-3 degrees in Beaver Creek

Having good warm winter gear is greatly appreciated when it is this cold. We have boot heaters but for some reason my right toes were freezing. I checked to see what the problem was and turned out to be user error. I only turned on the left one.

 I like to go to Beaver Creek once when we are skiing in Vail. It seems like a good idea to check out nearby resorts. Why would we want to get ready in a nice warm condo and have the shuttle drive us to the gondola here in Vail? After dragging our equipment down to the truck and drive to Avon, we have to get our ski boots on in the parking lot, not an easy task on the ice. Then we walk to the bus stop and ride over to the lift. After an hour we are on the slopes but a rest is required before starting down the mountain.

Mike agrees with this sign.

Arrowhead and Bachelor's Gulch are at a lower elevation and have aspen trees instead of the pines. We had been staying on the intermediate runs because Mike's leg was not getting well as quickly as we hoped. He hit a ripple in the run, hurting his leg more and had to call it a day. Maybe if we had taken some time off to let him heal, it might be ok by now.

We hadn't felt the cold very much until we got on the lift that takes us to the top of Beaver Creek. The higher above the trees we got, the more we felt wind and cold on our faces. I guess we should have put our facemasks on before getting on the lift.

At the end of this day, he was ready to accept that he was hurt worse than he had realized.

I was glad when Mike finally decided it was time to call it a season and head back to Arizona instead of finishing our time here. No sense getting hurt worse and not able to ride bikes when we get back to the warmer temps.

The instructor kept the kids is line by having each one hold on to the rope.

When we get on the lifts, one of the first questions is "Where are you from?". We met people from all over the world including Argentina, Milan, Russia, Australia and Germany to name a few. The next question is "Where is a good place to eat that doesn't cost an arm and leg?" We had a few suggestions. But there aren't as many as a few years ago when the economy wasn't doing so well.

We had some nice morning walks to Betty Ford Park.

I bet getting to this 1922 school house was tough in the winter.

A first gondola from the 1960s.

We got back to AZ earlier than expected to 70 degree temps. AHHH!

Now to start planning our trip east this spring and summer to see Mike's grandkids, his class reunion and our time working at Camp Timanous in Maine.