VISTAS

Seasons are just one of many cycles that exist within nature. As outdoor enthusiasts, we spend the majority of our free time enjoying these cyclical changes in our favorite environments. Spring marks the point of rebirth, stability and reawakening in nature's seasonal cycle that every plant and animal patiently waits for during the depths of winter.

After a winter consisting of an incredibly unstable snowpack and reports of heartbreaking avalanche fatalities, backcountry travelers have anxiously waited for a stable isothermal snowpack, signaling the start of the spring skiing season in the steep alpine of the San Juan Mountains, affectionately known by backcountry enthusiasts as the “corn harvest season” for the soft, large-grain snow indicative of optimal spring conditions.

Following reports of stable snow in the high country, skier Alex Ekey makes his way toward the day’s objective: to ski the San Juan corn hidden within a cirque of couloirs above Highway 550.

words and photo by Nate DeCremer