Workout Wanda: About 4.5 hours at Keystone with a 2.25 mile hike!
Super Speedy Run Down: Keystone, powdery bowls, miles of hiking, crazy wind, fresh tracks, tree run, new helmets, annoying hair, clear skies, terrain park, face plant…now scroll on down for a full slide show of photos!
The Full Story: today we headed up to Keystone to check out some of the back bowls now that there is actually snow on the ground. After a few very fast runs on the back side we headed up the Outback Express lift. The first thing Chris said when we got off the lift was “I feel like a hike today”. Crap.
Unlike Breckenridge the hike up to the bowls at Keystone really isn’t that steep…but its long! The first stretch was a mile and Chris had his little heart set on some untouched powder sitting quietly on a lonely peak off in the distance. Chris happens to be quite determined when on the hunt for powder…we hiked the full 2.25 miles!
At first I was all gung-ho for the hike and that powder far off in the distance looked inviting..and a little fun! Then I got a good mile into the hike and realized just how much wind was blowing up the tree-less mountainside. Hiking wasn’t so much fun anymore, it kind of sucked!
The last 1.25 miles were across the ridge of the mountain from one peak to another and there was absolutely no protection for the wind! The signage said all hikers should follow the peak to peak trail…with all the wind and lack of foot traffic there was no trail so we trekked out on our own route. Sometimes the route was on hard packed snow…sometimes it was knee deep!
But we made it! And it was so worth it! Once we made it over to the ledge of the far away bowl we dropped into untouched powder. Completely untouched. We were the first people to make tracks. It was freaking awesome!
The bowl dropped us down to the tree line where we came upon a few tracks looping thru the trees. These tracks were very welcoming as we really had no idea where we were at by this point. Sure, we were within the ski boundary of Keystone but beyond that we were just headed down the mountain in hopes of coming upon something familiar.
The random tracks thru the woods led us down onto a wide trail and other boarders…at least we weren’t going to get lost alone! Eventually we made it down to the base of the Outback Express and started to make our way back to the front side where Chris insisted on hitting the terrain park. I quickly learned that face planting in fluffy powder is far less painful than face planting onto hard packed snow off the side of a box. Whoops…
According to EpicMix there was a solid 2 hours between the lift ride that got Chris in the mood to hike and when we got onto the lift that eventually took us back to the front side and overpriced pizza. Yeah…we hiked slow and had to dig ourselves out of powder a few times but it was definitely worth it.
Today was also our first day trying out or new Bern helmets! We both bought helmets last year when we came out in January but mine made my ears hurt and Chris didn’t like the way his looked…legitimate reasons for new ones, according to us! Enter the Bern helmets…
I think its safe to say that they are a win, as are the Yowie face mask do-dads we are both sporting. Yup, another new purchase, but they were only $8 each so its okay. They aren’t quite as warm as my fuzzy Turtle Fur “neck” but I think they make up for it with some extreme breathability!
And the helmets?! A true necessity for tree runs, especially if you board with my level of expertise – I may already have scuff marks from tree branches on my barely used helmet!
And thanks to POS broken phone, The Office and Netflix it is now far past my bedtime…since Chris has plans to hit up Breckenridge bright an early tomorrow I should probably get some sleep. Because, really, a little extra beauty rest will make up for just how amazing my fancy new bangs look after a day smushed up in a helmet, right?!
Question: Is the slideshow still working for everyone? Can you see all the photos? What about the captions added below them?!
The slide show worked great! Even I will admit that looked beautiful! Great pictures…still don’t want to ski…but I love seeing the pictures.
Katie@Will Race for Carbs recently posted..Runner vs. I run
Yay! And the scenery makes it all worth it…even my wind blown cheeks and goggle “tan” at the end of the day!
Haha. Exactly. Me neither!
Corrie Anne recently posted..Cookie Friday: Cookies & Cream Peanut Butter Cookies + A Super Fun Song!
Love the slideshow!! Keep them coming.. :O)
I’ll have more up shortly…Chris complains that I’m always taking pictures but about 1/2 of those were taken by him!
I never have an clue what you are talking about when it comes to snowboarding, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading about it and seeing the pictures! IT’s like we live in two very different worlds, and it’s so fun to read about yours!
Your pictures make me want to go out and find something pretty to take pictures of! I’m jealous we don’t have that kind of amazing scenery here!
Jena recently posted..yoga a day makes Jena’s shoulders pay
If you ever have any questions about snowboarding or what more details let me know, I obviously love talking about it!
And I’m the same way with your fishing! I think its crazy but awesome all at the same time. And you get sandy beaches of glory to photograph…my photos come with cold snow and wind!
That looks awesome. We always saw crazy snowboarders back in those bowls when we were at Keystone – looks pretty cool. But that hike would be brutal in ski boots. (And the slideshow worked great!)
Kathy recently posted..New Job for Him, and Hills for Me
Yeah…I can’t imagine doing the hike in ski boots! Today we followed some tracks up and they were made by ski boots, I was impressed!
Slideshow looks good! You’re so outdoorsy. That’s gotta be a killer workout.
Corrie Anne recently posted..Cookie Friday: Cookies & Cream Peanut Butter Cookies + A Super Fun Song!
I swear our move to CO has made us a lot more outdoorsy – we don’t run out of things to do like we did in WI and there is SO much to see and explore! And oddly enough my arms hurt the most from the hiking – apparently my board is heavier than I thought!
Oh man that hike up bowls in Keystone are brutal when the snow is knee deep, so I applaud you for getting up there!
Lena @Fit on the Rocks recently posted..Splurge Week
We were lucky to have longer stretches of wind blown snow with grass poking thru…but we still fell in knee/quad/hip deep a few times! Its crazy, I’d just give up and sit down when my foot just dropped into what I’d hoped to be packed snow!
Fun! Hiking is tough enough without snow and wind! I think next time you should make snow angels!
steena recently posted..Winter blahs make Spring hurrahs
Snow angels…can’t believe I haven’t thought of that yet! Best idea ever! I’m so making snow angels next weekend!
Have I already mentioned that your snowboarding posts make me want to move out there?
We’re headed to Tahoe in a few weeks, but it sounds like their snow is pretty crummy this year compared to yours. Bummer.
Its about 75% of the reason we moved…then we realized just how much the mountains have to offer! Its awesome!
It took a good while to get decent snow here. We are still lacking but at least there is snow under the lifts now! Have fun in Tahoe! I’ve been there in the summer and we will eventually make it over there in the winter – our season passes cover Heavenly & Northstar but we can’t justify the flights, or 17 hour drive!