It was a late Saturday evening when local high school teacher Josh Kurz of South San Juan's texted me and said "You should film me as the sun is coming up in the morning doing some skate skiing."
Yes. Yes. Yes.
So I woke up about 6:00 am, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out to Lake Hatcher, located about seven miles north on Piedra Road.
Our goal was to get some drone footage of him skating around Hatcher Lake. The conditions have to be ideal. Warmer afternoons that cause the snow to melt and then ice cold nights that freeze it all over. And this was one of those mornings in the early spring.
It's not often I wake up this early. The only times I usually do it is when it's an incredible powder day up at Wolf Creek Ski area. So it's usually snowing and I don't get to see the sunrise over the mountains.
And I'm so glad I did get up this early. Because it was absolutely amazing to sit at the edge of a lake when it's nearly zero degrees and watch the mountains come to life.
I was alone at first. Not a soul in sight as the mountains started to turn from black, to a deep and colorful blue. Off in the distance I could see Josh skating towards me.
I launched up the drone as the sky turned to shades of pink and orange. It was soon thereafter where the sun peaked over the mountains. And we got shot after shot of Josh skating with the sun in the background.
It's some of my favorite footage I shot this winter. So simple. Yet so incredibly colorful. And I also decided I need to get into nordic skiing next year.
Thanks Josh for getting me up so early. It was so worth it!
