SNOW AND SAND

Snow and sand? Yes, you can have both and don’t need to fly anywhere.

As usual for my birthday, I prefer to spend the weekend skiing. This year, we went to Wolf Creek in Colorado for the first time. We stayed in a friendly Motel in Pagosa Springs, an easy 3-hour drive from home with an Espresso break in Chama.

Pagosa Springs is famous for its Hot Springs. There is a sulfur smell in the air, which isn’t the most pleasant one. Pagosa Springs was known to the Ute people as Pah gosah, which means either “healing water” or “water (pah) that has a scent (gosah). The altitude is 7’110′ ((2,170müM), so it is about the same as home in Santa Fe.

We discovered a great mountain in Wolf Creek. The highest elevation is the Alberta Peak at 11,904′ (3,630müM). Wolf Creek advertises with “Wolf Creek – The Most Snow In Colorado.” So far this season, they had 228″ (5.8m). It is a mountain for good and expert skiers. From each chairlift, you can cruise down the slopes. But you can also connect to double black diamond pistes. I chose Waterfall. It was fantastic. With my 180cm long skis, I didn’t ski as elegantly as I would love to 😉.

On our last day, we drove to the” beach.” In less than 105 miles (160km), we arrived at the Grand Sand Dunes (National Park, Colorado). It has North America’s tallest dunes and is a paradise in which to experience the night sky. The highest dune is 750 feet (230m). The park area is 232 sqft (close to the size of the Swiss Canton Glarus).

Evidence of human habitation in the San Luis Valley goes back about 11,000 years. The first historic peoples living in the area were the Ute, Apaches, and Navajo tribes. In the late 17th century, Diego de Vargas, a Spanish governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico, became the first European to enter the valley.

In less than 3 hours, we drove home to Santa Fe on empty roads.

This was a great birthday weekend. It was so nice in this part of Southern Colorado; we plan on hiking there this fall. And we’ll be there again skiing for my next birthday in 2025.

Click Image to View Slideshow