Big Bald Bobby is back in action for another ski season!  It's been a long summer of recovery and training but I'm itching to get back on skis.  On the last day of skiing last spring I had to have surgery but now I'm 100% fit and ready to ski!  I also had time to add another member to the ski posse this past fall.  That's right, the wife and I had a little baby boy.  Get this, he's already getting up at dawn like his dad to look out the window to see how much powder was left behind the night before!   Most of you know the drill on this page but to reiterate for the first timer, this blog is designed to let you, the skier at home, know what's happening on the slopes here on Aspen mountain. I've been skiing 100 days a year since 1993 so you can be rest assured that the report I give will not be that PC nonsense you read in other sites.  I also know when you're planning your ski vacation, it's tough to tell what the conditions are really like.  This page is designed with photos and diatribe so you can see for yourself.  Happy skiing and see you out there!  Any questions, drop me a line at bigbaldbobby@hotmail.com and I'll answer as time allows. 

February 3rd

Order a Guinness and rack the snooker.  Reds was that smooth today.

I got a hall pass good for 3 hours of skiing this morning and I cashed that in without hesitation.  The day started off nice and sunny albeit with chilly early morning temps in the teens F.  It did warm up nicely as the day progressed making for some nice mid winter ski conditions.  However, as the day progressed, the high clouds did start to gather and get thicker and by noon is was downright overcast making for some flat light conditions and the mandatory tree skiing ensued.  I got started this morning with a few warmups on the groomers up high.  Reds Run up from Ruthies was rolled in the last couple of days and that was very fast and smooth.  I also hit the usual spots to get warmed up like One and Two Leaf, North American and Silver Dip.  After I got some blood to the legs, I decided to ski runs today that I haven't skied all year.  I immediately headed for Northstar where the usual bumps were waiting for me.  In pretty good shape and not too much poking through.  I continued down to Gent's where I went through the trees in between Glades 1 and 2 popping out near Glade 3.  A little bush whacking through the middle part and down to Copper Gulch.  A barn burner to the bottom and another lap.  Up top I headed to Tourtelette Park and the beginner bumps in there are some of the nicest on the hill.  I took that to Chair 6 and headed up to the Ruthies side.  I skied Reardons and Rochs as well as the lower part like Super 8 Gully and Slalom Hill to the bottom.  Another lap had me up on the Ruthies side again where I dropped in to the Dumps not from International but from the next level up through the trees.  Just enough coverage to not destroy my skis through the forest.  I chose Last Dollar down the right hand side.  The coverage is getting a wee thin in there but not so much as to worry about it.  Just a couple of little rocks here and there but nothing to worry about.  I did hear some folks on the gondola on one of my trips up and they told me Snowmass is starting to show thinness in some of the most heavily travelled areas.  They mentioned that Aspen had the best coverage of the 4 mountains and I would have to agree.  Everything from the groomers to the steeps are in fantastic shape and with nobody to share the runs, head on over to Aspen.  Check out todays photos and with some snow on the way, maybe a powder day is in the future.

This is a little chute between Rochs on the left and Reardons on the right.  I think it used to be where an old poma lift ran back in the day.

Taking Chair 3 up early this morning. Dipsy Headwall is in the background.

This is Gent's Ridge heading down to Glade 3

The beginner bumps of Tourtelette Park.  Notice Bonnies mid mountain restaurant in the background.

January 26th

It was snowing pretty good on top of Aspen Mountain over the weekend

After patiently waiting over two weeks for new snow, we've been rewarded handsomely with three days of snowfall.  We haven't had the huge dump that we all wish for daily, but we have had several nice days of accumulation.  Over this past weekend the snow kept coming making for some great boot deep days.  Monday, the sun finally came out letting us see the mountains and all their glory covered in a nice fresh coat of powder.  I hit the mountain with some friends visiting from Australia and had a great morning of skiing.  We started the day with a couple of groomers getting the legs warmed up after a long respite from the slopes.  With fatherhood getting the margin of victory, my skiing has suffered.  However, on this day skiing was the only thing on my mind.  The upper slopes of One Leaf and Midnight led to mild bump runs like Pump House, Sunrise and Reds.  After a few warm-ups, it was off to chair 6 and FIS.  The Ruthies side was every bit as good as the rest of the mountain as we found bits of boot deep fresh over there as well.  Back up top and it was time to get serious and head to the good stuff.  We found the nice gentle tree runs like Back of Bell 1.5 very tempting and took that over to Gent's Ridge and Glade 2.  Mostly trees and boot deep pow.  What a run.  Once again, we were back up top and deciding what to take for the last run of my ski day.  A quick decision was made and off to the Dumps we went.  More boot deep bumps all the down Perry's Prowl.  One of the best runs on the entire mountain and not another person to be seen for the duration of the run.  Check out the pics from today and stay tuned as X Games rolls into town this weekend.  You can check out live broadcasts on ESPN Friday and Saturday nights. 

