I went into the 25/26 season with an Ikon 3-pack of day tickets. December, January and February blew by while I kept mt. biking and focusing on fire stuff. I told people I'd use them when the snow got good. Climate change brought us the lowest snowfall in recorded history, so by the end of March and I needed to use these tickets. I contacted my brother in-law who works at Monarch to see if he was around and he said I should join him at Monarch and he'd have a comp ticket for me. With four days lined out, gear was loaded into my fine German steed and the mountain roads unwound before me. First stop Mary Jane. The parking lot scene was pretty mellow. A few aging campers circled a portable fire pit and shared their thoughts on the snow conditions. They advised going to the Winter Park side. I chatted up a parking lot attendant and thanked him for his service. He too said if I want anything decent, go to WP. I slipped into my boots and looked up at the runs. Brown dirt patches lit...
The Toyota pickup truck pulled into the big parking lot at the top of Monarch pass and the four of us piled out into the cold mountain air. I saw a thin sheet of ice covering the puddle at my feet and I stepped down on it. Cracks formed and water seeped through with a satisfying crunch. Cliffy pulled a knit beanie down over his ears and said, you guys still think this is a good idea? I’m gonna be so pissed if we freeze to death. Each word puffed a small cloud out in front of him. Relax, it’ll warm up, I said, my teeth chattered, once we get moving. Kevin lifted the mountain bikes off of the padded tailgate and we leaned them against the Tacoma. Each of us started running through our own pre-ride checklists. For this trip we were switching out much of our standard mountain biking gear for warmer, thicker stuff. We also packed extra food water and headlamps in case the ride went long. Aww shit, Matt said, I only brought bike gloves. He held the thin cycling gloves and continue...