I've been meaning to post for ages but a combination of an inaccessible super-highway and total exhaustion every evening have kept me quiet. But here I am (don't call it a comeback).

What a week! Best week's skiing ever. We've had two fantastic powder days (it snowed 6-7" inches overnight - twice!), a trip to Vail and I've discovered the healing powers of the hot-tub. Good times.

Powder day 1 was Monday, which was also a public holiday in the US. Snow had been forecast and as I thought it would be crowded because of the holiday I booked myself a lesson with the Breckenridge Big Mountain Experience. The idea of the BBME is to go and ski the steep scary stuff I wouldn't generally do on my own. So we did. It was fantastic; just our instructor and one other punter so it was like a private lesson. Plus, because we were with the ski school, we got priority in the lift queue so we bypassed the holiday crowds. Sweet.

On Tuesday we took a road-trip to the nearby resort of Vail. Our driver was another friend from Fernie, the one and only Deke Dalas (aka Derek Wilson). He's staying in Breck for the winter and has a car so off we went. Vail is one of those resorts with a really big reputation so I was really excited by the prospect but wondered if it would live up to its billing. Apart from the skiing the reputation it has is for being expensive and a bit posh. Well I can report that they employ people to hand you a tissue as you enter the mountain restaraunts so I think we can tick the posh box. (I didn't go to the loo so who knows what services they offer there...).

And the skiing? OH MY GOD! If I can drop into the local idiom for a second its "totally awesome". The famous Back Bowls are incredible. Huge, open, round bowls, usually with a single lift coming back up and you can pretty much ski any line you like on the way down. I thought it was off-piste heaven but that was until we got to Blue Sky Basin, the new jewel in Vail's crown. Even more fantastic off-piste through the trees. I'm going back to Vail tomorrow and BSB is my first destination. So the bullet point to take away from all this is "Vail: believe the hype". Mind you I couldn't help but laugh at some of the rampant commercialism on display. Each one of the Back Bowls is trade-marked and the runs in Tea Cup Bowl (tm) are all named after varieties of herbal tea from a particular company. And then there's the cod-Austrian stylee architecture in Vail village. All a bit twee. So if you are coming this way, stay in Breck and get a mate to drive you to Vail. Regularly.

And then there's today. Another huge dump of snow overnight and I was up with the (mountain) lark to get some freshies. It was boot deep powder all over the mountain, except in some of the sheltered treed areas where the drifts were knee-deep or more. Super soft fluffy snow it was absolutely fantastic - definately the best day's skiing I've ever had.

One of the apres-ski traditions I'd heard about in the USA is the outdoor hot-tub. Our hotel has about six and it's just great to lounge in this hot, hot water while it's gently snowing. I'm an absolute convert and as soon as I can work out how to get one into my flat in the Bush then in it goes. One thing I am disapointed about is that I'd understood that hot-tubs were typically filled with "College Girls Gone Wild". Turns out they aren't. Ho Hum.