In Search of that White Powder

[9V-SIA]

How do you know. Maybe he/she was 16 last year.

Great TR!

Thanks.

Have you seen his gf?

To continue...

We had great ski weather. 3 sunny days, 1 cloudy and 1 snowy.

It was unfortunate that I recorded the run on the snowy day.

But I'm happy with the rest of my pics.

Movement within mountain are by chair lifts. Gondolas provide heavy lift from the base Note the vapor trail of an a/c overhead. Major crossroads in the sky



At the top..





.. short ski to the start of the run.



If you don't listen to instruction...



.. and ignore warnings..



.. you will crash!!!



Luckily in this case, no harm done...



.. and this is not needed!



You may spot my daughter in Singapore wearing this T-shirt!

[Nick C]

Enjoyable TR.

[9V-SIA]

Enjoyable TR.

Thanks Nick C

At The End Of The Day

So after countless rides on the chairlifts, time to return to the base.



You could take the gondola down. Our intrepid skiers skied down instead.



Enjoying spectacular views all the way



There are 2 ways of going down the mountain:

• straight down the mountain or
• circle down the mountain on trails

We're almost home. Ski bridge and condo can be seen in the background.



Look at the yellow ribbon.
How many languages can you say " SLOW DOWN" in?
Very international crowd.



I stopped at the bridge to take this shot for SQTalk.
Lost momentum and had to walk the rest of the way back!
Condo on left, Eagle Bahn gondola on right, juicy steak straight ahead!



The creek over which ski bridge crosses



Lose the skis..



.. steak and fries for lunch



Ice skating after the skiing



End of another perfect day on the mountain..

[StarG]

Excellent TR as usual.
Looking forward to the next posts...

[hsf]

Thank you... really nice report!

[9V-SIA]

Excellent TR as usual.
Looking forward to the next posts...

Thank you... really nice report!

Glad you're enjoying it.

This is me practicing my writing skills.

One day I hope to be a Dan Brown or JK Rowling.

And I'll have all of you to thank for the encouragement

Apres Ski

Believe it or not, some in our group did not ski! MS & LS, please stand up.
But they came along for the sake of their kids. I hope you appreciate that kids...
For MS and LS, there was the village...

Vail Village, Lionshead & Golden Peak are all linked by a frequent & free bus shuttle.
Lots of shops and restaurants to keep the non skier occupied.

I don't like shopping in a globalized world.
Whether in New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles, I see the same retail chains.. Gap, Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, J Crew etc
Which is why shopping in Vail is great.
The big boys are not allowed into the town and the shops are more interesting: eclectic & less generic.

Lionshead

There's one main "strip" and side paths to shops.

Main Strip

Start of the "strip". Outdoor market..

• Christmas tree & ice rink seen previously.. right of picture
• End of ski run to the left

Christmas is not Christmas without Santa



If you are Santa, where's your reindeer?

©WH

Walking down the "strip"



Starbucks under the archway on left



The Arrabelle.
Looking back at "the arch"
New condo next to ours. More expensive.
Wasn't there the year before according to WH.



Side Path

Talk about selling ice to the eskimos!
Make a right after the "arch" and short walk to Garfinkel's for lunch..
Ban on chains does not seem to extend to food outlets. There was a Starbucks too.




View of Eagle Bahn gondola from balcony of Garfinkel's.



Garfinkel's from the front.. good food
Below it is Vail Chophouse. Also good food

©WH

Sculpture at entrance to Lionshead




Reduce, reuse, recycle

[9V-SIA]

Vail Village

Vail Village was the first and it shows.
There are more shops and restaurants here.

Bridge that takes you...



... across the creek...




... into the Village

The "Main Strip" leading to...







.. the Ski Base



Apart from retail therapy, many art galleries in Vail Village..

©WH

©WH

Do you notice anything unusual in the Village?

There's no snow. The pavements are heated!!!

More to come...

[9V-SIA]

Approach to DEN

All too soon, the holiday was over and it was time to leave.

WH family stayed another day but we were rushing home to spend Christmas with the rest of the family.

The drive to DEN was fast and in perfect weather.



I remember reading about the opening of DEN in 1995.

It is the newest greenfield airport in the US, and was built to replace Stapleton airport, which was getting in the way of Denver's expansion.



The Terminal Building has a distinctive canopy which is supposed to resemble Rocky Mountain peaks.

Or Indian teepees. I think it does!

Tent covers Great Hall. East and West Terminals flank it.





Used the kerbside check in. They expect a tip. In SFO too.

Normally in US restaurants, I look at the tax. Tip is double the tax.

But for kerbside check in? Don't know the market rate but I gave $2 per check in bag.

Don't like this practice of tipping. In Japan, better service yet no tipping required.

