Sidetracked Charley

Blizzard Or Post Traumatic Storm Distress.  I began skiing in 1970. I taught it for a dozen years, and attended exams and required workshops always seemingly timed with major storms. I have lived in Denver and Vail, and here in the mountains of north New Mexico for thirty years, 23 in Black Lake. In short I am no stranger to snow. I have been snowed into Winter park for three days, driven over most of Colorado passes in snow storms without four wheel drive. Stuck in Casper, Wyoming over Halloween in a five day blizzard. Had to spend the night in the lobby of the St. James Hotel in Cimarron, and a Holiday Inn in St. Louis because of surprise snowstorms. No rooms at the Inns. But the snow storm which bothers me is the one when I was home. It began December 29, 2006 and continued into the new year dumping feet of snow from Albuquerque north. It closed all five ways in or out of my valley. The Massive Blizzard , the worst some locals said in 70 years, is still talked about. It...

On December 29th, 2006 it started to snow. It snowed on the 30th and the 31st. On January 2007 we had six feet of snow in parts of the Moreno Valley and all of the four routes in and out of the valley were closed. They were closed for five days. My neighbor's husband was in crisis because of his just diagnosed cancer and could not be gotten to the hospital in Taos until January 2nd. The continual snow made even life flight impossible. It started to snow again, a friend reminded me, on January 3rd. Some areas of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico received a total of nine feet of snow over a week long period. When the weather was clear the National Guard dropped hay to stranded herds of cattle on the eastern plains of New Mexico. That made the national news. But the plight of our valley did not. It was the height of holiday season tourist and the visitors were trapped in the valley with us locals. That means 10,000 more people than normally live here in the towns of...