Saturday, January 15th - Huygens Lands On Saturn's Moon Titan... Early yesterday the Huygens spacecraft descended through the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, "Titan", safely landing on the surface after a seven year journey... As Saturday derives it's name from Saturn, it is appropriate to display these first images from Titan today... More images, sounds, and other information on this space mission can be found at the "European Space Agency's Cassini-Huygens Page"... Saturn is currently at it's closest to Earth this year being easily visible in our evening skies... Even a small telescope will reveal it's wondrous rings... Look for it's bright golden glow in the "eastern sky after sunset"... 

Image taken during descent showing river-like channels indicating fluid movement...	Image showing light-colored high terrain meeting darker lowlands on Titan... A shoreline???

Thursday, January 13th - Switchbacks Extremely Icy... It is being reported that as of 1:30pm the switchbacks on FDR 128 are extremely icy and vehicles are experiencing difficulty going both up and down in this area... Chains are strongly advised... A layer of ice against the road surface under the snow is to blame... With the temperatures dropping and no proper winter road maintenance, this situation will likely worsen over the next few hours... Residents picking up children from the bus stops or otherwise traveling are advised to use extreme caution in the switchback area of FDR 128... 

Resident Injured While Being Good Samaritan... During yesterday's work to clear our roadway of ditched vehicles, one of the many who stopped to help was seriously injured... Long time resident, Scott Ohdemetroz, was helping move a trailer out of the way when he lost his footing and slipped resulting in the full weight of the trailer crashing down on his hand severely breaking the bones to his thumb... Scott was later taken to the emergency room by his wife, Michale, where the extent of the damage was revealed... Bones in his left hand will require surgery and placement of pins to repair... It should be pointed out that after the injury to his hand, Scott stayed on and worked another 45 minutes to help in getting others safely on their way, caring more about helping them than his own injuries... We would like extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Scott for his selfless acts and his dedication to helping our community, and also wish him a speedy recovery from his injuries... Scott is a prime example of the type of Good Samaritan which makes our community such a special place to live... 

Photo of Scott Ohdemetroz and his family taken last August

Wednesday, January 12th - 8:00AM UPDATE: FDR 128 Now Open... Storm Mountain's access road, FDR 128, is once again open... The last of the ditched vehicles have been pulled back onto the roadway and sand spread over a large portion of the ice in that particular area... Reports are that the road on down to CO 43 is passable with adequate tires and/or chains... Extreme care is still recommended as icing still exists in some areas... Many thanks to the local residents who worked together this morning to clear our roadway... 

Residents move trailer from ditched truck out of way	The last of the vehicles blocking the road is pulled out

7:00AM UPDATE: FDR 128 Closed Below "T"... Multiple vehicles are now blocking FDR 128 just below the "T"... Residents are currently working on pulling the vehicles from the roadway... We will post an update when the road is cleared for those that must travel... We strongly advise against any travel at this time...

Residents await help in pulling out their ditched vehicles along FDR 128 at 6:45AM this morning

FDR 128 Extremely Hazardous... As of 6:30AM a minimum of 4 accidents have been reported just below the "T" and before Railsback Hill... The road is nearly closed due to vehicles piled up blocking the road and any travel is strongly discouraged at this time... Ironically, this is partially due to icing as a result of a deicing substance, Mag-chloride, being used for dust control last year now holding moisture near the road surface and freezing as temperatures drop... Areas where the chemicals were not applied are free of ice and safe for travel... 

Overnight Snow Blankets Area... Snowfall through the night has blanked the Storm Mountain area with a fresh coating white... Snow continues to fall with 2 - 3 inches of accumulation being reported... FDR 128 is currently snow-packed with minor icing... Chains and/or 4WD with adequate snow tires are recommended... Residents are advised to allow extra travel time for commuting this morning... A "Fog Advisory" is in effect for the plains east of I-25 and both a "Winter Storm Warning" and "Avalanche Warning" in effect for the mountains west of the Continental Divide... As of 5:00AM, no official watches or warnings have been issued for our immediate area... 

County Swears In New Commissioners... Larimer County now has three new county officials... Larry Abrahamson is the new District Attorney and Glenn Gibson and Karen Wagner the new County Commissioners... Chief Judge James Hiatt presided over the official swearing-in Tuesday morning...

Tuesday, January 11th - Indonesian Earthquake Changed Earth's Shape And Rotation... NASA scientists are now confirming that the December 26th earthquake which generated "devastating tsunamis" actually changed the shape of our planet and increased our rotation speed, shaving 3 microseconds from the length of our day... In other words, Earth spins a little faster than it did before... According to their latest calculations, the earthquake shifted Earth's "mean North Pole" by about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in the direction of 145 degrees east longitude, more or less toward Guam in the Pacific Ocean... This shift is continuing a long-term seismic trend identified in previous studies... The complete story can be found via the link provided below...

Fundraiser Thursday For Local Jr. Iditarod Musher... A fundraiser will be held at 5pm on Thursday, Jan 13th, at the Dannels Fire Station in Estes Park to raise money to help send local resident Michaela Maddalena and her team to Fairbanks, Alaska to compete in the, "Jr. Iditarod Sled Dog Race", in February... In the Junior Iditarod XXVIII, mushers between the ages of 14 and 17, will compete on February 28th, in the 160-mile distance sled dog race... More information can be found in an "article posted in the Estes Park News" on Jan. 7th, 2005...

Michaela Maddalena and her "Team" Photo courtesy of Estes Park News

Monday, January 10th - Nate Jorgenson Benefit This Saturday... On October 1, 2004 Nathan Jorgenson, a Fort Collins native, had his life changed forever... While walking at night on the sidewalk of South Lemay Avenue, a drunk driver struck him with an SUV and left him in critical condition with a traumatic brain injury and broken cervical vertebrae... He is currently located at, "Craig Hospital’s Center for Neurological Rehabilitation", in Denver where he had fusion surgery for his broken neck... He is now stable with no spinal cord damage, and will be in their care until he returns to Fort Collins on January 20, 2005... On Saturday, January 15th there will be a, "Benefit for Nate", at the County Cork located at: "313 West Drake Road in Ft. Collins"... Superb northern Colorado musicians, "Wall of Dogs", are providing the entertainment...This event is being held to raise money to assist Nate and his family meet the costs of the renovation and medical expenses... "We are asking local businesses to donate items to be auctioned at the benefit, or cash donations made out to, "The Nathan Jorgenson Fund"... Any contribution you can make, large or small, will help us reach our fund raising goal of $20,000"... Online donations can be made at: www.natejorgenson.com...

Sunday, January 9th - Photo Of The Week... This amazing photo of "Comet Machholz" was taken by "Jimmy Westlake", professor at "Colorado Mountain College", near Steamboat Springs on January 5th... Both tails are clearly visible with the ion tail showing the effects of the solar wind upon the comet's nucleus... Comet Machholz will be visible for the next month in our evening sky...

Comet Machholz on January 5th, 2005   Photo Credit: ©2005 Jimmy Westlake

News posts from previous weeks are located in our "News Archive" which can be found by clicking the button below:

Storm Mountain Net