SUMMIT COUNTY -- Skiers last weekend encountered the best of both worlds - or the best of what spring skiing has to offer. Mostly sunny skies and warmer skies forced riders and skiers to take a layer off. Several inches of new snow on Saturday night had them excited about the powder day Sunday offered.

Photos by Casey Day

On Saturday, the sun and the warmer temps whipped the snow near the base to the consistency of wet mashed potatoes. Greeting the sun-kissed faces of skiers at the base is the sound of music. With the Blues & BBQ Festival going on, there was plenty of Après Ski entertainment to partake in.

"I'd say it's a more mellow vibe," said Kate Lessman, communications officer for Keystone Resort. "There's plenty of sun and lot of things to do."

Ski areas in Colorado have plenty to party about. Colorado Ski Country USA reported resorts hosted an estimated 5.5 million skier and snowboarder visits from New Year's Day to the end of February. The number is 1% off the record-setting pace set last year.

"Because of all of the January and February snowfalls the numbers jumped," Nick Bohnenkamp of Colorado Ski Country USA said. "And looking through all the visits in spring break, we're looking for a solid income. The snow has been real good for this season."

Both the resorts and visitors have benefited and any more spring storms will just provide icing on the top. Several ski areas such as Monarch and Aspen Highlands pushed back its closing dates.

And all of the areas provide deals from lift tickets to overnight lodging. That goes along with extra perks such as free concerts and prize giveaways.

"We hope to have people to stay the night and enjoy everything we have here," said David Roth of Copper Mountain. "People won't have to drive home at the end of the night. They can stay here and start all over the next day."

Places like Copper Mountain and Keystone offer steep discounts on lift tickets if people purchase two or more online. Loveland begins offering discount lift tickets on Monday.

Sunlight Mountain is offering free skiing if visitors spend the night in Glenwood Springs. And Monarch is trumping everybody else, giving away a free ski day on Monday, April 7.

Bohnenkamp suggests visiting resort Web sites to find discounts on overnight lodging, as many are scrambling to fill last-minute vacancies before the season ends. Public Web sites such as Craigslist are peppered with individuals slashing prices on their own rentals.

The question that remains is how to dress.

"What I find myself doing is bringing layers," Kathryn Johnson of Loveland Ski Area said. "I'll bring my spring coat and layer a nice warm layer underneath. And if it gets too warm, I'll leave that under layer in the lodge.

"The big key this time of year is not to forget the sunscreen."

As everybody Coloradan knows, the spring weather can be fickle. Regardless if it's blue skies or a snow squall, riders and skiers win either way.

"My favorite thing to tell people is it's going to be great either way," Johnson said. "it's either going to be a powder day or a sunny bluebird day. It's the famous Colorado weather."

Here is no water but only rock. Rock and no water and the sandy road.
-T.S. Eliot

CANYONLANDS, Utah - It appears to be a place time forgot. The bottom of an inland sea millennia ago, magnificent sandstone spires and buttresses dominate the present landscape. When the wind stops, you hear nothing, and that, even more than the superlative views is what stands out.

This other worldly place is in rather close proximity to the Front Range. For most cars it's a tank full of gas, some good travelling music and a rest stop break away. Yet there are many Coloradans who have never visited Canyonlands National Park, let alone the Needles District.

Though that is slowly changing. Paul Henderson, public information officer for both Canyonlands and Arches National parks, said visitors are beginning to come a little bit earlier and later in the year; in essence, the shoulder season is getting broader. The weather can be an unknown variable in the spring, swinging from snow squalls to being scorched by the sun. The key is to dress in layers.

"We had a little skiff of snow," Henderson said on Thursday. Spring is all about layers and being prepared. It can be chilly in the morning and you'll be peeling that sweater off by 11 a.m.

While Canyonlands is a worthy destination anytime of the year, though the summer heat is unbearable for some, the spring is when the desert comes alive. But don't blink. Spring can literally happen in an instant. The desert seems to be silently waiting and the next morning, a camper can be greeted by a vivid bouquet of color, which magically bloomed with the rising sun.

Predicting the desert bloom is like finding a sustainable water source in the summer, nearly impossible. "We should end up with good wildflowers this year," Henderson said. "This is when it gets dicey though. We could get some nice rain or one day it can turn and be 105 degrees and stay that way."

And yes, there is water in the desert in the spring. Though it comes with a caveat and visitors should pack their own water in; the rule of thumb is a gallon a day.

"People tend to forget there are reliable water sources, especially in the spring," Henderson said. "But you have to remember, all of the wildlife is counting on those water sources too. I figure if I'm able-bodied enough to hike some place, I am able to carry my own water too."

Another tip is to make reservations or to be flexible. It is possible to enter the Needles and not see another person. However the number of backcountry campsites is limited in the park to minimize human impact. Even car camping at Squaw Flats campground in the Needles District is highly contested. The good news is there are some BLM sites outside of the park that are in close proximity and worthy second choices.

The scarcity of camping is part of the allure of The Needles. The district receives half the amount of visitors as the Island in the Sky District, located much closer to Moab and much more family-friendly. Canyonlands National Park receives 400,000 visitors a year. Compare that with neighboring Arches National Park, which receives over 800,000 annual visitors yet is much smaller in size.

The difference between Island in the Sky and The Needles is between watching and doing. Island in the Sky offers stunning panoramic views of what the raw power of the Colorado and Green rivers carved out over thousands of years.

In The Needles, you are weaving up and over the scenery, snaking through slots, really merely shoulder-width fissures, in the sandstone, climbing up to slickrock passes, around obelisks and citadels that appear to be created for some grandiose reason.

"Island in the Sky is the easy one to bag for Canyonlands," Henderson said. "When people say I only have one day, I usually send them to Island in the Sky."

A warning should be heeded by first-time visitors though, besides layer on the sunscreen. It is very easy to fall in love with the place. "Moab is full of students who came out with internships with the Student Conservation Association," Henderson said. "They came to do a 12 to 14 week stint, and now it is 20 years later and they are still here. People fall in love with red rock country and figure out some way to make a living here."