Where’s the Snow?
It’s coming! But it’s not here yet!
I’m sitting in my mountain home at 7,000 feet elevation — 30 minutes from Aspen’s slopes — and it’s 60 degrees outside. According to one of the local papers, the Aspen Times, Aspen Mountain and Snowmass will open on Thanksgiving Day with very limited terrain. Jeff Hanle, an Aspen Skiing Company spokesperson is suggesting that locals not even try to hit the slopes. He’s quoted in the paper as saying, “It’s not going to be the best conditions in the world, so we may want to leave it to our visiting guests.”
Other ski resorts in the state have opened, but conditions are reported marginal elsewhere, too.
That all said, according to the Weather Channel, a storm is moving in, at least in my neck of the woods, and we can expect some snow starting late tonight. In Aspen tomorrow, the high is expected to be in the 30s, with morning snow showers. Another storm is moving in later in the week, with some snow expected on Friday, as well. Denver’s high is forecast to be only 28 degrees, also with snow on its way tomorrow and Friday.
Even though the ski season is starting slowly around here, I’m not worried. If temperatures do drop this week as forecast, the snow-making machines will be running on overdrive to fill in those patchy spots on the slopes. And I’m sure Mother Nature will help out by the time visitors arrive in droves for the busy Christmas-to-New-Year’s Week, which can be hectic in Aspen, but oh-so-fun for celebrity spotting!
Photo by Hal Williams. Courtesy AspenSnowmass.com.
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:23 pm
[...] on the sky lately. We’re praying to the snow gods to bring the flakes to our mountains. The snow that was forecast for Wednesday, left just an inch or two in my front yard–and it promptly melted as soon as the sun came out [...]