First Trip out West

the_camburger

the_camburger

New member
Sup guys,

In about a week I will be flying out to Breckenridge to ski out west for the first time. Growing up on the East Coast, this is huge for me, because all I have ever known is ice. That being said, I want to make sure I have the best time possible. If anyone has any advice for me, it would be greatly appreciated. Just a few questions I had: Should I bring my own skis or demo a pair? (I currently ride Line Blends) How do I avoid altitude sickness, and what do I do if I get it? I really want to try some of the higher alpine skiing, any advice/suggested runs? Also,does anyone have any apres suggestions? What bars should I go to, what should I avoid, and what is the nightlife scene like?
 
Could have picked somewhere better then the Texas bullseye of Vail skiing. But well that’s to late.

Base of Breck is like 10k. Drink water. Lots of it. 4+ bottles a day.

That place is a zoo most weekends. Get used to people and people dodging

I’m sure the bar scene is good. I’ve actually always stayed just outside of Breck in Dillion/Silverthorne mostly for work as I have a hotel account for one there. But take it easy on the Drinkig if you’re suffering from flatlander syndrome.
 
I’d just bring your skis, but you can demo if you want. Don’t worry about altitude too much, just stay hydrated and if you’re feeling sluggish take a break. I forget what places are good to apres but don’t worry about it man you’ll have a sick time
 
14009075:SkiBum. said:
Could have picked somewhere better then the Texas bullseye of Vail skiing. But well that’s to late.

Base of Breck is like 10k. Drink water. Lots of it. 4+ bottles a day.

That place is a zoo most weekends. Get used to people and people dodging

I’m sure the bar scene is good. I’ve actually always stayed just outside of Breck in Dillion/Silverthorne mostly for work as I have a hotel account for one there. But take it easy on the Drinkig if you’re suffering from flatlander syndrome.
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Word. I'm headed out there with my cousins, so it wasn't exactly my choice to go there, but I've never been out west before so I wasn't going to be picky.
 
topic:the_camburger said:
Sup guys,

In about a week I will be flying out to Breckenridge to ski out west for the first time. Growing up on the East Coast, this is huge for me, because all I have ever known is ice. That being said, I want to make sure I have the best time possible. If anyone has any advice for me, it would be greatly appreciated. Just a few questions I had: Should I bring my own skis or demo a pair? (I currently ride Line Blends) How do I avoid altitude sickness, and what do I do if I get it? I really want to try some of the higher alpine skiing, any advice/suggested runs? Also,does anyone have any apres suggestions? What bars should I go to, what should I avoid, and what is the nightlife scene like?
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Altitude, well you're not gonna avoid it unless you spend a few nights in Denver to ease into it. Everyone goes straight to the mountain anyway and most people fare fine. You will be fine too. Your sleeping altitude in Breckenridge is quite high if you're traveling from lowlands. Although, you'll probably be fine and unlikely to get anything severe. In general most people I know get general mild symptoms, if any, such as headache, insomnia, fatigue, nausea and vomiting (less common). First night in, don't drink. I repeat, don't drink. Stay hydrated and eat healthy. Get plenty of rest and avoid diuretics such as caffeine in coffee and sodas. Read up on mountain sickness, how to identify it, and how to treat it if it becomes serious. Know when to seek medical attention in the rare event you or someone in your party needs to. For headaches, I prefer to take ibuprofen 600mg every 6 hours (assuming you're a healthy adult, you could even go up to 800mg, but the studies only used 600mg so I don't ever go higher). Take it with food.

Really the biggest thing, even more so than altitude sickness, is the shortness of breath with mild/moderate exertion once you get around 10k-13k feet. Fuck that's the worst but if you're in shape, you'll be fine and will manage. Just limit your hiking; I had to hike 20min up a trail to retrieve a ski this year and you woulda thought I had COPD I was so out of breath.

Depending on the weather and terrain choices, you may or may not want to rent skis. It may also be beneficial as you can test out skis you may want to buy in the future. If you do rent, I'd recommend renting demo skis in Denver as the prices in Breckenridge are almost double at places like Christy's Sports. Always carry your boots on the plane with you.

I've never been to Breckenridge cuz I like my money and hate crowds, but I know people who have gone and had a great time. Have fun man!

Only other tip I have is learn how to self arrest if you don't already. Saved my ass big the first time I went out west.
 
The snow is sick out here right now so you may want to look into demoing a fatter all mtn ski. Although blends will probably fare pretty well. As others have said just stay hydrated to combat the altitude sickness.
 