The sun was out early but it didn't last but two hours.  Nice freshies on Pump House Hill

Around 10am the clouds moved in but it didn't put a damper on the day.  This is Upper International

Look at how good this line looks.  This is Perry's, Dumps

Back of Bell in the trees.

There's an ugly looking lot.  Thanks for the ski guys. 

January 18th

Checking out the Face of Bell from the top of Ruthies Run.

I'll be frank, we've gotten hosed in the snow department for the last two weeks.  We had two good storms that looked promising but one went to the north and the other went south.  There is a large high pressure dome over Aspen giving us beautiful deep azure blue skies and mild temps in the 30'sF but no snow.  It is getting challenging to find entertaining snow right now but yes, you can have fun out there.  Don't get me wrong, skiing here in Aspen is still way better than skiing on the east coast and most of Europe.  With the current snow conditions I've been doing some alternate activities to keep occupied and in shape. I've been hiking up Smuggler Mountain in Aspen and also going out to the cross country center and having a skate ski.  Great cardio and a nice alternative when you need a day off from skiing.  Let's be honest, none of us can go skiing 7 days in a row any longer, can we?  Check out some pictures from the mountain this week and I'll let you know when the snow starts back up again. 

Tortilla Flats near the bottom of chair 3

January 7th

I shot this from the gondola.  This is the upper portion of Aspen Mountain on a bluebird day.

I never made it skiing yesterday.  Call me spoiled but it was overcast and foul with very flat light.  It was supposed to snow but it never materialised.  I took the day off but I'm not going to leave you hanging.  I took so many photos from earlier in the week I thought I would put some more on today so you can drool on your office computer. 

Ridge of Bell with Back of Bell 2 off to the right

FIS looking good in the morning sunshine.

January 5th

Checking out the top of the Ruthies chair.  Reds bumps all the way down to chair 3.

It was was supposed to be a foul overcast day but as luck would have it, the sun was out making for a nice ski day.  Once again, the slopes were uncrowded and the snow is in fantastic shape.  I did some exploring and tried to stay away from the same runs I always find myself on.  I switched it up and skied runs like Back 2 and 3 in the trees over to the Ridge of Bell.  I skied Glade 3 along the rope line to Super 8 gully.  I also headed over to the Ruthies side and hit that little area just to the right of the lift as you start up.  Aztec was skiing well as well as Spring Pitch.  The runs just below the 1A chair are also in good shape as I always(as well as most people) forget about just how good the 1A side can ski.  I had about 3 hours today and took full advantage and when my time was finished so were my legs.  All was not roses and puppydogs however.  I did find some rather big rocks in Perrys Dump and on the Face of Bell. No edge blowouts but some mangled bases that are in need of attention.  We're supposed to get another good dose of snow later today into tonight.  As I always say, I'll count it once it's on the ground.  Stay tuned as I have a few hours to ski tomorrow afternoon.  Hopefully it will be a powder day.

Standing on top of Pump House looking at Tourtelotte Park.  Notice the perfect beginner bumps in there.

Marilyn says it's 20 degreesF. 

More bumps.  I think this is International.

January 3rd

I took this standing on the Face of Bell with the Ruthies lift in the background.

Normal service resumed.  For the last two weeks our little mining town of 8000 people has been inundated with debutantes, royalty and celelbs(remind me why Paris Hilton is famous again?)  and now they're heading for the hills in their G4's.  Once again I now have a place to park my own plane and have the mountain to myself.  For the earliest part of this morning Aspen Mountain was empty.  Granted it was snowing and there was about two feet of visibility which keeps the fair weather skiers at bay.  The sun did manage to come out at about noon but by then my legs were cashed out and I called it a day.  I got in three good hours with no lift lines and high speed quads; there was a lot of skiing to be had.  I even had a huge stack on Ridge of Bell as I couldn't really see and ate it.  I'm chewing on Aleve and a Guinness as I type this.  The mountain is in relatively good shape considering how busy we've been the last two weeks.  It's hammered in a few spots but overall not too bad.  I skied the entire mountain today and there was a few standouts.  I skied the Back of Bell in the trees and took that over to Gent's.  There was still a decent amount of new snow from the last two days and overnight we got just enough to make it soft.  Next up was Face of Bell to Chair 6 to the Dumps.  First Dump was Perry's.  A few rocks here and there but really nice skiing.  So good I did another Face to 6 to the Dumps.  Next Dump was Last Dollar.  Long and in even better shape.  The little runs up top like Pump House, Summit and Dipsy Face were all also skiing real nice.  I don't think I skied anything I didn't like today.  Tomorrow I also have about 3 hours to ski before work and I"m hoping it's another good day like today.  On an interesting note, I read an article in the newspaper today that was stating Vail and Summit County areas like Breckenridge are kind of hurting in the snow department.  The article stated that only about 50% of the available terrain was open.  I just wanted to let you know that we don't have that problem over here.  Most of the terrain is open here and the stuff that isn't doesn't ski real well even when we have piles of snow.  You can see from my photos that we don't have a snow problem here.  I would also venture to bet that we have more available expert terrain open in the state than anywhere else.  If you take into account the Highlands' Bowl, Steeplechase, Oly and Aspen Mountain steeps, you won't be able to go anywhere for better skiing.  I'll wager a four pack of Guinness that I'm right.  And with that, I"m out.

