Skiing in September – Almost!
By: Matt Harvey
Today is October 1st. At least it still is out here in Colorado as I write this. Anthony Chavez and I have just returned from Loveland Pass, the first place around here we know of to have some snow on its peak. And barring some massive core shots, trying to hike at 12,000 feet, and some minor digestive problems, the first day on snow this year was an overwhelming success.
When we passed the thought around the web office over lunch to drive a couple hours to Loveland to see if we could session something, it was pouring rain out and all we could see was cloud. We were skeptical about it happening, but our sheer desire to touch the white stuff drove us to press on. We called several people at the office who had driven by in the past week to find out what the conditions were like. The answer was unanimous: “there's no snow dude, don't bother.� After the third response, I was dejected. I was in fact going to spend the rest of my afternoon writing more code.
But then it hit us: we're from the east coast! All of these guys are from the west coast. When they say there's no snow, what they really mean is that they aren't going to get hit in the face with it when they drop a cornice. Screw it, we're going.
We loaded up my Civic with our gear and were off to Loveland, nothing but smiles. The rain was beginning to slow, and whether in our minds or in reality, we could see the clouds breaking. But as we drove, it hit us that there wasn't any snow anywhere. Not a flake. We were an hour into our two hour drive, and all we saw was green. Actually it was more a shade of gray as the clouds were dampening any attempt at lighting the scene.
Just when we thought that all was lost, and my poor Civic was being put to climbing these horrendous Colorado roads for nothing, we turned a corner on the I-70 and -- BOOM! Heaven broke through and we cheered. A mountain peak appeared through a gap in the clouds, fully blanketed in snow, and the sun was shining! The mountain was waiting for us. We dove in.
We drove up the mountain as far as we could go, unloaded, booted in, put on our new Grandoe gloves (I haven't owned gloves in months... thanks Grandoe), slapped the camera gear on, and literally ran for the ridge to see what laid hidden from our view. We stood on the edge and looked down. Grass. Rocks. Shrubs. Some snow. It was visual potpourri really. But hey, when does a little grit ever stop a couple of jonesing skiers? Never, right.
So we called “Dropping!� and headed down a bunch to find two nicely made jumps. I'm not usually one for massive jumps, but these five footers were just BEGGING to get sessioned. And sessioned they got. Laps took about 45 seconds since the in-run was only 15 feet long, and the 1/8th second of air didn't take too much steam out of you on landing. Anthony directed me from behind the lens: “lower your arm�, “widen your legs� (first time I've heard that in a while), “grab more forward�. It was a production worthy of Steven Spielberg, and it paid off. After just 10 minutes, we got “The Shot� (look left). We're thinking cover of next issue. Or maybe cover of the Photo Annual. We'll have to petition to Mr. Photo Editor for that one, but keep your fingers crossed.
Alright, enough sarcasm for one story. In reality, we skied some rocks, did some really small 180s, hiked way too much for my East Coast lungs, and called it a day – an absolute dream for any skier on October 1st.
We'll be heading back up to the Pass in two weeks to give you an update on the scene. Nothing is official yet, but rumor has it that Loveland wants to open an entire run and chairlift (no hiking!!) within the next couple weeks! We'll see you there.
