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Welcome back, winter

‘It’s really sweet right now; it finally looks like winter’

Joe Carr never has cross-country skied in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, but he always wanted to.

“I’m looking forward to this,” he said, gearing up for the 20-degree temperature. “Where I’m from, the cross-country skiing isn’t too good.”

Carr, visiting his son from Boone, North Carolina, joined the huge turnout at the Durango Nordic Center on Saturday, where winter enthusiasts enjoyed new snow and brilliant sun.

Tish Bloom, who lives part-time in the area, said she prefers the quiet trails through the woods over the busy slopes at the ski area across the street.

“We just wanted to get outside,” she said, strapping on her snowshoes. “Burn off that Christmas fudge.”

Further down the trail, Janet Wiley was kicking her way uphill on skis while her son was out with the Durango Nordic Ski Club.

“It’s just breathtaking,” she said. “The views are stunning, the track is in good shape and there are tons of fun people to stop and say hi.”

The views she was referring to included the East Needles of the San Juan Mountains, peering through tall conifers accented in white. As elusive as shooting stars, clumps of snow dropped from branches, carried off by the breeze, their glistening crystals wisped into thin air. Fat-tire bikers pedaled by, crunching snow under their balloon tires.

An hour south and you could find some locals casting a fly into winter waters.

Jake Ballard of Duranglers said fishing remains good on the Animas and San Juan rivers.

“We even have some guys heading down there (Sunday),” he said about the San Juan River.

He said ice fishing on Andrews and Molas lakes likely is good, both frozen hot spots, but their business is busy running guided trips on the rivers to the south and southwest.

Hillcrest Golf Course in Durango remains closed to cross-country skiing, pending more snow, but Dianne Legner, president of the Vallecito Nordic Club, said grooming began Saturday at the mountain reservoir east of Durango.

“Not all of the trails are open because we still need more snow, but we have classic- and skate-ski grooming on the road and East Creek,” she said. “We have some good snow, and we’re rolling along. People are really anxious to get up there.”

A few thousand feet higher, there were typical holiday crowds at all of the regular recreation spots. Dozens of cars were parked at Cascade Creek Road, a favorite winter-trail head. It was the same at 10,600-foot Coal Bank Pass, where the tracks of backcountry skiers and snowshoeers led out of sight to adventure awaiting in the hills.

Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort drew a massive holiday crowd.

Ski Hesperus, just west of Durango, is expected to open Sunday.

“What an opportunity we have here,” Wiley said. “To take advantage of the great weather and snow.”

Durango Nordic Center manager Helen Low said while conditions were slim for the center’s opening Dec. 20, the recent storms have brought winter back.

“It’s really sweet right now,” she said. “It finally looks like winter.”

Low is excited about the new fat-bike trail development taking place this year, with more to come.

“We allow fat bikes on all of our ski trails, and we’re also building some singletrack, but we still need a tiny bit of chain sawing,” she said. “For this year, it will be short, but we’re going to have the down hills on singletrack. It’ll be fun.”

Cross country ski instructor Miki Harder called the Nordic Center her home away from home: “Snowshoeing, classic skiing, skate skiing, fat bikes – it’s a good-feeling place.”

Taking a break from skiing and soaking up the sun, traveling nurse S. Christopher Martinez said he got what he wanted for Christmas: “You can tell Santa Claus thank you for me.”

bmathis@durangoherald.com



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