Today Show comes to Colorado

My friend Linda and I on the slopes.











Linda gets into her monoski
















Volunteers unload all the goodies (ski equipment) from the Today Show truck.






Today Show weatherman Al Roker interviews Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler.
The crowd gathers with signs to welcome the Today Show crew.
A truck dumps more snow onto the Today Show "set" at Eldora Ski Area near Boulder, CO.
The Today Show crew sets up equipment (i.e. lots of lights)before airing live -- 7:15 a.m. Eastern, 5:15 a.m. Mountain -- on Tuesday, April 15.


Before the weekend I wanted to post some photos of what I was doing EARLY Tuesday morning.

A friend of mine involved in a disabled ski program at Eldora Ski Area outside Boulder invited to drive up at 4:30 a.m. to be at the ski area for a live feed of the Today Show. The NBC morning show was there as part of weatherman Al Roker's "Lend a Hand" charity program. The program donated a bunch of snowboards, skis, parkas, etc. to the disabled ski program, which is the only all-volunteer ski program of its kind in Colorado.

I'd never been to a Today Show taping. It was cold, windy, dark and definitely early (it was a live feed for the eastern time zone audience), but I estimated about 250 people showed up. Some people painted signs and held them up, as is typical for a Today Show audience. Most just stood around trying to get a glimpse of Al Roker and Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler when he showed up. Why Cutler was there, no one really knew. He's not involved in the disabled ski program, but he sure did plug his own charity on camera.

One funny thing that proves everything is staged for TV: Before the taping began, the Today Show people had extra snow transfered by truck into the staging area . . . I guess so that whever Al Roker was standing, it would look like winter. You see, in spite of the cold on Tuesday morning, it is springtime in the Rockies, and much of the snow at the base of ski areas has melted. In fact, most Colorado ski areas, including Eldora, had closed for the season the weekend before the Today Show came.

And for the camera, of course, there was the staged unloading of all the ski equipment from the "Lend a Hand" truck. People from REI and Office Depot were there up in front, their company logos prominently displayed on hats and T-shirts. The ironic thing is that in a conversation with a ski program volunteer later in the day, I learned that the volunteers have been going around to area businesses for years trying to drum up donations of equipment for skiing, office stuff, etc. Few were that interested until the Today Show announced it was coming and offered them an opportunity to be the heroes on national TV.

Another ironic thing was that they also got a donation of a car. I had to laugh when one of the volunteers looked at the Subaru Outback and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "What do we need a car for?" I think they'd rather have more ski equipment so disabled people can learn to ski.

The best part was after the show, Eldora opened two of its lifts to the disabled ski program. (I'm not a part of it, but I'm thinking about volunteering next year.) It felt way too early to be skiing -- by the time the Today Show people started packing up to leave, it was only about 7:30 a.m. But I got in a few runs with some new friends who, despite their disabilities, smile all the time, have postive attitudes and share a passion for skiing.