Wolf Creek Pass Backcountry Skiing

Last weekend we took advantage of Ryan's 3-day weekend to head down to the Southern San Juan mountains to go Alpine Touring. There is a great book to help us find back country ski areas called 'Powder Ghost Towns', detailing where old ski resorts used to be. One such area is at Wolf Creek Pass. There is a resort about 800 feet away, on the other side of the road that uses different mountains, but we wanted to explore potentially untouched powder.

For those that don't want to read, here is the video from our adventure! (Make sure you watch it in 1080p- click the settings wheel to change the resolution).




For the long version with pictures:

The San Juan Mountains

On Friday after Ryan finished work, we loaded the car and drove the 4.5 hours down to practically New Mexico. The drive was really easy, with a lot of very straight roads. When we arrived at the Wolf Creek Pass parking lot (where we were camping in our car), the moon was so incredibly bright that we did not use our headlamps outside. I eagerly ran up the side of the mountain to try and take a night shot with my new camera. It almost worked….

The next morning, Cody woke me up far too early to go pee. When I stepped outside, I couldn't believe the sky! What a perfect way to start the day!

Perfect morning sky

The Element Camper on a moonlit morning

Blue bird sky and skiing with my loves- what could be better?

The forecast for Saturday was 30 degrees and sunny, no wind- absolutely perfect. As we got our gear together, we saw some other skiers head into the woods, and that would be the last people we would see until we got back to the car that afternoon.

Ready to Ski!

The first skin up to the top of the mountain was a 1.1 mile gradual climb. The view at the top made it hard to want to ski down!

Gradual Skin up

Gorgeous views of the mountains

Cody enjoys the view before our first ski down

Wolf Creek Pass is a perfect area to explore Alpine Touring because there are a lot of low grade slopes, where the avalanche danger is typically low. Additionally, there is a lot of tree skiing since the forest is not as dense as other areas of Colorado. There were also what looked like endless runs and many faces of the mountain to explore. Since nearly everyone else goes to the resorts to use lifts (hah!) we had untouched snow on every run of the day. It was unreal.

Always making fresh tracks

The first day Cody and I skied 5.5 miles, while Ryan skied an additional few runs totaling 8.5 miles. After a full day of skiing, we cooked spaghetti on our camp stove and watched the sun go down over the mountains.

Winter cooking out of the Element

Sunset

Sunday was our big day. We found an amazing run through the trees that gave us almost 1,000 feet of descent. Every run was different, with a new stash of powder to turn through. Skinning up was long, but it was an amazing workout and we managed to ski 10.5 miles! Cody loved every single minute of it!

Could Cody be any happier?!

Perfect tree skiing

All our lines

Cody also loves tree skiing

Skiing on the edge

I love these skis!!

Monday we still managed to ski almost 7 miles before having to head back home. Every run we did for nearly the entire weekend was in fresh snow. Even though the region hadn't gotten any good storms in about a month, there were still so many fresh tracks if you looked for them. The snow was so soft that it didn't matter to us how deep it was- every turn was amazing!

Camping in the Element wasn't too bad, since we were absolutely exhausted after every day. The temps did get down to 1 degree during the night, so we were happy to have our -20F mummy sleeping bags. Despite wearing multiple layers of clothing, I did wake up cold a few times. Cody slept in my mummy bag with me and we kept each other warm. The other difficulty with winter camping is that everything freezes. Everything- water, milk, beer, even contact solution!! The Element Camper was terrific, but we aren't sure if we will camp in winter again….

Our perfect camping spot

I love this funny little toaster

It was an absolutely incredible weekend- 22.5 miles of skiing with over 10,000 feet of vertical gain in perfect weather. Cody had a blast chasing us down the mountain. She would try to herd us for the first 2 turns, but after that she just ran as hard as she could to keep up. She especially loved chasing us through the powdery snow in the trees. I would caution other dog owners before attempting to ski with their dog, though- crashing into them or cutting their paws with skis is a very real concern. Cody has been running and herding us for almost 7 years now, and despite seeming to get very close to us, she is always very careful and we never once ran into her.

This is what happens after chasing skiers for 22.5 miles

Until we ski again…..

The long road home

Sunset over Colorado