Its never a fun time to be sick, but sometimes fate comes at you in strange ways. This time of year we spend a lot of days on the ski slopes, which 95% of the time translates to Winter Park. After a tumultuous Friday at work that had me in the office till nearly 6:30 chasing down a small problem that grew into a VERY BIG problem in a hurry, I came home exhausted and feeling pretty punk.
So after grabbing some dinner Friday night, I decided Saturday would be an easy non-ski day. Of course when I woke up Saturday morning the head cold went from minor to full blown, which meant it would be a lazy recovery weekend. While we were lounging around on Saturday, a breaking news story started streaming across the bottom of the TV.
The words "Massive Avalanche" and "Berthoud Pass" were all that I really need to see. Berthoud Pass is pretty much the only way in and and out of Winter Park from the Front Range, and we drive it several times a month. Last year Sarah & I narrowly avoided an avalanche that closed the road, being an estimated 10 minutes in front of it on our way home. The previous weekend our friend Scott had made mention that he didn't like to go to Winter Park due to the avalanches, the thought of which I scoffed at and made fun.
So as the story unfolded details emerged. 8 people, 2 cars buried in snow field that was about 15 feet deep and 200 - 300 feet wide. That's 2 stories tall for the length of a football field. If you weren't in a car, you would not survive and I'm sure in a car its a life changing experience regardless.
So I guess the head cold and choosing to stay home was a good thing in hindsight. True by the time the avalanche occurred we would have been in Winter Park for at least an hour or two, but we would have either had to stay overnight or drive a couple hours of detour over to Summit County to get home, which would have surely been a nightmare in itself. Hopefully I can shed the head cold and get back on the bike soon.
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