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Pagosa Springs is beautiful every season. Here are some winter photos to enjoy.

Early morning near the San Juan River

Ski shadows from the chair lift

To the mountain we go. See the snow blowing off the top

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WOLF CREEK SKI AREA PUBLIC INPUT MEETINGS

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While snowboarding last weekend, I was taken back by the glorious trees and terrain that surround WCSA.

View the Parking Lot

Photo taken while riding up the chair lift

Chair lift

Up, up and away

Wolf Creek’s seven lifts service incredibly beautiful terrain, over 1,600 acres.

• The Magic Carpet is a moving conveyor lift for the Wolf Pup Program.
• The Nova Lift (Double Chair) services beginner terrain for children and new skiers.
• The new Raven Chairlift (Detachable Quad) services primarily beginner and intermediate terrain.
• The Bonanza and Treasure (Triple Chairlifts) service intermediate and expert slopes.
• The Alberta Chairlift (Quad) serves the Water Fall Area: This unique area is beautiful and adventuresome, full of incredible glades and changing terrain. Predominately tree skiing and boarding, these 1,000 acres have a few groomed trails for intermediates’ interests and enjoyment.
• D. Boyce (High Speed Poma Surface Lift) operates occationally as a memento to times past. This lift services intermediate and expert terrain.

WHILE USING LIFTS

• Obey all posted instructions.
• Ask for assistance if you are unfamiliar with the lifts.
• Slow down before approaching the entrance to a lift.
• Move quickly away from unloading areas.

Powder day

Friendly staff and people at Wolf Creek

More info about the trails and lifts at WCSA 

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When it storms this is the view at the top of Bonanza

And the fog clears

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Girlfriends reunited on the slopes of Wolf Creek Ski Area over the MLK holiday. Both ladies learned to snowboard here over 15 years ago.

Kelley Barsanti (L) & Becca Stark (R)

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Get ready to get rowdy when Pagosa Springs plays host to the Outlaw Snowdown, an alternative-country music festival, this January 13-15, 2012.

The three-day event will feature the genre’s heavy-hitters performing on the Town Park main stage (in a heated tent) from 5 to 10 p.m. each night. Additionally, attendees can catch Après-ski sets at Kip’s from 3-5 and keep the party going at the Bear Creek Saloon – the official after-party HQ of the Outlaw Snowdown – after the show each night.

Festival doors will open at 4pm each evening, leaving the days wide-open for runs at Wolf Creek, a soak at The Springs or both! “Ski, Soak and Rock” packages are available for those who plan to take advantage of Pagosa’s bounty when they’re not listening to music.

The Outlaw Snowdown is the brainchild of Melissa Buckley, who was born and raised in Pagosa Springs, currently resides in San Clemente, Calif., and still cites snowboarding at Wolf Creek as her favorite thing to do.

“I’m extremely proud of my hometown and wanted to create a weekend to show it off to my friends who aren’t from around here,” says Buckley. “I’m constantly bragging about how good the snow is and how amazing the springs are… the only thing missing was something to do at night, so I invited a few of my favorite bands and they said yes!”

Play Saturday night- SUPERSUCKERS: The self-proclaimed 'Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the World' have been working their fiercely-loyal fan base into a frenzy for 25 years now.

Coors Banquet will be flowing, a snowboard jam is in the works and it’s shaping up to be a pretty big party in Pagosa. For more information or to buy tickets, visit outlawsnowdown.com.

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44 inches of freshies over the weekend. No lift lines. Come and get some!

wolfcreekski.com

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Now, don’t get me wrong, it was wonderful to see friends I’d missed over the years and to hike the trails that were once my recreational playground where persimmons, hickory and the invasive kudzu were playmates.  And, spending time with family can’t be understated or lacking in reward as the little ones grow higher than my knees and just short of my shoulders.    But while I was away I realized how much Pagosa Springs had become my home and my place to play!

Viewable from town, the South San Juan Wilderness and Weminuche Wilderness forms the south edge of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.  During the summer the scenery exchanges from rocky peaks and open meadows with a dabbling of lakes, waterfalls and streams that rush to the lower elevations and a vast habitat for catchable fish.  In the winter the landscape is dictated by the length of shadows and one’s proximity to the treetops that draws one closer and closer with each snowfall.

This is a land to be respected, valued and cherished.  Tucked within these wilderness boundaries are the roaming habits of grazing elk, high perched mountain goats, mysterious mountain lions and squeaking marmots.  Their home is a place of waving meadows, liberating sunrises, starlit nights and hushed sunsets.   In the winter, the larger of the animals battle for life in search of veiled grasses and pristine solitude that can be followed by their footprints in the snow.

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread.  A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the space, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.” ~ Edward Abbey

With quite possibly too much reading Edward Abbey coupled with the responsibility of being a training leader in the courses I was teaching while gone, I found leaving a faucet on while washing dishes grating and worrisome, the ease of falling into conversation regarding the backstrap of an elk (yet none understanding) comfortable and the 5K run for the mayor’s healthy town initiative encouraging with a couple hundred participants but not as purposeful in body and spirit as the Turkey Track Trail Marathon or Mountain Chili Cha Cha trail runs (joingecko.com).

Although we may not have restaurants open past nine (or maybe eight), what we do have is a winter paradise and adventure playground that Mother Nature shares.  Many end their recreational pursuits once the snow begins to fly but that doesn’t need to be the path of choice.  Pagosa’s play area requires a hat, gloves, layers of warm clothing and a desire to get out.  Need some suggestions?  Here are a few … we can’t wait to see you in Pagosa!

Ski Areas:  Wolf Creek Ski Area (wolfcreekski.com)

Sledding/Tubing Hills:  Reservoir Hill in downtown Pagosa Springs

Cross-Country Nordic Ski Areas:  Refer to the Pagosa Nordic Club Website for current trail conditions (Pagosanordic.com) and Wolf Creek Ski Area (wolfcreekski.com) which has nearly 10 kilometers of cross country trails

Snowmobile Tours:  Snow Country Adventures (snowmobilepagosa.com) and Wolf Creek Snowmobile Tours (970.731.4141)

Ice Skating:  At the pond behind Summit Ski & Sports – visit Summit for ice skate rentals

Need ski equipment – sales or rentals?  Visit Alpen Haus Ski Center (alpenhausonline.com), Pagosa Ski Rentals (skipagosa.com), Pedal & Powder (pedalandpowder.com), Ski & Bow Rack (skiandbowrack.com), or Summit Ski & Sports (summitski.org)

About Step Outdoors, LLC 

Step Outdoors wants you to go outside and we lead individually inspired one foot in front of the other adventure pursuits to get you there.  In the summer, we will tailor a first time overnight backpack or a more challenging multi-day hiking adventure just for you.  In the winter, we offer snowshoe hikes appropriate for beginners and for those with a tad more experience.  Perfect for mothers and daughters, couples, families,      co-workers or a group of friends, we provide a 100% guarantee of fun.

Check out our blog at http://stepoutdoorscolorado.com/blog/.  Or send us an email at info@stepoutdoorscolorado.com.

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