Denver To Vail Express

On rare occasions Dispatch do let me on the road when the sun is up. So ride along with me expressing (no guests) from the comercial vehicle "Holding" lot back home to Edwards on a beautifully sunny day, that was so cold it had actually snowed all the way down to the base of the Rocky Mountains just outside of Denver...

For the full trip at 1115 miles/hr: (worth the watch)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KTub53o1dk&feature=related

Looking at DIA from Holding... The dodgey mensroom at Holding... The 'sails' over DIA

The 'sails' are symbolic of the Rocky Mountains... I am not exactly sure what the blue Devil Bronco with glowing red eyes is symbolic of... But gossip does tell of a sad tale where the artist that created this massive bronco was actually killed when it fell on him.

This is my mobile 'office' on wheels... and the onboard drive cam which when triggered by an incident records the previous 15seconds and the following 30 seconds both forwards and backwards views...

Beginning the ascent of the Rocky Mountains... it does not usually snow this low.


The Eisenhower Tunnel 300m from the summit of the highest point on the trip.

Passing Frisco on the left.

Driving between Frisco and Copper Mountain.


Copper Mountain is directly on my left as we start to ascend the Vail Pass.

The top of the Vail Pass as we start to descend into Vail.

A veiw of inside the van (which is unrelated to this trip) It was actually from a trip down to Denver International Airport to sit for our security badge tests.

Entering the washbay at Edwards Station

Washing down the staff shuttle at the end of a dizzying day (driving round in circles for 12hrs:)

Why I Am Not Easily Intimidated By The Mountain

...Because its so damn SOFT compared to my old Melbourne Morning Workouts!!!

I came accross an old "900" (2.5spin) technique trouble shooting video, while trying to edit together a single movie file for Brooke's expression session :) (only to discover Nokia like to build in file protection much smarter than I, that exceeds my ability to edit them)

Its not that I am fearless or reckless on a board (cos ice makes me very nervous) its just that falling over on the mountain is luxury compared to what I am used to falling over on...

...Yes I know mum, I should be wearing a helmet :) (which does come out for potential falls over 2m) contrary to how it appears I would like to say that I am just falling with style (and that its not totally uncontrolled). But in saying that after unexpectedly crashing through a bunch of baby trees on Vail the other day - I am thinking now is probably a good time to start investing in one :)

This One's For Brooke's Mum & Dad

What happens when you take a beach bunny and put them in the snow??
...I think you discover untapped athletic potential!!

I believe this was only Brooke's 9th time on a mountain! ...and I know THREE of those were on the beginners slopes! .. and calling those a 'slope' is being VERY generous with the truth!!! :) This was only the second time I had seen Brooke on the slopes and what an improvement!

WARNING: may contain traces of coarse language AND Richard Farr!!! (brown jacket, white pants)

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Kristmas is kinda busy... thankyou for your patience...

My First Review On The Internet!!!

Thank's to Cameron for some how comming accross this website review and forwarding it to me... (and yes this really was me I can vividly remember 'the guy from pheonix' he was really nice, and from memory it was quite a good visibility, but bad weather trip :)

Gabi K.
Phoenix, AZ
4 star rating 12/3/2008

Thank you, Daniel and CME for getting us from DIA to Beaver Creek safely...

My boyfriend made the arrangements, so I was literally just 'along for the ride' but I was pleasantly surprised at how well organized and efficient CME was, how friendly their staff was, and how smooth the entire process was. All four hours of the drive. Yes, I did say four hours! Because of the snow and the roads, etc... it did take almost four hours, but hey - they put safety first, so I can't complain.

The van was full but the others were friendly and we made the best of the situation. Nice to meet you John, Heather, Lynn, and a few others too. Thanks for putting up with my boyfriend's humor along the way. I liked the place we stopped - clean bathroom and plenty of snacks to choose from. You can't go wrong with that!

At $80 bucks a head, I thought it was a bit pricey, but so is everything related to the sport of skiing, right? I'll update my review after my trip back on Sunday, but as of now, I'd give 5 stars to CME for service and safety - 3 stars for price... and with that, I'm out - it's beautiful here!

People thought this was: Useful (5) Funny (5) Cool (5)

http://www.yelp.com/biz/colorado-mountain-express-edwards

...and thankyou Gabi K, for taking the time to write the review Colorado Mountain Express! I hope you enjoyed your time in the valley :D (and friend's wedding if I rememmber correctly)

Things Under Snow

Right now the snow is exciting, except if I may have to be driving in it, on it, under it, or potentially getting stuck in it :) ...which is not entirely true... because I have been fortunate enough to drive most of my "Vampire Runs" to Denver in bad weather (fortunately for me just not bad visability) and because the Vampire Runs attract very few guests the bad weather has been encouraging more generous tips and keeping me financilly a float, and so far I have not yet had to go into debt... which is a miracle in itself after being here for about 6 weeks already with sketchy work.

It will be interesting to see if I am just as enthusiastic about all this snow by the end of the season.

The first two photo's are from late november when most snow was not hanging around except for all the manmade snow...

From memory this was taken from the Vista Bhan that runs up the west slopes of Vail.

The following are from the entrance to the Beaver Creek Villiage as you approach from the bus stop...

The reason why there is snow everywhere except for on the foot paths is because the paving has been laid down over a heating system which constantly melts the snow as it lands on it... very cool!... well actually not quite cool enough for the snow :)

..."The Demon" (named after its 'stomp pad' and colours:) VS Tree...

Typically The Demon wins, but I have come accross a couple of deceptive tree tops that would not yeild... sending me sumersaulting through the air. Hilarious if the snow is not too deep and you don't have to spend the next five minutes floundering around in deep snow trying to get back ontop of it.

Entering Vail Villiage from the Vail Transportation Center, which is basically a public transport hub for Busses, Taxi's, CME and some car parking as well.

Now the lego car up by the Beaver Creek iceskating rink starts to make sense... Volvo's seem to be springing up all around Vail. There is even one that is cut in half up on the mountain as you disembark the main mountain Gondola... so something starts to smell like sposorship :)

Entering Vail Villiage...

Entering Avon from the exit roundabout from Interstate 70 (which runs over that bridge)

Avon's back drop

Colorado loves its bronze sculptures... they are everywhere...

Eagle River runs all the way through the county.