The View from Up Here!

SNOW!!!!!!!

2009-10-30T13:46:00.003-06:00

While most people dream of a White Christmas, up here in ski country, we tend to dream of a White Halloween! This year, Mother Nature has been VERY accommodating! Denver just finished going through about 50 hours of continuous snowfall, and most locations in the metro area received 1 to 2 FEET out of this storm (Rollinsville--in the mountains above Boulder--received something like 46 inches!)!

This was a classic "upslope" storm, so it affected Denver and the foothills more than it did us up here in the mountains, but most of the resort areas received about a foot or so. We are not buried, but it definitely made for some pretty pictures.

We now have 3 ski areas open here in Colorado: Loveland Ski Area, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, and Wolf Creek Ski Area in southern Colorado (just to give you an idea of the snow amounts, Wolf Creek does not have any snowmaking capability--they are open on 100% natural snow!). Keystone will be opening for the season next Thursday (11/5), with many more openings soon to follow.

I will keep you posted! THINK SNOW!

Steve

Welcome to 2009-2010

2009-10-14T13:12:00.010-06:00

Okay--so I was REALLY bad about posting last year. I ended up running around like crazy all winter long, and then ran out of things to write about. I am an engineer by degree, and so I have a gene against creativity......

Anyhow--hope everyone had a great summer, and I hope you are now looking forward to another great ski season! We had a really weird fall this year with a VERY early peak of color--about 2-3 weeks early. The trees on the hillsides were pretty much at peak color right after Labor Day weekend, and lost all of their leaves before the trees in the valley even started changing.

We still had some beautiful color, though:

We also had a pretty significant early season snowstorm back on Sept. 21--which allowed our ski areas to start making snow in earnest:

The best news is that ski season officially opened on October 7th, with Loveland Ski Area (www.skiloveland.com) winning the sweepstakes for this year--and also achieving their earliest opening in about 40 years. Not far behind, Arapahoe Basin opened for the season on October 9th (www.arapahoebasin.com), so we now have 2 areas open in Colorado!

As I write this, it is snowing again, and all indications are that it is going to be yet another GREAT winter up here! Plus, many of the ski areas are offering some amazing deals, so make sure to get your reservations in NOW!

THINK SNOW!

Steve

More openings!

2008-11-13T16:07:00.002-07:00

I don't have any pictures to upload right now, as I have not had time to go take any recently. I did want to update you on openings for the season, though.

We had a big weekend here in Summit County just this past weekend. Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Keystone all opened for the season on Friday, November 7th. They join Arapahoe Basin and Loveland, which have been open since Oct. 15th. This means that all of my local ski areas are now open for the season!

We have been having a bunch of little storms (typically around 6" or so...), but no huge storms just yet. Don't worry if you hear reports of no snow in Denver--they have not gotten any yet, but we have had plenty already! The mountains do funny things to weather patterns out here.....

In addition to the continual smaller storms we are getting (expecting 3"-6" more tonight), it has been getting REALLY COOOOOOOOLD at night! We have already had several nights with lows in the single digits, and tomorrow night I believe our forecast low is 7 above. The snowmaking crews can do miracles at those temperatures, and once formed into a base, that snow is actually more durable than natural snow. This means that any snow that DOES fall naturally will stick right away.

I will try to post more photos as soon as I have some new ones. Keep checking back for updates on our local conditions as well.

Just a reminder, many of our resorts are starting to fill during peak weeks of the winter--remember to get your reservations in ASAP! Some resorts are offering GREAT discounts for late bookings this year, so call us or go online to www.ColoradoToursLtd.com right away to book your winter ski group!

THINK SNOW!

Steve

SKI SEASON OPENS TODAY!!!!!!!

2008-10-15T15:10:00.006-06:00

This year, there was a tie in the annual race to see who would open first. Both Arapahoe Basin (http://www.arapahoebasin.com/) and Loveland (http://www.skiloveland.com/) ski areas opened this morning for the 2008-2009 season. We have had a little natural snow, but in the last couple of weeks it has really started getting cold at night--which is perfect for making man-made snow. Man-made snow is also more durable as a base, so it is a great start for the season because this base will hold up much better once the natural snow starts falling more heavily.

I have not verified this, but I heard both resorts opened up 3 runs with an 18 inch base of primarily man-made snow. No pictures of actual skiing yet, but the shots on this page are a few of the late fall and early snowfalls up here in the Summit County (mostly Breckenridge) area.

