Some Skiing on a Windy Day

Friday morning it was -12 degrees here and it was forecast to only get to 6 degrees but we got downslope winds that warmed it to the upper 60s. Yesterday morning it was really windy. But after straight weekends of snow, the sun was shining and it warmed into the mid 40s. By noon most of the snow of the last few days had melted off the streets.

It would have been a good day for a road ride int the afternoon although it might have been a little sloppy. I’m going to the Eiseman Hut the end of the month for my annual trip. I wanted to see how my leg injury was doing and how I’d feel on skis. I had planned on going cross-country skiing in the morning but decided to wait until mid afternoon to see if the wind would die down.

The wind didn’t die down but I went anyway. I wanted to ski into Rampart Resevoir which is about a 45 minute drive to the trailhead for me. Soon after I turned onto Rampart Range Road out of Woodland Park, there was an open section where it was drifting really bad. There were two Colorado Springs trucks with plows trying to clear the road. There was a vehicle coming the other way that I thought was waiting to go through. After a little while, I figured out that it was stuck. After about 10 mintues, one of the trucks backed up to where I was waiting. The driver said they had pulled 3 people out and that it was drifting back in less than an hour.

It was already late enough that I didn’t want to go looking for somewhere else to ski. I decided to try the Schubarth Trail. I didn’t go too far before it was drifted so I parked. As I was getting ready I realized, I had forgotten my poles. I wasn’t going to waste my drive so I decided to go anyway. I felt pretty awkward the first few minutes but then got used to it. I still missed them especially when I was having to side step up some of the big drits. The road had been plowed out but it was well drifting in. The snow was pretty wind blown and wasn’t good for skiing but it was still better than being inside.

When it was time for me to turn around so I’d be back to pick my kids up from my parents, I was where I was starting to get into the trees so wanted to go a little longer. About then I got to a sign that said there was absolutly no trespassing. I was pretty sure that’s where there’s been a problem with a landowner threatening people with a shotgun even though the road is public access. I went just a little farther and there was a house right by the road. I decided that was probably a good time to turn around.

On the way back it was getting dark and the the clouds where lit up by the sun even though it had set where I was. It was really pretty but I hadn’t charged my camera battery and the camera would shut off when I tried taking a picture. As I skiing along, I thought that if I could warm the battery I might be able to get a picture. I got the battery out and held it my hand for a couple minutes. I was able to get a couple pictures. I then was able to get a couple more later by holding the battery again.

Tags: Rampart Reservoir, skiing

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