Ski season is over in Colorado, for most of us at least. It wound up being sort of an odd spring with great coverage and ski conditions throughout May followed by a dramatic warmup in June. We went from something like 120% snowpack in the northern regions to an impressively rapid melt off, and all of a sudden spring ski season was over as quickly as it began. May was the month this year, and though I stayed close to home I managed to get out for ten days in the month on skis, revisiting some old peaks and lines and exploring a few new ones. Keep reading…
It’s no secret that this year’s spring season has been a temperamental one in terms of weather, snowpack, and ski conditions for just about every skier in the state who doesn’t enjoy absolute freedom of schedule. The high country has been continuously raked by winds and dust storms throughout most of April and into May. Our snowpack ended up being nothing to write home about (slightly below average and with some aspects and ski lines never really coming into condition). Keep reading…
The month of April has come and gone and it feels like things are rapidly heading towards summer below 12,000 ft around here. Statistically, despite Denver and the Front Range being above 100% SWE on the season, we’re at 71% of the median for the state as a whole. Though truncated spring seasons can be frustrating, they can also make for a good excuse to return to reliable lines on peaks close to home and just enjoy the skiing for what it is, while it lasts. Read more…
I thought about opening this trip report by adding up how much money I’ve spent on races this year, almost all of which have been cancelled. But then I realized I don’t actually want to know the answer to that question.
First it was the Dirty 30 in May (pretty early on in the pandemic, so understandable, I suppose). Then it was the San Juan Solstice in June (second year in a row for that guy, oof). Then it was the Devil on the Divide in September (seriously, F Clear Creek County for that one). Suffice it to say, COVID has not been easy on the wallet for those stubborn enough (i.e dumb enough) to try to do what is arguably the single most anti-COVID activity (health wise, at least) in existence: running races. Keep Reading….