Back of Bell 1.5 in the trees

More Face of Bell skiing down to Chair 6 in the background

December 28th

I took this standing in Zaug Dump looking back at Face of Bell

Another cold and sunny day on the last Sunday of 2009.  Aspen Mountain is in great shape and the skiing couldn't be better right now. We even have some snow on the way for this week so hopefully we'll have some powder days in our future.  Today was a great day for exploring so I headed to the nooks and crannies of the mountain and found some terrific skiing. I missed the opening of the Dumps earlier this week but it didn't matter as several of the runs still had some powder that needed my attention.  I ogled the runs from the gondola on the way up this morning trying to figure out which to hit first.  I skied the Face of Bell down to Chair 3 and up to Ruthies.  Once up there I took International to Upper Short Snort to Zaug.  This being one of the shortest Dumps, I thought I would get this under my belt to see how the snow is.  The entrance was 'interesting' as there are several mine dump entrances that are only half covered with snow just waiting for some unsuspecting skier to come by and fall in.  Once by, the gut of the run was nice and soft with some firm underneath.  It was so good that I took the gondola back up and did another. This time it was Last Dollar, the longest dump.  Surprisingly the legs held up the entire way down and just as in Zaug, nice soft snow and not that hollow.  And finally, I did Percy's just to get in another one.  In the 'also skied' column and worth mentioning here were Ridge of Bell, Slalom Hill, FIS down the gully, Pump House and my nemesis, Summit off of Buckhorn.  A solid two hours of skiing today and I wish I had more time but parenthood called.  Tomorrow is my last day to ski for 2009 and I have no idea where I'm going yet.  Check back later this week to see where I went and how much new snow we got. 

Standing at the top of Last Dollar with Shoulder of Bell in the background

Upper Short Snort off of International

December 27th

You can never go wrong with lunch at Cloud 9 at Highlands.  Check out the Maroon Bells and Pyramid Peak in the background.

How in the world has a week gone by without an update?  Christmas, that's what happened.  Now that Donner and Blitzen have left the building(as well as Charlie Sheen) and the big man in the red suit has headed back to the North Pole, things are slowly returning back to normal here in Aspen.  Town is still very busy but the mountains aren't too bad.  I hit Aspen for a couple of hours late this week only to find no lift lines and still some powder snow left over from the last series of storms.  Today I hit the Highlands and wouldn't you know it, nary a lift line and still great snow conditions.  Interestingly enough, there were still some places on the mountain today that looked like the snow would be nice and soft but Ullr took me for a fool as the snow ended up being firm and solid.  I had my skiing ability handed to me on a platter today as I just couldn't get it together in that stuff.  I actually skied the beaten path today which is something I never do.  I had several runs in Steeplechase down to the Deep lift as well as runs on the Oly side.  All was skiing well.  Runs that were in good shape were Boomerang, Wall, Aces and Eights, Scarlettes and Khandahar.  My pick for the day was Thunderbowl.  It's in great shape and there were hardly any soles over there which allowed us to open a can of wup arse and try for a land speed record.  Good fun in the sun.  Yes the sun was out but if was cold up there, probably only in the teens and single digits up top.  Tomorrow; Aspen to check out what's going on over there.  Check out some Highlands photos.

So you like cruisers do you.  Yes they do exist at the Highlands and you can even have the entire run to yourself.

Standing at the bottom of Moment of Truth looking up

Taking the Deep Temerity lift up after a 2000 vertical foot decent of Steeplechase.

December 21st

Ruthies run looking good in the morning sunshine

The crowds have arrived and even the paparazzi are here.  For which celebrity I'm not sure but I do know this, I have absolutely no place to park my plane.  Now on to the skiing.  The temps have been quite nice during the day eventhough they drop quite a bit at night.  We haven't had any new snow since last Monday so the conditions are getting firm.  I have found a couple of nice soft spots around and the groomers are in fantastic shape.  The last couple of days on Aspen Mountain have been really nice with bluebird sunny skies and fast snow.  I've hit all the blue runs up top in addition to the black runs and they are still in nice shape.  A few rocks here or there in between the moguls but nothing severe.  My recommendations today were Silver Dip, Pump House and Reds.  FIS is still skiing well and the BBB pick of the day is Ridge of Bell.  I tried to get into the Face but it's still pretty hollow and rocky.  I got back on the RIdge and took it all the way down to Copper.  That was by far skiing the best today so I did it a few times.  We do need another big dump to get runs like Walsh's and the Dumps open.  I recon another 2 feet and we'll be in business.  Everything else is open and skiing well considering the time of year.  Check out my photos from today and we are supposed to get some snow tonight and tomorrow. Stay tuned for an update from the Highlands in the upcoming days.

