Wednesday, February 18, 2009

2009 Feb 18 - storm breaks - the sun returns

When is a car not a car? ......when it merges with a 6 foot snowbank. I've started parking right next to the steep bank, so I only need to shovel off one side of the car, then I simply drive away from the snow wall, leaving the previously buried side free of its snowy embrace.

Another morning of shoveling. The blower service takes care of 1/2 of the driveway. We simply excavate the car from the snowbank after the blower comes, and move it to the other bank, then a few hours later the blower comes and does the other side. Pretty neat.
Storm clouds clear and the sun reemerges - along with an odd collection of buried cars. Here, Sean has extracted his Volvo from a snow bank - with the 5 feet of fresh snow still intact on the roof. It all fell off before he got out of the parking lot (and we had to shovel it away!!!!)

The winter wonderland is visible again. Skis make no sound as they glide through the light powder. Trees release their cargo of snow - held up precariously by the overloaded branches. Whoooomp!

However, the sun brings the temperature up and icicles grow from the massive Royal Gorge roof. We need to rope off the area around the eves and the snow and ice slides off mid-afternoon right into our corralled safety zone.



Diane misses a right turn in the trail, and careens into the loose snow trailside. This excavation required removing both skis and rolling counterclockwise until she reacquired the packed trail. Doing otherwise just resulted in her sinking deeper and deeper into the soft snow deposits.

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