Frozen ground has its uses — a February job site in Delta County is firm enough to drive on, and the road up the North Fork toward Lazear and Hotchkiss carries plenty that cannot wait for spring. Wiseland Construction & Excavation puts its machines to snow through those months, opening driveways, yards and access roads so work and life keep moving. Gravel is what makes it interesting: push too low and you take the road with you, push too high and you leave a pack that turns to ice by evening. The skill lives in the inch you decide to leave behind. Done that way, the ground looks like the storm barely stopped by.