Greetings, Rocky Mountain and Wild, Wild West sliders!

We're just about through our January Thaw, heading right into February Freeze. You know what that means - a great, long-lasting base just in time for all those cold, deep, powdery freshies. So, wrap up the month of sunglasses, sunscreen, t-shirts, and shorts, drag out the goggles and powder gear, and get ready, 'cause here it comes!

Weather outlook from our friends at Weather.com: mountain forecast includes mostly cloudy with snow. Then more mostly cloudy with snow. Sheesh, you'd think February was on its way! Stay on top of the up-to-date weather conditions and snow report with our happy sponsors at www.weather.com.

Thanks to the generosity of the happy folks at WINTER PARK/MARY JANE, this week's winners of the Random Slide Pick each receive two FREE lift tickets to, you got it, Winter Park. Drum roll, please, and everybody's new friends are: jamessandifer [at] hotmail.com johnriegler [at] juno.com Congratulations to our lucky riders! Claim your prize by contacting me, Skibabeage, at the email address below with your mailing address, and you'll be on the slopes in no time. And if you haven't already, sign up for all the weekly goods at www.slidingonthecheap.com/Colorado and the chance to win FREE LIFT TICKETS every week!

Happy to report that our sponsors, WINTER PARK/MARY JANE, have just made it twice as difficult to refuse their friendly generosity. It's Take Your Daughter to the Snow Week, complete with discounts on lift tickets, lessons, and rentals. There are also some outrageous lodging deals, starting with a $79/pn ski-in, ski-out Iron Horse studio (sleeps 3, mid-week) - in fact, the whole town's in on it! Coming up for just the day with the guys? Stop and fill your gas tank at any participating Diamond Shamrock gas station, ask for the 2-fer-1 Winter Park coupon, present it to the ticket window at the base area, and get two adult lift tickets for the price of one. See it for yourself at www.winterparkresort.com.

RESORT OF THE WEEK - KEYSTONE!!!!
There are days you'll never forget the riding. That Christmas Day at Winter Park, the spring corn on the back bowls at Lake Louise, first tracks and face shot powder out at Jackson Hole. This writer has a new one - Super Bowl Sunday, 2003 at Keystone. The weather sported bluebird skies and bright sunshine, temps hovering right around freezing, great views of Grey's, Torrey's, and the Continental Divide. I was there and you're going to wish you were too, when I get done with you! So here are some insider secrets: the mountain village is compact, user-friendly, and offers amenities (lodging, restaurants, tchotchke shops) for everyone, parking is plentiful, close, and FREE. Stay off the front end of the mountain and ride the glades and benches of the Outback - less crowded, better conditions, more backcountry terrain. Bring a lunch with you, unless you want a burger-with-a-view at the Outpost cafe for $9.25. I can hear your wallet saying "ouch." Wrap up the day with a Happy Hour $2 handcrafted pint at the Great Northern Tavern (margaritas are $3) and you'll be so delirious as you gaze out the window you'll swear you're seeing a moose on a bungee. And if you're heading back to Denver, go the Loveland Pass route east and you'll bypass that ugly weekend mess between Dillon and the Ice-enhower. Drive safely, though, the Pass road is exposed and if you go over the edge you won't be found until spring.

This hidden Vail Resorts gem may appear to be walking in the shadows of sisters Vail and Breckenridge, but it's one of the best-kept secrets in Colorado. Heck, for my money, I'd stay mid-week in a Keystone Forest standard studio condo for $89/pn (sleeps 4), buy a 3-day advance-purchase lift ticket for Vail Resorts, use one or two of those days at A-basin when the East Wall opens (Keystone offers a free shuttle to and from the Basin), then wrap it up with a day at Loveland just a few miles farther west. You'll get the best of what Colorado skiing is all about without the crowds and pretense. Look for more Keystone-specific goods at www.keystoneresort.com, and thanks to the great folks at Keystone for a superb day.

Thought o' the Ski Week: "I think my favorite sport in the Olympics is the one in which you make your way through the snow, you stop, you shoot a gun, and then you continue on. In most of the world, it is known as the biathlon, except in New York City, where it is known as winter." Michael Ventre, LA Daily News.

AHHHH-BASIN:
Season passes are still on sale for $149/adults (not to be confused with the Bonus Pass). Stay in Keystone, ski at A-Basin, lodging and lift ticket only $47/pp/pn, in a 2 BR condo, six buddies totaled, mid-week, 4-night minimum. Call 1-866- 620-5194 or check out more hot deals at www.arapahoebasin.com.

ASPEN RESORTS:
Aspen/Snowmass Highlands/Buttermilks They're still at it. Affordable Aspen. Reserve your rental gear 7 days out and you'll not only save 15% on the package, they'll throw-in FREE overnight storage and inter-mountain transfers. Try the Snow Queen Lodge, Aspen's historic 1886 B&B, all rooms include private bath, TV, phones, and homemade continental breakfast, $129/pn. You'll believe it when you see it at www.aspensnowmass.com and hit the Virtual Hostel link. More last second vacancies at SkiTown's Last Second Club, like Aspenwood Condo's 30% off-er - $156/pn/do, minimum five nights will also get you dinner for two. www.skitown.com.