The fall colors were spectacular this year--but they changed REALLY quickly (thus, not too many photos from me--I just did not have enough time to get out there!). After the rough winter we had last year (lots of snow and unusually cloudy and cold), I guess part of me could use a few more weeks of summer, but it is definitely time for winter to hit at this point.

Oh well........

In any case, it looks like it is going to be another EPIC season up here, so make sure to get your group reservations in now! We still have availability, but the prime dates are filling up fast!

THINK SNOW!!!!

Steve

Global.....WARMING????????

2008-08-20T13:59:00.008-06:00

Well, it's highly unusual to get this much snow in the middle of August, but it is not unheard of...These pictures were taken after the snowstorm of August 16, 2008. Above shows the fresh snow at the top of the Breckenridge ski area. Some areas received as much as 6", and CDOT had to put up chain controls on I-70 to the Eisenhower Tunnel--NOT normal in August.

Our summers are GORGEOUS, but very short....

Ski season starts in 2 months! Make your reservations now to ensure the best choice of rates and resorts for this season!

Steve

I've heard of the DOG days of summer, but......

2008-08-10T16:33:00.007-06:00

I had a "little" visitor on Saturday morning--this is the second time he has come to see me. My hummingbird feeder is now officially toast......

Some parts of the country deal with hurricanes, some with earthquakes, and some with tornadoes, but we only have to deal with wildfires and the true "locals"! The last time he came to visit, he just looked in my living room window (sorry for the glare on the picture, but when you are running for your camera, you don't have too much time to set up a perfect shot....):

Basically, he just wandered around a bit (after tearing down the hummingbird feeder, of course....) and then wandered off down the street.

I love having the wildlife around, but the problem with bears is that they are destructive. If I knew he would not do any damage, I would be fine with him here. My fear, though, is that he will break through one of my windows. I don't think I would ever call animal control on them, though, as in Colorado we have a "2 strikes and you're out" policy for bears. If they are caught once interacting with humans, they are tagged and relocated. If they are caught a second time, they are killed. I would hate to see that happen because of me, since I am the one who moved into bear country--not the other way around.

In any case, one reason the bears are so active right now is that there is definitely a noticeable change in the air. We are having a lot more afternoon storms, with low clouds hanging over the mountains--the first signs of fall's approach. I have even seen a FEW trees with a bit of color in the leaves, and most of the aspens seem to be turning a little bit lighter in preparation for their big show. Within about 5 weeks, we will probably be at the peak of our fall colors.

Summers can be VERY short up here--but at least it means ski season is not that far away.

I'll keep you posted!

Steve

Summer is here......

2008-06-24T12:16:00.009-06:00

Well, I haven't been too good about posting during the busy season, so I apologize for the gap here. Regular ski season ended with the closing of Arapahoe Basin on June 8 (they opened on October 10th, so we can expect them to start the 08-09 season in about 4 months!). Of course, immediately following A-basin's announcement that they were closing, Aspen announced they would reopen the top of their mountain for a few hours of skiing on the weekend of June 13-15. Normally, Aspen opens up their gondola for summer operations (hiking, scenic views, etc.) around the middle of June, but this year they had over 3 feet of snow still on the ground that weekend. It's a bit tough to view wildflowers when they are buried under snow, so they also opened a chairlift to allow for skiing.

At my house, I got about 14 inches of snow on May 15th. Here is a picture of my front deck that day:

I had shovelled almost ALL of the snow off my deck before this storm came in (sigh....)......

The good news is that summer is now in full swing up here! If you have never experienced a Rocky Mountain summer, you really need to make plans today! The saying among those of us who live up here is that we came here for the winters, but stay for the summers. Imagine waking up every day to crystal clear, sunny blue skies with almost no humidity (20%-30% on a VERY damp day), and temperatures in the mid 70s! It's almost like having the outdoors air conditioned. Nights are cool, with lows in the 40s (and sometimes the upper 30s), so even on the "warmer" days (I think the all time high temperature in Breckenridge is something like 84), the nights are cool and refreshing.

Plus, of course, you get to enjoy scenery like this:

Summer also brings festival season to all of the small mountain towns, so every weekend there are a lot of different activities to choose from. Never a dull moment up here!

What is so nice about the seasons up here is that each season is just about the perfect length. Just about the time you start getting tired of the current season and start looking forward to the next, they change!

Of course, this is also the time to start thinking about next year's ski trips as well--ESPECIALLY if you are interested in any of the holidays or Spring Break! Group dates fill up very quickly, so please contact us ASAP if you are interested in booking for next year!

