Crazy Colorado

To say the least, the weather here in Denver has been topsy-turvy this Spring. I took the photo on the left last week when Julia and I drove home from work - it was sunny and cool on our morning commute, and then this happened by noon. Sliding buses and cars littered the streets, wheels spinning ineffectively. Visibility was hampered by blinding, high velocity gobs of snow. Thankfully Julia's car has excellent Blizzak snow tires - which I recommend to anyone who lives in this state - so we got home safely.

After a mostly dry and snowless winter, it's been pretty strange to be beset by the sporadic and intense snow we've seen in the last couple of weeks. Even today the snow in the mountains was so fierce, I-70 closed down, making it impossible for us to drive up for snowboarding until tomorrow. Ah well, it's all part of the adventure of living in Colorado!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow (But Just In the Mountains, Please)

One of the big reasons we moved to Denver is its proximity to the beautiful Rocky Mountains. This winter, Julia and I have been taking advantage of this, using our five mountain Colorado Pass to spend most weekends blissfully snowboarding. In support of our hobby, we even decided to rent a mountain house in Silverthorne with a bunch of people Julia found on Craigslist. Already this has saved us a lot of money and time (compared to getting hotel rooms or fighting I-70 traffic to and from Denver during peak hours).

I unfortunately had to take a couple weeks off, due to breaking my rib during an epic faceplant on Keystone, but I am almost back to normal. Julia and I took off from work Friday to take a trip to Vail, where we undertook the arduous journey to the snowboarding oasis known as Blue Sky Basin. It took us almost two hours to get there from the mountain base at Lionshead Village - there were surprisingly long lines for a weekday - but it was worth it. The vastness and sheer fun of the runs makes Blue Sky a destination we will definitely revisit (but only when we get an early enough start). I told Julia I felt like I was in a surreal snowboarding video game for most of the day.

I unfortunately forgot to bring my mini camera for the Vail trip, but I do have a few photos up from some of our previous snowboarding trips. As the season progresses, I will hopefully add more pictures to that gallery.