14009083:the_camburger said:
Word. I'm headed out there with my cousins, so it wasn't exactly my choice to go there, but I've never been out west before so I wasn't going to be picky.
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Don’t get tripped up on that, Breck is a super fun mtn and place in general. You’re going to have a ball
 
14009093:runforlove2018 said:
Altitude, well you're not gonna avoid it unless you spend a few nights in Denver to ease into it. Everyone goes straight to the mountain anyway and most people fare fine. You will be fine too. Your sleeping altitude in Breckenridge is quite high if you're traveling from lowlands. Although, you'll probably be fine and unlikely to get anything severe. In general most people I know get general mild symptoms, if any, such as headache, insomnia, fatigue, nausea and vomiting (less common). First night in, don't drink. I repeat, don't drink. Stay hydrated and eat healthy. Get plenty of rest and avoid diuretics such as caffeine in coffee and sodas. Read up on mountain sickness, how to identify it, and how to treat it if it becomes serious. Know when to seek medical attention in the rare event you or someone in your party needs to. For headaches, I prefer to take ibuprofen 600mg every 6 hours (assuming you're a healthy adult, you could even go up to 800mg, but the studies only used 600mg so I don't ever go higher). Take it with food.

Really the biggest thing, even more so than altitude sickness, is the shortness of breath with mild/moderate exertion once you get around 10k-13k feet. Fuck that's the worst but if you're in shape, you'll be fine and will manage. Just limit your hiking; I had to hike 20min up a trail to retrieve a ski this year and you woulda thought I had COPD I was so out of breath.

Depending on the weather and terrain choices, you may or may not want to rent skis. It may also be beneficial as you can test out skis you may want to buy in the future. If you do rent, I'd recommend renting demo skis in Denver as the prices in Breckenridge are almost double at places like Christy's Sports. Always carry your boots on the plane with you.

I've never been to Breckenridge cuz I like my money and hate crowds, but I know people who have gone and had a great time. Have fun man!

Only other tip I have is learn how to self arrest if you don't already. Saved my ass big the first time I went out west.
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Two questions here that might be obvious, but 1. Do I need to put my ski boots in a carry-on bag? Why? and 2. Is there any anywhere that I can demo a set of ON3P's? I really want to buy the Kartel 108's for next season, so if I am going to demo skis then I would want to demo a set of those.
 
On top of staying hydrated, maintain electrolyte intake. Gatorade, salty foods, etc. Will be more beneficial than just water alone if you get dehydration symptoms even if you're downing water. Drink sloooooww at first. Give a pint a chance to settle before you order more, it'll hit you hard.

Have a blast man. Plenty of terrain in breck to duck the crowds, snow will be great too.
 
14009112:the_camburger said:
Two questions here that might be obvious, but 1. Do I need to put my ski boots in a carry-on bag? Why? and 2. Is there any anywhere that I can demo a set of ON3P's? I really want to buy the Kartel 108's for next season, so if I am going to demo skis then I would want to demo a set of those.
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My guess is unlikely to demo outside of a demo day or straight from the factory. I'm in the same boat as you man, but torn between kartel and wrenegade. Would like to demo but can't.

As for boots, it can count as your personal item. I usually take a backpack and boots separately. If any airline gives you trouble, just put the boots on haha. But they won't so don't worry
 
Altitude sickness isn't that hard to avoid at least that I've noticed. Drink a lot of water, maybe take a mellow day your first day out, and don't drink a shit ton of booze.

How high is breck, like 9k in town ish? Idk. That's higher than 500 feet or whatever you're at on the east coast but isn't horrible. You'll feel the burn from it if you aren't used to it but you should be fine.

Drink a fuck ton of water, avoid getting plastered your first day. Probably a good idea to avoid liquor in general at least your first day. Stay hydrated. If you're getting super tired just take it easy.

If you're never been out west maybe check out the weed shops on airport road. Worth the experience to buy weed in a store and CO prices actually aren't bad although quality can vary.

I never lived in summit and was half blacked out anytime I went out with my friends there so know idea what the best bars are.
 
breck is lit af, but honestly if you can swing it and the snow is good, maybe try a day in vail, i know its subjective but i honestly like vail over anything else on i70 for a solid pow day if you want to try it out. Also if you can try a day in keystone for just straight up park.
 
Probably don't drink anything from the liquor store if you want to have the best time and most energy in the morning.

Blends are like what 100 under foot so probably fine for anything.
 