[9V-SIA]

DEN Main Terminal

DEN has one main terminal and 3 concourse.

Flanking the Great Hall are the Terminal East and West.

Each terminal has a check-in area sitting on top of the baggage claim.



The Main Terminal is linked by frequent trains to the 3 concourses.



We walked past he infamous baggage claim from kerbside check-in to the Great Hall.

When DEN first opened, the automated baggage system did not work.

Many bags were lost and the whole system had to be replaced at great cost.

Works fine now..



The Great Hall from the check-in level. Note the food outlets and retail shops around this area.



The Great Hall from Baggage Claim level



Check-in. Assisted. To the right of the aisle...



Check-in. Self Service. To the left of the aisle..



Security check before boarding trains to concourses. At either end of the Great Hall...



Before we caught the flight, we had lunch at Panda Express!



Vail has no Asian restaurants within the free shuttle area so I was ready for some rice!

I give this meal 3 Michelin stars

[9V-SIA]

DEN UA Concourse

The Layout of UA Concourse



The concourses are bright and airy with boarding gates either side of the moving sidewalks.



At the middle are the services for transit PAXs.... next 3 pics of Mezzanine







And something you don't see in many airports!

Trivia: I'm told a tornado strikes the same spot once every hundred years. ( I had asked why people don't build houses to withstand tornadoes )



3 levels seen at the centre of the concourse:

• mezzanine
• main concourse
• trains

Our plane arriving...



.. and being replenished.



DEN is a very pleasant airport to use.

If I were living in a US "spoke", this would be the "hub" I would like to use to get around the country.

There are international flights to Europe ( eg BA & LH ) & South America ( eg AM & MX ).

None to Asia, though this may change.

I've read elsewhere that NH might do NRT-DEN when they get the 787.

[hsf]

Certainly looks like a nice airport, esp for the US!

Loved those chairs made from ski's!

[9V-SIA]

Certainly looks like a nice airport, esp for the US!

DEN impresses me for sure.

The thought that went into the airport is commendable.

• sited 23 miles from the city to allow unrestricted growth
  
• has 6 runways, capacity for 12
  
• runways don't overlap, therefore, free movement from runway to terminals
  
• can handle 32 million PAXs, potential to handle 110 million
  
• concourses widely spaced so planes can push back onto taxiways from adjacent concourses simultaneously

[9V-SIA]

DEN-SFO

I thought SFO-DEN was a short hop over the Rockies. Wrong!

DEN is actually in the Mid-West, just 346 miles ( 556 km ) from the geographic centre of continental USA.

So Denver is not just an air hub, but a railroad hub before that.



Compare the leg room I got in Y+ DEN-SFO...



... with Y SFO-DEN leg.



View from my Y+ seat



I can't remember if the headphones they gave are the same Y/Y+.

Listened to Channel 9. Wish they had Air Map.. Didn't eat though I had a Diet Coke ( free )



Short taxi to the runway ( DEN designed for short taxis )



Take off..



Somewhere down there is Vail..



View from the rear of A320.

One day I'll grow a thicker skin and take a pic from the front of the cabin!

[9V-SIA]

SFO

After a night in San Francisco, it was time for our flight home.

We barely made it to the airport in one piece. The limo we took was speeding and tailgating.

International Terminal SFO



Once checked in, my daughter needed her udon fix and we found an appropriate place land side.

There are actually Japanese restaurants air side as well but we didn't know that.



But then she saw the unagi don.

"It's been 10 days since my Japanese meal, Daddy!"

She finished both!



I'm glad Raffles Class hasn't been entirely eliminated.

The decision to abolish all branding by SQ still riles me.

Raffles Class, Singapore Girl ( albeit temporarily when Batey Ads was replaced ), Megatop / Jubilee / Longreach...



Pretty ordinary lounge.. should have spent my time browsing the shops before departure



Time to board.. long walk. Interesting shops I should have explored on either side





Gate right at the end of the terminal



9V-SWK. 3rd time on her in 2009.

[9V-SIA]

SFO-ICN

So the plane is pointed in the right direction for our return trip



Lunch

Smoked tuna and grapefruit with mesclun
Wasabi mayonnaise



Note: There are 3 lights per seat. One overhead, 2 either side of the seat.

But I couldn't get them to focus on the centre of the tray table. Same in F.

BTC Chicken Rice Yes it was breast meat. And it was the wrong sauce ( soya sauce not black sauce ) but it'll do!!



Pear frangipane tart with cherry compote



It was an uneventful flight except for the tear in the space-time continuum we flew through



Sunset over Russia I think



Light Meal

Prawn and soba noodle salad. This was very, very good



Bi bim bap. Korean style assorted vegetables and beef with steamed rice



It was dark when we landed in ICN