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Karl Kelman's Loveland Ski Pictures

 Loveland, March 1, 2008:


31 Degrees of Fun

Karl Kelman turning on the 31 degree pitch of Over The Rainbow at Loveland Basin


Full Metal Mollusk

Karl hides from the gale force winds on Chair 9 at Loveland Basin


Karl on OTR

Karl heading downhill fast on Loveland's Over The Rainbow


Geoff on OTR

Geoff Anderson on Over The Rainbow, just below the steep section. Over The Rainbow makes a great last run of the day, because you can see your car in the parking lot and ski to it.


More Karl on OTR

Karl pointing them downhill on Over The Rainbow

Geoff's Commentary:

Mollusk Madness

3-1-08, Loveland Basin

Eschewing the oppressive 74 degree heat of the Denver area on Saturday, the Mollusk and I headed for a more reasonable climate and altitude. We found both at 13,000 feet with a pleasant 32 degree temperature and refreshing gale force wind. Although high speed descents caused copious Molluskan sweat, the Continental Divide winds nevertheless resulted in the Mollusk crawling into his shell and adopting his classic Full Metal Mollusk look (see first picture).

We left Denver shortly after 9 am, arrived at Loveland shortly after 10, skied straight through to 2 and cruised home again without traffic issues. We took a couple runs off Chair 9 and the Continental Divide. Patrol Bowl was blown smooth and ripe for high speed GS turns on the steepness. After a wind assisted traverse, we dropped over the (former) Headwall Avalanche Area for half dozen turns on a serious pitch, then out onto the groomer. The rest of the day we sessioned Chair 1 whose snow remains unblemished by the sun. A couple feet of new snow early in the week on top of an already above average base set things up just right. Mostly we hit Over the Rainbow. Loveland opened this area about 5 or 6 years ago. It’s just east of Avalanche Bowl and the whole thing probably consists of only about a half dozen acres, but they’re really good acres. The top is above timberline with a couple different ways through the talus. The lower part has some areas that look like ski runs, but the trees are also highly skiable. The result is, this one run can yield a score of permutations to the dedicated improviser. The sweet, soft, blown in snow at the top didn’t hurt either.

Plank Report

Nordica was demoing skis Saturday, and being a plankhead, I couldn’t resist. I hopped on a pair of Hellcats. These are billed as their top of the line all mountain ski; in the same category as the Snoop Daddies. The pair I got were 170 cm with a side cut of 132-90-118 which makes them slightly beefier than the Snoop Daddies. The performance was similar with a quick response, stability at high speed and superior carving ability. In fact, on the high speed groomers, I could lay them on their side and they’d hold on like a Republican to supply side economics. The skis are great for grippin’ and rippin’.

Jackson Hole 2006
Colorado 2007
Loveland
End of the ski pics