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Winter's last stand was fading quickly Wednesday.

"That rock was buried when we started last week. Couldn't see it at all," Maine-based cross-country skier Will Sweetser said, gesturing to a large boulder in a snowless field near U.S. Highway 40 on Rabbit Ears Pass. "We've lost 4 feet just in the last week."

But up where the aspens still are naked, some of the most dedicated winter sports athletes are clinging to their season.

Broad swaths of meadows existed only as muddy messes last week, but skiers still made their way along the thin bands of packed snow that lead to the still-white mountains high in the Rabbit Ears range.

The U.S. Ski Team adaptive cross-country skiing squad joined a group of nine skiers who traveled from Maine and several local athletes in soaking up the last few days of the snow season.

"We got to run a camp on snow at the end of May. Any time you do that, you're toying with Mother Nature," U.S. coach Greg Rawlings said. "But it's been good. Really good."

The national team wrapped up its two weeks of Steamboat Springs-based activities with Wednesday morning's workouts.

The snow wouldn't allow much more skiing by the time the team members coasted down from the higher elevations to their base on the east end of the pass.

A groomed ribbon of snow led away from the highway into the mountains, but it was fraught with wide, muddy breaks. Greg Mallory, a Portland, Ore.-based adaptive skier, cut a gash in his skis as he made his way toward the highway for the last time.

The higher and still snowy trails he came from, though, remained in excellent condition.

"We got a lot of skiing in. A lot of volume," Mallory said. "It's been a little too warm over the nights so the snow has been a little punchy. That's a bigger deal when you're only using your arms. But it's still been pretty good."

For most of the week's skiers, the fading snow on Rabbit Ears represents their last chance to get work in on snow until next winter. Even with a summer between snow-based workouts, they agreed there was plenty of positive to be found.

"We got lots of hours on the snow and got lots of video," Rawlings said. "We had a lot of dialogue about how to go faster and what we need to do in the offseason."

The benefits of the late-season work were more than enough to leave the nine Maine skiers feeling fulfilled.

"There's nothing like specificity," Sweetser said. "You want to be a good skier? Ski. Running will make you fit, but it won't make you a good skier."

The adaptive team managed to ski on several different trails in the area during its two-week camp. The Maine crew, meanwhile, continued skiing through the weekend.

"This has been great," Sweetser said. "We live at sea level, so doing a camp here at altitude is an advantage."

As the sun worked away on what remained of skiing season, Rawlings couldn't hide his excitement. His skiers took advantage of the valley's spring treats while they were in town. They worked at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club's weight room, kayaked in the Yampa and mountain biked dry area trails.

But it was the way they milked nearly every last moment from the ski season that had him giddy.

"There are never bad days skiing," he said. "Just days you can't ski."