HellerCopter: Let it snow, let it snow

It’s a weird time of year here in Boulder, Colorado, where desert meets ski country. The university students are in flux, gradually disappearing as their finals are complete. But there is a strange frenetic energy this year. Traffic is worse than ever, and there are lines everywhere.
    Now the snow is piling up, as if to say “forget about your shopping and hustling for now, go out and play.” And I’m gonna!

IT'S A WEIRD TIME of year here in Boulder, Colorado, where desert meets ski country. The university students are in flux, gradually disappearing as their finals are complete. But there is a strange frenetic energy this year. Traffic is worse than ever, and there are lines everywhere.
    Now the snow is piling up, as if to say “forget about your shopping and hustling for now, go out and play.” And I’m gonna!

Wednesday Dec. 20
    You know you’re in Utah when …
    I called my friend Tyson Bolduc (before the storm hit Colorado) to find him riding the chair at Snowbird with his buddies. I asked him how the snow was and he said, “Well yesterday was great, they only reported 9 (inches), but there was like 22 to 23 in places.”
    I said you know you’re talking to a Utah skier when they start a phrase with, “They only reported 9 …”

    I’ve been keeping my ears peeled for good news on the recovery of Charlie Gaylord, who suffered severe head injuries at last year’s Jackson Hole Freeskiing Open, and happily there is good news to tell!
    Charlie has been skiing several times, including making runs from the top of Ajax in Aspen. According to his father, Ritter, skiing has fostered immediate, major strides forward in Charlie’s sense of time and short-term memory.
    The memory of the previous days’ experience is increasing Charlie’s desire to stick with a training program. In Ritter’s own words, “Skiing may have saved Charlie’s life.”

Thursday, Dec. 21
    The Colorado blizzard left more than 2 feet of snow all over the Eastern Plains and mountains of Colorado. Keystone somehow got 16 inches out of the storm, and Winter Park got 20.
    The big winner in this neck of the woods was Eldora, and with many of the highways being closed, and Loveland inexplicably getting only 9 inches, lots of locals made that call.
    Eldora had more than two feet of snow, and the roads were OK once one got out of the city of Boulder, which seems to think ornate plantings in the medians are more important than a snow-removal program.
    Arriving in Nederland, 3,000 feet above Boulder, was a remarkable contrast. ALL the streets were plowed, even the little dirt ones, all the parking lots were plowed and all the businesses were open. This was in stark contrast to Boulder and many towns in the area, where nearly everyone abandoned ship, including supermarkets (not King Sooper!), post offices and banks. Major arteries in Boulder weren’t even plowed until 4 p.m., 11 hours after the snow started!
    The sun came out and it was a spectacular 26-inch day. The snow was dense, a good base maker for sure. Getting so much snow at once, Eldora was able to open 100 percent of its expert and double-diamond terrain for the first time this year. Having all that snow skier-packed right away is a major plus at this perennially windy area. The powder was good, though there were still some honking rocks and protruding saplings in the steep tree shots.
    The crowds were significant for this relatively uncrowded area, due to the major dump and lack of road options — but that isn’t saying much. There was a pretty big line on Corona lift for a while, but it dissipated.

    As this system tracked across northern Arizona and New Mexico, it switched on the seasons in southern Colorado at Durango (33 inches), Wolf Creek (37 inches) and Telluride (30 inches). Durango went from 30 to 100 percent open in one day!
    Meanwhile, poor Taos got only 16 inches (it’s my turn to say it!) and today reports one expert run open. I recall 12 years ago skiing Taos before Christmas with a 72-inch base, and they were opening new runs on the ridge every day — ahhh! Oh well, they can’t all be great Decembers, can they?

Friday, Dec. 22
    I guess Taosians should consider themselves lucky — La Plagne, France is still closed and Val d’Isere still has only half of its pistes open. Lower resorts in the Portes du Soleil region are either closed or reporting dismal bases (8 inches at les Gets). In Austria, St. Anton is reporting a 22-inch base at the top, with the last snowfall of 2 inches now four days old. For Europe, the good news is that the extended warm weather has finally ended.
    I guess its all relative.

    Speaking of Europe, check out this Web page from Chamonix.
    This Web cam shot from Chamonix reveals a scant snowpack. If you look carefully, you can see my old house, and why I still consider my self a Chamoniard in exile.

    It is the first day of winter, let’s go celebrate!
    Until next week, see you on the slopes!