Klaus, with his four-bell pin on his ski school jacket. From the gondola plaza display.

At just after 6:00 p.m., the December full moon — the Klaus moon? — is rising over Smuggler Mountain. It was a fine day in Aspen, as two inches of snow graced Ajax and three fell on Snowmass. It was, we can honestly say, the biggest powder day of the season so far. As in, the only day day so far when fresh snow fell during the day. As in, hey, it’s a start. The biggest change we saw today was in the weather, as the cold front came sweeping in hard. Tonight in Aspen, the forecast is for minus two degrees with wind chill values down to minus ten degrees, which could make this moon “the frozen moon.” It was clear out during the moonrise, but there is a 40 percent chance of snow Thursday, when the high is expected to be just 21 degrees. The skiing and riding should be considerably better tomorrow than it has been throughout the week, although the conditions have been quite good, for how much snow we have. The nozzle towers on Aspen Mountain have producing some very high-quality surfaces for our sliding pleasure and this two-to-three inches should add a touch of softness to the proceedings. We like that. Yes, it was a good day in Aspen, as Klaus Obermeyer turned 90, it snowed, and a bright full moon came over the hill. We’re good. And hey, Klaus, Happy 90th Birthday!