This is our family blog which I'll try to keep up to date with funny, unusual and yet breathtaking news!!
Today is April 16th, 2016 and there is gigantic snow storm in Highlands Ranch! We woke up under 6 inches of snow!!!
I still have about a year worth of posts to catch up with!!
(c) Y. Imhof - April 16th, 2016
"Trop cool, de bleu"...Frank is back for Colorado 2014!!! Yeah!!!
...but Jack could not make it this year (snif)...
Bordel Jack, tu fais c**** ;-)
Anyway, sometimes there are things more important than ski (or is it?)...
Frank arrived on Friday January 31st, ready for a week of extreme ski...and you'll see it was a really really crazy week!!
So while Frank was flying, I was watching the news...
Snow, more snow and even more snow coming...
Snow forecast of the day...sweet!!!
...and what Vail resort was saying!!!
The traditional beer: Go Avalanche!!!
In the living room, testing the new h/w (Thank you Woon for borrowing us your GoPro!)
Packing the extremely important equipment (see the laundry liquid?)
On Saturday night, we celebrated CNY 2014 with Waileng and Mila with succulent lobster...SOOOO GOOOOD!!!
...and I was probably the only guy grilling stuff on a BBQ outside by -10C
02 February 2014:
Destination: Vail, CO
Vertical feet: 31'769
Special: Super Bowls XLVIII (Denver Broncos vs Seattle Seahawks)
Take off on Sunday morning, 05:30am...
...and even if Eric was not here...he was never too far!!!
...roads conditions are looking good
First stop in Empire...06:45am...
...second stop at the Vail Starbuck (07:45am)...
...and we are first in line at 08:00am, yeah!!...but it is freaking cold (-27C!!!)
We are all set for this first day of snowboard in Vail!!!
...too many pictures taken today, here are the best ones:
Amezing first day, blue bird day!!! Welcome back Franky!!
...and the snow is really good too (too many traces already...)
Beautiful view from the top!!
Just us on top, awesome!!
Aspen trees...the famous ones...
Amazing back bowls...
Franky...
...and me, all geared up for the day!
Probably the best shot of the day: Me and Frank "Broncos style" ;-)
...and we even did not miss the Broncos game at 04:30pm... GO BRONCOS!!!
Fondue tonight!!!
Our rental (found on AIRBNB) was pretty cool too and this year we stayed in Silverthorne. Two rooms, nice kitchen, TV, Internet and there is even swimming pool and a couple of jacuzzi
03 February 2014:
Destination: Keystone, CO
Vertical feet: 27'051
Special: we are both tired today...
Still a cold day, not as cold as yesterday but... Frank and I are broken, yesterday was a long day!!
We arrived in Keystone in the late-early morning (!) and headed straight to the back of the resort...where the best runs are (remember jack?).
First thing: snow cat ride!!!
Our preferred slopes ;-)
The snow cat does not drop you at the best location, you need to walk for another 20-25min to get to the best areas...
3730m (12,237 feet) not bad for our second day!!
Let's go!!!
We are getting better with the equipment every year!!
Beef Wellington recipe... Yanick is cooking tonight... (aïh)
...and Frank did the smash potato :-)
04 February 2014:
Destination: Breckenridge, CO
Vertical feet: 15,835 feet
Special: we are both tired today (again)... and it is extremely cold today + it is heavily snowing.
Not so nice day today. Snowy, windy and cold. We got lucky as the ski patrol just opened the "chutes" next to the Imperial Express's top...
From the highest point in Breckenridge (top of the Imperial Express chair lift)...
...we climbed to the very top (Peak 8 Summit 3'963m / 12,998ft)
...and then, we walked along the edge of the summit and went down the "lake chutes"...extremely steep!!! Look by yourself:
The "chutes"...doesn't look that steep from here...
Frank, lost in the middle of nowhere...
The newly added chair lift: "Peak 6"
Frank on top of the Peak 6 chair lift
Extreme conditions today!!!
