Slate River Valley

30 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Snowboard, Snowshoe

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This is our Austrian exchange student Caroline’s first trip to Crested Butte and the Slate River Valley, so naturally we stopped for a quick pic when we crossed the Continental Divide. Monarch Pass sits 200 miles from our house, assuming you duck into BV for a bite at the Eddyline Brewery. Ninety minutes later, we checked into the Elevation Hotel & Spa. Don’t ask me to explain the holes in these girls’ pants. I blame the influence of Emma Gonzales.

Karen and I hiked Friday morning from the Slate River Trailhead. The snow was packed hard enough that we left our snowshoes in the van. Not a great snow season for Colorado, but there’s enough. We trekked along another trail above town after lunch. We’re learning our way around Slate Valley. If you’re not familiar with Crested Butte, it sits in a gorgeous valley, north of Gunnison and south of Aspen.

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The girls got in a full day of snow boarding. So warm they didn’t need their ski jackets. Tomorrow should be even warmer. Nice views from the mountain with the clear skies and full sun. BTW, Camp 4 Coffee is the best in CB.

coffee shop

We’ve yet to eat out at places we’ve been before. As good as we know they are, we’re still exploring this town. We ate at the Last Steep tonight. Looks like a cheap sandwich shop but will surprise you. We do plan on pizza at Secret Stash tomorrow though. Too good to ignore that one.

Izzies

Chair Lift Fail

28 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Snowboard

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Crested Butte, Irwin Brewing, Secret Stash, spring break

Ever fall off a chairlift? Me either. Until today. I’ve been skiing for 35 years and today was my first chair lift fail. The Painter Boy lift is extremely close to the ground and my board caught its edge before leaving the base. I flipped over the front of the lift and grabbed the chair to keep it from cleaving off my chin. I held on long enough for some clearance before dropping and rolling out of the way. Ellie didn’t miss a beat though. “I’ll wait for you at the top Dad!”

Still, I had one of my best snow boarding days ever. The morning started off snowy with powder too deep for Ellie and me to easily navigate, but the sun came out soon enough and the conditions turned out to be spectacular by noon.

We ended up eating pizza for dinner at Secret Stash on Elk Street. Hard to describe such an eclectic place, our booth was set against this wall of books, but I can tell you the food was awesome. And they served an IPA by Irwin Brewing Company. I’d tell you the name of the beer is 11, but the waiter wasn’t clear on that, it wasn’t on the menu, and Irwin Brewing is having issues with their online presence. I can however quote the waiter with confidence in saying this is the best and only good locally crafted IPA in Crested Butte. Look for it.

Trail Closed

27 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Snowboard, Snowshoe

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Crested Butte, Cross Country Ski, nordic ski

Ellie and I cross country skied today through Slate Valley. Quite possibly, all of Slate Valley. Trail maps suck. With less than two miles to go, so close we could see the end, we were faced with a trail closed sign. Turning around meant maybe another two miles. We didn’t turn around, we skied right past that sign. A couple of hundred meters later, we were faced with a washed out bridge. I thought we could have jumped it, Ellie is more cautious than me. Failure to make the jump cleanly might have led to hypothermia. We ended up skiing a good eight miles, but enjoyed every minute of it. I love nordic skiing. It’s like trail running but so smooth and graceful.

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The Crested Butte Nordic Center is off 2nd Street in downtown, so afterward, Ellie I and strolled around Elk Street taking photos. We met up with the gang later at Lil’s Sushi for dinner. Incredibly good but the really special thing is their fantastic happy hour. People queue up outside waiting for them to open.

sunny in Crested Butte

This town has great dining. The night before was super good Italian at Marchitelli’s. And the night before that at Coal Creek Grill, where the lovelorn working girl Liz threw herself to her death in the icy street below the hotel back during the gold rush. Hard to pick a favorite, it’s all good.

Peak Fitness

22 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Crested Butte, PR

active-aging

After twenty years of chasing my career and raising kids, I began to redevelop my personal hobbies again in my upper 40s. Probably true for many as your kids became independent and you began to realize some me time. For me, that meant a return to running. I picked up some new hobbies as well, like hiking, backpacking and snowshoeing. I was thrilled each year that, while I was aging, I was also becoming faster. It’s just really satisfying to know you’re improving at a sport with age. But is there is such a thing as peak fitness? After about five years, my stomach was finally flat, but I also stopped achieving PRs. I plateaued.

I’m fine with that. Peaking in terms of speed is no big deal. Tracking my improvement was fun while it lasted but I’m more than happy with maintaining. Besides, peak fitness isn’t even a real term. It’s associated with high intensity interval training. And it’s the name of about one out of every three fitness gyms across the country. But it’s not an actual thing. If I can run the rest of my life. Shoot, I don’t even have to always run. If I can hike around in the mountains in my senior years, I’ll consider myself blessed. And I’ll be happy. Looking forward to spending this coming weekend up in Crested Butte, so add snowboarding to my list of activities.