The Cirque is OPEN!
February 3rd, 2009Winter Park Resort, Colorado
January 30, 2009
The West Headwall in the Vasquez Cirque, Winter Park Resort. Cornice Canyon is in the upper left. Click to enlarge.
The Vasquez Cirque, the inbounds back-country skiing experience at Winter Park Resort opened for the 2008-2009 ski season after mother natured dumped almost four-feet of powder snow at the ski area. Your humble reporter and a friend were fortunate enough to be the first two through the gate at the top of the Parsenn Bowl and were given a snowmobile tow by the friendly Winter Park Ski Patrol out to Cornice Canyon for the first “civilian” tracks of the season in the Cirque. Acres and acres of untracked powder awaited the few skiers and snowboarders fortunate enough to take advantage of the directive skiing opportunity before the gate was closed for the day.
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D Chute (Destiny)
January 31, 2009
The cirque is now opened as far as Destiny (D Chute) in the Alphabet Chutes and skiers and riders can go as far as the Waterfall before dropping onto the Upper Egress to the Eagle Wind Chairlift in the Parsenn Backside.
Destiny's Gnomen, a finger of rock creating a natural sundial, as seen from the bottom of D Chute (Destiny) in the Vasquez Cirque. Click to enlarge.
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C Chute (Certainty)
February 4, 2009
Moose and PJ drop into Certainty Chute on an incredibly beautiful early February afternoon.
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HCR (Hard Core Resistor)
February 5, 2009
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Shenko’s Chute
February 13, 2009
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F Chute
March 8, 2009