When I’m asked about my favorite time of the ski season, I seldom give a straight answer; instead, I like to walk the inquirer through the different months of winter and explain what I like most about each one of them. It generally goes something like that:
November is not really a ski month for me. First and foremost, it’s Thanksgiving, and the weeks before the Holiday, I slowly get used to the idea that a new snow season is upon us.
December, is when skiing begins in earnest, and is time for me to re-enter the world of snow and skiing, both mentally and physically. It’s a gate that opens up on a new season.
January means a traditionally cold and snowy weather plus a hint of Hollywood flavor as the month ends with the Sundance Film Festival.
February is always a very busy month; from the time the Freestyle World Cup begins, it never lets up. It is the heart of winter with people, events and tons of snow. Plenty to keep my adrenaline pumping…
April is always the frosting on the cake and connotes memories of spring skiing as well as surprising powder days, but it’s a truncated month that closes another ski season and try to usher spring, as we know it, in the Rocky Mountains.
This leaves me with March – my all around favorite – because it incorporates the very best there is about winter. This is always the month when snow depth is at its highest, when bright daylight returns, when the sun finally packs all of its tanning power up and when it’s possible to ski with less gear and feel an incredible sense of lightness. It’s also the right time to trade goggles for sunglasses, regular gloves for lightweight spring ones, thick padded parkas and pants for windbreakers and t-shirts.
The snow always display its full variety; it all begins with perfectly crafted “morning-corduroy,” produced by a team of groomers who had all winter long to hone their skills and deliver the most sophisticated arabesques on some tantalizing runs. It continues later in the day with great spring snow that gives skiers license to venture to places they ordinary would never set ski on. All this festival of light and visual art only seems to be there to be interrupted by a surprise snow storm that reset back the clock several months to recreate perfect powder conditions, bottomless snow and “face-shots” galore!
Once the storm is over, the sun return with even more potency and it is time – once more – to fully appreciate and indulge the “Beach” at Silver Lake and pretend this few hours of harsh winter never happened. It’s time also for switching from hot spicy cider and gluhwein to light beer and tropical cocktails.
March at Deer Valley Resort has to be the real reason why spring breaks were invented in the first place, and for that reason alone, it should be a crime to spend them anywhere else. If you’re like me and March is your ski month, celebrate it by spending a well-deserved spring break with us. Besides there’s no better place to enjoy March Madness while cheering for our favorite teams following a long and exhilarating day on the slopes with family and friends!
