LEADVILLE - Tom Szwedko loads two pairs of free-heel skis and a pair of well-worn Scarpa telemark boots into the back of his early 1990s pickup truck and heads out for a few hours of backcountry skiing.

No, it's not mid-December and it hasn't snowed in months. It's mid-August and the ski and snowboard season won't really get going for another three months.

But that's all lost on Szwedko, because for him, the ski season never really ends. The retired Lockheed Martin programmer analyst has skied at least once every month since October 1979. Doing the math, he's at 335 months and counting.

It's the longest known streak in North America, maybe the world, although it's hard to be sure because there aren't any official stats on the subject.

Turns-All-Year.com, organized by year-round ski fanatic Charles Eldridge, lists 34 U.S. and Canadian skiers with active or retired streaks, but the next closest to Szwedko's is a mere 165 months.

For some, maintaining a streak is pure novelty. For others, such as Szwedko, it's a good way to guarantee they'll get into the mountains to pursue their passion.

"This time of the year, you can't make an all-day thing out of it," says the 60-year-old Szwedko, who sports a salt-and-pepper beard that's as robust as his passion for skiing. "You just have to enjoy getting a few turns in and call it a day."

Even more impressive than Szwedko's streak is his perseverance.

He has averaged more than 300 days a year since retiring for good a couple of years ago and once logged 365 days - it was during a leap year, so he technically missed one day.

This season, which he says ends Friday, he has logged 340 days, including more than 70 days since Arapahoe Basin ended the lift- served season at the end of May.

He skied almost every day in July, including 30,000 vertical feet during a 11-day trip to the Pacific Northwest, and logged more than 20 days in August.

"I used to say, when the first snow falls, that's when the season starts," says Szwedko, who moved to Colorado from Pennsylvania in March 1980. "But that started becoming a problem because sometimes it was the first week of September, sometimes it was really late. So one year would get longer than the other and it was kind of uneven. So now I consider the first of September to be the start of the new season."

Resorts lend a hand

Summer skiing in Colorado isn't a new phenomenon. From 1967 to 1977, a small ski area called Montezuma Basin operated one tow lift during the summer on the north side of Castle Peak near Aspen.

St. Mary's Glacier northwest of Idaho Springs, Mount Epworth in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area northeast of Winter Park and Jones Pass west of Empire long have been popular places for making a few summertime turns. And in 1995, Arapahoe Basin boasted powder days well into July and kept its lifts running until early August.

But skiing and snowboarding in the summer typically isn't anything like what locals and tourists alike have come to love in winter and spring. Whatever snow remains this time of year usually is sun-cupped, glazed over and often rutted from runoff.

With each month's rising temperatures and depleting snowfields, getting a few turns from July to September usually requires a long hike to a backcountry snowfield that might be only a few hundred feet long.

But for the streakers, that's just enough to make it count.

Englewood resident Jim Becia extended his streak of ski months to 57 on Aug. 12 after making 121 turns on a 400-foot snowfield above Peak 9 at Breckenridge.

Joining Becia were maniacal ski buddies Szwedko, Arlen Warta, who extended his steak to 149 months, and relative newcomer Doug Collier, who completed his first year of streaking.

Most of the pack, as well as another friend, Dan Ruedy, started skiing together years ago through the Satellite Ski Club while working at Lockheed Martin in Littleton.

"My criteria is that I need to link 50 turns for me to consider it a day of skiing," said Becia, 45, who works as an electrical engineer for United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. "I don't necessarily have to link 50 in a row. I'll yo-yo and hike back up and do it again. The worst I ever had was 15 turns on Georgia Pass one summer, so then I had to hike back up and do it again, and then do it again and then do it again to reach 50 turns."

Szwedko doesn't follow any minimum guidelines, but with as much as he skis, one gets the idea he's not one to skimp.

While he admits he's skied some pretty small snowfields during his streak, he's just as jazzed about skiing a few hundred yards on a quickly melting sheet of sun- cupped snow on Hagerman Pass as he is about the time in summer 1995, when he skied a 3,800-foot vertical run near Crested Butte.

For all of his passion for skiing, Szwedko is the antithesis of a lot of what the ski industry has come to represent.

He doesn't wear flashy, brightly colored ski outfits. He has worn the same Patagonia hat for more than 20 years. He doesn't have a season pass at any resort and, in fact, only occasionally skis lift- served terrain.

