photos by Stephen Eginoire

Theres no denying it. Everybody knows it. Winter is near. As the air turns crisp, and the colors fade to brown, winter is slowly working its way downhill and theres no escape. Resistance is futile ... its time to embrace the white stuff. Heres an early-season glimpse of the how Durango is gearing up for yet another, sure-to-be-fabulous winter season.

Anvil Mountain, under heavily dusted conditions. A CDOT snow plow makes a dry run up Red Mountain Pass. Pine Needle Mountaineeri-ng ski tech, Rob Peper mounts up new boards. Laura Sainio, left, of Backcountry Experience, tries on some new gear while Breanna Powers arranges a display. A pair of fresh boards hit the work bench.