Last night and today we got a major snowstorm. There is around 14" and counting of new, sticky snow. Before this storm we had 2" of snow on the ground. Instant snowbanks!

My wife Teresa made a rare winter appearance outside. She likes the look of snow, but doesn't like driving in it. It's fair to say she hates the cold.

Since it's Wednesday, it is a work day. So I thought it would be a fun exercise to ski to work. The temperature was warm, just below freezing, snow was falling, a moderate wind. It is about 1.5 miles to work.

I like to be active, but I hate training. This was a good excuse to be active. The plan (such that I had one) was to ski along the frontage road on the four-foot-wide grassy strip between the fence and the road. Only problem was when I got there, it was a four-foot-high snowbank.

So I skiied the road, which was snowcovered and easy. The skiing rig was my backcountry setup which includes battered La Sportiva mountaineering boots, white 10th Mountain Division skis with Silvretta bindings, and equally worn Gregory pack with my trusty MacBook Pro safely stashed inside.  The skis are actually metal-edged downhill skis and pretty unruly on flat, untracked surfaces. It took an hour to get to work, along nearly the same route that takes me 15 minutes to bike on dry roads.

With this big dump of snow it really feels like winter.

A few days from now is the Sandstone Ice Fest, which is a nice kickoff to the season. Time to sharpen the axes and crampons.