The Henry Mountains from the north as we drove past the Maze and Goblin Valley. Surrounded by canyon country in all directions, it feels kind of strange as you approach them with the goal of skiing in mind. “So then what are you guys doing in Utah?” asked our friend after running through the list of typical Utah desert activities, i.e. biking, climbing, boating and hiking. I interrupted and said,”We’re...
Christy schusses the middle gully of Mace Peak’s North Face with late April powder. With plans to be away in the Utah desert for most of next week I thought I’d share some pics from a quick little tour Christy and did up in Ashcroft Sunday. A huge storm blew threw Colorado just before the weekend dumping some twenty inches of snow on the mountains and bringing us back into...
The signs were pointing to an exceptionally busy Saturday at Highlands. So we decided to hit one of our favorite lines on Highlands Ridge and made it a “one and done” day.
A moderate pace up the moderate slope, as an avalanche instructor/forecaster, Josh knows better than to assume the moderate rating is as safe as it sounds. If you haven’t checked the CAIC website as of late, the current avalanche danger rating for the Aspen zone is moderate on all aspects and elevations. With five ratings on the avalanche danger scale– low, moderate, considerable, high and extreme– moderate is just a...
John Doyle stacks em. Generally speaking, the reports coming in from the Aspen area backcountry are at best, lousy, and at worst, dangerous. Despite the disappointing conditions and eager to get out and do something, Sean Shean, John Doyle and I took a tour to see things firsthand and we actually found everything to be a notch or two better than lousy– the skiing was better described as being ‘pretty...
Well maybe it’s not a true “Dawn Patrol,” by its strict definition at least. But it is Friday and with the approaching summer solstice only 10 days away it’s not really necessary to get moving in the dark, and because it was completed before Christy went into work, we’re filing it under the title above. The weather lately has been unusual to say the least, with unseasonably cold temperatures and...
Skiing the South Slopes of Mount Massive
Amos Whiting, Dirk and I headed to Mount Sopris on Friday. Our initial plan was to ski the Crystal Chute, the 6000 foot couloir that descends towards Carbondale, a line that has been on all of our ‘ticklists’ for some time. After shuttling a car to the couloirs exit, or at least where we believed it to be, we drove towards the Dinkle Lake trailhead and made our way up...
The day after crying uncle at the Steamboat race, Christy said we needed some so called “active recovery,” so we joined Dirk and Tim for an awesome day out in Big Momma Bowl. The weather was perfect for the two hour skin and hike to the huge bowl in the Maroon Creek Valley. The pics tell the rest and yes, Christy is skiing with fixed heels. Tim Mutrie, barely keeping...
Timing is everything. Sometime last Saturday I noticed Bob Perlmutter peering through the telescope at the Sundeck on Aspen Mountain, following the progress of a skier on Ski Hayden (Hayden Peak’s north summit). I had been tracking the solo skier as well and after noting Bob’s interest, knew exactly who to recruit as a partner. After a half dozen more skiers followed suit up there on Sunday and Monday and...
We met in Aspen in 2000 and have been happily stuck in the rockies ever since, getting out in the mountains every day we can, in every season and by all means possible. Read More
