December

The big excitement in mid-December was the Grand Prix Snowboard championships.  Riders who did well in this qualifying event have a good chance of being selected for the Olympics, coming up in February.  I could not see the competitors well enough to take any photos.  The Half-pipe course started much further up the slope.  Big Air is a new event for the Olympics, and it was exciting to watch.  The rider comes down the slope, gaining speed, then launches UP a steep slope and does several flips and twists before landing.  I could see the landing area quite well.

     I have wondered (for quite some time) how they learn those flips and maneuvers without being injured.  Now I know.  Next door to the Lodging office is a training facility for skiing and snowboarding.  The kids start on a trampoline and later progress to wooden slopes using a snowboard on wheels.  They land in a pit of foam blocks until the  "trick"  is perfected.   Similar to how gymnasts learn their high-flying moves.

There will be a door decorating contest with Christmas themes.  In my casual walking around I have not seen any decorated doors yet.  This building used to be a Club Med property and is not set up in a standard manner.  Labyrinthine halls, sudden short hallways lead to dead ends, and sometimes past an elevator that travels to the 5th floor of this 7th floor building.  Maybe it will be posted where to find the decorated doors.

I walked the path between the creek and the buildings one afternoon, and found one Mountain Chickadee.  The large 3 and 4 story dark brown buildings where most of the guest rooms are, looked old, almost medieval, from that angle.  In reality these buildings are about 30 years old, trying to look like something they are not.

Top photo taken from Lake Dillon looking south.   Photo of 2 Ring-necked Ducks taken at Silverthorne's  Water Treatment facility.