COPPER MOUNTAIN:
Copper's got the great last-minute deals. Ski Free, Stay Free (buy three each, get the fourth each on them) starting at $89/pp/pn in a 2 BR condo, four buds totaled. They also want you to start thinking ahead with this: MARCH BREAK! If you haven't booked already, you're burning daylight. Call and book at 1-800-458-8386 to get 25% off of all remaining hotel through one-bedroom condominiums from 3/8 - 3/30, then get ready for the Partee at the Hill Metallica! www.coppercolorado.com.

CRESTED BUTTE:
Go straight for the Big Guns with THEIR buy-3-get-1-free package. Yikes, it's contagious! $220/pp includes four nights at the Sheraton Crested Butte (you're paying for 3) and a 3-day lift tickets. Lessee, that averages out to $55/pp/pn. WOW! That's as extreme as the Butte-I-ful 54-degree Rambo run! You can't miss at www.skicb.com!

LOVELAND:
Ongoing reason #348 to skip the Ice-enhower Tunnel: if you're a Dead Head, the Land of Love is the place to be Saturday - Shakin' Bones lays down Grateful Dead covers at the Rathskeller between 2:30-5:30 PM, best- tie-dye contest takes the prize! Sunday is the all-day Arrowhead Winterfest, including board demos, product samples, giveaways, and schwag. Check it out at the Loveland Plaza, or pass "go" and feel the Love at www.skiloveland.com.

SILVERTON MOUNTAIN:
The Winterstick Hardcore Mountain Challenge kicks off 2/7 with an uphill/downhill race - get up the 1900-foot mountain face under your own power on skis, snowshoes, or snowboard AND back down again and win fabulous cash and booty. Follow that with a choice of three snow study courses, a big partee sponsored by Ska Brewery at Grady's, followed by casino night and a pool tournament. And THEN the Winter Festival begins in Silverton! Saturday or Sunday ski/lodging packages start at $119. There's so much more Steep 'n' Deep at www.silvertonmountain.com

SKI COOPER:
Have dinner with a Yeti in a yurt. Well, maybe not the yeti, but definitely the yurt at the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse. Still offering their four-course, gourmet menu, $55 includes equipment (XC skis, snowshoes, or ride on a snowmo), guide, and dinner. Reservations please at www.skicooper.com

TELL-U-RIDE:
It's so good it bears repeating - still have your Tell-U-Ride Card? Good, 'cause now through 2/14/03, you and three of your buds will ride for $39/day! Did you happen to purchase either a 5-day or 10-day pass? Good, 'cause now through 2/4/03, you can load EXTRA days on your passes for as little as $29/day! AND you can get three of your buds single or multi-day passes for as little as $35/day! AND, College Passes are on sale NOW for next year at the ridiculous price of $189. You'll need a place to stay - February and March specials through Telluride Mountain Lodging (www.telluridemtnlodging.com) offer a ski-in/ski-out Mountainside Inn hotel room starting at $109 night, throw in a kitchenette it's only $119. They'll Tell-U-More at www.tellurideskiresort.com

VAIL RESORTS:
Beaver Creek, Brecken-fridge, Keystone, Vail The Perfect 10 Card goes away on Friday, 1/31, so be certain to buy for only $329/adults. If you're flying into Denver and renting through Hertz, the Ski Resource Center at the terminal will rent you skis and sell you lift tickets, give you a place to change into schussing clothes, AND if you're a PEAKS member, they'll say thank-U by giving you one day free on a three-day car rental. It's now Heavenly at www.snow.com!

WOLF CREEK:
It was so successful Super Bowl Sunday they're doing it again: Sunday, 2/2 is Local Appreciation Day with $21.00/Adult lift tickie. Even if you're not a local, $44 will get you the Tele clinic, including lift and lessons. Ride the best powder in Colorado at www.wolfcreekski.com

WYOMING:
JACKSON HOLE:
A foot of freshies on the 28th, 71-inch summit snow depth, total 261" for the season. Sounds like great timing for the Powder Package, which expires 2/7. Starting at $284 per person, and includes 5 nights and 4 days skiing/snowboarding at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Based on 6 people in a JH Racquet Club 2 BR standard condo. Go Big or Go Home at www.jacksonhole.com

GRAND TARGHEE:
A foot and a half of freshies over the past 3 days, and a mid-mountain base of 83". Support family values - book the 3 Night/3 Ski Day Perfect Family Package from only $225per adult, based on 4 adults to a room in the Targhee Lodge. More lodging and package choices at www.grandtarghee.com

NEW MEXICO:
ANGEL FIRE:
You've read about the Learn to Snowboard and You Keep the Gear package for only $249. Look ahead to February now with the Weekday Special (Sun-Thur), including slopeside lodging at Angel Fire Resort Hotel AND lift tickets, $89/pp/pn/do, minimum two-night stay. Jumpin' fuego de los angeles, there's more - get a FREE First-Timer lesson with the purchase of an adult lift ticket. Let the angels light a fire under you at www.angelfireresort.com!

TAOS:
The Taos Winter Wine Festival wraps up this weekend, with the Grand Tasting 1/31. Stay mid-week at the Quality Inn in "downtaon" Taos for as low as $69/pn, $5 more will get you a microwave and refrigerator for those midnight munchies. Ski, eat, sleep, ski, repeat when necessary at www.skitaos.org

Till next week, stay low, stay smart, and stay luz,
Your Robin Hood of the Rockies,
Martha
skibabeage [at] hotmail.com

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