Snow Delays Summer Preps At Latigo Ranch Near Kremmling

KREMMLING, Colo. (CBS4) - Normally at this time of year Grand County dude ranch owner Jim Yost is bringing his horses up from their winter pasture.

"This last week this was bare ground. And in fact we were starting to get a little bit of dust. And you can see what it is now," said Yost, pointing out his pens and pastures with a fresh bed of 36 1/2 inches of snow.

Yost said the Mother's Day weekend snowstorm will delay their summer preparations by a few days.

"We expected that storm, but we didn't expect it'd be anything like this. We thought it might be a few inches," he said.

Yost is now working to plow some of the snow off his property using his snowcat. It's the only way to get around with the dense, heavy snow blanketing everything.

RELATED: Mother's Day Snowstorm Measured In Feet Across Colorado

Some of the employees who will work at the ranch this summer are showing up for early preparations. One worker from Michigan said he thought he wouldn't have to see any more snow this season. When CBS4 spoke with him he was shoveling snow off a staircase.

The storm brought the year's snow total at the ranch to 315 inches, just 5 inches shy of the record measurement. The average snowfall the area sees is 230 inches.

Yost said he has to repair some fences before he can get his horses up to the ranch, and he's hoping the snow melts quickly.

LINK: Latigo Ranch