Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Springtime in the Rockies



It was downright toasty on the ski slopes and the warm weather day skiers were out in droves. The layers of clothing were giving way to t-shirts and funky hats and there was a bit of festive mardi gras mood in the air. Strands of brightly colored irridescent beads and a stray bra or two graced several of the trees along the lift route.

Meanwhile, the sky was a clear crystal blue with a few wisps of clouds refracting in every color of the rainbow as the bright mountain sun reflected off of the high altitude ice crystals. The slopes started off a little crusty in the mornings as it has not snowed for a week or two. However, by afternoon, the bright sunshine and warm weather resulted in snow that was soft and forgiving, making for wonderful mogul skiing and enabling graceful traversals across the intermediate slopes with long, sweeping turns that send the snow flying in graceful arcs just like you see in the movies.

On the ski lifts, riders were in a pretty chatty mood. Most of the skiers were stray Denver residents up for the day, but there were also people from all corners of the globe, making for interesting lift talk and passing the time quickly. Overall, the skiing was good and the warm weather made for a warm and comfortable skiing experience.

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