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PREFACE

For years my love affair with skiing in Colorado held dual citizenship: in the backcountry, and at the resorts. It wasn’t until the 2005/2006 winter season that the two came together in a unique marriage, and it all happened because of an unassuming email from my good friend Tom.

“We should go find and ski these places,” was the full content of his message, plus a hyperlink to an Internet website, www.coloradoskihistory.com. It was the Rocky Mountain manifestation of a movement that had started in New England years earlier, known as the New England Lost Ski Areas Project. Ski history buffs were documenting the history of “lost” ski areas, ones that had long since closed their doors and shut their lifts. Some researchers hiked the ski areas during the summertime, walking up their grassy slopes and snapping photos of old buildings, lift foundations, whatever they saw. As far as Tom and I knew, though, no one was actually skiing these places in winter.

Tom was onto something, I thought. His idea gave birth to “Powder Stash,” an article I wrote for 5280: Denver’s Mile-High Magazine, about four of Colorado’s lost ski areas. It was during the research phase of that article that another friend, Andrew, made the suggestion that resulted in this book. We were backcountry skiing at Geneva Basin, the fourth and final area of my magazine article. Andrew and I were halfway down a run, grinning at each other—it was a powder day at a “resort,” and we had the runs all to ourselves. “Have you thought about writing a guidebook to these areas?” he offered. “I would definitely be interested in skiing at more of these places.” Andrew had a point.

Since that day in March 2007, I’ve skied at nearly 40 lost areas throughout Colorado and southern Wyoming. It’s been a fantastic journey in so many ways—days spent in the backcountry with good friends; touching the history and heritage of Colorado’s skiing past; powder days like I haven’t had in years.

I initially worried that researching and writing this book would “burn me out” on skiing. That, by making skiing my job for a winter, it would cease to retain its casual pleasure, and would become drudgery as I obsessed about meeting my deadlines. But to my great joy, Powder Ghost Towns has been a rewarding, enlightening, and most of all, fun experience. And I hope the information contained within these pages offers the same to you.

Peter Bronski

September 2008