Leave The Winter Cold In Grand Junction, Head To The Grand Mesa And Ski

Who would have thought a ski day at Powderhorn would be the warmest I've been all year. Thanks to the Grand Valley inversion, you can find warmth, at least relatively so, in some unexpected places not far from home like the Grand Mesa, for instanceWe knew it was going to be a good day when we stepped out of the car and heard several people talking about how warm it seemed compared to the bitter cold of Grand Junction. When asked, one of the parking attendants said it was averaging 5-10 degrees warmer on the mountain than it was in town.

As far as ski conditions, although there hasn't been a significant amount of new snow recently, the groomed trails were all in good shape and I managed to snag some sticks and tops of rocks only a few times. Also, if you head to the mountain this weekend, ski the West End early.  The lift ride late afternoon gets a bit chilly as the sun drops behind the trees.

If you're like me and want to get the best value, ski Monday-Thursday. Not only will you get more runs in as the lift lines are almost non-existent, but if you buy 10 or more gallons of gas from the Shell station at First and Grand before heading to the mountain, you can get a voucher for a buy-one-get-one-free lift ticket.

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