The train journey from Denver to Winter Park was a short but enjoyable one. We left at about 8.05am and proceeded west until we reached the mountains. The train then snaked itīs way up the mountain side, doubling back and forth on itself, climbing only short distances at a time (the train could only go up a max. gradient of 3%). As we climbed we passed through small tunnels carved out of the rock. Eventually we reached the top and could see the peak which was surrounded by clouds. By now my ears had popped on numerous occasions due to the altitude. As we travelled along the mountain top we passed tiny little towns made up of a handful of houses and a frozen stream ran parallel to the train.
I arrived in the small town of Fraser, located a couple of miles from Winter Park. Then took a taxi to my hotel, which was directly opposite the base of the ski resort and stood at 9000 ft above sea level. The slopes were not very busy because there hadnīt been any snowfall for a while. Back at the hotel I had a swim and then went in the sauna and
jacuzzi.
In the evening I went to a bar to do my laundry. Yes, I did say bar. In town there was a place called Bucketīs Bar where you could do your laundry and get drunk at the same time. Apparently thereīs even a chain of laundrette/bars in the North West of the States.
On my first day sking ever I had booked a 3 day set of lessons. It turned out that I was the only one who had selected this particular package and so for the first day I had one on one coaching for a cheaper price than usual. My ski coach was this 23 year old guy from Newbury, England. He told me he continually travels to various resorts around the world and pays his way by coaching at them. I had a 4 hour lesson on the easiest few slopes and then in the afternoon I went out by myself and went down a longer, harder run. I managed to only fall over twice, although one of those was head first into a huge pile of snow.
The following day they told me I couldnīt have individual training again and so refunded me
the rest of the money and offered me other lessons. I decided to go out by myself in the morning and see how I would fair. I struggled at first but gradually got better. In the afternoon I thought it best to have another lesson. This time there was only two of us in the group and the coach was a transexual named Lori. During this lesson I started to get the hang of things and my turning really improved.
It snowed continuously for 2 days which resulted in really good powdered slope conditions. I spent the entire day by myself and even managed to go down a couple of intermediate slopes. The following day I decided to have a rest because by now my legs were aching.
On the 10th of December I spent most of the day sking. I went up to the highest point of the resort which stood over 10,000 ft above sea level and went down a few more difficult routes. In the evening I caught the bus to Fraser so I could use the internet in the Library there.
On my final day of sking the conditions changed. It became very
windy and the temperature dropped way below zero. At one point the ski lift I was on got stuck for about 10 minutes, so we were left hanging in the air. I actually got frost bite on my lip because I hadnīt covered up my face.
As I made my way down to check out on my last day a cleaner stopped me and asked me if I was an actor. She said she had seen me in films before (nobody say Shrek). I have no idea wether to take it as a complement or not has I donīt know who she was referring to. I checked out and got a taxi to the station. The train was supposed to arrive at 10.07am, but ended up being over 3 hours late. I spent most of this time in the local bar warming up with whiskey. At 1.20 the train pulled up and I set off in the direction of San Francisco, passing through 4 states along the way (Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California).
United States' Flag
Map of United States