard about the traffic going back to Denver on Sunday. We decided to stay in Keystone for an extra hour to have some dinner and hopefully the traffic congestion would clear up by then. I’m not sure if it was any better earlier in the day, but we still ended up in bad traffic. It took us over an hour to drive the six or seven miles back to the Eisenhower Tunnel after getting on I-70. It got a little better after the tunnel, but we rarely went over 40 or 50 mph. The winds that were tearing through the mountains definitely were not helping. I think next weekend we’ll try a Saturday trip instead. Despite the traffic problems, it was a great first day!
What did you think of the Eisenhower Tunnel? I’m not a big fan of them but this one didn’t bother me to much. Have you and Kim ever been to Dillon, Co before. I have picture of Lake Dillon. I think it is pretty. We rode our bikes from Breckenridge to Lake Dillon. Nice little place. Couple of fun bars down there as well. Fresco, Co is an other place you can check out if you want to get off I-70 for a while to wait on the traffic. Glad to hear the snowboarding is working out well.
The tunnel seemed a little longer than I remembered from years back. I guess anything seems long when you are going under 40 mph.
I don’t recall ever driving through Dillon before. We stopped at a gas station, but that was about it for our Dillon experience. I did see the lake though, it was nice and frozen.