Winter’s End

Officially Spring began more than two weeks ago but judging by the current wintery weather both in the Grand Valley and up in the mountains the message hasn’t quite got through yet. But I’m not complaining as I’m sure I will have barely hung up the skis than it will be hotter than Hades and we’ll all be reminiscing about our cool, wet spring.

One of the best things about spring in Western Colorado is the multi sport days that can be had. Take, for instance, this past Sunday. I awoke to read the snow report of 6 inches of fresh at Aspen Highlands. Whatever is at the snow stake usually means double up in the Bowl, especially if there are westerly winds which there were. The Easter bunny delivered indeed. So I hopped around the Bowl on my own version of an egg hunt, collecting face shots in knee deep powder and getting my mojo back.

First run we hit up the G zones where the snow was super light. Chad decided to board and so I delighted in following him and his plume of blower pow. It was so much fun we couldn't stop to take any pics. Second run we entered the White Kitchen where we still found plenty of untracked. Here at the top, the 3,000 foot descent ahead:

 
 After two runs, totaling 6,000 feet, it was lunch time and the strong spring sunshine was whipping the powder into mashers (as in mashed potatoes). So off we went for the second sport of the day – fly fishing on the Roaring Fork. As the spring run-off hasn’t started yet the waters are crystal clear and make for excellent fishing while the banks are relatively free of snow.

 
With the ski area visible from the river’s edge I basked in the sunshine while Chad tried to repeat his previous days very successful fishing expedition where he caught a 22” Brown. Today the fish were not so willing though he did catch a smaller but pretty Rainbow. 

I'm really looking forwards to this spring and enjoying a number of different activities. I'm trying to mix it up and branch out from my total fixation with skiing this year. Hmmm. We'll see how long that lasts.