Standing on Face of Bell heading down to Chair 6 to go up to Ruthies

More Ridge of Bell

December 19th

Taken earlier this week just as the patrol opened Sunrise

The sun came out this week making for some great bluebird conditions here in Colorado.  Town is filling up with the Christmas crowd (no, I'm not making this up, I saw a mother with her 10 year old daughter wearing matching full length fur coats) giving us a great winter vibe.  The lift lines are building but are still nothing but a thing.  More terrain is opening daily and by next weekend, most of the mountains should be open.  Check out some bluebird photos and I'll have a more in depth report later this weekend.  PS, I'll try to get a man-fur photo on the mountain as well.

Standing in Glade 3 on Gent's Ridge looking at Ridge of Bell

Minutes after patrol dropped the rope on Gent's Ridge earlier this week

December 14th

Oh beautiful powder how I love thee!

Promised and delivered, today I hit the Highlands.  Last night left us with another 13 inches on the slopes and today I skied until the legs failed.  I figured after opening weekend the locals would either be exhausted or burnt out so I got there at my usual 15 minutes early and was handsomely rewarded with the effort.  It's been a long time since I've had the true first chair of the day so today was a nice treat as that's exactly where I found myself in line.  The very first person.  It feels so good on a powder day.  And the dilemmas started.  Where to first.  Steeplechase wasn't going to be open yet, ditto for the bowl so lets find something mid-mountain where I can warm up the legs after yesterday.  First run, right down under the Cloud 9 chair, Gunbarrel.  Boot deep barely cut up powder.  A nice long run with no interruptions.  So good I did it again but on the run next to it, Scarlettes.  Next run was indicative of the rest of the day.  I must have had my rock magnet skis because I hit every rock hidden by the snow today.  First rock, Wall, second rock, Boomerang third...it went on and on like that all day.  Once Steeplechase opened same thing, great powder with hidden rocks just waiting for me.  Steeplechase also had it's own little micro-climate in there today as the temps were a tad colder and while the sun was out on the rest of the mountain, it snowed in there all morning.  After two runs in the 'chase', I skied the Oly side on runs like Aces and Eights and Why Not.  I did a few more runs where I could find powder and after 3 hours I was cooked.  Tomorrow is another day and the powder should still be plentiful.  Check out the photos and I should have another update later this week.

This is what it looked like at 8:45 this morning at the Highlands...first in line!

The Wall at Highlands

More powder...it was like this all over the mountain today.

December 13th

The snow let up for about two minutes and I took this photo on Reds looking across to Deer Park and Silver Dip

In another year of firsts for the Bald One, I missed another biggie....opening day at the Aspen Highlands.  Eventhough this is the Aspen Mountain locals lowdown, all of you regulars out there know that the Highlands is near and dear to my heart.  I had other commitments on Saturday which forced me to miss that opening but do not fret my readership, I will be out there tomorrow after the weekend crowds have abated.  Today I hit Aspen and was not disappointed as the crowds were still gallivanting and parading around the Highlands.  With nary a lift line and a full-on blizzard happening on top of the mountain, what's one to do but ski the copious amounts of powder that presented itself.  Overnight we saw about a half-foot of new snow on top of the snow that fell yesterday.  In addition, the patrol opened a bunch of new terrain that hadn't been skied yet this year.  Check this out. They dropped the rope on Reds and FIS.  The entire Ruthies side was also open but no one seemed to notice as I skied over there for an hour and had fresh tracks most of the afternoon.  FIS was the picker today as it was knee deep and bottomless.  You did have to keep up the speed as it was hollow and if you stopped you would drop to the bottom.  Not to worry, I skied that like it was the last powder turns of the year.  Also open were Percy's, Sunrise, Sunset and the little bit of Face of Bell that allows you to get to chair 6.  Did that a couple of times along with Midnight, Blondies and Pussyfoot.  I finished the day over on the Ruthies side and skied Roch's and below the Ruthies chair.  Great powder all the way down to the Gondola.  Check out tomorrows lowdown for pics of the Highlands. 

Skiing down the right hand side of FIS

One of my favorite stashes, the Wormhole off of Reds

Heading up chair 3 over Blazing Star in a blizzard.