Nine

Holy moley! I haven't enjoyed

snow this good before Christmas

in quite a few seasons. Loveland,

or as it shall now be known as... The Luv.

Really though they sell sweet stickers

at the ski area that just say,"LUV". Awesome.

With 24" of fresh snow in the last 72 hours

here, I rated today an "8",... "10" being "epic".

We did.

Still dumping, we might come back again this week.

Check out the Schust's "ice helmet" on the left,

and Gene's "ice chinstrap".

The conditions were way too sweet to

stop for many pictures, with knee and even

thigh deep stashes to be found, and strange

Middle Eastern sounding catcalls emanating

from the lift chairs behind us, we were

sure that a "powder jihad" had been declared.

No time for dilley dalleying.

Eight

It's day 8,don't be late!

Actually tardiness may have

been excused today as forecasts

claimed sunny skies, but it was

overcast out and difficult to see.

The snow was alright, and Mean Gene

returned from Southeast Asia

and his Cambodian adventures

to make some turns with me at Loveland.

That's it for sun today.

Panorama of Chair 8 base I believe,

however I'm easily confused.

Another panorama,this of the tunnel

entrance under I-70 back to the base area.

The fowl winds of change blew cold today,

me hopes the change will be good.

Seven

Mainly just random pics from

today's visit to Loveland. The previous

couple of days were good to the area,

bringing in over a foot of new,

replenishing snow, The Schust and

myself, got off to a slow start,

but finished strong, as the peak topping

Chair 9 opened at 2pm for the first

time this season. We both found

knee deep stashes all afternoon.

Going up 9 for the season's 1st time.

See the winds blasting over the peak (top right)

Lots of micro slides as patrol prepares this face.

Rock House.

Contemplative Schuster.

Again the clouds were a show on their own.

Ba-Bye.

Six

Back to Loveland today

after an 8 day hiatus. Very

pleasant weather brought us here,

but the unexpectedly soft,fresh snow

kept us around for a while, that is until

the winter sun ended it's short day,

and ours as well, as it gets cold quickly .

Fresh tracks!

A single skier near Lift 8 top.

Bringing back the eighties.

I love the way that a crappy lens

makes those groovy starbursts.

Shust surveying the last stretch

of the days last run.

Conditions are improving weekly,

and more terrain is opening all the time,

I hope that continues, check back to find out.

Five

Here we were returning to

Loveland just before Thanksgiving.

Today, Tuesday, I had my nephew

Elias and his bud Connor returning

to the Afternoon Ski Club ranks, visiting

from their home mountain, Wolf Creek.

Connor and Elias excited to check it out.

Elias disappears into the light...

...Actually just faux snow.

'Twas mucho windy again today.

Connor working the choppy snow.

Elias heelside.

The upper crust graced us with their presence.

Mega blustery.

Celebrating after a minor tumble.

Connor carve.

Elias goes toeside.

Migratory birds high above.

The boys take a bump break.

A snow devil twists its way across the peak.

Kicking it in the non-solar powered lift base.

We had a great day skiing/riding

in the the sun and snow until

we were finally escorted out by

the ski patrol as the last group at Chair 8.

After a crowded, overpriced

experience at Breck yesterday, I think we all

dug the secluded sparsely occupied terrain,

and old school vibe here. And we gave thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Four

"Huffin' & puffin'"

was the wind today.

Thursday afternoon at Loveland

was incredibly windy at first,

but M.G.,Mr.Schuss, n' me found

things pretty sheltered on Chair 1.

So Chair 1 was where we stayed.

With over 2 feet of new snow

since Monday, many new runs

were now open for business,

and we were buyin'.

Super gusts blast the peaks.

One major and one minor(upper left)avalanche slide.

Gene and Mark at the top.

Schust shussing.

The jet stream was wicked today, making for some

crazy cloud formations, and these

"mother of pearl" looking clouds kept popping up.

Really some good soft snow today.

Hope to be back , pre- Thanksgiving

with some guests, so please do sneek-a-peek,

next week.

Three

It was already 60 degrees in

the city when we embarked at

just a nick past 11 am today. Kinda

warm for November it seems.

Not quite as warm up at Loveland,

but not exactly cold either. A big douchebag

cloud blocked our rays, thereby,

interrupting our shockra, and ultimately

"F"ing up our chi, so we kept it brief.

Now the pictorial evidence.

Gusty on the Divide.

Patrol Shack-a-lacka-boom.

Glen chatting up the lady folk.

"Broexist".

Broexisting.

Local rumblings have up to

a foot of snow coming tomorrow,

golly I hope they are right.

Go Stillers, bye now.

Two

The Schuuuuust and me made

the hour long commute up the way

for some glorious sun runs at the Loveland

this Wednesday afternoon. More trails and

another lift have opened since last week.

A bit of snow over the last weekend helped

protect against the weekend crowds chewing

up the base, but many early season rocks

and dirt spots were becoming visible nonetheless.

No major damage was inflicted so no harm done,

And it was another wonderful day to behold.

Timely as always...

At first glance it looks like a skiing stormtrooper.

Sunny day grin.

Chair 2 top.

Starburst.

As always, the pics usually get more

interesting as the season progresses,

I hope you will look back to see.

SW

One

Hey! Yo! What Up!

We're back for more! 2010-11

ski season is now officially in

full effect. This season it's back

to Loveland for our tiny collective

of midday lovin' ski fools.

Other areas will be visited too.

What an awesome start, we skied bumps

every run with nice fresh snow and

sunny blue skies above,we are blessed.

Mean Gene raring to go.

The friendly, quick, and efficient pass office staff.

Chair 1 dropped us atop the two open runs.

A promising start as far as early snow goes.

Loveland ski patrol cut lines, making things safe.

Avalanche slide prevention.

A crater from avalanche control explosives.

The Piston Bully rests before it goes back to work...tonight.

I'm going for a season goal of 21 visits, this, my

19th ski season in the Colorado Rocky Mountains,

I think it should be a good season, I hope you'll

check back often to follow the adventure.