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It was with slight regret that I left the slopes of Aspen Mountain on Sunday to meet my family at the summit for an Aspen Center of Environmental Studies snowshoe tour. Yes, family activities are always nice, and Richmond Ridge, just behind the Gondola building, on a snowy/warm/sunny/gray/chilly day, was an enticing place for a family outing. But the snowboarding was good, the days of lift operation numbered, and the Ajax slopes were about as empty as Richmond Ridge would prove to be.
It took all of 60 seconds into our hour-and-a-half trek for me to get lost (not literally) in the wilderness, the fields of gorgeous snow, thoughts of the wildlife that we couldn’t see but knew was there, and forget about boarding. Mostly, it was the number 16,000 that got me hooked.
“Guess how many pine cones one pine squirrel gathers in a season?” challenged our guide, Katherine McKinney, citing a recent study of such creatures. I guessed 200, thinking, how many pine cones could a squirrel possibly find and need per season? Turns out I was off, but only by a factor of 80.
Sixteen-thousand cones per season. Quickly I calculated — 20 a day. Then I realized I was off again, but this time, only by a factor of 10. Nearly 200 cones a day — and I was unable to located even one cone up on that snow-covered terrain.
Here I was, feeling good about myself for having cleaned the breakfast dishes and cooked a two-course dinner in the same day — and there was a friggin’ rodent on top of Aspen Mountain running circles around my lazy, sorry ass.
That got me in the perspective of awe and respect appropriate to our tour. There’s a world of critters who have figured out how to survive — eat, stay warm, avoid predators, raise the kids (and without TV or video games) — in an environment where virtually all of us would have trouble surviving a weekend.
Throw in the sublime beauty and solitude (only one snowmobile!), the knowledge and wisdom of our guide, the company of my wife and 8-year-old daughter, and the bonus workout, and the ACES snowshoe tour proved to be a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. (Tours are given 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. through Friday. For details, call ACES at 925-5756.)
And nobody asked me to gather pine cones. Not even one.
<b>Snow report</b>
Snowmass picked up 10 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours, according to the Aspen Skiing Co.'s Tuesday morning snow report (posted at 5:05 a.m.) Aspen Mountain got 7 inches and Aspen Highlands received 6 inches. Buttermilk is closed for the season.
<b>Avalanche report</b>
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center report for Tuesday, April 8:
The avalanche danger for the Aspen zone is considerable on north, northeast, east and southeast aspects near and above treeline. Several layers of storm snow and wind slabs on these aspects will make natural avalanches possible and human-triggered ones probable in steeper terrain. The avalanche danger on the other aspects near and above treeline and on all slopes below treeline is moderate.
Go to http://avalanche.state.co.us/ for the full report and information on conditions statewide.
It took all of 60 seconds into our hour-and-a-half trek for me to get lost (not literally) in the wilderness, the fields of gorgeous snow, thoughts of the wildlife that we couldn’t see but knew was there, and forget about boarding. Mostly, it was the number 16,000 that got me hooked.
“Guess how many pine cones one pine squirrel gathers in a season?” challenged our guide, Katherine McKinney, citing a recent study of such creatures. I guessed 200, thinking, how many pine cones could a squirrel possibly find and need per season? Turns out I was off, but only by a factor of 80.
Sixteen-thousand cones per season. Quickly I calculated — 20 a day. Then I realized I was off again, but this time, only by a factor of 10. Nearly 200 cones a day — and I was unable to located even one cone up on that snow-covered terrain.
Here I was, feeling good about myself for having cleaned the breakfast dishes and cooked a two-course dinner in the same day — and there was a friggin’ rodent on top of Aspen Mountain running circles around my lazy, sorry ass.
That got me in the perspective of awe and respect appropriate to our tour. There’s a world of critters who have figured out how to survive — eat, stay warm, avoid predators, raise the kids (and without TV or video games) — in an environment where virtually all of us would have trouble surviving a weekend.
Throw in the sublime beauty and solitude (only one snowmobile!), the knowledge and wisdom of our guide, the company of my wife and 8-year-old daughter, and the bonus workout, and the ACES snowshoe tour proved to be a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. (Tours are given 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. through Friday. For details, call ACES at 925-5756.)
And nobody asked me to gather pine cones. Not even one.
<b>Snow report</b>
Snowmass picked up 10 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours, according to the Aspen Skiing Co.'s Tuesday morning snow report (posted at 5:05 a.m.) Aspen Mountain got 7 inches and Aspen Highlands received 6 inches. Buttermilk is closed for the season.
<b>Avalanche report</b>
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center report for Tuesday, April 8:
The avalanche danger for the Aspen zone is considerable on north, northeast, east and southeast aspects near and above treeline. Several layers of storm snow and wind slabs on these aspects will make natural avalanches possible and human-triggered ones probable in steeper terrain. The avalanche danger on the other aspects near and above treeline and on all slopes below treeline is moderate.
Go to http://avalanche.state.co.us/ for the full report and information on conditions statewide.
