Red Mountain Pass is one of the hot spots of backcountry skiing in the San Juans, and Red Mountain 3 is one of the more traveled peaks in this area. So, one fine March day, we went to go check it out for ourselves!
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Making Turns in Colorado’s Front Range, Volume 2: South of Interstate 70 is another great book written and published by Fritz Sperry. A continuation of Volume 1: South of Interstate 70 This book features 109 routes spread among 55 peaks or regions that are great for backcountry skiing or ski mountaineering. Each of Sperry’s books continues to be an improvement over the last, and Vol 2 is his best work yet!
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You can make lemonade out of lemons. Or this year, you can make beer out of grain, hops, yeast, and water. Which is how this year is going so far. It’s beer, not lemonade.
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Smart phones and the available apps associated with them have allowed for more more involved route planning than we’ve ever done before. Here’s our methods and secrets to route planning for backcountry skiing in zones that we do not know!
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This past summer, while looking for photos of Radiobeacon Mountain, I came across this series of shots from then my good friend Dave Bourassa and I hit up Vail Pass on one of those perfect powder days in March of 2006. Back when I hucked like a mad woman, before I had 2 of my 3 ACL surgeries, before I had even met Frank, when I rocked the Volkl Mantra, and when some friends called me “Pink Pants”, for obvious reasons. I hope you enjoy the Throwback!
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Based out of Breckenridge, CO, Colorado Adventure Guides is a re-vamped guiding company that focuses on various winter activities like ski and splitboard tours, nordic skiing, snowshoe tours, peak ascents as well as summer adventures like hiking, mountain biking, 14er ascents, and rock climbing. CAG also offers a variety of outdoor education courses. For winter, they offer Avalanche Awareness & Avalanche Safety, AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Certification, as well as Introduction to Backcountry Skiing and Splitboarding. During the summer, they offer skills courses in backpacking, mountain biking, and rock climbing. Justin Ibarra is a Lead Guide and Instructor for Colorado Adventure Guides and Program Director of the sister company Colorado Snowboard Guides. Here, he tells us a little more about their story…
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The San Juans are one of my favorite ranges for backcountry skiing anywhere. Lots of vertical, plentiful snowfall most seasons, and terrific access thanks to the miners of the late 1800’s. Silverton lies in the heart of the range, and if you haven’t been, you should go.
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If you are looking for an in-depth guidebook, this isn’t it. While there are directions to the trailhead, and a general discussion of skintrack locations, that’s it. No hand-holding here. The atlas contains only the most relevant information, such as aspect and location, along with aerial photos of the zone.
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Rocky Mountain National Park harbors some fantastic backcountry skiing. Unfortunately, with the seasonal closure of Trail Ridge Road until around Memorial Day, much of the skiing is difficult to access. However, the Bear Lake zone is accessible all winter long and holds some of the best backcountry skiing in the Front Range that is not on the I-70 corridor with plenty of route options for both winter and spring. Although I had skied a few times in this area when I resided on the Front Range 10 years ago, I had long forgotten the specific lines in the Bear Lake “Terrain Park”. So, after a good sized spring storm late last April, I revisited the area with my friends Zach and Scott.
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