Barb

Been slowly getting back to normal after I got a gel injection in my knee last week. Woke up following morning with my knee looking like the elephant man and had to use a hiking pole to hobble around my house. Didn’t feel quite ready for downhill, so I went to a new to me xc place about 45 min away. It’s free (donation based) and there are marked trails and they do groom it. I brought both my ancient skinny skis and my newer backcountry xc skis. I assumed my old ones could be used with my newer backcountry xc boots but I guess the metal clip is too long. So I used my fatties on the skate ski part of the trails. Also got to test out my new Brynje mesh base layer shirt. It def made a difference, my back was wet, but dried quick and my secondary layer was dry by the time I got home. Anyone try these or similar? Anyway, nice sunny day, temp was 15 with light wind felt good to move the legs

Just sharing some interesting snow observations/conditions from Colorado. After the large storm we had around Thanksgiving, we have been in a pattern of high pressure with cold nights and sunny days. As a result, there has been widespread surface hoar seemingly throughout the state. I went to a CAIC talk over the weekend and seen plenty of people comparing notes with pictures on FB. I thought it was only here where I am, but seems to be everywhere. Here is an image someone shared on FB. The surface hoar has grown to 2” feather like crystals. Needless to say, when we get our next big storms, if this layer is still present we are going to have a very weak layer.

I heard about it. On my list for this season. Also went in halves on a parking pass with my neighbor. It’s good at Highlands and a lot at Snowmass I have never been to. On other side of mountain, but that lift doesn’t open for a while.

Got my first day in on Snowmass today. Good base compared to this time last year. I took lift alone but for the first one out of the base. Very quiet. Having some knee issues so I was taking it pretty easy. Overall great first day, blue skies, relatively warm and got a baby bump run in too, my favorite.

Well this storm definitely delivered! In 36 hours I would say we got a solid 22-24” here in Marble. Hard to tell because the last round was wet and everything compressed. But the webcams at Aspen show big numbers. The Aspen base cam had a line down the stairs at 8:15. They opened 20 new trails since yesterday when I checked. After shoveling out our property (and our neighbor), I took my XC skis and skied my neighborhood. One street was plowed but most of it was untouched. Just a lot of animal tracks. This time of year my house does not see a lot of sunshine, only about 3 hours. So on sunny days, we try and sit out for the solid 20 min or so it bakes our porch. And here it is! Our full 20 min of sunshine.

Stussy was definitely popular. I had a few shirts. The local surf shops would get in a few pieces and be sold out quickly.

Yeah, I realized that was wrong as soon as I typed it 😂

Hi my name is Barb and I am a ski town all star hat addict. I believe this one makes 6. I wanted to break in my new hat and grr we some cardio so I went to Buttermilk to uphill. It is not yet opened. There was what looked like a groomed section (as wide as a groomer truck) in the center. But since it snowed last night about 5”, I decided to follow the path of the “main” uphill route that is signed. I didn’t go too far, maybe 2 steep head walls? Broke trail the way up and down, which was fun. I have a nagging injury from my dog pulling me down on the ice. But it was a sunny day, about 25 degrees and I saw one human when I was coming down. Still gonna log it, i was on snow for over a mile so it counts.

Woohoo! It’s starting! Look at CB!!

Yes but prefer the wood stove. My husband always cuts a lot of wood so why not.

The daily happenings of living rural. The road off the highway to my neighborhood is 4 miles of twisties. Some sections are always icy because they don’t get sun. A propane truck skid off the road into the river the other day. Surprisingly the driver was just banged up. Yesterday they closed the road all day to extract the truck.

I would never last for NHN. Had our woodstove going all day for several weeks now. Tomorrow’s forecast…chilly

I don’t like Copper early season as that one run really funnels into a skinny shit show at the bottom. I really want to ski but will wait until more runs are open. If Aspen or Snowmass fills in more I may do a skin up before they open for the season. They have such a great uphill policy.

As much as I want it to be, my neighborhood is not yet skiable. I went up the hill to the wilderness boundary. Uphill was ok. 10’ downhill and crunch crunch of rocks. So i side walked down. my uphill neighbor’s off grid shed/cabin. He lived here all summer but moved out when the snow started. Beyond the cabin is the Ragged’s Wilderness boundary

Finally woke up to some snow!