Photo Credit: Curtis DeVore, Copper Mountain

At most Colorado ski resorts, there's a place where you can find powder days after a storm - a place you can reach without hiking a half hour to the outer reaches of the mountain.

We're talking about the trees. 

The forests, of pine, spruce, aspen and fir, make up a large part of the terrain at many resorts. It's a special place to ski for many reasons: The shade keeps the snow softer. The challenge of skiing them keeps many other skiers out, leaving fresher

Photo Credit: Curtis Devore, Arapahoe Basin

March is upon us, and for millions of students, teachers and parents, that means one thing: SPRING BREAK!!!!! 

The days are getting longer, the air warmer and the end of another academic year is in sight. Sure, you could go to the beach, but you have all summer to do that. 

Did you know March just happens to be one of the best months of skiing in Colorado? The rocks and stumps are covered by four months worth of snow and the air

By R. Scott Rappold

PURGATORY RESORT - We're on a snowy mountainside practicing stepping from foot to foot while skiing, something instructor Terry Tavelli calls the "thousand-step turn."

Why? I have no idea.

"It teaches independent leg action. If I have someone who's got feet too close together, it helps to separate the feet," says Tavelli. "It helps, if we lose our balance on the bumps, so we can shift to the wrong

By R. Scott Rappold

Editor's note: Field correspondent R. Scott Rappold was assigned to write a story about this week's huge series of storms at his home mountain, Wolf Creek Ski Area in southern Colorado, which as of Thursday afternoon had dropped 60 inches of snow since Monday. After much pleading and urging, he was grudgingly convinced to come down off the hill. Several threatening references towards his editors have been deleted from the final version.

By R. Scott Rappold

Valentine's Day is nearly here, and by a happy coincidence, it happens to fall in the heart of Colorado's ski season.

Forget flowers, chocolates or dinner at a fancy restaurant. Why not take that special person in your life skiing or snowboarding? What's more romantic than sharing your love of the mountains in all their winter splendor?

In that spirit, here are ten

By R. Scott Rappold

Silverton, Colorado. It conjures an image in the minds of skiers, of deep powder in the jagged mountains known as the "American Alps," of terrain so steep that "double-diamond" doesn't do it justice, of bucket-list lines and helicopter drops off the top of the world.

In the shadow of famed Silverton Mountain - where everyone must wear avalanche gear and beginners need not apply - lies Kendall Mountain. Since 1963, the ski hill has

By R. Scott Rappold

Fresh tracks in the snow - it's what powder lovers live for and why they rush out of the house at the crack of dawn to be the first one on the chairlift.

But maybe you've been riding first chair and noticed someone or something has beat you to it. No, we're not talking about ski patrol or the crazy skiers who skin uphill in the pre-dawn chill.

We're talking about the critters that call Colorado ski

By R. Scott Rappold

I can't see.
Is it the utter lack of visibility because it's dumping here in the upper bowls at Loveland Ski Area, high above timberline? Or could it be the fact that the snow off of Chair 8 is so deep and untracked, every carve throws a billow of powder into my face? 
But if you could have seen me Thursday, you would have seen a big smile. Because I love powder and I love it

By R. Scott Rappold

In a perfect world, we would have all been on skis by the age of 4.

We'd master pizza wedge and French fries before learning to read. We'd be making parallel turns on steep slopes before we had our permanent molars. We'd be jumping cliffs and rocking the terrain park before we stopped believing in Santa Claus. And we'd be well on our way to a career as a ski patroller or maybe even the next Olympic skier.

Alas, we weren't all born into skiing

By R. Scott Rappold

If you've skied or snowboarded in Colorado - or plan to this winter - then congratulations. You can check one thing off your "bucket list."

But hopefully it's a long list, because there are days on the slopes and then there are days that will live forever in your memory, days you can look back on and think, "I did Colorado right."

We've put together eight quintessential Colorado experiences to put on your list