Montezuma Basin Archives | Stuck in the Rockies

Mount Raoul

Apr 17, 2015

A 20 mile ski outing to Mount Raoul, 13,803 ft, near Castle Peak, with a return trip over Conundrum Peak and down the Conundrum Couloir

Fall just wouldn't be complete without a trip up to Montezuma Basin. A friend had told me that the recent wet weather was falling as snow up in the basin at 13,000 feet, and that the skiing was actually pretty good. Better yet, the road was still mostly dry and you could drive high up the road. So Joey and I headed up there this past weekend with our rock...

Castle Peak

Nov 15, 2013

We skied Castle Peak’s North Couloir last weekend, an early season favorite of mine. 14er ski descents are usually reserved for the spring months, but there are exceptions. Wet weather in Aspen during the autumn months falls as snow in Castle’s Montezuma Basin, and reasonably good skiing can be had up there as early as late September. The North Couloir is a bit more finicky in the early season (more…)

Off to a good start

Oct 30, 2011

Our season has begun. Not wanting to wait another month for the lifts start running here, Christy, Kathy, Joey, and I headed up to Montezuma Basin yesterday. It's a haul to get up there, but when the snow is good, it's definitely worth the effort. For anyone considering heading up that way, the road isn't too slick or snowy for driving, yet. There's weather in the forecast next week though,...

The First Turns

Oct 28, 2010

There’s something about making your first turns of the season that’s always special.

Conundrum Couloir & a “mini” Ellingwood Ridge

Jul 8, 2008

Skiing on the 4th! The thought of skiing on July 4th seemed too fun to turn down. Initially hoping to ski the "Fourth of July" bowl up on Independence Pass, when the reports came back that conditions there were pretty lean, and that Montezuma Basin and neighboring Conundrum Peak, 14,060 ft., were still loaded, the call went out to anyone interested. At 6 am Tim Mutrie and I rendezvoused with...

14er Ski Descents – Castle Peak – October 15, 2006

Oct 15, 2006

Route: North Face Couloir Team: Christy, Ted A few days after skiing both Castle and Conundrum peaks with Adrian, Christy and I headed up. Today was a weekend day though, and it was crowded. Nowadays, with all the near "real-time" trip reports you can find online, everyone and their mothers were up looking for some early season glory. It was a real junk show, complete with stuck cars, snowshoers with...

14er Ski Descents – Castle Peak – October 11, 2006

Oct 11, 2006

Route: North Face Couloir Team: Ted, Adrian Ballinger 2006 saw another snowy fall up in Montezuma Basin. I made several trips up into the basin for some fall skiing and before long, after enough snow fell, the North Couloir on Castle Peak was ready to go. As the guide/owner of Alpenglow Expeditions, Adrian invited Christy and I on an expedition to climb Ama Dablam in October 2008 so I figured...

14er Ski Descents – Castle Peak – October 20, 2005

Oct 20, 2005

Route: North Face Couloir Team: Ted (solo) This was standard Castle Peak. Autumn rain in town falls as snow up in Montezuma Basin. Mike Sladdin, Johnny Love, and I piled in the Tacoma and headed up. I had been up here earlier in the week and knew the couloir was skiable. Mike unfortunately wasn't too interested and Johnny regretfully left his ski poles in the back of his truck in...

14er Ski Descents – Castle Peak – October 7, 2004

Oct 7, 2004

It’s amazing what a good day you have up in Montezuma Basin in October. Since Dirk and I were headed out on a climbing trip to Ecuador in a week or so we wanted some time up high. A bluebird day with easy skiing snow greeted us.