Around The Hoop

Sound of silence on a stealth powder day

The red gondola cars that ferry snow junkies up Aspen Mountain are super cool not just because they provide a colorful contrast to the sleek black cars that dominate the Silver Queen Gondola cable. They are super cool because they are touted as the only gondola cars in the world equipped with a solar-powered musical system.

Passengers can either play their own music on an iPod docking station in each of the red cars or they can simply choose to listen to the Aspen Skiing Company's playlists.

The company playlists cross generations and are generally quite good. (Aspen native Mike Nakagawa, aka DJ Naka G, had a hand in the song selections.) Inside sources tell me company officials poured gallons of ice-cold water on the iPod docking stations to ensure they could withstand the winter season. The speaker is perfectly positioned so that all of the passengers can enjoy the same quality of sound.

Alas, trouble has come to paradise: On Tuesday, the red gondola cars vanished from the Silver Queen.

Locals note that the ground-breaking gondola stereo system didn't exactly live up to expectations all the time. On some of the cars the system works to perfection. On others, there have been problems.

A couple of lift operators said the cars would be back and they believed the systems needed tweaking.

Here's the company line:

“Just some routine maintenance. No big deal. Back online soon,” Aspen ski company spokesman Jeff Hanle wrote.

Let's all hope so because the red gondola cars are fun. Just like the skiing today.

Five inches fell on the local ski slopes over the past 24 hours. Back of Bell and the Dumps were full of powder stashes. The west-facing slopes were trickier with snow transitioning from powder to crud with little warning. Visibility proved challenging in the morning but the skies cleared up when the afternoon hours took hold.

Light snow is in the forecast sporadically for the next several days. See you on the mountain.

River Name / Location	Stream flow, ft3/s	Gage height ft
Gore Creek
At Upper Station, Near I-70 Twin Bridges	n/a	5 ft
Booth Creek	n/a	4 ft
Abv Red Sandstone Creek At Vail	256	7 ft
At Mouth Near Minturn	289	7 ft
Beaver Creek
At Avon	21	2 ft
Lake Creek
Near Edwards	114	1 ft
Cross Creek
Near Minturn	158	4 ft
Homestake Creek
At Gold Park	199	5 ft
Eagle River
East Fork Eagle River Near Climax	n/a	2 ft
At Red Cliff	30	3 ft
Near Minturn	296	4 ft
Wastewater Treatment Plant At Avon	875	5 ft
Below Gypsum	844	5 ft
Colorado River
Near Kremmling	374	4 ft
Near Dotsero	1,410	3 ft
Below Glenwood Springs	3,140	5 ft
Near Cameo	3,260	6 ft
Below Grand Valley Div Nr Palisade	1,800	5 ft
Near Colorado-utah State Line	3,860	4 ft
Near Cisco, Ut	4,270	3 ft
At Lees Ferry, Az	9,740	9 ft
Near Grand Canyon, Az	8,190	6 ft
Yuma Main Canal Ww At Yuma, Az	1,030	10 ft
Roaring Fork River
Abv Lost Man Cr Near Aspen	n/a	n/a ft
Ab Difficult C Nr Aspen	61	1 ft
Near Aspen	115	1 ft
Near Emma	593	6 ft
At Glenwood Springs	1,280	4 ft
Hunter Creek
Near Aspen	57	2 ft
At Aspen	52	4 ft
Frying Pan River
Near Ruedi	110	1 ft
Crystal River
Abv Avalanche Crk, Near Redstone	773	3 ft
Arkansas River
Ef Arkansas R At Us Highway 24, Nr Leadville	60	3 ft
Near Leadville	95	5 ft
Below Empire Gulch Near Malta	159	4 ft
Below Granite	363	4 ft
Near Nathrop	423	4 ft
At Parkdale	444	3 ft