007 - February

We huddle into our parkas, cowering from the high winds that lash our liftchair.  The lift is designed to slow down when the little vanes on the wires sense more turbulence.  The journey lengthens, and it is with considerable relief that we finally reach the top, and ski off the chair.

I am at the top of the Elk Camp lift, in Snowmass, Colorado.  It's a beautiful, sunny day.  I hike twenty or thirty feet uphill, in my skis (foolish girl who thinks she's in shape for this activity at 11,000+ feet) so I can get this picture. 

It's why I fly into these crazy mountain airports, and why I ski.  This, to me, is February.   

My camera is an obsolete 3 megapixel Nikon that fits into my fannypack. The mountains framed by the valleys are the Maroon Bells in Aspen.  I think it speaks for itself.

Comments

[Carole]

That is really breathtaking.

[Devorah]

Wow! That's it. That says it all.

[LauraJ]

Wow. "Your camera does not matter, says the linked article, it's your eye. and you have a good one.//www.kenrockwell.com/tech/notcamera.htm

Lovely to believe there really are places that look like that.

[Cara]

Damn girl! That's HARDCORE!

[vanessa]

wow!
laurie, when i lived in colorado, many many years ago, i used to look out my front widow and think to myslf, "i can't believe i live here!"

[Manise]

A breathtakingly beautiful view! With my fear of heights, I don't know how well I'd do with turbulence in a chair lift. There mere thought of the chair dancing around way up there is making my hands clammy. I'll just have to live vicariously through you :-)

[margene]

The views alone are worth the travel. Breathtaking...and it isn't even my state;-)
We have had 80"+ of snow this week. Just check the snowbird site...it's amazing. Not that I'm trying to intice you back or anything.

[Marcia]

When I skied, a million years ago, I never got that high. Still, the views from some of our Eastern "bumps" were pretty darn impressive. It kills me when we go to Utah that I can't go up there anymore! Gorgeous.

[Kirstie]

Gorgeous. Makes me homesick for the Rockies.

[Scoutj]

It's beautiful!

[Judy]

Walking uphill in sneakers at that elevation wears me out.. I can't imagine doing it in skis. Fabulous shot! Worth the effort and my thanks!

[Liz (the crazed weasel)]

Gasp. Wow.

that is just *stunning* - thanks so much for sharing.

[Lucia]

Ah, vicarious living. Thanks.

[claudia]

Nice. I'll bet the run down was also a blast.

[frecklegirl jess]

Wowee- no mountains like that here! Gorgeous.

[Cathy]

Home... thanks for the reminder that this desert lover also is a mountain woman.

[Marcy]

Woh. Whatta shot. Thanks, E, now I don't have to go there to see for myself.

[Lorette]

Lovely! Our mountains, while quite stunning, are nothing compared to that.

[Chris]

Experiencing that in person just might be worth dealing with frosty fingers n toes.

[JessaLu]

Absolutely stunning.

[Beth S.]

Wow. Just, wow.

I half-expect to see one of the beacons of Gondor flare up on one of those peaks...

[rho]

Oh, I miss skiing, and that picture made me miss it even more

[Teyani]

I haven't been skiing in 20 years, yet I still can bring up the memory of stepping off the lift chair to breath taking beauty.
What an awesome shot.

[colleen]

Oooh, great photo.

[maryse]

i can even feel the wind on my face.

[Kathy]

It's heaven, for sure.

[Melissa G]

Yep. But you got out before the 70mph winds shut down all the higher lifts. However the skies were incredibly clear the next day for our hike to the top of Longshot (bit of practice for Highlands Bowl day after that).

[Martha]

To my mind, in general the view from the chair lift is almost as good as the skiing. Great photo!

[Anne]

Okay.....that is ALMOST as nice as our "hills" here in Utah. :)

[Sylvia]

Lovely! I didn't know about lift chairs when I was young. We X-skied with shorter downhill skis lashed to our packs. Skied up up up to pristine bowls in the Wasatch, switched skis, and swooshed down. Once and only once, I wore the downhill skis the whole time. After that, I wore the X-skis the whole time and often ended up being dug out of snowbanks at the bottom, but it was fun and I was young enough not to know any better!

[Dorothy B]

Great shot! My giant, ancient 3MP HP camera takes great landscape shots too. I think the bigger lens makes all the difference.

Enjoy your ski holiday.

[Kim]

Oh.MY! How lucky for you to ski in such beautiful places!

[Heather]

And not a single man-made structure to ruin the shot! You just can't find that around here...

[blogless sharon]

3 megapixels or not that is a fantastic photo and you are one gutsy gal

[DebbieKnitter]

I can't even think of words.......other than this...*grin, ya didn't think you were getting off THAT easy did ya LOL* my dearest brother is a HUGE outdoors lover, me,not so much. I can take it or leave it,which in my family is odd because we all our in shape and we all excersise blah,blah,blah...anyways, I HATE being cold, wet, tired, leg cramping and nose running work outs! I never could understand what the hubbub was all about....I do now. Thank you for sharing!

[Beverly]

Fantastic shot! Proves that bigger is not always better. Precisely why I still have a 3 megapixel.

Thanks for sharing such an inspiring and awesome photo.