Hordes of people populated the deck. Sitting in T-shirts, drinking beer, sunning themselves like lizards hanging out on rocks. The sun is high in the sky, tanning and warming the faces of all those engaged in some serious deck action. If you didn’t know better, you’d have thought it was mid-May. But a look at the calendar says it’s actually the second week of February, dead in the middle of winter. And yet this is the scene that greets me at the local ski area. This, just a mere one week after two feet of snow fell in the foothills and mountains of Colorado. The mid-winter thaw is upon us and it’s the calm after the storm.
Having lived in the mountains for five years in the Sierra of California, and another eight years here in the Rocky Mountains, I’m not surprised. Even in the stormiest of winters, we seem to experience a warm, dry spell that can last anywhere from two to six weeks. We’re in the middle of said dry spell right now, and it sure doesn’t feel like winter. It’s deceptive to folks who hail from other parts of the country, particularly those from the upper midwest where the cold and snow can last for months on end. My friends are amazed that we can experience significant snowfall where we’re skiing and snowshoeing and then a week later, we are hiking and biking.
It feels like spring skiing on the slopes, where highs yesterday reached the mid-40s and the snow starts to turn slushy. As I wonder around the base area, I spot teenagers skiing down the slopes in short sleeves. In nearby Boulder and Denver, bikers populate the roads in their multi-colored bike jerseys and sporty sunglasses. I take advantage of temps near 70 to take the dogs for a good long hike albeit with a bit of mud mixed in from the melting snow. It also allows those seasoned sporting recreationists to take part in the trifecta. Since Eldora Ski Resort is only about a half-hour from Boulder, with a 3000-foot change in elevation, it’s possible to engage in an early morning ski, followed by a bike ride, followed by a late afternoon hike with the dogs. What other places in the country can you do that?
Last year while skiing in April, I met a guy who went for a different trifecta. He went skiing at Winter Park in the morning, scooted down to Idaho Springs, for a kayak ride in nearby Clear Creek, and finished off with an early evening mountain bike ride. Of course, the one thing you can usually count on in Colorado despite whether it’s cold or warm is our 300 days of sunshine, which makes it ideal for engaging in any kind of recreation. Only in Colorado…
Despite my being an avid skier, I’ve learned to roll with the weather roller coaster here in Colorado. Bryon and I first planned for some skiing this weekend, but in keeping with the warm weather and sunshine, instead are engaging in short road trip and hiking. More on that later this weekend…