If you REALLY want, you can see or call in to your doc and get a script for acetazolamide (diamox) - it’s a diuretic that makes you excrete bicarbonate, making your blood more acidic and lowering the threshold for O2 to get released off of your red blood cells. I noticed my breathing to be much more plesant while taking it, than not. You don’t have to pound water (a liberal excess might make your symptoms worse), but just dont be dehydrated either. Stick to your 2L/day rule.

if you want to rent or demo - fly your boots out! There is no boot like your own! Also a good opportunity to find a boot fitter - a service worth its weight in gold.

You’re gonna take 3 carves and say to yourself “oh shit, THATS what they meant about CO snow.” Enjoy!

**This post was edited on Mar 7th 2019 at 2:53:02pm

**This post was edited on Mar 7th 2019 at 2:53:36pm
 
Depending on how long you're out here for I'd say avoid the bars for at least the first 3 days. The last thing you want is to be dehydrated hungover and get altitude sickness and miss the limited time you have out here. In the last 24 hours we are close to 3 feet of snow, you're not gonna wanna waste a day sitting inside dying. As far as altitude sickness drink as much water as you can and then drink more and take it easy your first day. There are oxygen bars if you do start feeling real bad. I believe theres a complementary one at the base of peak 7. Some of the best skiing here that wont be tracked out right away is off T-bar and 6 chair if you know where to look and if you're feeling up to it try one of the hike tos. I work at one of the breck sports and I can tell you we have Rossi,Vokl,K2,Blizzard,Salomon. Some shops have factions and a few other brands.If you do decide to go to bars cecilia's is a fun club vibe, the brown is a fun hole in the wall type bar with live music and Napper Tandy’s is fun with pool,darts ect. and live music.
 
The key is to really hydrate your self well for over a week before. I’m talking at least a gallon a day everyday. So mad cardio between now and then. You will likely sleep less as your body is confused as to why there is a lack of oxygen. First day be chill. People are excited and over exert themselves and really get fucked up. I wouldn’t even drink on the first night.

Speaking of drinking, nappers above salt creek has a ladies night on fridays that is fuckin poppin. Good place to go on Saturdays too. There’s some clubs on the south side where it’s super loud but can be fun. Ci Ci’s and liquid lounge. Also on south side is Brooklyn’s which is cool. Has pool and shit. You gotta check out RMU as well. They have a tavern as well As their shop. They used to do $20 demos probably still do. Pop into slopestyle while your there to see all the sick gear. AMR down by the grocery store has sick demos and I know the staff well there. They are homies and there’s always dogs in there. Head down airport road if you wanna grab some pot. Broken compass brewery is there which is my favorite brewery in summit.

Breck skiing is mad fun. Parks are great. Best way to get there is to profile some park rats going up the rocky chair and follow them through the cross cut. Go to peak 9 up e chair and explore the windows trees. Peak 10s got mustang but it’s a long traverse back. With the snow they’ve been getting it’s probably worth it. The burn has some sweet trees. If your unfortunate enough to be on peak 7, hit up ore bucket and mosy on over to peak 6. The hike to terrain is sweet up there. Great cliff drops. Peak 8 hike is sweet too if you traverse far south. Peak 9 hike is not really worth it. Impearal chair down into whales tail has some super fun lil cliff drops especially far skiers left.

Should be be a good time. Take me with you!! Haha
 
You can pick up some dope demos from powder 7 in golden on your way up. I know they demo moments and probably on3ps too.
 
14009842:Rum_Ham said:
You can pick up some dope demos from powder 7 in golden on your way up. I know they demo moments and probably on3ps too.
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This guy is right. If you can get demo skis in Denver or Golden. Much cheaper and they usually have better selection.

Also I think your blends will work just fine. They will work in almost any conditions except big powder days, but I know people who have had the time of their life skiing powder for the first time on skis much skinnier than 100 underfoot so keep that in mind.
 
14009865:Walreese said:
This guy is right. If you can get demo skis in Denver or Golden. Much cheaper and they usually have better selection.

Also I think your blends will work just fine. They will work in almost any conditions except big powder days, but I know people who have had the time of their life skiing powder for the first time on skis much skinnier than 100 underfoot so keep that in mind.
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First powder day I ever had out west was on my Whipits which are only 90 underfoot. Had the time of my life. If you like the feel of your blends you will be fine with those. I will say it was nice to ride a ski I was already comfortable with my first time out there.
 
14009112:the_camburger said:
Two questions here that might be obvious, but 1. Do I need to put my ski boots in a carry-on bag? Why? and 2. Is there any anywhere that I can demo a set of ON3P's? I really want to buy the Kartel 108's for next season, so if I am going to demo skis then I would want to demo a set of those.
Click to expand...
just get full tilts it will solve both of your problems
 
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