Summit County Citizens Voice

Ryder Kenney blasts off the Juarez cornice in Taos on a bluebird powder day. PHOTO BY BOB BERWYN.

Along with local news, the Summit County Voice wants to honor the reason we all live here by publishing good ski stories. If you have a ski or travel story you’d like to post, contact bberwyn@comcast.net.

In case you missed our weekend travel section, here’s a short excerpt. Click the link at the end for a full re-run of  Tofu, brown rice and deep powder in Taos.

Some things haven’t changed, like the ragged skyline of the Sangre de Cristos jutting up into a lipstick-colored sunset. The windy road up from Arroyo Seco to Taos Ski Valley still hides black ice in the shady corners under the giant cottonwoods. And my passion for sliding down snow-covered mountains burns as strong as it ever has …

We scream down the backside of the mountain through some chowder that skis sweet and easy, then load back up for another Ridge Run. This time, Ryder leads the way out West Basin Ridge to Zdarsky, named after the old-school Austrian ski teacher considered one of the fathers of modern Alpine technique. Here the snow was less affected by the windstorm. It’s hallelujah-deep, and the terrain is stunning, a maze of twisted pines, giant rock outcrops and twisting avalanche run-outs. Ryder blasts down the fall line while I fumble around with my camera, trying to capture a bit of the magic.

Even though it’s getting late, we make it back to the top of Chair 2 for an encore run in the same area. Again, we hike the Ridge through the frosted forest. The late-afternoon desert light so clear and bright that it shines right through my skin and bones and X-rays my soul, helping me remember the feeling, the reason I keep climbing peaks and sliding down them. It all seems so simple and pure: This is who I am, this is how I live, this is what makes me whole.

Click here for the whole story.

Filed under: skiing and riding