Club Colorado  

As Mountain Correspondent, I’ve had the chance to ski bumps with world-renowned mogul experts, I’ve gotten to ski with rented children, and I’ve gotten to ski with fire. But skiing with antique rifles? Well, this was something I hadn’t done, and I had to check it out.

The Event is called the “International Black Powder Biathlon”. It started in 1974 when a fella named Gilbert and some buddies were sharing a round of cold ones in a Steamboat Springs bar during cold winter day. It seems talk turned to shooting black powder rifles, something the group enjoyed doing. Not having a range or any reason to go shooting in the winter months, and with the famous Steamboat Winter Carnival just around the corner, Gilbert decided he and his black powder enthusiast buddies needed an event to call their own. Blammo! The International Black Powder Biathlon is born.

The International Biathlon may be the Winter Carnival’s most unlikely spectator event. But watching a bunch of well-armed, leather-clad yahoos race around town on rickety skis all the while shooting up a storm does have a certain appeal. They even shoot off a canon to start the race! I haven’t taken up the hobby of black powder shooting, but I’m glad it’s alive and well in Colorado.

Steamboat’s Winter Carnival is celebrating a BIG anniversary this year. It’s sure to be a great time, get more info here. I’ll see you there this year, at the International Biathlon, in my ‘coon-skin cap.

-Mountain Correspondent

Few towns are as snow-crazy as Steamboat Springs, CO. I knew this before heading up to the Winter Carnival last year, but I had NO IDEA to the degree this town loves its snow. Skiing is like a religion here, one which it indoctrinated its kids annually. The chosen method of indoctrination? Winter Carnival SkiJoring.

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We’ve all heard about Steamboat’s champagne powder that helped make Steamboat famous, but you can’t always get a powder day, so what do you do if the snow’s a couple days old? You head for the trees, preferably with a local guide.

I met up with Steamboat PR-ninja and Steamboat Springs local Loryn Kasten for a jaunt in to the threes in search of leftover powder scraps, and to see if these trees are all they’re cracked up to be. Guess what? They’re all they’re cracked up to be:

Steamboat locals name the tree runs after the time in which they’re best to ski, or at least that’s what I was told. The little section we were skiing was nestled between the 2 o’clock and 3 o’clock trees. So it’s called two-thirty trees. Makes sense to me. The trees here are almost perfectly spaced. Entries and exits are just tricky enough to find that it keeps the snow fresh and hides the goods for those who are willing to poke around to find it.

Loryn and I spun a few laps before it was time for her to go be a PR person, and for me to go play with guns. If you haven’t been to steamboat, get here. We’ll see you on the slopes, I’ll know where to find you at 2:30…

-Mountain Correspondent

This is Learn to Ski or Ride Month, but the name can be misleading. It could just as easily be called something else, something like “Snowboarders, learn to ski too” or “Skiers, learn to snowboard”. They could call it “Learn to ski or ride better month”, since it’s a great chance to grab a deal on a lesson and brush up on your skills. But whatever it’s called, it’s a great excuse to get out and hit the slope for the first time, or just in a new way. Here’s why we don’t want to hear any excuses this year for not giving a new sport a try during Learn to Ski or Ride Month… (continue reading…)

Most of us think we know our snow. We know what kind makes a good snowball. We know what kind we like to ski. We know not to eat it if it’s yellow. But even if you know our snow,  do we know how deep it is, just from a photo? Well Colorado Ski Country USA is testing how well you Know Your Snow with a little quiz!

The rules: Look at the photo below. 4 Colorado ski resorts are represented, each with a photo from a recent powder day. Your job is to guess how deep the snow is, just from the photo. And no cheating – anyone caught looking at snow reports on resorts’ websites with be forced to ski the rest of the season on snowlerblades. Consider yourself warned.

If you think you know one, or more of the answers, post it on our Facebook page. The correct Answer will be posted at an undisclosed time in the future, most likely tonight when my plane lands. First one with the correct answer wins ultimate bragging rights, and gets to keep their dignity through another snowlerblade-free ski season. Good luck!

Post Your Guesses: http://www.facebook.com/ColoradoSkiCountryUSA

Remember, just like you can’t ski without a lift ticket, you can’t win unless you play. Post your best guess on our Facebook Page and hold your breath for an undisclosed amount of time until entries are tallied and answers are posted. Good Luck!

<UPDATE: THE ANSWERS>

Okay, sports fans. If you missed out on the Sunday Funday Quiz, you’ve officially missed your chance at everlasting glory. The results are in, and here they are:

Thanks for playing! Now get out there and ski!

-Mountain Correspondent

Greetings, snow-fans! We here at Colorado Ski Country USA have got about 4,000 pretty compelling reasons you should head to the mountains in Colorado right now. Why 4,000 you ask? Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so you do the math:

Photo by Scott DW Smith

Wolf Creek Ski Area. Photo by Scott DW Smith

Photo by Scott DW Smith

Up close and personal with photographer Scott DW Smith

C’mon, you didn’t really think I was going to sit here and write 4,000 reasons, did you? Please. We’re too busy skiing and snowboarding here in Colorado.

-Mountain Correspondent

It’s easy to summarize this season in a word because there’s one word that sums up skiing and snowboarding in Colorado: Snow. Until mid December it’s all we could think about – we waited, pining for snow, hoping, wishing, and praying for it.

Hollywood turns under the chair at Purgatory

Then it came. And it’s still coming. Multiple back-to-back storms have pummeled the state, with just about every ski bum and powder hound in worth their Goretex getting in on the action. What’s more is that it looks like there’s a lot more snow in the forecast too – my weather report’s showing 5 of the next 7 days with a high likelihood of snow. Down here in the southwest corner of the state I couldn’t decide where to go first. Usually you just head to whoever has the most powder, but this time well, everyone had great snow. I couldn’t decide. I know, total princess problem.

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