By 2014 Olympic qualifier and Vail Valley resident Heidi Kloser

Spring is here and it is probably my favorite time of the year to get out and free ski some bumps. I spend most of the winter traveling the world to compete in mogul skiing and don’t have very many opportunities throughout the winter to just go out and free ski.

I am always happy that when the season ends I can still enjoy a few more weeks of skiing and the amazing conditions Beaver Creek has to offer this time of year.

Spring skiing is never dull, March is often the snowiest month of the year so one day you get 10+ inches of snow and the next you get to rip down some slushy bumps! I think bumps are fun in pretty much any condition except for flat light; because who want to ski down moguls when you can’t see? So when the spring comes and we get some of the best snow of the year, you can either see me out shredding the powder or ripping down the bumps, depending on what skis I decided to wear that day.

If you are like me and love bumps in any condition you will find my Beaver Creek guide to bumps fun on any day, whether it is packed, slushy or powdery. If you are new to bumps, I recommend trying it on a day when the snow is soft and slushy.

I like to start the day off with a warm up run on the groomers to make sure I am warmed up and ready before I jump into a day full of mogul skiing. I like to do a few short swing turns on the flats to get ready for the quick movements and edge changes of the moguls.

An ideal day for me at Beaver Creek would be:

Hopping on chair 6-Centennial Express, for the first lift of the day

Cursing on over to C Prime to Stone Creek Meadows, to do that warm up run

Then ride Rose Bowl Express- chair 4 up

From there do the first mogul run of the day on Rip Saw since it starts off with a nice easy pitch and increases towards the bottom

Take chair 4 again

Next go down Spider, one of my favorite runs on Beaver Creek

Take chair 4 again

From there go to Sheephorn or Centennial to Chair 8

Take chair 8- Cinch Express

To Peregrine all the way

To chair 10- Grouse Mountain

To Screech Owl, another one of my favorites, see if you can find the jump, to Golden Eagle

Take chair 10 again

To Bald Eagle

By now it is probably time for lunch so I like to stop in at Talon’s Restaurant for a bite to eat right there on the hill.

After lunch head up chair 11- Larkspur Express to take another cruiser run

Cruiser on Larkspur

Take chair 11 again

Loco to President Ford’s

From there go up chair 6

To Heads Up more of a moguls and trees run but one of my favorites when I was a kid to Moonshine

Take chair 6 and chair 8 up

To Goshawk

To chair 10

Ski down Ptarmigan

To chair 11

To Shooting Star

To chair 10

And finish the day off with Osprey

After an awesome day of mogul skiing hit Beaver Creek Village to enjoy some après skiing snacks, drinks, or ice skating what ever you prefer.

 

Heidi Louise Kloser is an American freestyle skier noted for mogul skiing. She was once named FIS World Cup women’s moguls Rookie of the Year and she qualified to compete in Women’s moguls at the 2014 Winter Olympics.[2] However an injury during a training run forced her to withdraw from competition.