Snorkel Skiing at Winter Park on January 31st, 2014

Colorado Ski areas got POUNDED with snow in late January, 2014. We had decided to drive up to Winter Park Friday morning (leaving super early for first tracks) when we heard that CDOT was closing Berthoud Pass Thursday night at 8:00PM for avalanche control ... with an expected re-opening at 8:00AM Friday morning.

Needless to say, this would jeopardize first tracks ... so after a mad scramble, we drove up Thursday night with the Majcen's in Dave's awesome Denali. After a pleasent night at their wonderful place in Grand Lake, we woke at 6:00AM and were on the road at 7:01AM ... arriving before 8:00 at the Mary Jane parking lot ... and scoring a front row spot! We heard that Berthoud had not opened yet (believe it did around 8:30) so we geared up and were in line by 8:40 (20 minutes before lifts opened) and were one of the first 100 people on the untouched slopes.

I had brought my snorkel (just in case - heh, heh!) so while it wasn't as deep as this truly sick snorkel skiing video, it was still darn, darn good. I've been fortunate to have some pretty sweet days of resort skiing (such as Snowbird, Utah, Solitude, and good times at Mission Ridge Washington) and even an incredible Utah Heli-skiing experience ... but this was a top-10 day for me as I was getting face shots all day long! ;-)       Pictures all taken with my iPhone so sorry about the sketchy quality.