Dave: A bunch of us were working at the ski area, and Mondays and Tuesdays it shut down—so those were our days off. That’s when we’d take ski trips—down to Colorado, up to Red Lodge, or other places.

One time, Rick, Leora, Steve, and I decided to go to Steamboat. We left in the evening after work so we could be there first thing in the morning and take the first chair up.

It was cold. I mean, 30 or 40 below zero—one of the coldest days I remember. We packed up the gear and got going. I can’t remember if it was Rick’s or Steve’s car, but I do remember one of the windows had plastic over it because it had been broken out.

As we were driving, the plastic blew out—and now the wind was blasting in, making things even colder. Still, we thought, "No problem." We had winter clothes, goggles—we were prepared.

Then halfway there, the car heater quit. So now we had nothing producing heat at all except our bodies, and it was cold. But we kept going.

We got into Steamboat and found a hotel. The clerk said they only had one room left. We said, "We’ll take it." So we went around the building to our room—and the door was wide open.

Dave: Yeah. Turns out that was our room. We walked in, and it was freezing inside. Why? The heater didn’t work.

Dave: So we bundled up in every piece of clothing we had and lay down on the beds. Rick and Leora—who weren’t married but were living together—discovered the bathroom had a small heating element. So they camped out in the bathroom, leaving Steve and me to sleep in the deep freeze.

Needless to say, we got up early the next morning. We caught the first lift up the mountain, skied all day, and checked into a different hotel that night. The skiing was great—but that first night? Miserable.

Nancy: Do you still have all your fingers and toes from that night? I’m glad you didn’t get frostbite!

Dave: Yeah, we were definitely cold.

Nancy: So your friends were Rick and Leora?

Dave: Leora. And Steve.

Nancy: And Steve was your bunkmate that night?

Dave: Well, yeah—he had one bed, I had the other.

Nancy: That just sounds so cold. It honestly feels like winters aren’t as bitter anymore. The last few in Laramie have been pretty mild. I’ve seen -20°F in the past, but last winter I don’t think it got much below zero, which feels a little concerning.

Jan: That’s unusual.

Jan: Where we are in South Dakota, we still get very cold winters.

Nancy: Maybe it's just the way the cold settles... Well, thank you, Dave. That’s a great story—and it definitely makes me cold just thinking about it! Which I guess is good on a summer’s day.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.