Welcome to Louis (Lou) Dawson's backcountry skiing information & opinion website. Lou's passion for the past 50 years has been alpinism, climbing, mountaineering and skiing -- along with all manner of outdoor recreation. He has authored numerous books and articles about
ski touring and is well known as the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, otherwise known as the
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Spent some time on Vail Pass today. Not spring corn here either.
Skied W through WSW lines only and even then it was over by noon! A little tricky getting down through the trees to the car at 10,600! We’ve got a strong crust (about 1″ thick) on top of transitioning snow and 3″ new on top of that this morning. Just thick enough and dense enough to make early turns on W fun. The transition to spring snowpack is at a snail’s pace; a lot of winter structure here yet. Bummer.
I hope the snow up on Independence Pass will hold up till the road opens. The snow at my pass is too low and too warm!
Thanks for the info. We are thinking about getting up SUPER early and skiing the east face of Garrett (Snowmass). What are your thoughts about east faces this late in the season?
Yeah Sherry, April might be sort of the new May, but acts an awful lot like April with a non-compacted snowpack in many places. We’re skiing Uneva off Vail Pass next weekend and I hope there is some snow! If it’s totally out of condition we’ll probably try Berthoud.
What do you think?
Uneva Bowl was the part of Vail Pass that I skied today. I felt that the coverage was excellent (for Colorado this time of year). I have not been on the backside of Uneva (north face) lately so I can only vouch for W-S-E aspects.
Snotel data shows a snow depth is quite a bit better at Berthoud (63 in to our 42 and Indy Pass at about 43). Just depends on how far you want to drive. Also, I guess if some long term unseasonably warm conditions come along, Berthoud might be a better call as it is higher.
The only real problem with Vail at this time is the rotten snow in the trees. That problem can be solved by parking at the westbound side CDOT sand shed about a mile west of the Vail Pass exit. Just get off I-70 at the pass and go back to it. Lots of locals park there is the spring for bc skiing. CDOT doesn’t usually give anyone a hard time if you go to the end of the entrance ramp and get off the pavement. By parking there you can get back to your vehicle by skiing open areas.
I will probably get up there again a couple days this coming week. I can let you know if conditions take a turn for the worse.
Dana, east does get first sunhit so get there early so you have options. Once the east faces consolidate they can be good on into late morning or even all day when temps are cooler, but this time of year can be a bit strange as you can have a nice crust with corn, then when the sun hits it softens the crust and you break through. If you don’t get a good freeze in the trees that can be a problem as well, since you’ll be sinking on the way back. Tricky but worth the effort. Good to be careful.