Ski season!  We made our first trip up to Monarch this season to check out the conditions.  

Unlike most resorts in Colorado, Monarch doesn’t make snow.  No sir, nothing but pure, natural Rocky Mountain powder here.  But as a result, Monarch is completely dependent on the whims of Mother Nature.  Historically, this hasn’t been a problem.  Because of Monarch’s high altitude it typically gets a buttload of snow by the end of November.  But these days, the snows are noticeably lighter and opening day seems to get pushed back later and later.  

This year, December 1 was their official opening day.  In the past week they’ve received a few inches of fresh snow every day so Friday we headed up the road to take a look.

I’ve skied for something like 50 years, give or take, so at this point it pretty much comes naturally.  But this was my first time clicking into skis since The Incident back in February. And let me tell you, PTSD is real.  I couldn’t edge, my turns were sloppy and there was no way I was going down anything steeper than a blue.  Physically, I was fine.  My knee felt okay; it was all mental.  All I could think about the first few runs was the popping and cracking sounds my knee made when I hit that log and attempted to bend my leg sideways.  I couldn’t get it out of my head.  It was a strange experience.  

Fortunately, after several runs muscle memory started to override my messed-up head and I began to settle into the movement.

The day started out bright and sunny but by noon the clouds had rolled in and the light got flat.  With only a limited number of runs open, we decided to ski just a half day, which actually, was perfect.  A nice mellow start to what we hope will be a quality season.  It was great to be back out in the crisp winter air of the mountains.