SNOW DAY ON THE SLOPES
Kimber Bogush from Castle Rock skis several inches of fresh powder on the upper Hughes run at Winter Park on Saturday. Skiers, undeterred by COVID-19 concerns, flocked to the high country over the Presidents Day weekend as nine Colorado ski resorts received a foot or more of snow. Wolf Creek in southern Colorado led the way with 35 inches.
Nick Hulse figures he’s gotten in three dozen ski days this winter, and Saturday topped them all with 9 inches of fresh powder at Winter Park to kick off a fluffy Presidents Day weekend.
“The best day I’ve had, for sure,” the Denver resident said while tailgating with five friends — and no COVID-19 concerns — at Winter Park’s Mary Jane base area as bratwurst sizzled on the grill. “It skis really deep. It’s super nice out there.”
The three-day weekend got off to a great start as nine Colorado ski resorts received a foot or more of snow over the past three days. Wolf Creek topped the count with 35 inches, with Purgatory checking in at 17 while Winter Park and Telluride picked up 14. Steamboat, Aspen Snowmass, Crested Butte, and Granby Ranch received 13 and Loveland 12.
Despite worrisome avalanche forecasts issued by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the parking lot atop Berthoud Pass and lots lower on the north side of the pass on Saturday were packed with cars. On Sunday, a snowmobiler was killed in a backcountry avalanche 4 miles northeast of Winter Park, and a snowboarder was killed on Mount Trelease near Loveland Pass, bringing Colorado’s avalanche death toll for the season to 10.
But at Winter Park, skiers and riders reveled in powder. Judging from several random interviews, they felt safe from concerns over COVID-19 even though the resort reported five days earlier that it was experiencing an outbreak among employees that exceeded 100 cases.
Kris Penn of Chicago — skiing with her husband, their two children and another family — said she had “no reservations at all” with the way Winter Park has been managing COVID protocols. Her family has a second home in Winter Park and skied there for 2½ weeks over the Christmas holidays. Now they’re back for another extended trip.
“First of all, they are very clear about mask wearing,” Penn said. “The lifties are all trained well to stop (masks that are lowered). They’re on it, every time. There’s no inside food service, so you have to queue up outside, and any social area requires mask wearing. We’re super conservative as a family. If anybody is going to be scrutinizing it, it’s our family, and we’re totally comfortable.”
Hulse, 26, said he skied Alta and Snowbird in Utah the previous weekend and found things more sketchy there.
“The mask police, people who were policing it, were really not on it,” said Hulse, an Ikon Pass-holder. “I definitely felt a little less comfortable there. They were trying, but they were not as attentive. I’ve skied a bunch this year, I ski at Copper all the time, Winter Park, and they were way better than the Utah guys. This is like my 35th day, and never once did I feel nervous with COVID.
“I have witnessed, a couple of times, people talking back about the mask thing. It really doesn’t matter how you feel about it. If it’s going to keep them open, might as well just follow all of the rules so we can ski.”
Winter Park resident Allison Beauvais and a friend visiting from Houston, Diane LeMaire, took time out from skiing to make lunch for their daughters, heating up homemade chili on a grill.
“We have to keep them happy, so we try to make a good lunch for them,” said Beauvais, 44. “All the restaurants are closed on the mountain.”
Three more storms are forecast this week, according to the OpenSnow reporting and forecasting service. The first, expected Monday night through Wednesday morning, could deliver 6 to 12 inches to the northern mountains, Aspen, Monarch, Telluride and Silverton. The second storm is expected to bring light snow on Friday, but the third one is expected to drop another 5 to 10 inches on the northern and central mountains.