Rick, good hearing from you. Been a while. I've done Monarch. Great place. I like Leadville just a little better. Monarch is a close second. Can't quite ski to your car there. Runs are a lot shorter too. There is more space to tuck at Monarch and not get too much speed.

About the altitude, when I moved there, it took me a month to adjust. Just do some light jogging 3 to 4 times a week to prepare. Most of the games are between 5000 and 7000 feet. Just games North and West of town can get into higher elevations. Woodland Park at 8500 ft left me pretty winded. If you play pickup ball, be prepared for frequent substitutions. I played some pickup ball where we used hockey substitution rules.

[Edited by Tim Roden on May 14th, 2004 at 02:37 PM]

Tim,
Good hearing from you. So where in Texas are you? Most of the guys who I play pickup ball with around here just rest on defense. One of the best places in CO I've been skiing is Crested Butte. Out of the way,but a cool little town and a great hill.

I'm in Longview, about 60 Mi from Shreveport,La on I-20. I went to Crested Butte once. Didn't ski it. My roomate and I didn't realize how far it was. We showed up at 2:00 in the afternoon. No time to ski. To me it falls in the catagory of Vail and Aspen. Great places to ski but too expensive and too crowded for my blood. We only played those pickup ball rules when we had 14 guys show up to play ball after church. If we had 15 we just had winner take on the next set and a lot of resting on D. If 10 showed up I got to play a lot of defense.

Fav Place to Ski - when not reffing
 

Winter Park