Even Lou Dawson still gets excited for his first turns of the season, and he's logged quite a few.
There’s something about making your first turns of the season that’s always special. No matter how bad or icy the snow, how crowded the “white ribbon of death” may be, how long it takes to skin to the spot that only affords you a couple dozen arcs, or how many years you’ve done it– it’s always fun.
Today I once again got to experience the first turns of my season, up in Montezuma Basin. And of the aforementioned shortcomings, because the road was buried by snow it was about a three hour skin to get up there, so after a little quick math, I determined I made about one turn for every ten minutes of approach. Nice.
If you were wondering, yes, it was worth it. It always is.
I wasn’t alone in deeming the effort worthwhile, either. Jason and Arabella hiked up as well, and Lou and Scott were also there in search of their first turns, and the whole bunch of us agreed that it was great to be skiing.
And the snow was actually pretty good, too.
A little wind didn't dampen anyone's spirits.
Actually, just being up here was cool.
Lou had the look of a kid who just learned he liked to ski.
Scott in silohuette
A longer lens might reveal Lou's big <grin>, if you know what I mean.
It just never gets old.
So far, the season’s been great. Let’s hope it continues.
Damn, I wish I could have made it out for Monday or Tuesday for the soft stuff. But the wind was horrendous.
And I was at work
Will be sampling the ribbon of death shortly. It’s snow. And some of it is even natural.
P.S. – Love the snow whipping over the ridge in the second large image. Looks like a good time.
NICE!!Loveland is skiing great.actually had some knee deep untracked there wed.starting friday 2 lifts …183 acres open!Yeah!
There’s nothing wrong with the WROD. You get more turns than I did today.
But it was pretty deep up there, especially in an October sense. The road’s not really driveable anymore though, so plan ahead for a longer hike than some years past.
Turns look great…and so does the child-like grin on everyone’s face! I skinned up Vail yesterday and had about 2k ft of decent turns, making some slalom turns around the shrubbery:-) Gonna be warm for the next 7 days (minus some cooler weather this weekend)…it’s not full on winter just yet. But turns are turns. And they’re fun. Always.
[...] Ted Mahon’s day in Montezuma Basin (near Aspen) [...]
Way to get it rollin’ Ted! Can’t wait to get started myself – see you out there.
It might still be good up there this weekend.
Christy and I just left on a road trip so we won’t be there.
Have fun if you go.
Nice photos! Ted must be stoked for PSIA level 3 training this season!!
Wonderful blog, as always. I looked up Montezuma Basin on Google and it has an interesting past.
Exactly Paul, if I could be so lucky as to achieve your coveted status…
At first, I made a mistake and looked up Motezuma’s REVENGE. Not much skiing there…
… then I could master the use of skiing terms like “tipping” as a means to “teach” while actually implying I should be “tipped”. Nice Paul.
Thanks for sharing this Ted. Great to have been up there with you and Lou. Nice way to kick off the season!