My Time in Colorado

Vail on a surprise powder day

I spent my last 5 weeks in Colorado and had an absolute blast - it was an experience that I'll remember for the rest of my life. Seven of my college friends and I were based in the Eagle County area, home to multiple world class ski areas. While our college was remote, we figured it would be a perfect time to explore a new place. It was interesting to see a more continental weather pattern and be exposed to different weather for an extended period of time. Here are I few observations I have about the weather in CO over the past 5 weeks:

• The snowpack/snowfall was especially thin during the early parts of my time there. Snowfall was roughly 70% of normal along the I-70 corridor for much of January, though southern areas (like Wolf Creek) were doing a bit better.
• It never rains in CO during the winter. Growing up in CT, I became used to freeze/thaw cycles and plenty of rain during the winter. Throughout my time in CO, I didn't see a drop of rain.
• I was a bit surprised by the amount of cloudy days with no snow that we had. Many western resort towns tout their high number of days of sunshine annually, but we did have plenty of grey, cloudy days with flat light. This surprised me a bit.
• Storms in the Colorado mountains come in multiple bouts. A few times during my stay in CO, the storm track would favor the Colorado rockies. While daily snowfall totals were never so impressive, (the largest single day total was 15"-see photo below) over the course of 4 days, we could see light to moderate accumulations of 1-5". That, coupled with cold temperatures allows Colorado to build its hefty snowpack which is vital for much of the state.

A Beaver Creek powder day

Here are some additional reflections on my time in the west:

A morning skin at Beaver Creek

• The ski experience was definitely different this year, but it felt pretty safe. Lift lines were spaced and spacing on the individual chairs was required. Resorts set up a reservation system and limited capacity for each day. Of course, masks were worn at all times. Being an outdoor activity and with resorts imposing additional restrictions/precautions, skiing felt pretty safe to me.
• I had a blast talking to locals, and almost all of them made their moved to the mountains at some point in their lives. They were extremely friendly to me.
• It was great to live with a group of my college buddies for the month. We cooked, cleaned, had lots of fun together, and most importantly, we remained safe.
• I hoped to get my first taste of western backcountry skiing, but that was not meant to be this year. A weak, unstable snowpack, combined with my limited experience and knowledge required for entry to the backcountry made it the safer call to stick to the resort. I did get really into skinning, though, especially for sunset and sunrise, which are peaceful times to be on the mountain.

Sunset at Beaver Creek

And now, here are some numbers from the trip:

• 3 - different resorts skied. These were Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, and Vail
• 33 - days skied. I skied just about every day, except for the weekend when we traveled to southern Utah.
• 459 - lifts ridden (that's according to the Epic Mix app - who knows how accurate that is).
• 803,929 - vertical feet skied (again, according to the Epic Mix app)
• 1 - trip of a lifetime.

Hot springs near Glenwood Springs, CO

I'm lucky to have been able to spend my last Middlebury College winter term exploring in the mountains of CO. This was certainly an experience I'll remember for the rest of my life.