I’m lovin’ it!

I’m in love.I just moved to Aspen, and already I’m in love. Well, I’m not sure if it’s a honeymoon period and suddenly I’ll wake up to the idea that this place isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, or if it’s really true love, but I’m going to go ahead and say that it’s love.It may be due to a number of things, but one major aspect of it has to be skiing every day. I’ve probably gotten in a little more than a dozen days, but Christmas marked the end of the first week where I skied every day.OK, OK … so that might not seem all that extraordinary to you 140-days-a-year people. But for me, a native Seattlite, let’s just say I’ve already reached a near-hysterical level of happiness.So here’s how it works: I wake up at eight and I’m on the gondola by nine with one of those free cups of coffee they so kindly serve. After four or five runs, I do a top-to-bottom and then walk over to the purple building on Main Street to write for the rest of the day.I have found, so far, that it’s impossible to have a bad day if I get up there for even one run. But before I instituted the never-skip-a-day policy, I had a few bad days. I got lazy and would look up at the mountain and feel lackadaisical and bored.On Christmas Day I went over to Breckenridge to hang out with family. I went skiing with a cousin; we did a few cruisers on Peak 8. On Monday I was at Keystone with a different cousin. But I couldn’t wait to get back to Aspen. It had nothing to do with the cousins, I love the cousins, and would love to bring them back with me. It was just the simple fact that I’m happy here. It might be the first time I’ve ever been in a place where I have no legitimate reason to complain. Oh, I’ll probably get there, because I hear people bitching about the lack of powder or other such lameness. But for now, I guess I can say that just being able to live here is better than any Christmas present I could have received.Cheesy? A little. But true!Snow reportFive to 6 inches of new snow has fallen overnight on local slopes, according to the Aspen Skiing Co.’s 5 a.m. snow report. Light snow continued to fall at 6:30 a.m. and snow is in the forecast throughout the day.Avalanche reportNo new backcountry avalanches were reported Monday, but control work on the ski areas did create a few slides. And though the snowpack has settled because of the mild weather, it is still not to be trusted, especially on slopes greater than 30 degrees. The overall danger is rated moderate, with pockets of considerable on NE-E-SE aspects above and at treeline. Avalanche danger details provided by the Roaring Fork Avalanche Center. For more information, call 920-1664 or visit http://www.rfavalanche.org. For conditions around the state, call the Colorado Avalanche Information Center at 920-1664 or visit geosurvey.state.co.us/avalanche.