Winter comes to Steamboat Springs from the west, piling up against Rabbit Ears Pass before it slides down into town overnight. All Weather Services LLC sets its clock by that arrival — out in the dark with the plow while the streetlights still stand in rings of falling snow, opening driveways and lots so the first errand of the day is an easy one. There is a particular satisfaction in the sound a blade makes when it finally finds pavement, and in a curb line left clean. Walks get shoveled to their true edges, entries get treated for ice, and the hard berm the county plow leaves across a drive gets carried off rather than climbed over. By the time the valley turns that pale blue of a winter morning, the work is already behind them.