Latest Photo Stream
Light Before the Storm
Sunset light illuminates Mount Sneffels as a spring storm rolls into Colorado in early May.
Smooth Spring
Dropping! Drew takes the plunge onto a powdery face with the Sneffels Range in the background.
Jason carves down a wide open snowy bowl in May.
The predominately unsettled, cloudy, and cool weather this last month has nicely preserved the snow up high in the mountains, and north facing slopes have had an exceptionally smooth and consistent surface lately. So despite the record-low snowpack this year, the spring skiing/snowboarding has been pretty darn good!
May Ski
Jason Weiss skis in front of Mount Sneffels in early May.
Jason Weiss skis with a panoramic view of the Sneffels Range in early May.
After the lowest winter of snowfall on record in Colorado (about 25% of average), the south facing slopes of the Sneffels Range have the least amount of snow I've ever seen in the springtime. But, the north facing slopes are still holding nice, smooth snow for the time being!
April Refresh
Vijay skis fresh powder in late April.
Chris and Bo charging down through the clouds.
Jason skis with a backdrop of Silverton Mountain.
Drew laying some fresh carves.
Drew rides a big wide open slope.
After the doom and gloom of the heatwaves and rapidly melting snowpack in March, April has thankfully been much wetter and cooler here in southwest Colorado with some refreshes of snow up high. From what I've seen there's actually more snow now at the end of April than there was at the beginning! Earlier this week a storm dumped a fresh foot of powder in the mountains and some friends and I took full advantage with two back to back days of triple-descent tours.
Snow up High
Jason Weiss skis down through a couloir at 13,000 feet in the western San Juan Mountains in April.
Skinning in April on a record-low snow year.
Yesterday I dusted off the cobwebs from my splitboard and went on my first ski tour of the year! Given the record-low snowfall in Colorado this season, I just haven't been motivated to go out into the backcountry before now; but with the early onset of spring and the quickly dwindling snowpack I figured I might as well go check it out before it's all gone. Jason and I were delighted to find excellent snow conditions up high above about 11,000 feet elevation; the challenge was getting up to it through several miles of mostly dirt trail down low.
Winter Sunset over Ridgway
A colorful December sunset over the snowy town of Ridgway and the Sneffels Range in southwest Colorado.
Winter Welcome
Snowstorm clouds clear off of Mount Sneffels at the start of December.
Wolcott Mountain and the Sneffels Range smothered in fresh snow at the beginning of December.
After a very slow start to winter, December came in with a bang with an absolutely glorious bluebird morning as snowstorm clouds cleared off revealing the Sneffels Range smothered in fresh powder. Winter is here!
Sneffels Auroraglow
The Sneffels Range glows magenta from the bounce light of brilliant red auroras in the northern sky in November 2025.
Last night was another remarkable night of auroras all the way down in southwest Colorado, similar to the solar storm last year in October 2024. While I wasn't in such an epic spot as last year's show, it was still incredible to witness the pillars of red northern lights this far down south.
You know how when the mountains are illuminated by dawn/sunrise light it's called "alpenglow"? Well I'll call this "auroraglow" as the mountains glowed magenta from the light of the red auroras overhead (at least from what the camera could see with a bright lens and long exposure).
Stormy October
Moody skies over the Sneffels Range, October.
Clouds swirl around Mount Sneffels after an October rainstorm.
It's been a stormy October here in the San Juans with heaping amounts of lightning, thunder, drenching rains, and a bit of snow up in the high peaks. The southern San Juans in particular got hammered by Tropical Storm Priscilla, causing major flooding in Pagosa Springs!
Broken Toe Autumn
Rain clouds sweep over Red Mountain Pass and its golden aspens - September.
Yellow and green aspens in late September.
A forest of giant aspens in the San Juans near Telluride.
Sunlight illuminates a stately golden aspen tree as a ominous thunderstorm rolls over the San Miguel Range in the background.
In early October, autumn around southwest Colorado neared peak color. My backpack was packed for an overnighter in one of my favorite aspen getaways, which would be immediately followed by a week long road trip of further aspen wanderings.
Then random disaster struck in the most mundane of circumstances. Short story short, I took a spectacular digger over my patio coffee table and broke my big toe!!! So my autumn hiking season came screeching to a halt right when it was about to really get rolling, and in the absolute dumbest possible way. 😭
So this last week or so I've been stuck limping around the house, laying on my couch, looking off into the distance at the golden mountainsides of color, watching everyone online posting their fantastic photos and raving about what a wonderful autumn it's been. I feel so stupid for slamming my toe and so regretful for squandering this short precious season in this short precious life. Such is the curse of the injured outdoor lover.
If anything, this is a reminder to always be grateful for your health when you have it! Because you sure miss it when it's gone.
Anyhow, here are a few of my "warmup" photos from some hikes before I sidelined myself.