Echo Mountain Gets Pounded With 4 1/2 Feet Of Snow
IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - There is no shortage of snow for skiers in the metro area. At Echo Mountain near Idaho Springs they got clobbered with 4 1/2 feet.
The sun was finally shining over Echo Mountain on Saturday after a pretty hard-hitting snowstorm.
"We got 55 inches of fresh powder since Thursday afternoon and what happens is we get different storms than the other ski areas in the state," Echo Mountain owner Jerry Petitt said.
The nearly 5 feet of snow is nothing new for the area. They've seen worse before.
"Seven years ago we had 9 feet in 48 hours," Petitt said. "We get the storms that come through New Mexico and wrap around and they get caught in this valley."
In some areas after the storm there was an avalanche warning in effect. Petitt insists there's no need to worry up at Echo.
"We are not in an avalanche area. Our slopes are not avalanche prone," he said.
The 55 inches of snow that they saw at the top of Echo Mountain is not just good for skiing, it's also good for their first inaugural Snow Dash.
"Snow Dash is an adventure race in the snow, of course, middle of winter, launched this year in Colorado," Levi Scullion with Snow Dash said.
It was a day of running, walking, climbing and digging through the snow during the Snow Dash. With so much snow for some it was exciting to just get out and just enjoy it.
"I've already run the course once and it's pretty deep in areas, but it's not that bad," participant Sid Payne said. "It's really slippery in places, especially in the downhill area you're just bound running through some pretty deep snow."
The snow started falling again during the race but that didn't stop all the fun at 10,000 feet.
