Matty - He's got a guy with 8 years under his belt, it may be about time to start into the backcountry. Vail is a good place to start. All the pits I've dug have shown good stability on the back of Scotty's. It gets skied just enough to get a solid base, but not so much to be skied out. Gotta keep pushing yourself. Thats all I know about the mountains anyway, been a little while since I ran groomers.

Good advice on the water and beer, though. Add to that - don't plan on skiing the first day into town. Get to the resort, tool around, but don't ski. Get acclimated (spell ?) first.

I have a powder rule here at work. 8" = 1/2 day. 12" = all day. I work M-Th in the winter, with the occasional Friday, when the snow is bad. Take 1-2 weeks each year off for various destinations. Whistler last year, probably WY this year. I do a lot of weekend trips as well, pop down to Wolf Creek for a couple days, out to Aspen, wherever the snow is good.

Matty, You live down in Boulder don't you, near BCH. I think I saw your yellow? X on the way to BCH the other day. You ever ski Eldora? I've invested 100 plus days there in the last two years and have found some AMAZING runs, when the snow is good.