snowmass

I'm trying something a little different here. I want to tell you about my weekend of serious climbing at the Mountain States Cup race in Snowmass and on Black Bear Pass near Ouray, Colorado. But instead of writing it up, I sat down in front of my video camera. This is an experiment. Tell me what you think! Should I keep doing these, or stick to the keyboard?

I spent July 4 with my daughter riding the Burlingame lift at Snowmass resort in Colorado. No crowds, and we must've done about 7-8 runs.

The cost for the day? $6 each.

Wow. For skiing, the Aspen resorts are among the most expensive anywhere. Why they give mountain bikers such a bargain I don't know. But no complaints from here.

Don't expect quite the experience of some other resorts, though. The Burlingame lift is the only one that's open, and it goes about one-third up the mountain. And the lift is seriously slow.

Still, what a bargain! Thanks, Snowmass.

On vacation in Aspen for the July 4 holiday, I took some time away from the family to ride Government Trail East, which is one of the area's most famous singletracks linking Snowmass and Aspen. Do this trail! Really, really nice.

I did the trail solo, starting in Snowmass at about 9 a.m. The full length of the trail (just under 9 miles from my starting point at the top of Wood Road to the end of the singletrack near the Aspen Rec Center), I saw only one group of four hikers the entire trip -- and one deer. Serious solitude, which is remarkable since the trail is so close to a busy resort area.

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