Wednesday, December 09, 2009, by Charles Sneiderman at Breckenridge

Bobby Palm of Ski gave a workshop this morning on the adaptive use of ski-bikes (or ski-bobs as they are called in Europe). Standard ski-bikes can be used by people with a wide variety of impairments and are much less expensive than sit skis. Even double above-knee amputees can use ski-bikes without bearing weight on their stumps as long as they have enough hamstring strength to shift their weight as the bike turns. Although none of our local areas have ski-bikes, I saw instructors from Liberty and Wintergreen in the workshop, so don't be surprised if we see some ski bikes on our local slopes soon.

Bruce Hori, Director of Sales and Marketing at Beaver Run Resort invited us to lunch at Spencer's Restaurant which offers a fabulous lunch buffet slopeside; soup, salad, and cold cut sandwiches for $7.95 or a full meal for $14.95! With temperatures in the single digits and wind chills on the upper mountain reported at -60, I decided that I would use the full meal as an excuse not to ski after lunch. As you can see from the photo of Bruce on our balcony, we are in a penthouse unit on the eighth floor of the newest building at Beaver Run with a fireplace and Jacuzzi, so let the wind howl outside! Connie spent the day visiting with warriors, writing, and doing interviews and we can get our exercise today in the indoor portion of the indoor-outdoor pool!





ski bike class Tom Penland Bruce Hori

I'm enjoying your reports. The picture of Swifty snowboarding with big smile on his face says it all. Awesome.

Thank you Jim. Colorado Ski Country folks say hi. Yours, Connie and Charles

Breckenridge -December 11, 2009, by Connie Lawn
The end of our week here was glorious. Peak Seven opened, and it is glorious. Long, rolling runs, and heart stopping views of Lake Dillon, A Basin, Keystone, and other areas in the distance. Breckenridge is a monster of a resort, with over 155 trails covering 4 peaks. The altitude we skied was 11,550 feet at the summit. The Imperial Chair is 12,840 feet. It was cold and windy on the chairs and at the top, but it gave way to warm skiing on the way down. The snow was well groomed, and some was man made. The monster storm which hit the nation dumped more snow in the southern resorts. This week, the snow was hard packed and fast!
The rental equipment from Breckenridge was superb - brand new Salomon skis and boots for Charles; I used Nordica boots. We were happy to be able to rent near our Beaver Run condo, but return the equipment to the shop at Peak 7. Hard to carry that equipment around on the gondolas and buses.
One highlight of the trip was meeting former British soldier Darren Swift. He lost both legs at the knees to an IRA bomb, but gets along brilliantly on his snowboard. Congratulations to all the Wounded Warriors and adaptive skiers! Good luck in the paralympics.
We also love spending time with our best friends from home - Trippie and Tom Penland, and a dedicated group of Liberty instructors. We are all looking forward to the season at home!