My Life Outdoors

Last week my family got to spend some time skiing at one of our favorite ski areas. Ski Cooper outside of Leadville Colorado is where I learned to ski more than 20 years ago. Over the last few years I have had the opportunity to teach my oldest daughter to ski on the same mountain.

Sunset we enjoyed on our drive up to Colorado

I’m unsure of the name of this 14,000+ foot peak.

Ski Cooper is a unique, inexpensive, family friendly ski area. The mountain was the training area for the 10th Mountain Division’s ski troopers. It sits across from the two highest peaks in Colorado: Mount Elbert and Mount Massive. It’s not a big mountain but its the perfect place to learn to ski. Click here for more information about Ski Cooper.

Mount Elbert: 14,440 feet. The highest in Colorado

Mount Massive: 14,421 feet. Second highest in Colorado.

Mount Elbert (left) and Mount Massive side by side. Only 21 feet difference in elevation.

New Years day my family woke up to temperatures around -20 degrees. After further investigation we discovered the wind-chill was estimated at -40 degrees. No one was excited about getting out skiing. Personally I’m not one to miss an opportunity to ski…so I left my family at the condo and headed to the slopes with a good friend.

A cold New Years Day

Arriving shortly after the lefts opened we expected to see some holiday crowds. We were pleased to see the cold had kept everyone at home. As we skied up to the lift we could tell we would have the mountain to ourselves that day. We were the first on the lift and the lift attendant told us we were crazy. But like I said…I wasn’t going to miss a day of skiing. We had a great time skiing any and everything with barley anyone else in sight.

The next morning was much nicer. The high was 23 degrees and the sun came out to grace us. I got to bring my daughter out with us to ski. I must say I was a real proud dad that day. This was her fourth time to ski and the first time she showed real ability. We rode the lift to the top of “the big mountain” as she calls it. We skied down “the big mountain” five times before she was too tired to continue. I skied the rest of the day with friends before eventually calling it a day.

Beautiful day at Ski Cooper

My oldest daughter skiing the “Big Mountain”

My oldest daughter skiing the “Big Mountain”

Chicago Ridge

 On this trip I got to play around with a new (to me) Action Cam I bought on e-bay. I mounted the cam to my ski boot…which proved to be a pretty bouncy location. You can watch some clips from the cam below. If you get motion sick….you might spare yourself.

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