"Usually, it's only when I get a free ticket," he said.

Moreover, he buys his skis at gear swaps and rummage sales, sometimes for as little as $20 a pair.

"I go through four or five pair every year," said Szwedko, who doesn't wear a helmet and often skis alone. "And since I'm not subsidized, I gotta get 'em cheap."

'Streaking' isn't easy

Maintaining a streak isn't an easy task, even for someone with the dedication and passion to make it a monthly priority. Becia once planned a hernia surgery early in October after extending his streak to ensure enough recovering time to get another day in November.

Ruedy had to retire his streak recently because of hip replacement surgery. Other streaks end because of unexpected business trips at the end of the month. And sometimes things just don't work out as they should.

If it weren't for a bit of holiday- induced procrastination and an ill-timed brain cramp, Becia's streak actually would be at 153 straight months, not 57.

He had logged at least one day a month for eight consecutive years through October 2002. With Winter Park, Loveland and Keystone already open by early November, keeping his streak alive should have been simple.

But the first weekend of that month he was out of town. The next two weekends, he and his wife were vacationing and attending a friend's wedding in Hawaii.

They returned just before Thanksgiving weekend, and Becia figured he would have time during the four-day holiday to get in some turns.

Thanksgiving Day wasn't possible because he and his wife had company over for dinner. He was too tired Friday and figured Saturday would be too busy and crowded. So he planned to go that Sunday.

"Well, as it turned out, that particular year, Sunday after Thanksgiving fell on the first of December," he said. "I didn't even look at the calendar or realize it until Sunday morning when we were packing up the car to go to the mountains. I was looking at my watch and I freaked out. I said, 'Oh, my god, it's December 1st.' "

Becia went skiing anyway and began a new streak.

Summer skiing safety

Skiing and snowboarding in the summer can be a lot of fun, but it's not for everyone. A few tips to keep in mind while dreaming about making turns year-round:

• Absolutely do not attempt to hike or ski any mountain in the summer unless you're fully prepared, in good physical condition and understand the risks.

• Never go backcountry skiing or snowboarding alone in any season. Always tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return.

• Always carry proper safety and first-aid equipment, as well as food, water and extra layers of clothing.

• Be aware of hidden risks such as hidden rocks, crevasses, hollow snow, cliffs and variable snow conditions.

• Be prepared for quickly changing snow conditions from temperature fluctuations and precipitation. Sun cups, ice caps, iced-over slush, runoff streams and bare patches are among the many features commonly encountered.

• Make sure you're able to hike between 10,000 and 14,000 feet altitude and remain optimally hydrated at all times.

• Start a summer ski outing early in the morning to avoid any quickly changing weather patterns and afternoon thunderstorms.

• Know specifically where to hike or ski, understand what features to avoid and have the ability to hike up boot-packed stair steps.

Summer skiing hot spots

If you have done any summer hiking in Colorado's high country, you've probably seen a few random sets of ski tracks on an isolated snowfield from time to time. Some of the most popular backcountry summer ski destinations are close to the Front Range. But skier beware: Access to each site requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle or a strenuous hike at high elevations.

Hagerman Pass

• Along Hagerman Pass Road west of Leadville and Turquoise Lake, there usually are a couple of long snowfields that remain through July, sometimes August. But to get there requires a four-mile drive on a very rough, rocky fire road.

Isabelle Glacier

• Though it has gotten smaller in recent years, Isabelle Glacier in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area west of Ward usually provides enough snow for year-round skiing. Access is gained by parking in Brainard Lake Recreation Area and hiking west beyond Lake Isabelle.

Mosquito Pass

• This 13,000-foot mountain pass east of Leadville usually has skiable terrain into August. It's fairly easy to access in a four-wheel-drive vehicle on Mosquito Pass Road from Leadville.

Mount Epworth

• This 11,843-foot mountain in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area usually has a sizable snowfield through mid-August. Access is gained by driving up the Winter Park side of Rollins Pass, then hiking to the peak just west of the pass.

St. Mary's Glacier

• Located northwest of Idaho Springs, this long has been a popular place for summer skiing and snowboarding. But much of the area surrounding the glacier is private property, so access is very limited. A small ski area once operated below the glacier from the 1930s until 1986, and another one is being planned.

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