Recession? Things seem pretty good here in the G-zones.

If you haven’t been there yet, Highlands Bowl is skiing great.

Joel Gratz from the Colorado Powder Forecast was here to catch the first rope drop on Monday afternoon. He was psyched to get it with a load of new snow from the weekend storm (which he had accurately predicted), and put together a report here.

The second rope dropped, on the Northwoods, Tuesday morning. Troy Selby and I hooked up for a couple of runs and found it to be about as good as it gets in there.

I’ve always thought that if there’s a positive spin to be put on the prospect of slow economic times this winter, it might be that less work might get you more days on the hill– something we long for those seasons we feel we’re working TOO much. As a carpenter, Troy just finished a big job and with the local housing market having cooled down a bit–to put it mildly–he talked as though he might be more of a regular fixture up on the mountain this season. And it seemed this silver lining was alright with him. In fact he’s excited.

As for bowl status, it’s not just G-zones and Northwoods that are open but some of the B’s as well, from around B-3 to B-0. With any luck, in the form of a little more snow, the lower B’s will be added to the playlist soon.

Here are some Troy pics from the day:

...and breathe. Actually I couldn't tell if he was catching his breath or dropping his jaw in disbelief that there was this much snow. Click all pics to enlarge.

Looks like it could be deep.

Faceshot confirms earlier hunch.

Further confirmed, as Troy in his "T-Bear" stance emerges.

And repeat.

And with signs like this one visible all over the backcountry, we should all just be psyched to have the inbounds options we do. Don't go pushing it- it's not safe out there right now.