Ski fence tracks the eras...

Pick your era, pick your stick, you can find it on the fence above Silver Queen. This little corner on the road near 1A has always made me smile. I've eyed a spot to post my red, white and blue Eldorado snowboard, given all the good days I've had on it on Ajax. 

Of "ridiculous" reports, and meetings

We read with interest today the story in the Aspen Times by Carolyn Sackariason about Aspen City Manager Steve Barwick sending an e-mail to the Aspen Rotary Club complaining about comments from Barwick’s fellow Rotarian Andy Modell.

Barwick’s use of the phrase “another ridiculous newspaper ‘report’” seemed to reveal how he regards local journalism. Here are the two stories about the meeting in question that were published in the Aspen Daily News, one on Feb. 5 and one on Feb. 11. Judge for yourself if they are “ridiculous.”

Barwick is adamant that a closed-door executive session was held with the Pitkin County Commissioners about the Burlingame housing project, but none of the commissioners who were supposedly there can remember the meeting and there is no public record of such a meeting being held, despite the requirement under state law that such a record be produced and kept.

The stories suggest several possibilities: that there was no meeting and Barwick is mistaken that there was; that there was a meeting, but the both city and the county mistakenly violated public records laws by not recording a notice of the meeting or the votes to go into the executive session; or there was a closed-door session held by the city and the county and that it was conducted in secret on purpose, with no attempt to adhere to public notice or public record requirements. We suppose there could be another possibility as well, but we haven’t heard it yet.

According to the Times, the basis of Barwick's complaint to the Rotary Club is that Modell's comments don't meet the standards of Rotary's Four-Way Test, which is as follows: " Of the things we think, say or do:

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?"

Ode to 1A

So, there's this place, where if one gets the chance, one should spend some time. Especially on a snowy day. It's a great place. Usually a good spot for some quiet time. It is a place frozen in time. And memory.

Evidence of Aspen's fine powder day. Courtesy photo from CSCUSA/Frank Shine photo

It did seem like the snow totals might produce something like this moment...

Just a virtual powder day for some unlucky souls...

Yes, it has come to this, peering at the powder day through the Web cam. See that the maze is getting busy at 8:33...and why wouldn't it, there is a fresh six.

The Mine Dumps, in repose, earlier this season

There is an approach to the Mine Dumps that I've discovered, and likely you have too. It's different than a top to bottom approach. It's a bit like working the Face, but instead of down and to the right, it's down slightly and then way to the left. Instead of swooping around the big pine trees toward the Meadow on the Face, it's about cutting across the open sections of the Dumps and then diving into the stands of aspen trees in between the runs. There is much tricky navigation to be done in the trees, but with repetition, one learns where the welcoming open spaces are. There are also mine pits and holes to avoid, vestiges of man's quest to pull riches from the earth, but soon a pattern emerges that allows for a few turns here and there through untrammeled snow in between the tall trees. And there are these moments that come from pausing, and scanning the horizon, that bring contemplative peace while just standing there, deeply tucked into the aspen forest. The diagonal approach to the Dump runs has served me well through the years, and as I was running today through the photos of this early winter, this particular photo of the Dumps caught my eye. The spacing of the aspen trees on the open slope, carefully left by Zen trail cutters of old, brought me a moment's peace. For while I gave up March 2010 in Aspen for a world devoid of aspen trees and snow, in exchange for the potential benefits of experience and education, the poetry of those trees, set on their hillside, seems more appealing, and just right, than ever.  

A window with a view toward spring in the desert, with fresh snow on the outside.

Count Wachtmeister and Sam Ferguson in between laps on a beautiful day...

According to our field correspondent, these guys were out carving serious turns and enjoying the snow on Thunderbowl at Highlands. They were also soaking up the sunshine and taking advantage of all that gravity has to offer. Good luck keeping up!

Sunny spring day at the Point

There are worse places to find yourself. This photo was taken by one of our loyal field correspondents, out doing a bit of research on local conditions. Understand the beauty factor was high.

Being out of town, and seeing scenes like this, brings back positive memories.

This photo of the sleigh horses at Ashcroft brings back memories of just a few weeks ago, when I went up with my mom for lunch at the Cookhouse. It was a quiet, slow-paced day, just right for a sleigh ride. I saw the area through a visitor's eyes that day and came away with a new appreciation for the beauty of the place. Now, having spent the first two weeks of a six-month sojourn in New York, the beauty of the day seems all the more remarkable. As I was viewing photos of the archive, this scene jumped out at me as being especially quaint, what with the old buildings in the background. I look forward to a return to the valley and the simple pleasures of standing there, taking a deep breath, and really seeing what is in front of me. If you are in the mountains today, you might try a similar exercise. But maybe distance, and time, are important ingredients to raising the appreciation factor. Perhaps that is why so many visitors return year after year. The beauty stays with them, and calls them back for more. 

Copper Mtn pushing the powder today with a nice PR photo. We get the idea.

End of the ski day in the old mining town...snapshot from a friend.

Spring-like day in NYC and back home in Aspen...

...A friend in Aspen said it feels like spring might be coming early. Ah yes, blue sky, white snow and spinning chairlifts. It's been an interesting week, being so far from the hill. It makes the SkiCo's gondy cam like a portal back to another land and another time. The desktop check to make sure the bucket is still spinning has taken on symbolic importance...

Not quite the view of the Elk Mtns, but we're on assignment...

Heard there has been a series of blue-sky soft-snow days pleasant enough to make the young laugh and the old weep. Trust me, those days are still in demand.

Powder day in NYC...

Yes, it's true, we're on leave in the Big Apple, looking for its core. We've left the sanctity of the gondola cars for the subway cars. And rather than hiking up the ridge, we'll be hiking across the avenues. We'll be reading the ski reports with interest...and so you can imagine my chagrin that one of the first city sights encountered was heavy equipment clearing the snow that was thickly laid in recently...