Snowmass

Every spring break my family and I travel to Snowmass Colorado to go skiing and snowboarding. Snowmass is about 10 minutes away from Aspen, and about four hours away from Denver. The lowest point of Snowmass is an Area called Two Creeks with an elevation of 8,223 ft. The highest point is called the Cique Head wall. That has an elevation of roughly 12,400 ft. Snowmass is a great place to take the family on a trip because it is so safe, and convenient. The mountain is HUGE and has a wide variety of runs.
On the mountain there are three different levels of runs. Green, usually at the bass of the mountain is for beginners and is the easiest type of run. Greens are flat wide trails that are easy for kids to learn how to ski and board. The next level is Blue. Blues are all throughout the mountain. Some blues are harder then others but most of the time they are the same. Blues have a combination of steep, and flat terrain. Blues are wide trails with trees on each side. The majority of the mountain is made up of blues and no matter what level skier you are; you will have a good time. The next level is Black. These are more advanced runs and are most of the time steep with little flat parts. Blacks are for people that know what they are doing on the mountain and are experienced skier/boarder. Blacks can be dangerous because they are steep and long. They are also not as wide as other runs; they are much narrower then blues. The last level is a Double Black. Double blacks are for experts only; they are very steep and have no flat terrain at all. Double blacks are pretty much cliffs with snow and are not to be taken lightly. The beginning of a black is a cliff drop off, after you make it past that, you half to make your way down a very steep mountain with lots of moguls.
Moguls are big lumps of snow that form after skiers ski the same path over and over again. I personally think that moguls are terrible because they are hard to board over. If there are moguls I leave, I go through the trees or something jus to get off that run. If you are not experienced with moguls it can be dangerous because the ground is very uneven and not stable. One of my most favorite things to do is to go through he trees on the sides of runs. Not a lot of people go through the trees, so the snow in there is GREAT! There is so much soft untouched snow, and if it snowed a lot the night before, it is heaven on earth. There is nothing on the mountain that can beat fresh powder in the trees.
The family is split in half when it comes to who skis and who boards. My parents and nephew all ski, but my brother, sister, and I all board. My parents have both been skiing for a super long time, but are still just on blues. My nephew, Kanai just started skiing 3 years ago, so he is still on Greens, and just starting blues. My sister is a Blue type person but will do blacks if other people want to. My brother and I both love blues and blacks, the only difference is that he is much more experienced then me. We both like to go fast down the mountain but I always look for good trees. He used to go on every Double Black around, he would even go on runs that weren’t even marked. I’ve gone on a few Double Blacks, but I’m still working on them. I also love to go through terrain parks, with big jumps and rails.
Every year I always look forward to going to Snowmass because we always have such a good time there, and I never feel like leaving.