JAMES COLT+NEW SNOW=GOOD DAY IN TELLURIDE

05 Dec JAMES COLT+NEW SNOW=GOOD DAY IN TELLURIDE

It snowed off-and-on for a few days in Telluride. I wouldn’t call it a blizzard, but when Monday morning dawned clear and cold, with about 4 or 5 inches of new fluffy snow, it was time to quit work early (is 9 AM too early?) in search of some fresh tracks on the mountain. My gear was at the Telluride Adaptive Sports Program office, and as luck would have it, I got there at the same time as James Colt.

James and I began skiing together at TASP in December, 2007, just over a year after the rock-climbing accident that left his right side mostly unusable. His goal was to ski on two skis, standing up, ideally at the expert level he lived for before his accident.

James has pursued fitness and accommodation of his injury, Summer and Winter, on and off the snow, with a dedication that an Olympic athlete might well admire. The result is he now skis all over the mountain. Last season he skied the Plunge in Telluride for the first time since his “wreck”, and today we were just two friends skiing together, enjoying the new snow on top of last night’s grooming.