Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information opinion website and e magazine. Lou's passion for the past 45 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 news and information here, and tons of Randonnee rando telemark info.
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Backcountry skiing is a dangerous sport. You may be killed or severely injured if you do any form of randone, randonnee and randonnée skiing. The information and news on this website is intended only as general information. While the authors and editors of the information on this website make every effort to present useful information, due to human error the information, text and images contained within this website may be inaccurate, false, or out-of-date. By using, reading or viewing the information provided on this website, you agree to absolve the owners of Wild Snow as well as content contributors of any liability for injuries or losses incurred while using such information. Furthermore, you agree to use any of this website's information, maps, photos, or binding mounting instructions or templates at your own risk, and waive Wild Snow its owners and contributors of any liability for use of said items for backcountry skiing or any other use.
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Awesome tour! And great family shot. I really like being above timberline, and Colorado has plenty of that.
Always wanted to ski there when I lived in Aspen, thanks for the nice TR!
Lou,
Thanks for the amazing panoramic shot, should have put this one in your book! Skiied Baldy One(or is it Two, anyway, the lookers right hand line, skiers left) about a week ago, but the visibility was really in and out and it was hard to see what else in the area would be good to ski. Now I know – nearly every line looks great! On our day the conditions were wet powder for the descent, but we were sinking to our knees in the wet grains at valley bottom on the way out, even with our skis on, which made the return to the resort rather epic(it was also raining). The cold temps are good for something, even if you didn’t get the corn. happy skiing! – andy wellman
It was cool to meet you in the backcountry, Lou. Even though the Cirque lift was down, folks were definitely getting after it off of Snowmass. We enjoyed watching your crew climb and descend Willoughby as we trudged towards the Cirque gate (no skins since we expected it to be running). We were rewarded though, with a super fast descent down Baldy One on smooth snow. On the way up, my buddy semi-jokingly remarked that “those people on Willoughby are lucky we’re spotting them if they decide to ski the bowl,” because there was a nearby natural on a similar aspect from a previous day. It was good to hear your descent route was altered based on the same observations! I think it was a wise decision. I’m amazed by all the potential lines between Willoughby and Garrett’s. Hopefully I’ll be getting up there this Spring, but I’m sure gonna miss the chairlifts as I skin up East Snowmass Creek.
P.S. I hope my tracks were of any help on the way out. I barely made it to work because the “cross-country ski” along the ditch trail had changed in just a couple days into a mud-walk. BTW, skied N. Face of Whitehouse for the first time yesterday, in good conditions. What an awesome peak! Excellent “access to the alpine,” an easy, obvious skin route, and a ridiculously good ski!