What a difference a few weeks makes. The first time we headed out snowboarding the amount of terrain open at the resorts was all below 25%. Now they are all operating with at least 50% open, and some of them should be fully open by now. With that said, we headed out on Saturday morning to Breckenridge for our second day of the season. We didn’t have any problems with the drive up, and arrived around 8:30. We quickly grabbed our gear and headed out to meet up with our friends Corinne and Maura.

We started off on Peak 7, and after finding that most of the peak wasn’t open yet, went back over to Peak 8 and got in a bunch of quick runs. After the crowds started building up we went back over to Peak 7 and found that they had opened everything! We found some trails that had barely been touched and others which were being groomed as we went down. It was perfect! We ended our day at the base of Peak 7, where you can now walk to a stop on the BreckConnect gondola back down to the parking lots. I think we were out of there around 12:30, so nearly five hours or snowboarding and we almost got in ten total runs. It was enough to wear me out for the rest of the day.

Peak 7 on Dwellable

Peak 8 on Dwellable

Things are looking much better for the Colorado ski resorts with all of the recent snow that’s been falling. Most of the places on our pass are now operating with over 50% of their terrain open. And I think there is a chance of snow every day between now and continuing through the weekend. I cannot wait to get back out on the slopes and apparently neither can our visitors. We just confirmed reservations for multiple groups to come out in the next couple of months, so don’t wait much longer to get your weekend penciled in with us.

Kim and I spent this past weekend in Cincinnati and I snapped a few pictures of some of the various events. First you’ll see what happens when Cincinnati gets some snow and the Hais boys get bored. Yep, they figured out how to snowboard in the flat backyard. And then after that we traveled out to various spots in Indiana looking for a couple of perfect Christmas trees, including one that’s easily over 20 feet tall. I hope you enjoy the pics, I sure enjoyed taking them.

After losing a game last week, my adult hockey team is back on the winning side after this weeks game. We are no longer solely in last place, and are now tied for last with our 2-9 record. We beat a team that is barely ahead of us in the standings, 6-5. Though I didn’t score a goal, I added at least one assist to my stats and our line was really playing well. We accounted for at least half of the goals and were really able to work the puck around.

Things are not looking as good for my fantasy football team, in fact my season is officially over. The playoffs start this week and I definitely missed out with my last place finish in the league. All of this after I thought I drafted one of my best teams in years. I blame it on poor performances and injuries. Sounds like the Bengals, huh? At least the UC Bearcats are giving Cincinnati something to cheer about with their first Big East title and BCS Bowl Bid!

Let’s see, what else did we do over the long weekend besides stuff ourselves with lots of great food and wine? Well we tried to burn some of it off with a little exercise. Kim joined the University of Denver Recreation Center a week ago or so, and she got some guest passes for me to use before I decide to join or not. She has been wanting to get back into swimming, and since the local rec center doesn’t open early enough in the morning, she decided to check out DU and the rest is history.

So Saturday afternoon we headed over to there to do a half hour or so of cardio and then we decided to try out the racquetball courts. Before we left the house we looked up the basic rules of how to play, and then if we couldn’t remember the details we just made them up. I must say that it was a heck of a workout! I had never played before, but was still able to pull out the victory winning two of three games.

I haven’t been back to workout yet, mainly due to this little cold I’m fighting, but I’d like to go back soon. I still have four more guest passes to use. If I do join, they have drop in hockey throughout the week that could be fun, and that’s included in the membership. So I may considering joining full time, especially since it would only cost and extra $30 for me.

Sunday morning we finally took our first trip up into the mountains for a little snowboarding. Early season conditions have left a lot to be desired, but starting Thanksgiving lots of snow had been falling on the slopes. We checked the resorts and found out which had the highest new snow count. The winner was Arapahoe Basin with 16 inches in the past 24 hours and 28 inches in the last 48. We left the house around 9:30, deciding it still wasn’t worth our time to get up too early since very little runs are open anyway.

Well we didn’t arrive in the typical hour and a half that it usually takes, instead we were still driving after four hours. The snow was still falling throughout the drive, and there were reported high winds that closed a few roads around the state and led to a messy situation on I-70. I think we parked the car around 1:30 and quickly headed out to get some runs in. The snow was great, and there was tons of fresh powder, but the wind was really blowing up high causing extreme pain to any exposed skin. We took a ride down each of the open trails and then decided it was time for a little lunch.

