[vintageski]

Happy Holidays!

[ftwinter]

Snow tires <3 

[ftwinter]

[americasgreatoutdoors]

A fresh coat of snow has turned Sequoia National Park in California into a winter wonderland. Since 1925, community members have gathered every December to celebrate the General Grant Tree — which is known as the nation’s Christmas Tree. As part of this year’s celebration on Sunday, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are waiving entrance fees tomorrow. For more information visit http://go.nps.gov/1537mr.

[americasgreatoutdoors]

A dusting of snow turns Yosemite National Park in California into a winter wonderland. Ed Cooper captured this winter view of the southwest face of El Capitan — the largest monolith of granite in the world. Rising more than 3,000 feet above Yosemite Valley’s floor, El Capitan is a favorite for experienced rock climbers. 

Photo courtesy of Ed Cooper.

[americasgreatoutdoors]

Happy first day of Winter! We are celebrating with this amazing photo of Sparks Lane in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park by Christopher Ewing.

[ftwinter]

Boreas, you're late

Some "god of the cold north wind" you are, Boreas. The Winter Solstice came and went yesterday, and Minnesota is NOT a snow lovers paradise. If this means you're just holding back a bit so skiing and ice fishing will be good well into March, fine. Just hurry. Until conditions improve here, to kick off another season of FTWinter, we're going to reblog a few inspirational winter pics from elsewhere.

[northernminnesotan]

❄️Minnesota Winters ❄️

[ftwinter]

Heaven is snowy trees and ski tracks. 

[ftwinter]

The Big Dig

Technically, this is not solstice snow. But there’s so much of it, it’s roused us from hibernation. #Buffalo, you have a herculean task ahead of you, and from all of us in #Minnesota, godspeed, grit and frequent coffee breaks. You are the Snow Redistribution Heroes of the Universe today. The Bills posted on Twitter there are 220,000 tons of snow in that stadium. Pretty sure we saw this scene in The Day After Tomorrow.

[ftwinter]

P.S. If it snows from here on out … if a late freeze kills your tomato plants … if a cold front shuts down your walleye fishing … do not blame Winter. No. That’s not Winter. Spring and Summer are such flagrant and misleading teases in northern latitudes. The cool thing about Winter is you know exactly what you’re going to get. Truth in advertising. FTWinter. 

[ftwinter]

Can you believe it? It seems like the Winter Solstice was only yesterday. Since then, there have been holidays, tasty treats, community celebrations, office parties, snowshoe and ski outings, ice fishing, winter camping, the Winter Olympics and even yoga on top of snowballs. We’ve chronicled the journey, and it’s a good thing we did because a couple polar vortexes would have really wrecked the story of winter if FTWinter hadn’t been here to accentuate the positive.

It’s the first day of spring today, and reluctantly we’re ending our daily posts. However, we leave you with this. Remember the scene from the classic Frosty the Snowman? Frosty has melted, and Santa consoles Karen by saying, “Don't cry. Frosty's not gone for good. You see, he was made out of Christmas snow, and Christmas snow can never disappear completely. It sometimes goes away for almost a year at a time and takes the form of spring and summer rain. But you can bet your boots that when a good, jolly December wind kisses it, it will turn into Christmas snow all over again.”

FTWinter is made out of Solstice snow. And when Solstice light kisses it … presto. The magic returns.  

Illustration credit to modern storyteller Craig. 

[ftwinter]

In honor of our latest snowfall in Minnesota, FTWinter gives you "Snows a No Show" from the 2014 Iditarod. 

[ftwinter]

Ski and snowboard season isn’t over quite yet. Head to Welch Village this coming Saturday (3/22) and catch the epic Pond Skip event at 1:00. Here's a run from 2013.

[ftwinter]

Had to post another one of our favorites from barbaraobrienphoto, this adorable puppy is waving goodbye to winter. 

[ftwinter]

Shoutout to the Irish team that went to Sochi. Here, Seamus O'Connor competes in Men's slope style. 

[ftwinter]

The snow may be deep but spring is days away and that means it is time to tap the maple trees.

[becerrac]

[paradisehome]

Nature blog. Following back all new followers!