I'll try to post occasionally during the summer if anything interesting happens, otherwise, enjoy your summer and we look forward to seeing you again next season!

Steve

When it snows--make Snow Sculptures!

2008-02-01T14:53:00.001-07:00

We may not have been making the national news lately (unless it snows in Denver, they tend to ignore our storms....), but we have been getting a TON of snow recently! A pattern has set up that brings us upwards of a foot of snow just about every other day. The statewide snowpack is at something like 125% of average right now, but in Southwestern Colorado, it is closer to 175% of average.

There has been so much snow this year that the state Division of Wildlife has resorted to feeding the wild deer and elk in the Gunnison area, because they were afraid that up to 30% of the herd would have starved to death since they are unable to reach their natural food sources through the deep snow! Here a few pictures that I took in Crested Butte when I was down there on Jan. 15th:

Yes--that is a barn buried under all that snow!

In many places, the houses are almost completely buried under snow:

This is the Three Seasons complex that we use for many of our groups. It's a good thing this is a 3 story building, because last week the first floor was completely buried!

In Breckenridge, we make good use of all that snow with our annual Snow Sculpture competition every year in late January. Piles of snow are packed into 14 foot tall blocks, and then teams from around the world come out and turn those blocks into spectacular works of art. Here are a few of this years' entries:

It is almost sad to see such amazing works of art simply melt or get blown over by the storms, but I guess that is part of the allure of the contest.

The bottom line is that if you are thinking about a group trip to Breckenridge next January, think about trying to come out here at the end of the month so you can see these in person!

For this year, with this much snow around, March should be absolutely LEGENDARY for skiing! If you haven't made your plans yet--GET ON IT! Availability is now VERY limited!

THINK SNOW!

Steve

The snow continues.....

2008-01-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

Well--I think we all survived the holiday crush, although road conditions did leave a few problems for us. Last weekend (the weekend between Christmas and New Year...) found a major wind/snow storm that caused I-70 to be closed for about 27 hours on Sunday--right when most of the holiday crowds were coming and going! Last night we had anywhere from 1 to 3 feet of snow in parts of western Colorado, so although they didn't have to close the highway completely (the high winds last weekend made avalanches a threat, so they had to clear the chutes before they could let traffic through again), it was slow going down to Denver at times today.

The good news is that this means we have a LOT of snow now! December of 2007 will go into the record books as the 7th snowiest December in history for Summit County (Breckenridge, Keystone, and Copper Mountain). When all was said and done, 126 inches of snow (that's 10-1/2 FEET!) fell in Steamboat during the month of December!

In other words, there should be NO more worries on anyone's part about the quality of skiing this year! Arapahoe Basin is getting ready to open their back bowl expansion (increasing their skiable terrain by 80% this year!), and everyone is reporting EXCELLENT conditions--SO GET OUT HERE AND SKI/SNOWBOARD!

I would have posted some pictures, but we have had so much snow that I just haven't had a chance on the few nicer days to go out and take any. That is not to say that the weather has been horrible, it's just that on the nicer days I have been tied up with the groups that were arriving for the holidays. Hopefully I will get some new shots posted soon.

In the meantime, I guess we can never have too much of a good thing, so please continue to THINK SNOW!

Steve

The snow finally arrives--BIG TIME!!!!

2007-12-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been too active at posting, but to be honest, there was not much to post about in November. We had a very dry month, and a couple of ski areas even had to delay their opening by a few days due to lack of natural snow. The snowmakers did an EXCELLENT job of making due with very limited help from Mother Nature, but with daytime highs running in the 60s, there was only so much they could do.

All that changed last week. At my house, I got about a foot of snow over the first weekend of December, but then we had a MAJOR windstorm on 12/3 (hurricane force winds even blew part of the roof off my house!). Since then it has been snowing almost CONSTANTLY until today. Monarch Ski Resort received 65 inches of snow in a 48 hour period during one part of this storm, and Crested Butte has received something like 8+ FEET of snow in the last week!

This picture was taken off the east side of my deck in a lull between 2 storms--we received another 6 inches or so that night! That table in the lower right corner of the picture (that is buried under snow) is a 60" oval shaped picnic table--not a small table. This should show you how much snow has accumulated in the last week!

I have not been out skiing yet this season, as I injured myself trying to mitigate some of the damage to my roof during that wind storm, but I have talked with many friends who have been up already, and conditions right now are LEGENDARY! We are now above average in terms of snowpack, and more is forecast. I don't think anyone should worry about snow conditions at this point!

