This year we started our holiday mid week which could have been a problem as we were picked up at 8:30 and the traffic report said that there had been 3 crashes on the M3 the M4 wasn’t too bad so we arrived in plenty of time to check in and head to the lounge. Surprisingly traveling on a Wednesday meant that it wasn’t very busy either in the lounge or on the plane, we had to board by bus which was slightly chaotic but surprisingly worked and we left on time. We had a relatively easy path through customs although I am not convinced that their new electronic customs system particularly speeds up entry into the US but we managed navigate our way through and got on the 4:30 shuttle. Unfortunately once we were on the road things started to slow down, the snow started just as we got to Loveland Pass and just before we got to the Eisenhower tunnel the road was closed for about an hour to clear a crash out of the way so we just had to sit in the van and wait, from there the journey was slow but at least we were moving, apparently the road was closed a couple more times during the evening. We picked up the key at the guest services and finally arrived in the apartment about 8:30. We had originally planned to go to the City Market this evening but as it was quite late in the end we just went to the local market to pick up some coffee and milk and will get the rest of the stuff tomorrow. By the time we finished unpacking and relaxed with a cup of coffee it was gone 10pm so we just collapsed in bed. Wednesday morning we got up and went down to the ski hire shop to pick up our skis, they have actually moved and we walked straight past the new shop which is actually a couple of doors up from the old one. We eventually found this and picked up our skis then set off for the slopes. Yet again the lift passes worked fine, it still surprises me that we buy them in April online and they are loaded onto our passes and start working as soon as we get on the slopes. It was still snowing and didn’t actually stop all day, we did a couple of runs but as it is our first day and the visibility wasn’t great we decided to call it a day after a couple of hours. We went back to the apartment and changed then went round to the supermarket and picked up supplies for the next few days, then it was back to the apartment for a relax and something to eat. We don’t normally ski on a Friday but we decided we would today as it is only our second day here and the sun had come out so it seemed a shame not to make the most of the sunny day. It wasn’t actually as busy as we thought it would be and we did quite a few runs then stopped for something to eat at Ten Mile station, after this we did a couple more runs then decided that it was time to call it a day as we were starting to feel it. Saturday and it was time to head to the Nordic centre to see if we could remember how to cross county ski. It wasn’t very busy when we arrived and we picked up our skis, poles and boots then went out onto the snow, luckily we did remember how to do it and did a loop of the centre then stopped for a hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, after this we went out again and practiced various things mostly trying to get me to skate a longer glide between polling which is pretty exhausting, we did this for about another hour then exhausted I went back in and relaxed while Chris did another circuit then we headed back to the apartment. Sunday and our second day of cross country, we set off on our normal route then decided we would try a different route, we went down into the meadows but we seemed to end up on quite a steep bit so we decided to turn round and head back to the lodge for a hot chocolate then we came out again for a bit more practice and another circuit. We decided to stop after this as again we were starting to feel it, so on the way back to the apartment we stopped at the ice sculptures, there is a competition each year where teams from around America and a few other countries come and take part in a ice sculpting competition, they are given a block of ice and over two days they are only allowed to use had tools to create something spectacular. Mexico won for the second year running and GB came second, I am not quite sure I agree with the decision as some of them were stunning, so detailed but we decided that they probably have to submit plans and if your sculpture doesn’t look like the plans you obviously get marked down, we saw a couple that we thought were amazing but when we looked at the picture they didn’t quite look the same which is possibly why they didn’t win. After looking round all the statues we went into town and walked up main street before heading back to have a relax before heading back onto the Alpine boards again tomorrow.
