My east coast body is wide awake at 4 am, so here's a quick update on the Epic Gathering in Summit. Ron, Phil, Snow Hot are here and hopefully they will add some comments. Phil is the official ski supplier to the gathering plus his Epic admin stuff has him pretty tied up.
My transit day (Sunday) was interesting in that I70 was closed in many places due to snow, including the tunnel and Vail pass. The Epic team was in Vail, but, could not get out until early evening. Of skiing note, Vail closed it's lifts due to lightning, yes, you read that right - lightning. The good was it only lasted an hour and the snows that fell was light and massive. All left smiling. From my room I can see I70 and the Dillon exit. Traffic was a nightmare.
Monday was Breck following close to a foot of new powder. Sun but windy (gusts near 50 up high) but for the most part very skiable and a great day. Epic breaks the group up and a local serves as leader and guide to show off the mountain. I had a Uncle Louie who was an instructor there for 20 plus years. He was just great to ski with as he knows where the powder stahes are hidden.
Tuesday was A base. Sunny and windy. Again the conditions were great following the snow. Nowhere near the new pow at Breck, but, still great skiing. My first visit to Montezuma Bowl on the backside, more groomed than I expected unless willing to do some hiking ( but at that altitude, I'll pass ). Again, skiing with a local is a bonus and the level of skiing in the group is pretty high and I don't ski with the best. Winds closed most lifts for about an hour but reopened and ran a little slow. My afternoon was spent recovering from Breck and the altitude. A base has just spectacular views high up near the continental divide, small but classic skiing.
the group dinner last night with about 25 will be talked about for years on Epic. You just had to be there, a very, very funny evening.
Vail today, come on body, I promise we can recover all summer.