Looking back toward the summitI made it back to DC with nary a fuss – though, as John Denver once mused, I guess I’d rather be in Colorado. Click on the picture to see the whole set from the mountains.

Click here to see pictures from the International Snow Sculpture Competition in Breckenridge – it was amazing what the teams did with blocks of snow.

Even though a nasty blizzard had moved into the Colorado mountains, I stopped at Loveland Basin for some skiing on the way to the airport. The weather was fierce: high winds and lots of snow made me look like a human popsicle. It wasn’t a long stay – only an hour and change – but I didn’t pay much for the lift ticket, and helped another brave person get his ticket for cheap, as I had a 2-for-1 coupon that was further reduced in price due to the weather (most of Loveland is above treeline, so many lifts were closed due to low-to-no visibility).

After skiing, I walked back to a snow-crusted car, doffed all of my icy layers, and hit the road to Denver. The roads were fairly snowpacked for the next 20 miles, after which the sun broke out and the roads dried out – such is the power of the Front Range in keeping storms from hitting Denver. I made it to the airport with time enough to pack my bags (my boots fit snugly in my carry-on bag, so I couldn’t pack that until they had a chance to dry).

And the return flights were uneventful. We had a tailwind flying to Detroit, which would’ve had us arriving ahead of schedule if not for a broken jetway that had the plane sitting at the gate for 30 minutes before we could disembark. So my planned dinner break was rushed, as I had to haul tail across the vast expanse that is DTW’s A terminal. But I made my connection, and the flight to DCA was short and sweet.

And now I’m back at work – wishing I could be on the slopes, and trying to figure out a way to get more skiing in my life.