SILVERTON — Snow-covered vehicles sit neglected on a minus-2-degree morning as Becky Joyce glides past gazebo-size downtown snowbanks and parks her sled outside the Avalanche coffee shop. Five more just like it sit nearby.
“This is such a kick, and it’s so efficient. We rarely drive our cars,” the part-time nurse says as she hops off and joins other sled commuters already inside sipping steamy drinks.
While Coloradans elsewhere might curse the inconvenience of snow-slicked roads, here in what could be called Sled Town U.S.A., hardy residents look forward to the Thanksgiving-to-mid-March snowpacked streets.
Folks glide to work, to the grocery store, to school, to the taverns and to the ice rink, turning this remote San Juan Mountains community into a throwback to a simpler era and a counterpoint to the chic, SUV-clogged resort towns.
Annual Silverton snowfall: 12½ feet.