Journeys›Photograph

Bluebird Ski Day on Donner Pass

·Placer County, California·#winter#tahoe#skiing#snow#cross-country-skiing
Two people in ski gear take a selfie on a snowy mountain with trees and a blue sky in the background.

Bluebird ski day up on Donner Pass, no wind to speak of. We split: the kid went for the downhill side, orange helmet and mirrored goggles, and the base area was mobbed with everyone else who had the same idea. The two of us took skinny skis out onto the groomed trails instead — corduroy still crisp in the tree shadows, going soft wherever the sun had been sitting on it.

We looped out past the old red caboose parked at the edge of the meadow. The paint has faded another notch, the white skier emblem on its side peeling down to metal. It's a good turnaround point and we used it as one.

Met back up for lunch outside afterward. The kid looked sun-flushed and mostly done talking, which after a full morning on the hill counts as a report.

Two smiling people in a snowy landscape with a rustic red train car and evergreen trees under a blue sky.A snowy field with a dense forest on a hillside under a blue sky, with a small red cabin.Tall pine trees line a snow-covered forest trail with groomed ski tracks under a clear blue sky, a person visible in the distance.A young person with reddish-brown hair looks at the camera, resting their chin on their hand, wearing a floral jacket.

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