Frank is doing great but it was freezing cold today!!
We stopped in Frisco for a good diner:
Bon appétit!!
This is a least 1'000'000 calories...but it tasted so good!!
...I wrote Frank's phone number at the back ;-)
05 February 2014:
Destination: Beaver Creek, CO
Vertical feet: 28,517 feet
Special: feeling better after a good night sleep!! Go, go, go!!!!!
Beaver Creek today, love this resort, in particular the hot chocolate offered by the staff at the top!
BC, we are here!!!
Best hot chocolate of the Rockies!!
See you in 2015!!! (Bird of Prey, Men world cup down hill)
Too bad, Jack was not here...
Beautiful day!!!
Frank is a little tired today...oh, and this is also the "cheapest" restaurant on earth too (@Broken Arrow) ;-)
Welcome to Arrowhead, country of the "greylag dwarf chicken" (galinettes cendrées)
Beautiful ride in the aspen and pine trees...
Great day in Beaver Creek and a touch of middle east in our plates with some hand-made merguez from the "Sahara" restaurant. It is the first time anyone ate those merguez at 9,035 ft (2,754 m)!!
Merguez by Yanick & pasta by Frank
Looking great tonight!!
...love the diner too
06 February 2014:
Destination: Keystone, CO
Vertical feet: 43,804 feet
Special: feeling great after more than 103,000 vertical feet in the legs in 4 days!! We don't have a lot of pictures today as we snowboard almost non stop from 09:00am until 08:30pm!!!
We briefly stopped for lunch...to eat and to warm up a little
Today was (again) really cold!!!
Ski by night in Keystone, awesome!!
Keystone village
Keystone ski by night
Ready to have a well deserved diner at "Pug Ryan's Steakhouse & Brewery" in Dillon, CO
This is actually the medium size...
This is for you, Jack...
...and this one too.
07 February 2014:
Destination: Vail, CO
Vertical feet: 15,430 feet
Special: Powder day!!! Tons of snow has fallen last night; so much that we got stopped by the patrol on the way to Vail (Avalanche control). Damned, we lost 1h!!!
Avalanche control on the way to Vail, CO (look at the side snow wall!!! HUGE!!!)
Vail Village, really nice place to be ;-)
Snowboarding in the Aspen trees is definitely the best thing on earth!!
Can you spot Frank?
...but when there is too much snow...you get stuck...and you literally sink in the snow.
Frank "stuck" in the trees...
Looking tired Franky ;-)
...and me too
The weather conditions were really tough today...even on the roads. We noticed that there was a traffic jam from Vail...to Frisco!!! Lucky for us, we were for once on the right side of the road ;-)
Special: Last day in the Rockies ;-) What we week!!! Today, we decided to go to Breckenridge. The snow was great but the weather really bad. Strong winds, heavy snow and freaking cold!!!
Extreme weather condition in Breck...
At some point, all of the top chair lifts closed down due to the strong wind and the very limited visibility (we could not see the chair in front of us!!!) At this point, we decided to go to Keystone (about 20min away by car) and continue our day there. That we a good decision as the snow was really good too and there was no wind (but still, it was really, really cold!!)
We are both smiling (really)!!!
Everybody is rushing to the restaurant...
Thank you for the "bloody Mary" Frank (...this is for Jack, right?)
The beer at the end of the day is always the best, specially after having done almost 200k vertical feet in a week!!!
That was really an EPIC DAY!!!
Thank you Frank for yet another year of amazing snowboard in the Rockies! You (and Eric) can come back anytime!! I am already preparing "Colorado-2015"...and I am waiting for you both this time!!! P.S.: for those who wonder where are the GoPro movies...there are still being processed. This week was a "proof of concept" and despite some surprises with the batteries, I think we manage to take (at the end) some pretty good footages. A special thank you to Woon for the GoPro, next year I'll probably buy one...
