Christmas came a few weeks early for those of us that were fortunate enough to ski Aspen or Snowmass last weekend.
A major snowstorm moved into the southern and central Rocky Mountains in the past week. It dumped feet of snow daily, yes FEET of snow. Now for those of you in Lake Tahoe this is not that unusual, but for those of us in the Colorado Rockies it is ALWAYS a treat. This was the second week in a row for major accumulation and the forecast calls for more snow in the next week.
Any way, I awoke on Saturday to the gurgling coffee pot and the aroma of fresh biscuits and bacon. I pinched myself thinking it was a dream and …it was. No biscuits, no bacon, but the coffee was nice and hot. I checked the snow report at cscusa@coloradoski.com as I do every weekend to see who the big winner was in the major snowfall department. Aspen Highlands was at the top of the list for their opening day with a 50” inch base and 24” new within the last 24 hours. Snowmass was a close second with a 48” base and 20” new. I mentioned the snow report to my wife, Julie, and her immediate reply was “I guess your going to Highlands today”? My wife….I think I’ll keep her. Even without the biscuits and bacon.
After living in the Roaring Fork Valley for 14 years, it is common knowledge that Highlands is the local’s favorite. With this in mind we decided to head to Snowmass and avoid the possibility of my friends poaching our lines. Doing “Laps on High Alpine” is one of several options that local skiers and riders know as “best choice” at Snowmass.
When there is big snow it is the first choice in my bag of tricks. So that is where we pointed the boards.
A warm up run on Reidar’s and then intuition sent us over to “The Edge”. Dave, my ski compadre for the day, pointed out that a few people were heading to HV Glades. We spent no time discussing the possibility and sure as bears…….in the woods, Ski Patrol was opening HV Glades for the 2007-08 ski season and we were #5 and #6 in line as Patrol was dropping the rope. Now, for any of you fortunate enough to ever have been present at a “Rope Drop” there is this unspoken sense of camaraderie between everyone present. A couple suggestions from ski patrol and it’s every skier for himself but in a gracious kind of way.
The snow was thigh deep at the entrance gate and getting deeper around every tree. With the hoots and hollers ringing throughout, we tramped through the flats taking turns breaking trail. Even on a pitch that would normally be great fun in normal conditions the snow was so deep that we were going nowhere. The question as we headed back to the Alpine Springs chair was not should we do that again, but how many times can we repeat that run before dark. A stop for lunch? No chance! A stop for a malted lunch? No way Jose! Two, Three, FOUR more laps before they closed our playground for the day. Every run was better than the one before. Chest deep snow causes Dave and I to giggle like young school boys with a brand new secret. The lift ops did not even have to ask if we were having a good day. The frosted smiles we were wearing punctuated our attitude and without speaking a word we told everyone within a snowballs throw that we were having an EPIC day and the season is just starting.
It is hard to keep from bragging to the wife after a day like this. “What happened here?” as Julie points to my pack in a puddle of water in the mud room. That’s not from falling I replied. Then she finds my lunch untouched. “Did you buy lunch today?” she asked.
No, I told you we did not take the time to stop. I did not need to say much more.
I hope your day in the snow comes as soon as ours did.
BobSki
