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Weekend Backcountry Skiing

Bookmark and Share            By Lou

Had a nice weekend of skiing. Saturday we accessed the backcountry skiing goods at a private cabin near here (Carbondale), then Easter Sunday went for a bluebird day on Aspen Mountain ski area — the last day of lifts up there, always a fun vibe to be part of. But the views from Aspen Mountain thrust your spirit into the heart of the Elk Mountains, and wow it looks good out there! I’d say we’ve got a few weeks of perfect spring backcountry coming up here in central Colorado, but a dirt layer lurks in the snowpack. When the brown shows its ugly mug to the sun all bets are off, as the pack will melt like crazy. Till then, we’ll be there… After that, perhaps someplace like Mount Shasta would be the ticket?

Colorado Backcountry Skiing Powder
Boone gets his April powder fix. The snow was dense but nicely skiable, you’d just bounce through it like hopping on a trampoline. Fun.


April backcountry skiing powder.
Git sum Louie! Note: Dynafit FR10 skis. (Click photo to enlarge.)

Snowcat access to Colorado Backcountry Skiing.
Our friend has a snowcat he uses for backcountry skiing cabin access. A former trash hauler for Snowmass Ski Resort, the feline now gets to live in the wild. Sometimes it sleeps and has to be revived with tender care.

Snowcat access to Colorado Backcountry Skiing.
TLC for Holly carb on the big block. We earn our turns out here, but welcome mechanized access for the snow covered road.

Posted by Lou on April 17, 2006 | Filed Under Trip Reports 

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Comments

3 Responses to “Weekend Backcountry Skiing”

  1. Mark April 17th, 2006 7:06 am

    Snowcats are intriguing. I think I read on a cat skiing website that they often require 30 minutes of maintenance for every 8 hours of operation? Sounds annoying, but who can argue with where they’ll travel.

    Mark

  2. Todd Goertzen April 17th, 2006 12:03 pm

    Boone – the skiing photo looks way more fun then the wrenching photo… Big Sky closed yesterday and had 10″ plus this AM – typical. Hope to hike and ski something fun next weekend with your little sis… want to trailer the cat up here for a coupel of weeks?

  3. Chuck Linke April 18th, 2006 8:02 am

    Lou,
    Theres 20 plus feet of base up here in the northwest(Portland-Mt Hood, Ranier) which means we ski mostly any where we want(except that pesky Mt St Helens and its somewhat flammable innards) through July. After your your ‘few weeks’ of Colorado snow melts, come on up to the deep stuff. Who knows, the trailheads may even be open by end of July!
    Best wishes,
    Chuck Linke

Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information and opinion website. Lou's passion for the past forty years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about backcountry skiing and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the Fourteeners! Books and free back country information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.

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