Skippress - Index

Skippress - US Vol. 7 No. 2 - Index

PARK HITS ROAD TRIP
18 THE TRAVEL ISSUE 2008
BY GRAHAM GEPHART
Copper
Love L Song
Avon
No need to cross the country. Graham Gephart maps
out your drive to Colorado dreamin’.
The trip’s almost too easy for the road warrior prepared to drive all night to
make the fi rst chair the next morning. The veritable Vegas Strip of skiing,
the Colorado corridor’s highspeed lifts and terrain parks beckon cars like
neon signs. One look and you’ll forget those caffeine-fueled long hauls…
the ultimate New School roadshow runs right up Interstate 70.
Denver to Idaho Springs — 35 miles
It all begins in Denver, and barring an encounter with the seemingly
annual Christmas blizzard, it’s smooth sailing to the state’s newest ski
hill — Echo Mountain Park. After two years operating on the site of the
long-defunct Squaw Pass ski area, Echo Park has found a new niche as
an exclusively freestyle hill. It sits above 10,000 feet, and while the
vertical isn’t much, it’s hard to get bored on runs packed so full of innovative
rails, jumps and jibs.
Idaho Springs to Keystone — 50 miles
If you’ve seen any kind of ski media in the past two years, you’ve undoubtedly
seen footage from Keystone’s monster A51 Terrain Park. This season
promises even more, as Keystone’s crew expanded the terrain to feature
40 new jibs. Don’t stop lapping the hits when the sun sets, either. Keystone
lights up the runs until 9 p.m., and your next destination is less than
30 minutes away.
Keystone to Copper — 17 miles
Its freestyle team helped push Copper into the spotlight in the early days,
and Catalyst Park still carries on that tradition, with pro-ready features like
the 18-foot quarterpipe.
Copper to Vail/Avon — 20 miles
Vail has so many parks and back bowls that there’s less downtime waiting
for clearance to fl y through its Aviator, Skyway and Fly Zone jump lines.
Just 10 miles up the road, Beaver Creek adds another option. Take advantage
of its smaller crowds to log more airtime between the three parks and
a superpipe that runs nearly 400 feet long.
Photo: Mark Doolittle
Photo: Chad Schmidt
Vail
Copper
Keystone
FoMoInfo
Idaho Springs — echomtnpark.com
Keystone — keystoneresort.com
Copper — coppercolorado.com
Vail/Avon — vail.com, beavercreek.com
Aspen — aspensnowmass.com
Photo: Matt Power
Idaho Springs
Keystone
Denver
Snowmass
Avon to Aspen — 93 miles
The four mountains of Aspen-Snowmass sit an hour off I-70, but the spectacle
of X-Games, running January 24-27, makes it a must-visit. A multitude
of impeccably designed parks draws jibbers to Buttermilk and Snowmass,
and innovative jib features from the massive X-Games courses then
get re-formed into the renowned Crazy Train line. For those scouting soft
landings, Aspen’s website even points out natural features around Aspen
Mountain and Aspen Highlands.
more park news on skipressworld.com