Porsche Camp4 Colorado January 2008

Camp4 Colorado was held at the Cordillera Resort near Vail, Colorado. We checked in to our home base at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera on Saturday. The event started in the evening with a horse drawn sleigh ride to the Timber Hearth Lodge for a five course meal. On Sunday, we started with breakfast in the lodge followed by a short class at 8:00 am on winter driving techniques. We then headed up the mountain to the driving area that was "built" on a golf course. The driving area consisted of a large skid pad and a configurable set or roads that were constructed on the golf course by laying down a road bed of ice that was then plowed to provide snow banks for soft landings.

We spent our first driving day in a Carrera 4S that Candace and I shared for the entire program. We went through a number of specific exercises: skid pad, slalom, and lane changing. Then we ended our day with a series of runs around a hairpin turn. The evening was special. We rode a Cat pulled sled to Beano's Cabin Restaurant which is located up on the ski mountain of the Beaver Creek Resort. Once again, the food and company were great.

The second day dawned snowy and windy (very windy). We had a short class in Cayenne driving techniques. We then spent the morning driving our Cayenne S on the slalom, skid pad, and road course. The Cayenne S had superior traction compared to the Carrera S but its mass was felt when it was time to slow down for a turn. The high winds and fresh snow gave us some challenging whiteout conditions from time-to-time. However, we were snug in a warm Cayenne with seat heaters while our hardy instructors stood outside in the elements guiding us through the exercises. We finished with lunch at the Golf Course Lodge and then had the afternoon off, which proved beneficial. We met again with the other drivers and instructors for an excellent dinner in the lodge restaurant.

The third day dawned cloudy and cold after a fresh snow fall during the night. However, the clouds cleared and we had a beautiful day. We were back in our black Carrera 4S. We started with learning how to execute a Scandinavian Flick turn on a downhill run that ended with a 90 degree right turn. This was great fun. I bounced off the bank a few times as I slid sideways. Candace did it perfectly. We finished our day with multiple road course sessions. We enjoyed our last evening out at a local Irish Pub where we thanked our great instructors and said goodbye to guests from all over the world. We want to go back again.

PS The Porsche support team did a fabulous job in the background. The vehicles were washed every night and they were always warmed and running at the start of our day and after each lunch. This attention to detail was impressive.