On the Road

with Flip Byrnes ...

Flip turns powderhound and gets more snow than she ever than she bargained for during a record-breaking snow season at Vail, Colorado.

OK, so I was after snow, but this was ridiculous. I lay in a metre and a half of fresh powder, goggles wrapped somewhere around my ankles, my I-pod rammed firmly down my left ear, Sparky the Wonderboard (aka my Solomon 156 Ivy Powdergun snowboard) buried somewhere below my feet and was possibly having the best time of my life.

Huey the Snow God had heard the prayers of snowhounds in Vail – the largest single ski resort in North America - for light dry powder and let loose a torrent of fluffy white stuff, resulting in almost four metres of snow falling in 2 weeks. Sound like a lot? Yep, try the best start to the season in the history of Vail! Beyonce, can you handle that?! !

The only thing this meant however, was that it didn’t stop snowing. Snowy day followed snowy day. Not the horizontal snow that we get in Australia that rips down lift towers and leaves hail damage on your face, but light, dry, gentle. And ceaseless.

Finally, after 15 days, the skies cleared and with the first blue bird day there was only one place to head: Kat Skiing at Keystone. Giddy-up, let’s ride.

Kat Skiing is actually cheaper than a lift ticket at $75US, although the tickets at Vail can be used at any of their other resorts – Keystone, Beaver Creek and Breckenridge. Eleven of your nearest and dearest (in our case the 5 member Team Shred) are taken outside the resort boundaries with Rex the Kat driver who draws the short straw and drives up and down a virgin piste while you carve it up. Sick ‘em Rex!

Team Shred exchanged a few nervous glances during the avalanche brief and beacon instruction, but once out here we christened the slopes, was it good? Is Brad Pitt sort of good looking?

By the time you get there all of the mountains will have opened up, more storms are forecast, so it could be a season to remember. Meanwhile, I was dragged kicking and screaming from the resort and headed for Turin, Italy, home of the Winter Olympics in February 2006 to see how some of the professionals are gearing up for my favourite sport and to give my polka dot, fur lined one piece snowsuit another outing ...