Normally by January Colorado’s snowpack has reached respectable totals, enough to make inbounds skiing a priority. This year has been different. Inbounds skiing has been a bust, and even backcountry prospects are few and far between and marginal in quality. Rather than sit around and whine about it, a few friends and I decided to go ahead and take what Colorado seems to be granting this year; a solid window for winter hiking. Continue reading…
Is it ski season yet? Although for some the answer to this question may be “yes”, what realistically awaits the Colorado skier at this stage of the game is either rocks and core shots in the BC, or low-angle, man-made ice ribbons at the resort. As much as I wanted to try to ski somewhere on Saturday I just couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. Last year I was the first one on the lift at A Basin (on October 10th I believe it was), and I remember getting a few marginal turns and then having to wait a legitimate five weeks before finding anything worthwhile. Keep reading…
With spring winding down and summer on the doorstep, it seems that any time now rock climbing and hiking should start to take priority over skiing. But this season has featured some incredible snow totals and it’s hard to not continue taking advantage of it. Brian expressed interest in hitting something close to Denver with good bang for the buck, so naturally it didn’t take long for the classic snow routes on Grays and Torreys to enter the conversation. Keep reading…
With unseasonably high temps and instability lurking in the snow pack statewide, I was a little hesitant to drive to Lake City for an attempt on Wetterhorn. Upon seeing the overnight freeze was forecast to be around 32 degrees, we decided to give it a shot at the last minute. Partners for this trip ended up being Wes, with whom I have skied several peaks over the years, as well as David and Tyler. Keep reading…