By Frosty Wooldridge
Each spring, at the closing of the ski season, a sort of corny, crazy, wild and silly malaise overcomes the slopes at Winter Park, Colorado. Early in the morning, the parking lots fill up with characters in costumes ranging from Superman to caterpillars. Tailgate parties sprout out of snow banks! Breakfast becomes a wine tasting fest!
Elaborate snow sculptures attract everyone’s’ eyes such as a snow-island complete with palm trees and diving swordfish. Coconuts, flowered lays and seashells magically appeared on the snow-island. Sure enough, a lady wearing nearly nothing danced to the swaying music of Jimmy Buffet!
Sandi and I buckled into our boots as the sun crested the Continental Divide. Fresh powder the day before gave promise for sweet tree skiing and knee deep glory for the last day of the season. We stood in line at the Pioneer Express six pack lift for a quick ride to the top. From there, we cut through trees and fresh powder to catch the Panoramic Express to the top of 12,065 foot Parsenn’s Bowl.
At the top, blue sky, fresh white peaks and glorious alpine scenery greeted us 360 degrees. Below, evergreens blanketed vast valleys with glistening diamonds from fresh snowfall. John Denver got it right when he sang about the feeling, “Rocky Mountain high….” The vastness takes one’s breath away and delights the eyes as well as the spirit.
John Muir said, “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”
Across the valley, 13,000 foot Parry’s Peak, described by many as a catcher’s mitt or clam shell stood aspirin-white against a brilliant azure sky. With a smile, Sandi and I cut loose our skis, and like two eagles, soared across a white cloud of snow that swished beneath our ski-wings. Heart-thumping joy pulsed through our bodies while the world swept by in a movie action dance. It’s called ‘satori’ or ‘perfect moment’ where everything revolves with the instant a person lives.
At the bottom, blood pumping, great feeling, joyful laughter!
We skied over to the Winter Park side for the Spring Splash. Skiers, boarders and ski-bikers line up above a large pool of ice cold water. A large crowd with loud music and a zany DJ set the tone for a wild and crazy good time!
The contestants competed for a free ski pass for next season. They raced around obstacles, or stumbled around them depending on their abilities, crawled at times, mooned the crowd, staggered through the sticks, and finally, reached the long downhill toward the jump. To say the least, a crowd of disaster sadists delighted in the freezing misery each contestant suffered as he/she crashed into the water. The young skiers loved the attention for their death defying runs. We saw Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, a flying goose, a caterpillar, the Joker and a dozen other costumed maniacs fly into the Antarctica waters of the pool. A couple made it all away across to win the big prize!
In the crowd, Big Bird, in all his feathery yellow glory, walked around like a proud bird. All the women stepped up to him for a picture. Too funny and too much fun!
On deck, a band played wild music, people danced and everyone drank their favorite beverage. The Balcony House sported folks from all over Colorado. They sang, ate, drank and enjoyed themselves.
Later in the afternoon, Sandi and I took a few more runs down Gandy Dancer and Sterling Way.
Soon, shadows lengthened and the snow turned to wet Sierra cement! We cut off the Panoramic Express for one more run from 12,000 feet. On the ride up, a gal sat next to me and lamented that the snow was too deep so she couldn’t ski with her husband. I said that I had never heard anyone say the snow was too deep!
“Well, I only started skiing seven years ago at age 44,” she said.
“Why so late?” I asked.
“I married a man who was a couch potato,” she said. “I didn’t know any better. The divorce saved my life! I met a man who loves the outdoors. It’s a good thing I didn’t meet him first or I wouldn’t have had my two kids! I would have skied my youth away instead of having kids. Of course, my two kids are glad that I met their dad or they wouldn’t be here…they both ski, so it all worked out well.”
On a ski lift, everyone’s got a story! Everything looks better from a ski lift!
Sandi and I swept down the mountain with a fine feeling of weary muscles and relaxed rhythms of a day on the snow. We felt good, felt tired and made our way to the final gate.
A half full parking lot awaited with water running through muddy ruts and islands of ice everywhere. We opened the car, peeled off our boots and racked the skis. Most folks had left for the season.
We pulled out of the lot with the satisfaction of a day well lived. We lived a most excellent adventure for the Spring Splash final day of skiing at Winter Park, Colorado 2009.
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