While there may have been ten inches of fresh powder in Winter Park, CO, I decided to make the hour commute to my home ski resort in search of a photo instead of epic skiing.
After a morning of complications with running errands for my family, car issues, traffic, and a forgotten ski pass, and with a temperature of -5 degrees, I didn't make it to the chairlift until almost 2:30. With the lifts closing in little over an hour, I rushed over to the Mary Jane side for the best views of the Bear Claw peak, and the valley as daylight ran out.
I got a few decent photos while skiing, but wasn't pleased. I stopped about 5 times on Berthoud Pass during my drive home. Each time I stepped out of the car into the subzero temperatures, my fingers literally froze pressing the buttons on my camera. I was seriously surprised that the battery didn't accept defeat under the cold.
At about my third stop, it was getting dark enough to begin shooting car trails. I parked my car, left the heater running, and climbed up a 10-foot snowbank on the first major curve of the Pass. As I began shooting, some guy in a pickup truck shouted out the passenger window at me, asking how the photos were turning out.
"Great but I can't feel my hands!"
My first attempt failed, so I kept driving, getting more and more frustrated as I got closer to the end of the pass. I took a gamble and decided to try the last turn, or "Big Bend". Again, climbing up the side of a snowbank and switching to my wide-angle lens, I finally found what I was looking for. A scene interesting enough for car trails, dark enough lighting, and yet still enough light to illuminate the mountain in the background with a long exposure.
The first degree frost bite was worth it.