As I left the last outpost of Ouray, I started up the steep mountain road. After about 5 minutes, I was engulfed in a sea of snowflakes and I realized that I was no longer driving on pavement. I gripped the steering wheeler tighter and slowly made my way towards the summit. It was a full-blown blizzard soon and no plow trucks in sight. Fun! Knowing that fresh powder and untracked terrain lay ahead, I focused on the road ahead and somehow made it to town in 90 minutes, arriving just after 10:30am.
Mike was waiting for me, I quickly changed into my ski clothes and we took off for the mountain. The snow had been coming down all morning and there were freshies to be had everywhere! There are no "warm-up" runs at Silverton, its a unique ski area where the entire mountain is pretty much open and available for punishment. So my first powder run of the year was going to be at 10,000 feet in the middle of a now 2-ft dump. I plunged into the white pillows and was instantly in heaven -- pow-pow heaven.
We managed about 8 good tele-turns in a row before our lungs stopped providing oxygen and the lactic acid in our quads short-circuited our legs. We were in Vermont no longer. We finished the run with HUGE smiles are our faces and got back on the lift for more punishment. We got in 4 long long runs on Saturday, and collapsed in exhaustion at the Brown Bear cafe for some drinks and appetizers.
We finished up the night watching the NFL playoffs and dinner at an Italian place on the "Notorius Blair Street" in downtown Silverton. Stoked by our first powder day of the year and with the snow still dumping and we went to sleep, we were excited for an EPIC day on Sunday at Silverton again....
No comments:
Post a Comment