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Snowmass Colorado -
54 Wanted More
The BSC’s largest trip this season sent 43 people on one
airline and 11 on another to Snowmass Colorado on February 25,
2006. Leader, Beth Muscedere, and Assistant, Eileen Karczmarek,
were assisted by the Assistant to the Assistant, Cheryl Glaeser
in shepherding the small flock of the expansion group on Northwest.
Frank and Bernie Matunis were good sports at the Aspen airport
after realizing that Bernie’s luggage took a layover longer
than theirs in Denver. Fortunately, Bernie did not have to ski
in her underwear because her bag was delivered to her later.
Top of the Village Condominiums was aptly named, as it was at
the top of the access road and offered luxurious 3 bedroom/ 3
bath units with true ski in/ ski out lodging. Because we were
on such a steep incline between buildings, the condos offered
free shuttle service that was available on call at a moment’s
notice to take us to the Snowmass Mall and its many shops and
restaurants.
At our Welcome Wine and Cheese party, we noticed that the Ski
School representative had a wicked goggle tan from the day. The
entire week would turn out to be sunny and seldom cold. Maybe
the spring-like weather was thanks to Vicki Burt wearing her burnt
orange ski outfit, or Bob Sanford’s radioactive sunburn.
At least Bob didn’t have the flu bug that first attacked
Dave McClelland. By mid-week casualties from that virus spread
to about one fifth of our group, felling Cheryl and Lew Glaeser,
Lynn Meyer, Dale Deger and Eileen, to name a few.
Toshio Sasamori and fellow doctor Arun Bhasin’s condo phone
rang constantly, and Toshio broke records for making house calls.
Toshio also broke records in earning a Silver Nastar pin at Aspen
Mountain, with Art Roerink and yours truly earning Bronze.
Sunday we skied Snowmass, or tried to cover some of the over 3,000
acres of terrain. On Monday, many of us followed the itinerary
and skied at Buttermilk, an underrated mountain dwarfed by immense
Snowmass, and the more glamorous Aspen and hardcore skier’s
favorite, Aspen Highlands. We must have saved some energy as we
celebrated Happy Hour at the Cirque back at Snowmass. Lindy Utermohle,
warmed up the dance floor, as fellow members dove into plates
of nachos and other appetizers provided by the Club. The rest
of the members must have also liked the band, because 2 hours
later the floor was filled with BSCers. Marty Schnuit wore his
best gold lame shirt a day ahead of Mardi Gras. Our dynamo, Kate
Davis, had a full dance card between sips of her Coors Light.
Fat Tuesday was the warmest day of the week, and the lower slopes
of Aspen Highlands turned slushy by noon. Rosemary Smollon did
her homework and informed us we could download the Chairlift to
get past the lower mountain. Anita Allen, Cyndi Welch and Dale
Deger had an adventure when they all boarded one chair and had
to carry their skis on their laps! Back at Snowmass many members
lined up to see the Mardi Gras parade.
Tuesday evening a front rolled in bringing pouring rains in the
middle of the night. Beth went back to sleep thinking she managed
to schedule the off day just right for Wednesday. However, higher
up the mountain there was snow, quite a few inches of nice powder,
not the heavy wet stuff Beth expected. The 12 people who skied
6 days made the right choice.
By Thursday, the allure of ski in/ ski out was so great that only
4 of the 54 skied at Aspen (fka Ajax) Mountain. That night the
Club hosted a lavish buffet dinner at the Stonebridge Inn featuring
seared trout in a bourbon cream sauce and chicken piccata. Eileen
Karczmarek planned the dinner, but missed it and all the complements
on it because she came down with the flu bug. After dinner, many
members won door prizes of BSC logo merchandise. Stan Stone pitched
in some eyewear and hand warmers, however, the warmers went unused
this trip. Thanks also go to Mark Jones for handing out orange
ribbons for our poles early in the week.
On Friday everyone skied one last sunny day at Snowmass. Just
when it looked like our group of 54 had managed to avoid injury;
Barbara Powell had a high speed crash on The Slot at Snowmass
and broke her right leg in 3 places. Barb and the Club extend
many thanks to Gail Smith who packed her things and took Barbara’s
essentials to the hospital, and to others who have helped her
upon her return to Baltimore the following Friday.
The weather was sunny and mild all week, affording us some spectacular
views of the mountains, especially the Maroon Bells from Snowmass.
If you didn’t catch enough scenery during the week, Bill
Phillips brought his videos from the Jay Peak trip and Wisp. Condo
mates, Burt Meyer and Myron Oppenheimer generously relinquished
the remote control to Bill as he showed his videos to several
club members.
Our return home on the eighth day was uneventful and relaxed as
we had plenty of time between connections to enjoy one more meal
together. Several members said that we really need a 10 day trip
to begin to ski all the terrain offered by the 4 mountains at
Snowmass/Aspen.
Submitted by Beth Muscedere
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