Off-Season at the Ski Hill

[OlDoinyo]

Summer at a ski area can be a quiet, meditative time far removed from the bustle and crowds of ski season. Parking lots stand mostly empty and buildings are locked. Businesses are closed until next winter. A few curious tourists drift through from time to time, but the primary sounds are birds, thunder, and sometimes falling rain. Last month, I visited the base of a small ski area in northern New Mexico as thundershowers and rain swept across the mountains. Despite the elevation over 3,200 meters, the UV flux beneath the clouds was modest and I had to use long exposures to capture images. The Sony A900 was used with the Asahi 20mm lens and a U360/S8612 filter. Display intent is BGR.

 

In the first image, a Demac-Lenko rotary snow gun sits silently as a Leithner-Poma quadruple chairlift extends up the mountainside into the background distance.

 

 

In the second image, a Poma double chairlift mutely awaits the beginning skiers of the next season as another snow gun perches on the bunny hill in the background. The picture could perhaps have used better perspective correction.

 

 

The most salient feature in these pictures is the darkness of the windows on the lift buildings, likely due to the use of polycarbonate or similar materials. The reddish tinge of the wooden decking is also noticeable, but the exact reason for this is less obvious. Many painted surfaces are reddish as usual (the snow gun was bright blue to the naked eye whereas the motor house of the quadruple chair was dark grey.) Water droplets getting on the filter was something of a problem on the day these pictures were taken.

[colinbm]

BGR used to good effect.

[Nate]

Super shots, UV sure makes the scene look like a dream to me. The channel swap works great here too.

[Andy Perrin]

As usual I had to channel swap back because my damn eyes can't see red properly (I finally realized that's why all your photos look monochrome to me), but they look good! Did you get any photos of the mountains in the distance? I always like the UV haze effects.