September Temptress

Skiing is not my thing. I’ve been fumbling down the slopes since I was about 5 years old, but somehow that effortless poise so many develop has never graced my wobbling knees or flailing poles. Each season I return home from the mountains wind-burned, sun-burned, and ready to pick up a cheaper hobby.

Yet every year just before winter arrives, inexplicably, I find my melancholy spirit buoyed by the crisp mountain air that rolls in and the freshly spilt pinecones that crunch under my feet, and I vow to take those hot pink skis and try one more time. After this week’s bought of frosty wind and hint of flurries, my bunny-slope slumber has ended, and I’m ready to return.

And there’s no where to get my fix.

The Loveland Resort camera currently shows snow falling, but at a leisurely pace, a mere inch collected so far. As for the snowfall last weekend, Ski Barn employee and University of Colorado student Alex Umbhau says, “I don’t think they got as much as we thought. The last I heard there was 6 to 16 inches.” Even my amateur knowledge of the sport tells me that somehow 6 inches won’t cut it.

And just when I thought the precipitation from Monday and Tuesday meant great things in the ski world, predictions for the season have led to different conclusions. “I’ve heard both ends. ‘It’s gonna be mild,’ and ‘It’s gonna ridiculous,’” adds Umbhau. Former snowboard team member at CU, Casey LeFever predicts something a little different.

“There’ll be lots of off and on weather—warm in January, cold in April. For

skiers it means lots of strange conditions.” I’m already shaking in my

ski boots; this doesn’t sound like beginner conditions. But he reassures me this only makes skiing different, not difficult.

“It just means you have to look at your weather more; you can’t go up expecting one type.”

Colorado resorts typically open sometime around or before Thanksgiving, with steady snowfall until April. But September beckons, and the rusty red leaves skipping across the pavement are calling—the cold will arrive in the mountains soon, and inevitably, so will I.