Truce on the Mountain

By noon, the roar of heavy diesel engines echoed across the alpine ridge as two massive Caterpillar rotary snowplows finally punched through the twelve-foot avalanche drift blocking the access road to Chalet Seven. The storm had officially surrendered. Above the jagged, snow-capped peaks of the Rockies, the sky had cleared into a brilliant, crystalline sapphire blue. Sunlight bounced blindingly off the fresh powder, illuminating the long icicles hanging like crystal…