Adam Jewell – Search & Affiliate Marketing

Today was the first day of the ski trip to Winter Park, Colorado with the King of Prussia Ski Club.

The conditions to be expected this time of year are much more in line with warm sunny weather, big soft bumps and little need for any kind of serious ski clothing. Those expectations didn’t pan out at all. In the last 24 hours, there has probably been about a foot of snow and in some places on the slopes it seemed that there was a lot more than a foot of powder.

Outhouse, a rather steep powdery bump slope was the first run of the day and got the blood pumping through the legs. It got me a little winded between having a cold and being at an elevation of between 11,000 and 12,000 feet. As usual, I got out on the slopes a little late (10AM) but much earlier than the usual when skiing back in PA (more like noon on most days). Skiing solo has its advantages. You don’t have to wait for anybody, you go wherever you want, you can crank the tunes up and nobody thinks you’re being rude.

Most of the day was spent skiing the Mary Jane area at Winter Park with plenty of steep and bumps. The double diamond portions of Mary Jane seemed to be closed or at least they were after 2pm when I finally figured out how to get there but there was plenty of other terrain to ski. It was also the first real test of the Rossignol B83 skis I picked up at Siera Trading Post a month or so ago. (Be sure to check out the full Rossignol B83 Ski Review).

The length of the Rossignol B83 was a 176, which is shorter than I traditionally get in a powder type ski but they held up well and performed well all over the mountain in anything from packed powder to bumps and glades with up to 2 feet of powder. In some areas, the Volant Machete’s (a stiffer, wider and heavier all mountian ski) would have ben easier to ski in today’s conditions but the Rossignol B83 did perform well all over the mountain. The other paid of skis in the quiver for the trip is a pair of 178 Salomon Cyclones. With all the powder out there and more on the way (another possible 12 inches forecasted for tonight and tomorrow) the Cyclones will probably not see the snow on this trip.

Following a long day on the slopes, an outdoor hot tub hit the spot for a half hour or so and then dinner at a place in the town of Winter Park. Ahi Tuna was the dish of choice. That combined with lots of bread and water hit the spot and helped to refuel after a long day on the slopes. It’s not even 11pm in Winter Park yet and most everyone has drifted off to bed. It’s amazing what the combination of age, altitude and exercise does to one’s stamiba when it comes to staying up on these ski trips. Of course, I’m probably the youngest one of the trip by about five years but I’m still pretty wiped out and looking forward to a shot of NyQuil to knock me out cold for the night.

Somehow I have to get better about including pictures in these posts. Those can always be added later but once the day is done the thoughts from the day start to fade, it is a lot harder to go back and try to recreate the memories and put them down.

Time for the shot of NyQuil, a great night sleep and another intense day of skiing at Winter Park, Colorado tomorrow.

In and around the Philadelphia area there are a number of ski clubs and lots of outdoor adventure groups. The Meetup.com website is the best place to find ski clubs, outdoor groups and other active groups of people with similar interests. One of the largest and most active groups in the Philadelphia region is the King of Prussia Ski Club. The King of Prussia Ski Club has been around for well over 20 years and boasts one of the largest membership bases in the region. The club maintains a website at www.kopsc.com where you can go read the latest newsletter, stay up to date on current events and upcoming trips and download a membership form to join the club. The King of Prussia Ski Club also has a group setup on the Meetup.com website. There is a list of upcoming happthours and ski trips on the King of Prussia Meetup.com group page and you can signup to go to many events on that page.

If you want an active group of skiers to get involved with in the Philadelphia region, this is a great group to get involved with! Every Friday there is a happy hour somewhere around the King of Prussia Region. Some are at the new complex in the Plymouth Meeting Mall with Dave and Busters, P.F. Changs and other new bar and restaurant combos, while others are in Conshohocken, Jeffersonville, Collegeville, BlueBell and as far out as Lansdale, PA.

On many Fridays, there are “mental health days”. When you have enough of work and want to get away on a Friday to blow off some steam and get away from endless meetings, join some like minded people and head up to Elk Mountain, Blue Mountain Ski Area, Jack Frost Ski Area, or Camelback Ski Area all in the Poconos region.

During the winter, a number of groups in the club get ski houses for the season. If you have any interest in a ski house near Elk Mountain, or closer (to Philly) in the Poconos near places like Blue Mountain, stop by a Friday happy hour or one of the monthly meetings at the Jeffersonville Golf Course (usually on the thrid Tuesday of every month) and you’ll likely find people who are looking to add one or more people to a group that goes up once in a while or every single weekend. You can usually go in on a house for somewhere between $300 (for just a few weekends) to a little under $1,000 for a place to crash every weekend during the season.

There are a number of ski trips that go out west during the season. For the 08-09 season, there were trips scheduled to Vail, Colorado, Banff and Lake Louise in Canada, Winter Park Colorado, and a number of other top destinations around the US and Canada. Hopefully in the summer of 09′ we can get a trip going down to South America for a fairly reasonable price. Las Lenas, Bariloche or somewhere else in Argentina or Chile would be perfect so long as there is a decent snowfall down there this summer.

During the summer, there are lots of biking trips, the happy hours continue, there are a number of groups that get beach houses down at the Jersey shore and many other activities.

When you are looking for a great group of people to get out and get active with, head on over to the King of Prussia Ski Club Website or the Meetup.com page for the King of Prussia Ski Club, check out the latest events and head over to one!