A Snowy Exercise in Patience

{Per usual, all photography by Will. Except for the bowling alley photo. That’s all mine, baby.}

Finally. Finally. This past weekend rolled around, the mountains called for two feet of snow and I was feeling—gasp!—healthy again! Dare I say that I would finally get to enjoy this fantastic snow season Colorado is experiencing?!

Feeling as if it was too good to be true, Will, Steve and I loaded into the car on Sunday morning just as the sun was rising. We knew that traffic would be bad since everyone in the entire metro area skis on the powder days, but we decided to play it safe by leaving at 6:30. Turns out, that wasn’t enough!

You see, Colorado is typically one of the worst states in the country in regards to avalanche danger; it’s always one of the most sketchy backcountry environments. However, with this sudden influx of massive snow storms, the av danger is even worse. We were halfway to Keystone when we came to a dead stop on the highway. What in the world?!

As we would soon find out thanks to the CDOT twitter account, they were doing avalanche blasting around the tunnel on the highway, effectively shutting down the only interstate into the mountains. It eventually reopened, but our easy 90 minute jaunt turned into a slightly-more-strenuous 3.5 hour slog. But never fear—we were at Keystone and THERE WAS POWDER!!

All three of us had packed our skins in hopes of lapping the back bowls all day. Keystone has lifts that will take you to the top of the mountain, and then “expert skiers” can hike into the bowls as far as they want before dropping in. For some of the bowls, there is a two mile hike which most people choose to avoid in favor of closer lines. However, we figured that those would be the least crowded and by default, have the most untouched powder. Sadly, when we reached the gates to begin our trek, we saw a woeful sign: the majority of the bowls were closed due to avalanche danger. Double sigh.

Fortunately, South Bowl was open and although it wasn’t as remote as we had hoped for, it would work! The hike was only five minutes so there was no need for skins, and most of the skiers didn’t seem to be interested in traversing to the far side of the bowl. The three of us lapped the bowl three times and enjoyed thigh-deep powder on every single run!

Even better? It was still puking snow! Y’all, if you’ve never skied powder this deep, please run out and find some. I swear- it is almost like floating!

Each line dropped from the bowl into a somewhat-narrow chute that led back to the lifts. Instead of staying on the groomed area, we all decided to play in the trees. I mean, why not?!

The day continued with all of us seriously loving life. We skied until 4pm and then hightailed it back to the car. We had just turned the key in the ignition when I got a text from Heidi: “Did you guys hear they closed the tunnel? I-70 is closed. Want to do dinner?”

Turns out, it really had been dumping all day! Unfortunately, this had wreaked havoc on the interstate and instead of closing for avalanche control, it was now closed because of a multitude of accidents. In fact, the short 11 mile road to the highway was taking cars 2-3 hours to drive. I think not!

We agreed to meet Heidi at a local brewery and took back roads, avoiding all the chaos. We sat there for two hours, laughing and eating while numbing our exhausted legs with some local beer. We saw that traffic had barely moved in that time, so instead of whining or joining the bumper-to-bumper madness, we headed to the bowling alley!

I can’t say that bowling is my favorite thing in the world, but we had a blast and played two games {and I set a new high score for myself!} When we finally left the lanes, it was just past 10pm and we had high hopes for clear roads. Weather—and driving skills—were not on our side however, and the traffic was just as bad. Turns out, the interstate had re-closed due to a billion more accidents! Steve and I were amenable to any plan since neither of us had to be at work in the morning. Poor Will, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. Work beckoned in the morning! We thought it through and all agreed: we were taking the circuitous route home!

Sure, it was an extra 75 miles to drive home the way that we did, but the roads were open and the snowpack minimal. We didn’t arrive home until 2am and after our epic powder day, we were beyond exhausted. Will got stuck driving the majority of the way by himself because neither Steve nor I could keep our eyes open…and damn if I don’t still feel guilty about that. But my point is this: sure, the day was far more chaotic than planned and the traffic alone was probably the worst I have ever seen in the state of Colorado in my 32 years.

But the beer? Fantastic. The friends? Crazy fun.

And the powder? Off the hook!

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When was the last time a stereotypical “bad” day turned into a wonderful experience?