XC Skiing at 10,000 Feet.
By Torbjorn Karlsen
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| Torbjorn admires the view from Powderhorn |
We were staying at the Powderhorn Alpine Resort (www.powderhorn.com) located 40 minutes drive outside Grand Junction at the base of the majestic and unique Table Mesa flattop mountain.
The purpose of
writing this little article is to give those of you that are striving for
new adventures and challenges some ideas. And no, I was not paid to make
a plug for the resort or the area.
The mountain became "flat top" back in the T.Rex days when the
mountain’s volcano exploded and left it with numerous small lakes,
streams and a nice forest.
The base of the ski resort is at 8,200 ft. and the Summit elevation is 9,850
ft. The vertical drop is 1.650 feet with an average snowfall of 250 inches.
The
Alpine Experience.
On Saturday we were almost first in line to get on the lifts. Three
rental packages and four day passes for a total of $99 was a lot less than
what I had expected.
However, as a wax coach, I almost started to tell the employees in the rental
shop that they could do a much better job taking care of the ski bases,
and that they really needed to actually wax the skis with an iron, but I
was on vacation. My last race was over for the season, and I was ready to
ski in some very comfortable alpine boots and the new "Shaped"
168cm alpine skis I was handed.
Last time I Alpine skied was three years ago in Park City. That day, one
of my 15-year-old alpine boots (that are no longer with me) was very uncomfortable
in the toe area. I tried several times to press my foot down in the boot
and finally had to take it off. When I turned it upside down, half of an
eaten up dead mouse fell out.
Well, these new boots were a lot better than those and lines didn’t
exist at the lifts. This is a resort that mostly attracts locals and we
felt that we had the mountain to ourselves. Varied terrain, spectacular
views, good grooming and even sun in the afternoon made it a great day.
I even got into doing a little downhill technique coaching to my daughters.
I remembered a few things from my days at the Sport College in Norway.
I
highly recommend Powderhorn for families and those of you that want to combine
it with the other possibilities mentioned below.
The Cross Country Skiing Experience.
A few years ago I ran a few on snow-training camps on top of the Table
Mesa. These were held in mid-November at the Skyway parking lot at about
10,000 feet. I hear that the Grand Junction Nordic Council is still setting
tracks for both skating and classic at this location. The snow level this
early in November was marginal but from talking to locals it seems like
you can count on skiing (in tons of snow) on the top from late November
– May. It’s a safe bet if your hometown or continent lacks snow.
Guaranteed.
This Saturday I started skiing from Mesa Lakes parking lot (before you get
to the 
top)
and skied the 2-3 miles along the ridge to the top of the alpine lift. From
here I had planned to continue along the ridge to the far end of the Mesa
Plateau. This didn’t quite work out since what were marked as XC trails
on some maps were only skied-in trails and not groomed. My skate skis, skate
poles and Lycra were "far out". A few local snowshoers got a good
laugh when they saw me struggle along, trying to double pole up some hills
with my 160cm poles sunk in to the straps. This was probably good training
for something, but it was hard for me to be amused at 10,000 feet.
The area would be a dream come through for an experienced XC trail designer.
20K of exciting trails would be no problem to make. It’s an exciting
idea.
Running.
The ski area has some good maintenance roads that are open to the public
in the summer. You can also use the alpine slopes themselves. I have done
some skiwalking and running in these hills and they offer good surface and
a nice challenge. Great for interval training. There are numerous running
possibilities at lower elevation around Grand Junction.
Road Biking.
Last year I wrote about one of my favorite road bike workouts –
The Colorado National Monument (Torbjorn’s
October 2001 Training). This is on the opposite side of Grand Junction.
An even more challenging ride is to start at the Colorado River and ride
to the top of the Grand Mesa. It’s very hard and I estimates that it
takes about 2.5 hours to the top. I did it a few years ago and want to do
it again this year. You can also go across the top and down on the other
side.
Mountain biking in Fruita, along the Colorado River
Mountain Biking.
The town of Fruita is only a few miles outside Grand Junction. This
now seems to be the new Mountain bike destination for those who have "done
it all" in Moab. We might do a report from here later. www.fruita.org
Kayaking.
The Colorado River runs through town and there are super, almost "flat
water" type kayaking possibilities without rapids for endurance type
workouts. We are looking for a link to one of the local kayak shops with
rental kayaks and lessons.
Recommended
places to eat: Head to Grand Junction's old downtown area. It offers
many great small restaurants and you really can't go wrong.
For more infomation on where to stay, etc. Check out the website: www.visitgrandjunction.com
Have fun in
Grand Junction.
