There are few things more magical than cross-country skiing through city streets on a snowy day. But snow, sustained cold temperatures and lack of sand/salt must all conspire to make this possible. Thanks to the city budget cuts, we may be seeing ever more of these days (and it may be one of the few benefits where our streets are concerned).

Skiing the streets is great for many reasons, and here are five of them:

1). You don’t have to drive anywhere to do it.
2). You don’t need a lift pass or much gear (hat, gloves, long underwear, jacket and you’re good).
3). If you keep your eyes peeled at the thrift stores and yard sales during the summer months, you can usually pick up a pair of skis, boots and poles for under $20 (I always pick up extra pairs when I see them because you can give them to friends who don’t have them come winter).
4). You don’t have to be good at skiing to do it (it’s like walking in a prancy way).
5). If you get cold/tired/hungry/thirsty you can just go right home.

On top of all that, it’s great exercise and it’s always lovely to be out in the streets when the world gets erased by a nice snow storm.

This morning, my wife, son and I dusted off our skis and took to the streets for the first time this season. We’re fortunate enough to live on a big hill, so bombing it is always fun for starters. After that, we went to visit a friend in Pleasant Valley and had a nice cup of hot tea. After that, I went up into the Garden of the Gods by myself where I was awestruck by the absolute silence you can only hear when fresh snow absorbs all the ambient noise from the city.

During the whole little adventure I had that beautiful music-box melody from Bjork’s Vespertine sparkling in my mind. When I got back, I looked at the CD and noticed that the tune is called “Frosti”. Perfect! Hopefully this slideshow carries a little bit of that magic. (If you like the song, a small portion of the proceeds go to KRCC when you buy it here: )