Michael Charnick knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the northern lights in their full intensity.
Charnick is a science and operations officer for the National Weather Service office in Cheyenne and a dedicated backcountry enthusiast.
His first instinct for seeing the lights was to head to the ski slopes of Colorado, something unusual to see so far south. After all, they’re called the northern lights for a reason.
“I kind of had this in mind for about a year now, if we were to get a really good storm, I’d like to see if I could get some scenery in the foreground with the aurora that is very uncommon to see,” he said.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center forecast for an aurora borealis beginning last weekend was strong.
The sun is at an 11-year maximum for solar activity, creating a significantly heightened environment for solar flares and an aurora.
If a geomagnetic storm is strong enough, it can allow for northern lights to be seen at latitudes further south than what’s usually only visible from the most northern reaches of the globe.
The last major solar event visible in the central Rocky Mountain region was in 2003, he said.
“The chance was there to see the aurora at very unusually south latitudes,” Charnick said.
Charnick knew a couple things about what he would need to get the best viewpoint possible for a northern lights show.
First, he had to get away from light pollution, a task that already aligned well with his goal of getting out to the mountains where he would do some skiing.
Second, he had to find a north-facing viewpoint also lacking city lights in the backdrop.
Charnick settled on Rocky Mountain National Park in northern Colorado for his ski descent, where many of the trails are still covered with snow.
Because of the enhanced improvements of basic camera technology, capturing natural spectacles like the aurora borealis is something most people can do.
A look at some of the snow-caked trees, a phenomenon known as rime. (Courtesy Michael Charnick) 
The northern lights featured a wide variety of colors including deep purple. (Courtesy Michael Charnick) 
A view of the northern lights in the Rocky Mountain National Park night sky. (Courtesy Michael Charnick) 
A straight up view of the northern lights. (Courtesy Michael Charnick) 
A scene of the northern lights in Rocky Mountain National Park taken last Friday. (Courtesy Michael Charnick) 
Michael Charnick remarked that the photos of the aurora borealis he took reminded him of a scene in Scandinavia. (Courtesy Michael Charnick)
Like Scandinavia
Charnick hiked up the mountain to a prominent viewpoint above the treeline May 10.
Every time he stopped to catch his breath, he would snap a test image on his cellphone to see if he could pick up the colors, which he was already able to do around dusk at 9:30 p.m.
Like many northern lights hunters over the weekend, once he reached the top, Charnick found that his eyes had to adjust to see the northern lights’ most colorful features.
What first appeared as a dull milky band along the horizon quickly became something much more around midnight.
“To see it this vibrant, this far south, was certainly not something that you’ll probably experience once again for quite some time,” he said.
Charnick said he was hit with some of the most exquisite pinks, purples, neon greens and yellow hues he had ever seen in the night sky, arranged in shimmering pillars and streaks.
“It was stunning,” he said.
The pictures taken from his camera at the top were even more incredible, showcasing the deep hues of the colors stretched across the mountain backdrop.
It was also a perfectly still night, giving a sense of immense solitude for the show that was seemingly being put on just for him.
Aurora borealis events are common in northern regions like Alaska, which are located at much higher latitudes than in the central Rocky Mountains.
One photo Charnick captured at 11,500 feet shows trees caked with frozen snow with soft pink lights in the background, an image he compared to a Scandinavian snowscape.
The Ski Down
During an aurora borealis, the colors and lights wane and expand in intensity throughout the night.
After a lull in the lights around 2:30 a.m., Charnick started his descent as the northern lights shimmered faintly in the background.
About halfway down the mountain, the lights cranked back up, causing Charnick to stop and take more pictures with his skis on.
He pondered whether anyone in Colorado has ever made a ski descent quite like this. Although the 2003 event was well-publicized, backcountry skiing was much more of a niche sport at that time.
Charnick had to focus more on skiing down the mountain rather than staring up at the night sky while whooshing down the hill.
But he did grab some phone video while standing still where the lights can be seen.
Only a yellow-green haze is visible in the video, but it shows the size of the light show, taking up a significant portion of the night sky.
Using a headlamp, Charnick plucked his way down the mountain, where he said the freshly fallen snow was surprisingly good above treeline, comparing its consistency of the powder to styrofoam.
More To Come
The central Rockies region will be at solar maximum for the next few years, creating the potential for more northern lights opportunities than normal.
These storms are a result of solar storms on the sun, but can only be predicted about two to three days out.
The other obstacle is whether there are clear night skies. If it’s cloudy, the lights are impossible to view.
But for those viewing from a place without light pollution and with clear skies, Charnick recommends taking a peak outside at night.
“If the right combination of having a (solar) storm and there’s no clouds around, you might be able to see them,” Charnick said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
