Bummer. Just when we thought we finished a season without a dust layer, it arrived.

Actually, we never really acknowledged the lack of dust. And how soon we forget. With somewhere north of six dust events around Aspen last season(it was pretty bad, read here), we shouldn’t have been surprised at all when the suspicious glow in the sky preceded our most recent storm last week. Thinking about it now, three days later, I suppose we should just be happy that we made it all the way to the spring season without more of the brown snow. At this point on the calendar, it seems unlikely it would ever get as bad as last year, when the spring ski season in the Elks and San Juans were seriously affected. Don’t remember? Follow the link to check out some comparison pics.

So how is it? Last Thrusday Sean and I went out and found the skiing conditions to be pretty good, for now. A lukewarm review for sure, but it’s due in part to the fact that we’ve already limped through the season with a lean and unstable snowpack so the conditions here aren’t really getting worse, just different. Eventually, the dust will melt its way to the surface and that’s when things could get really bad.

Nonetheless we were still happy to get out, and if there’s anything positive worth reporting, it’s that the recent warm weather is pushing the snow into the spring cycle quickly, which means the old, bad, lingering layers which we all complained about through the winter will soon be gone, assimilated into the frozen spring corn. So that’s the good news.

Now I just have to decide if I should wash my car because that would be the ultimate jinx, guaranteeing another dusty event. I’ve decided that for now, in an effort prevent more dust from falling, and much to Rick’s (Christy’s dad) dismay, it will remain covered in mud.