Have you ever taken off in a plane on an overcast day. It's miserable on the ground. It's grey. It's cloudy. It's probably cold. The plane leaves the runway. It ascends through the clouds and emerges into brilliant sunlight. If you know that feeling, then you know how I felt skiing Heavenly this past weekend, skiing above the clouds.

I had read the weather forecast and it was supposed to be over 40 so I was surprised when I woke up at the house on Saturday morning and it was all fogged in a looking miserable. I bundled up, called the shuttle and headed for the California Lodge. It was chilly on the lift at 9am, but as I made my way to top, I broke through the layer of clouds and fog and emerged into a sea of sunshine. Below me, the lake was invisible, completely shrouded in puffy grey clouds and ringed by snow-capped peaks. It was absolutely beautiful.

I skied hard all morning then met up with Kristen and her friend, a novice snowboarder and took it easy in the afternoon. Sunday was exactly the same, nasty cloud cover in town and brilliant and sunny on the mountain. And forget 40 degrees. It was easily 50. I was skiing in one of my Samoan shirts. Spring skiing in winter is a novelty to be sure, but we can't keep this up and have much of a ski season despite all the recent snowfall. Early word is that it's supposed to snow this week.

Days Skied This Season: 4