A Technicality

• Publication year: 2004
• Pages: 33

33 Colo.Law. 33 Colorado Lawyer 2004.

2004, March, Pg. 33. A Technicality

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33

Vol. 33, No. 3, Pg. 33

The Colorado Lawyer
March 2004
Vol. 33, No. 3 [Page 33]

Departments
Appellate Practice
A Technicality
by Andrew M. Low

Andrew M. Low is a partner in the firm of Davis Graham &amp Stubbs LLP, Denver - (303) 892-9400. Low heads the firm's appellate practice. This special department is published quarterly

I had been too wrapped up in motions, discovery, briefs, and hearings. The winter was almost gone, and I hadn't spent a minute in the mountains. I decided I would drive up that very weekend and do some nordic skiing, no matter how many unfinished matters crouched on my desk, growling for attention. Susan Victor and her husband had been urging my wife and me to spend some time with them at their cabin near Fraser. Even though it was short notice, they rearranged their schedule and invited us for the weekend. They would even join us for some skiing at Devil's Thumb, their local nordic center

We drove up together Friday night. Traffic was heavy along I-70 and then Berthoud Pass, but thinned rapidly once we passed Winter Park. The Victors' cabin was several miles back from the main road on a parcel of private land almost completely surrounded by national forest. Susan was an old hand at Friday night arrivals and soon had the wood-burning stove going full blast and a plate of brie cheese and crackers out on the coffee table in the little living room.

On Saturday morning we were in decompression mode, so we took our time over a leisurely breakfast. It was mid-morning by the time we arrived at Devil's Thumb. We bought our passes, snapped on our skate skis, and pushed off.

Susan Victor, an appellate lawyer and former judge, had been a fine multi-sport athlete all her life. Somehow I was not surprised to discover that she had mastered nordic skiing as well. She gave one vigorous push with her long poles, one stride with each leg, and accelerated to an impressive speed. Her husband, who had completed twelve marathons, effortlessly kept pace. The Victors quickly crested a nearby rise and were gone.

My wife and I were content to travel at about half their speed. We coasted along one of the center's easier trails, a wide track that gently ascended a shallow valley At the upper end of the valley the trail turned left through a notch in a small ridge. We reached an intersection and consulted our trail map. The main trail went straight, but a two-kilometer loop branched off to the right. Judging from the lightly tracked snow, few skiers had gone that way. We decided to check it out. We plunged into thick...