Wax up the boards and get ready for a great winter! THINK SNOW!

Steve

SKI SEASON OPENS TODAY!!!!!!!

2007-10-10T14:10:00.001-06:00

Just FYI--Arapahoe Basin Ski Area opened for the season today (10/10/07)--the earliest opening in its 61 year history. More info can be found on their web site at http://www.arapahoebasin.com/. They have an 18 inch base of man-made snow.

While we have only had a couple of dustings of light natural snow up to this point and our daytime highs have still been in the 60s, at night our temperatures have been dropping into the 10s and 20s. With very low humidities, these are IDEAL conditions to make man-made snow.

I have not been up there to take any new pictures recently (will do so as soon as I get a chance), but below is a picture of Breckenridge Ski Area that I took last week. Notice there is not really any snow on the slopes yet, but you can see the remnants of our recent dustings at the top of the mountain.

This was the entrance to my neighborhood about a week ago--right after one of our little storms:

As soon as I can get up to A-basin to take a few shots, I will post them here. In the meantime, I will keep you posted as other areas start to open (Loveland and Copper Mountain are also making snow right now, and Breckenridge and Keystone should be starting up pretty soon). I would expect Loveland to open within another week or so, Copper is supposed to open in early November, and Keystone and Breck will be opening by the middle of November.

In the meantime--KEEP THINKING SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve

It begins.....

2007-09-18T16:00:00.000-06:00

For those of you still stuck in the "dog days" of summer, I just want to assure you--the end is near! Here at 10,670 feet above sea level in Central Colorado, we are pretty much at the height of the fall colors right now! Plus, we have gotten a couple of light dustings of snow at the peaks. If there IS any such thing as "normal", this seems to be about 2 weeks ahead of what we would normally expect. Who knows what this means in terms of the upcoming ski season, but it is always a good sign!

No one is trying to ski on any of this yet, but it does bode well for things to come! Here are a few pictures of the new snow that I took yesterday (9/17):

The resorts have not been able to start snowmaking operations yet, as it has been far too warm at this point. Our daytime highs have still been getting up towards 70 degrees, and most nights it is still not dropping down to freezing yet (at least on the valley floors), so not exactly what you would call snowmaking weather right now. I would expect to see Loveland and Arapahoe Basin opening about a month from now though, so I expect to see them start up operations in earnest within the next couple of weeks.

I will let you know as soon as we start up snowmaking operations for the season. Until then, THINK SNOW!

Steve

Welcome to the 2007-2008 season!

2007-09-05T14:54:00.000-06:00

I know, it's still early September, but our main summer season is winding down up here right now, and we are now starting to think more about the upcoming winter. The firewood suppliers are really busy right now, and those of us who live up here are dusting off the snowblowers ready for the snows that are certain to start arriving within the next month. It's always a good sign when you see ads in the local newspapers hiring snowmakers for the upcoming season! We will most likely be starting snowmaking operations up here in about 3 weeks or so!

Personally, fall is my absolute favorite season up here! Since I grew up in Florida, I was not exposed to fall colors very often in my youth. Now, even though I have lived in the mountains of Colorado for 20 years, I still never tire of nature's spectacular show in the fall. Just to remind you, throughout this post I have attached a few pictures that I took last fall. In September, the days up here are typically cool and crisp, with highs in the 60s and low 70s, and the air seems to sparkle somehow. I know that sounds crazy, but others have told me the same thing--somehow the angle of the sun and the colors of the trees combined with the crisp, clear air makes the sun just dance off any surface!

For those of you interested in booking a last minute fall colors trip to Colorado, it should be spectacular this year. No one can predict for sure, but we have had a very wet summer, which typically leads to more brilliant colors in the fall. An added bonus is that a wet summer means that the ground will freeze easier, meaning that it SHOULD be easier for early season snows to stick to the ground. Typically our fall colors peak around the last week of September to the first week of October, but that can vary by as much as 3-4 weeks depending on the year.

Up here we have a saying--the only people who try to predict the weather in the mountains are fools and newcomers. Well, hopefully I am neither, so I am not going to try to make any predictions here. However, all signs are pointing towards another great ski season!

As we start seeing signs of fall colors (a few trees are starting now, but not enough to be "photo worthy" just yet), I will take some pictures and post them here. In the meantime, keep checking back on this site, and I will let you know as the snow begins to fly and the slopes begin to open.

It's not too early to say--THINK SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve