It Takes Luck to Avoid Trip of Confusion
Most experienced skiers and snowboarders have a few travel stories to tell, primarily because flying into and out of high- altitude airports in the dead of winter is challenging under the best of the circumstances.
I was reminded of this in the days between Christmas and New Year’s when we tempted the fates by flying into Denver International Airport twice to make connections to Crested Butte, in Southwest Colorado.
Denver Airport, arguably the capital of skiing on most weekend days in the months of December through March, made the news in the days before Christmas because a two-foot storm closed runways, canceled flights, and ruined many plans to be home for the holiday. By Dec. 26, when son Randy and I were connecting in Denver, the runways were clear and the backup of travelers was pretty much resolved.
Unfortunately, the all-weather plans that United and other airlines use in ski country travel were having trouble getting out of the smaller airports. A three-hour delay was not worthy of a major whine, considering the number of people who spent three days camped out there in the previous storm.
When a second major storm threatened the Denver area three days later, on our return travel day, we saw nothing but doom and gloom on television news. When one of three morning flights from Denver to L.A. was deemed a “go, by the station chief in Gunnison, we chanced it and flew to Denver. Things were going smooth, albeit at a very ground-hugging pace, when we boarded the 737 and waited through de- icing and a slow chug to the runway in a modest storm.
Listening to the cockpit chatter, we heard concerns over a flock of geese hovering near the runway. Our pilot and copilot cautiously waited out the birds.
All I could think of at the time was, “we’ve braved a major storm, been boarded on a plane, only to be sent back to the terminal because of a flock of geese. But our flight was uneventful and we arrived home only an hour behind schedule. For travel into and out of the Rocky Mountains in winter, that’s surely a victory.
That got me to thinking about ski travel, both tips and mishaps. All are true stories:
My boots or yours: On a trip to Breckenridge, Colo. in the ’80s, friends John and Carol and I checked everything, a total of nine bags. When the bags didn’t follow us from the airport to the rental car, we were told they’d be trucked to our lodging that night.
When the agent called at midnight to say he had 8 of the 9 bags, John and I were both thinking the worst, that it was our boots that were misplaced. Since neither of us has conventionally shaped feet, rental boots for even a day represented a fate worse than long lifelines. Mercifully for me, it was John’s boots that did not arrive in Breckenridge for a day until after a detour in Birmingham.
Destination, please: California is fifth in the U.S. with 30 ski areas. If you’re packing a bag for the four states with more ski areas, where are you headed? Hint: This is not a rocky trip. (Answer below)
The odds are on your side: The airlines have statistical evidence to show that far more than 90 percent of all checked bags arrive on time and with the passenger. So you have to fly a lot to have tempted the fates more than once. On a short flight to Reno in the ’90s, my bags and those of my companion were routed to another city. After many conversations with the baggage retrieval agent, we rented skis and enjoyed the powder at Squaw Valley. My friend’s ski bag arrived a day later. Mine showed up at home about a half hour after my return from the three-day trip.
Bad news, good news: If the airlines misplace your equipment, they’ll pay for your rentals. But if it’s your parka and ski pants that get misplaced, they’re not going to easily sign off on $1,000 worth of top-of-the-line ski clothes to get you through the emergency.
One solution — you can still carry a boot bag onto the plane, and in that boot bag, you can pack gloves, goggles and one change of ski clothing. You’ll probably be wearing a parka on the plane, so you’ll have enough to get you through the first day while the airlines track down your bags.
No more schlepping skis: It’s been a half-dozen years since I last carried skis and poles on a ski trip. Rentals are readily available and generally reasonably priced. You can try the hot new brands while on the road for perhaps $30-$40 a day. Depending on how much you travel for skiing, this is a reasonable investment in avoiding back pain.
Where the slopes are: You’re traveling to ski in the states where ski areas abound. You’re flying right over the Rockies to New York (48 ski areas), Michigan (39), Pennsylvania (32) or Wisconsin (32).
It only costs a little more to avoid chains: On a December trip to the Front Range ski areas west of Denver, I decided to spend a little more to rent a 4-wheel drive small sport utility vehicle, instead of chancing chain controls with the possibility of weather. The Escape handled nicely and it gave me a chance to try a vehicle I might consider purchasing.
You can reach Bob Cox via e-mail at bcskis@aol.com
(c) 2007 Daily Breeze. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.