Instead of heading back out at A-Basin, we instead headed over to Keystone since they wouldn’t be closing at four when A-Basin closes. I was also hoping that it wouldn’t be as painfully windy, but we soon realized that wasn’t going to be the case. In fact, the temperature was rapidly dropping so it was getting even colder. So we did one run at Keystone and decided to call it a day and head back home.

We knew the trip home wasn’t going to be easy, so we looked online to see what the estimated drive time was. We soon learned the estimate was worse than we had imagined. Cotrip.org was reporting that it would take over two hours to drive the eight miles from our exit up to the Eisenhower tunnel. So we decided to stop at a grocery store, have a coffee, do some shopping, and when we found out that the drive time was then estimated at over three hours we decided to grab some dinner at the Dillon Dam Brewery.

While waiting for a table, we were told that I-70 had been shut down completely at the tunnel. The restaurant was giving out direction to the local rec center that was going to be used to house the stranded travelers. So we waited and finally sat down to eat. Just as we were finishing up our server came to our table and told us that they had re-opened the highway. We quickly finished up and headed down the road and onto I-70. We weren’t moving fast, probably around 20 mph, but at least we were moving. We eventually made it back home just before 11, which made for a very long day. See what we have to go through just to have a little fun on the mountains?

Kim and I, along with a small group of friends, headed down to the Paramount Theatre on Friday night to watch Warren Miller’s latest film titled Children of Winter. I thought at this time last year we had already been out on the slopes, but looking back at the post from the Warren Miller film last year, it appears that I was wrong. This helps put my anxiety at ease, and I hope that the snowfall this year can only be as great as it was last year. I do see there is a potential storm coming in for Thanksgiving. Now we really need to wake the snow gods and hope that enough snow dumps so we can head into the high country this coming weekend.

I thought the movie was good. It’s always amazing to see what some of the skiers and riders are capable of, and it’s very impressive that it is all caught on film. But the part that was the most interesting was the segment on Skijoring in Leadville, Colorado. This event can best be described by first thinking of slalom waterskiing, but with horses instead of boats and icy jumps instead of forgiving buoys. I can’t find any info on the competition in Leadville, but it is definitely something I’d like to see. There is a short glimpse on what I’m talking about 30 seconds into this trailer for the film:

I’ve slowly been getting back into running over the past week or so. True, winter is a strange time to try to get back into running, but it’s been surprisingly mild in Denver recently. Yesterday I believe we broke the 80 degree mark, and it was very comfortable in the upper 60s when we went out for a run just after 5PM. I actually had to dig through my closet to find my running shorts as it was so nice out. I think this is longest time I’ve gone without any any ankle problems since my initial sprain last February. I think anything I can do to strengthen it even more, and get back to the way it was before then, is a good idea. So far we’ve gone out for a thirty minute run twice in the last week, and we will continue to do so when the weather is nice. Maybe I’ll even train to run another race, but I better not get too far ahead of myself.

Woohoo! We finally got our first snow in Denver. This is much later than last year, at least two weeks later. And I don’t think the inch or two will last very long, as we’ll be back in the low 60s by Sunday. I think everyone is just excited that the season is finally here. In fact Kim and I may head up to the mountains this weekend to do a little boarding. Even though very few lifts/trails are available at the few open resorts, it’s better than nothing.

Finally, my adult hockey team won our first game on Tuesday night! This team also gave us our first point at the beginning of the season after we lost in an overtime shootout. After taking an early lead, and despite multiple penalties toward the end of the game, we were able to hang on to win the game 5-4.

Unfortunately, the results were not as good for my fantasy football team. I’m back on the losing side of things after going down 78.35 to 86.75. So it wasn’t a complete blowout, I just need to make a few changes before this week. I bet that my playoff hopes are gone now, but I should at least try to stay out of last place.

One last item, don’t forget to watch the Cincinnati Bearcats take on the Louisville Cardinals tonight tomorrow night at 8PM eastern on ESPN2. The Bearcats are now a nationally ranked team after taking out West Virginia this past weekend. Let’s hope they can pull out another big win and bring back the Keg of Nails.