Backcountry Skiing in Colorado
Ever since last season Ryan and I have been really into
backcountry skiing. It is a great way to really enjoy both the off-season (from running) as well as the incredible winter beauty of Colorado. And, once you have the gear- it's free!!
I will continue to post more detailed reviews of new places we go, but I also want to chronicle our ski adventures throughout the winter. This will (hopefully) be a continuously updated log of where and when we skied- complete with pictures and Garmin data!
Backcountry Ski Reviews:
New Review:
Butler Gulch
Arapaho Lakes
Hidden Valley
Wolf Creek Pass
**Listed in reverse order- newest ski adventure first!
January 4. Location: Wolf Creek Pass. 2:27, 4.8 miles, 1,778 feet climb
Our last day at Wolf Creek pass- skied as much as we could before having to drive 4.5 hours home. Had a blast with tons of fresh lines on every turn. Cody was toast by the end!
January 3. Location: Wolf Creek Pass. 5:51, 8.67 miles, 2,510 feet climb
Skied in the morning with Cody, then dropped her off at the car. There was so much powder, she was having a hard time getting uphill in the deeper sections. We wanted to hit the trees and knew she would get stuck. Luckily we left her in the car, because was went into the woods, and proceeded to get lost. We only did 1 run after lunch, but it took us almost 3 hours to find our way (safely) down to the road and hitch hike back to the car. We skied the same trees that we've skied tons of runs, but decided to try and ski a bit further. We found ourselves on some really sketchy snow that was pretty steep (it kept sloughing- an avalanche sign), and there were too many huge, downed trees to skin back up. Our idea was to ski back down to the road, but that proved a lot harder than expected. Anyways, we were safe the whole time, it just took a while. The run before getting lost was a blast! And a nice kid named Joe from Durango gave us a ride back to our car.
January 2. Location: Wolf Creek Pass. 5:00, 7.0 miles, 2,000 feet climb
After a wonderful day skiing Wolf Creek Resort in a ton of powder (Thursday), we decided to ski backcountry to ensure tons of fresh lines. Delivered. Had a blast skinning and skiing with Cody!
December 14. Location: Berthoud Pass.
So.much.powder!!! A storm system finally came to the mountains, and it happened to get stuck on Berthoud Pass, dumping powder the entire day. We skied 7 runs and had amazing fresh tracks the entire time. What a day!!!
The coverage was still a bit iffy- the snow was so light that we would still hit rocks occasionally, but that should change now!
November 30. Location: Butler Gulch. Details: 9.89 miles; 3,442 vertical feet, time: 4:42
Since Berthoud didn't have a lot of snow the day before, we decided to go back to Butler Gulch in hopes that there was some fresher snow in the trees. The hunch paid off and we found plenty of fresh lines in Butler. We found a really nice gully between some rocks that was a ton of fun and just kept hitting that run over and over. It was an awesome day with Jon, Ryan and Cody! Also, Cody wore her new Hurtta Slush Guard suit for anti-snowball protection for the first time. It was hysterical!
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| Not amused with the snow suit! Also, she would only let me put on 3 boots |
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| The long skin up |
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| Even though Cody's snow suit worked well, she had enough after 3 hours |
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| Almost to the top of the run |
November 29. Location: Berthoud Pass. Details: 5.69 miles; 2,753 vertical feet, time: 3:16.
Ryan had to work, but Jon wanted to hit the slopes for his first ski- and I was game! The snow wasn't very good- lots of wind crust and a lot less coverage. Still a really fun time!
November 28. Location: Jenny Lind. Details: 4.37 miles; 1,834 vertical feet; time: 2:51
We were 2 for 2 with new locations. Jenny Lind gulch is even closer (mileage) than some other areas, and you don't ever have to set rubber on I-70, if you so choose! The snow coverage was pretty minimal, but we still had fun, and now have another new place to head when the powder piles up!
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| Is there enough snow? Sure! And who cares if it's almost 50 degrees? |
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| Breaking trail |
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| At the top |
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| Cody looks exhausted!! She was post-holing the entire day. I think she wants doggie skis for Christmas! |
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| There's enough snow! |
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| Skin track back to the car |
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| Very sleepy pup |
Garmin File:
November 27. Location: Butler Gulch. Details: 6.82 miles; 2,238 vertical feet; time: 2:42.
Last year we stuck to a few well known areas while skiing. This year, my goal is to ski as many new backcountry spots as possible. Our first new adventure was a very well known area called Butler Gulch, and we got to check it out on Thanksgiving. The new snow had stopped falling a few days ago, so most of it was a little wind blown, but we still had an amazing time.
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| The long skin up |
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| Still skinning |
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| Some of the best views in the backcountry |
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| Cody approves |
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| I want to ski it all! |
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| Happy Thanksgiving! |
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| Finally, a tired dog |
Garmin File:
November 23rd. Location: Berthoud Pass. Details: 3.5 miles; 1,900 vertical feet; time: 2:00
Second ski!! It was awesome!! We had a lot of powder today, and our ski's were actually working. The temperature was much better, and there was at least 7" of fresh snow, with more snow all day.
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| The happiest dog in the world |
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| Scoping lines |
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| Perfect line |
Cody loves skiing!! In fact, this is her preferred look:
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| Flawless |
Garmin File:
November 16th. Location: Berthoud Pass. Details: 2.8 miles; 1,800 vertical feet; time: 2:38.
Our first ski of the year- in Mid-November!!!! We weren't sure there would be enough ski to actually go, but there was plenty of ground cover! We had a few minor issues on our first day- for one, the temps were well below zero when we started. Second, the glue from our skins stuck to our skis, and coupled with the cold temps, we could barely make it down the mountain- it was that sticky! Regardless of that, we still had a blast!
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| Almost able to make some turns |
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| Who needs water when there's always fresh snow? |
We also saw this incredible snow rainbow (actually called a Sun Dog!)
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| A sun dog |
Garmin File:
….more adventures to come!
