A Not-So-Fond Farewell to the 2025-26 Ski Season
The 2025-26 ski season was a dud. It teased us with a promising start when Trish and Abbie spent Thanksgiving weekend in Winter Park.
We didn't get enough snow at our house for backyard cross-country skiing until early December. When I skied the Fraser River Trail on December 15, there was plenty of frozen dirt mixed in. It was cold enough that it didn't stick to my skis, but it was still an ominous preview of the winter ahead.
My stats for the year: 5 cross-country outings and 14 downhill days. Trish may have logged even more downhill days, which is a great sign that her ankle has recovered nicely!
We celebrated Mary Jane's 50th birthday on January 10. Honestly, it felt like the mountain opened that day because it had to show up for its own party.
By January 11, I had logged six downhill days. There still hadn't been a powder day, but it was early enough to stay optimistic. We squeezed in a few more turns at the end of January, then rented our Ski Chalet to friends for all of February.
Trish and I kicked off a month of travel by golfing in Cabo San Lucas with Cletus and Sarah.
After that, we spent a week with Trish's parents in Florida, and I joined my family in Arizona for MLB Spring Training.
We returned to Winter Park in early March and again in early April.
Conditions were so thin this year that we never even skied Trestle, one of our favorite runs at Mary Jane.
One bright spot: we joined the Rendezvous Mountain Club for the first time. Membership lets us keep our skis and poles on the mountain for a reasonable price, and Matt and Andy, the brothers who run the place, make the whole thing even better.
Just like last year, we wrapped up the season with a moose sighting near our condo.
Jack didn't make it onto the slopes this year because of an injury, but we did get plenty of ski time with Abbie. DU Hockey also won its 11th national championship!
The reduced snowpack means rafting season will be underwhelming too. We're trying not to dwell on that, so we've been distracting ourselves with other adventures: New Orleans Jazz Fest, Mother's Day in Montana, and a road trip to Moab for Syncro Solstice.
Now summer is right around the corner, the Nuggets are out, the Avs are on the ropes, and the golf courses are calling.
For more ski season photos, see my 2025-26 Ski Season album on Flickr.