To send out the old year of 2006, my friend Bob Kippola and I drove to Aspen Highlands for a day of skiing and adventure. After meeting up with this friend Dana, We began a 3-hour assault on the Highlands Bowl, making 3 laps into a huge amount of terrain that tops out at 12,329 feet, the last 600 vertical feet of which is reached by hiking up the spine of the mountain with your skis on your shoulder or strapped to your back. Our last run was down a drop called Fundeck, which as we were standing at the top we were looking at about a 43-degree pitch with a 1000 foot smooth drop. Some snow rolled off my ski as I made my first turn and it didn't stop until it reached the bottom. In the back of my head, I could hear Meg O'Leary from Big Sky saying, "Don't fall. Don't even think about it." We all got down in one piece and it was a lot of fun. Bob said, "Mike, that was adult skiing." The previous day I had done just about nothing. I got up, read the paper, did some work on my computer, took a nap, went out to the post office and got lunch. I then came home, took another nap on the couch and then went out and watched a 3-hour movie. I had to wonder as the New Year was just around the corner, was I becoming old and sedentary? After skiing at Aspen Highlands, I don't think so, at least for now. On January 1st, I snowboarded for a few hours with my friend Jeff Apps and his boys Christian and Nick. We all got banged up a bit, as we are beginners, but we had a great time.
Ski group travel is really going to pick up on January 11th and will run full steam ahead until February 11th, during which time more than 50% of the groups that I have booked will travel. Overall, the logistics have come together pretty well. However, as we have all seen from doing trips in the past, the only thing that is for sure is change. With electronic airline tickets, we can handle most name changes right up until the last minute. Your best bet is to e-mail me the information so that we have the correct spelling for the new travelers.
Two big storms hit Denver right before and after Christmas that wreaked havoc with travelers’ plans. If there is anything to be learned from the storms, which seem to hit the central Colorado mountains every 2 – 3 weeks, it is that when they want to, the airlines can break all of their own rules to re-accommodate travelers. I had friends who were supposed to fly from Denver to O’Hare on Dec 21. Their flight was canceled and UA booked them to fly from Aspen to O’Hare leaving 3 days later, which then changed to Eagle to Madison, WI. Most airline group desks are closed on the weekend, so by calling the airline’s main reservation number on the weekend, they will sometimes tell you to call back on Monday morning. If your group’s flight gets canceled for any reason while you are at the airport, be it weather or mechanical, your first point of contact should be with a customer service agent at the airport. They have the authority to do just about anything, if they want to. Be nice to them.
Watch for Donald Sabia of the Wissahickon Ski Club in the stands at the Orange Bowl tonight in Miami. Donald played linebacker for Wake Forest in the late 70s and is going to witness what most people would not have predicted at the start of the college football season, which is Wake Forest being the ACC champion and playing in a premiere BCS game.
Even after keeping up with all of the details of the trips that are booked for the next few months, I plan on having some time available to create some more videos.
I will be out of the office for most of the week of January 27 – February 3, 2007, as I have 5 groups in Snowmass/Aspen and 4 in Park City.
Good luck with your travels and I look forward to skiing with you on the slopes over the next couple of months. Remember, our goal with these trips is to make it fun for everyone, including those of us who are running the trips.
Mike Beltracchi