Snow Day!

There were rumblings of an approaching storm. To manage the general blasé nature of winter on the plans, I tend to remain blithely unaware of the weather. Yet, I went to sleep feeling cautiously optimistic about snow on the horizon.

I do not sleep much on such nights. I tend to wake quite frequently in the hope that it is 5:00 AM, for this is the time that the college posts any weather cancellations. The hour finally arrived and I dialed the information line: Snow Day!

That morning, I headed to North Table Mountain to cross-country ski. With the heavy snow and howling wind, the city quickly disappeared and I was left to a disorienting prairie wilderness atop the mesa. I toured around for an hour before coming across any other tracks. And, after following these tracks for awhile, I realized that they were mine, only now I traveled in the opposite direction.

Jenean joined me in the afternoon and we headed out the door to sled on the flanks of South Table Mountain. As the gray light faded, the lights of Denver West twinkled to life. We christened a new run, Bushy Couloir, or South Face Off-Camber Direct.

The following day the sun came out and the 18+ inches of new snow glistened. Chad, Emily, Jenean and I headed to nearby Green Mountain for some more sledding action. A number of skiers were also out and about to score some urban turns. The sledding was fantastic! We then headed a few miles into the foothills and cross country skied through 30+ inches of snow at Elk Meadows. A deep track cut through the woods on a long traverse and it was truly magical. I returned the following day for more of the same. 

sledding the urban mountains