Cabin Fever and the Ballroom: Part 1

I promised my friend that brought me here that I would not disclose the name or exact location of this destination. He actually threw a couple death threats my way to make sure that didn't happen. This is the quintessential trip for the accomplished mountaineer because the cabin is adjacent to natural hot springs, has a a plethora of ridiculous skiing and everything is above 12,000 feet. It is a place you don't want to get crowded. This is the small cabin that we slept in for 3 nights just below the hot springs. I like this shot because my buddy's old school tele-air is reminiscent of a circa 1950's ski jump. This whole area brings you back to a different era. Before high-speed quads whisked you up the mountain to your favorite descent, ski mountaineers ventured to this area which should not be named. Although it was a tough day in to this valley with more than 10 hours of hiking with a pretty sizable pack. The venture was well worth it. Because we did this trip in late May the ascent was a mix of different traveling techniques.
The trail started as a dry dirt single track which I started in my Scarpa T-1 telemarking boots, while my friends opted to start in their low hiking boots and sneakers and switch to their ski boots once we encountered a more consistent snow pack. There was still a significant amount of post-holing and snow in the shaded areas of the trail and I was really happy that I decided to stick with my ski boots and pants for the beginning of the trail. There were a few jealous moments as they skipped up the trail in their sneakers, but ultimately I was happy This picture marks the significant shift from hiking on a dry summer trail to skinning up on a high alpine winter route. The infamous silver dollar lake is a great halfway point for this trail and is always an indication that it is time to put your skis on. In the winter you usually ski down to this lake from the cabin on your descent back to the trail head. The gladed trees make for a really fun final day. However, the real skiing is done just above the hot springs. One days is

spent just trekking to the hut, finding the hot springs, taking in a soak and restfully enjoying the amazing picturesque surroundings. In the morning, the hot springs draw you right back in again. The water's healing minerals seem to melt away any ache you felt on the long journey up there. After another good soak in the morning, we ventured above the springs to an area we fondly referred to as the ballroom. The ballroom was so amazing. After a short, 10 minute skin above the hot springs we uncovered a giant white ballroom of 14,000 foot snow caped white peaks. All we had to do was pick our destination and our adventure would begin. It was about 3 hours of moderate skinning that would take us to one of the peaks in

the background. That was the fun part about the ballroom. All the pitches seemed to face north and have really fun descents. You can choose your if you want a really rowdy fifty degree pitch or just mellow powder 8 turns on a safe aspect. The area has it all. It felt amazing to be able to travel somewhere in May and feel like I was completely in winter. Aside from the small micro-climate below the hot springs the whole area was completely enveloped in snow. It was definitely spring time conditions but when you start your ascent 12,000 feet the is still that light winter powder that you search for all year. The ballroom is an enormous area that could easily take 3 weeks to explore. We did two summits while we where there and there were easily 10 more we could have picked instead. They all had cool names like "coffee pot notch" and "bear back point". The summits were a particular of the

spectacular. Views of the Elk Mountain range were amazing and from some vantage point you could see the Maroon Bells, Crested Butte, and trip as the views were trulySnowmass Mountian. Traveling through and summiting peaks in the ballroom was an absolute pleasure, we had blue bird conditions on day of the trip shown to the left and what felt like never-ending runs down were worth all the effort of the long days climb. Weather fluctuated a great deal on the trip as we were treated with 60 degree days and the weather got significantly colder at night. Because the cabin that we were staying in had no door or windows, we had to get a little creative to stay warm. Apparently this cabin used to have a gas stove and was a really nice lodge before the forest service came in a took everything out. Because this destination becomes very popular in the summer months when the hot spring are more accessible to the general public think

the forest service decided that they did not want to encourage anyone to stay longer than anticipated. We certainly made due with what we
had. We brought 3 millimeter plastic up with us and some pushpins to make a pseudo window for our time up there on the leeward side of the cabin. This significantly cut down on the wind and cold when we were sleeping at night. We also brought ground cover which made a significant difference. I do have to mention that although it was fun to make a fire and certainly help drying out the liners of our soaked boots, it was a bad idea from the beginning to make a fire inside the cabin. Even without windows or doors and a vent directly over where we built the fire, the room

would continue to build up with smoke and cause us to run outside for a breath of fresh air. We tried to keep the fire as low as possible but it often became a counterproductive act. In retrospect I would have built the fire outside of the cabin. Regardless, what was truly amazing about this trip was the proximity of hot springs to our skiing. We could literally ski right down to the springs and jump in at the end of each day. We would leave a little bag with a towel and extra layer at the springs each day and then just ski up to the springs, disrobe and jump in. I am sure this is where the idea of ski-in ski-out properties got started with an outdoor hot tub on the deck. This trip gave me an appreciation for the natural wonders that exist in Colorado and the simplicity of skiing, soaking, and sleeping.

Proud to be a Skier Dork

My buddy just sent me this video and it reminds me how fun skiing in a resort can be. This footage is of the front side of Vail Mountain under chair 4 and chair 11. It relates to my earlier posting, "Some days are better inbounds" as it was shot that same day. I can't help but comment on how the skier (eh em, me) sticks all of his landings and the snowboarder (my friend Cody) can't seem to land a single trick. Now, maybe it just wasn't Cody's day or he was camera-shy, however, it reconfirms my belief that it is much easier and more functional to travel on skis regardless if you are skiing in or out of bounds. Snowboarding looks cool and may create an unbelievable sensation when you are making a turn in powder but ultimately, if you are caught in an avalanche, it is difficult to steer yourself to safety. To give my friends credit, when we do venture in the backcountry, they all get on skis (although I think they would use a split board in a second if they could afford it).

My intention is not to turn this into a hater post about snowboarding. Sure, I make comments to my snowboarder buddies referring to them as gays on trays and they quip right back calling me a tele-hippy or skier-dork but it's all in good fun. I have to admit that snowboarders have had a huge influence on my riding and I almost prefer to ride with snowboarders over skiers because of their playful lines and emphasis on freestyle. I am grateful for all that snowboarding has contributed to the sport of skiing and snow sports in general. Without snowboarders we certainly would not have terrain parks or reverse-camber powder skis. However, when you are riding a big avalanche-prone line in the backcountry, I would much prefer to be on a big pair of alpine skis.

Mark Kelley, a certified AIARE (American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) guide and instructor in both Colorado and Alaska, made a similar comparison between AT (alpine touring) and telemark (free heel) bindings in skiing. He was my instructor when I was training to attain my level one certification with AIARE and I asked Mark why he preferred to lock his heel down after all of his experience skiing in AK? He replied, "because when an avalanche comes, I want to be able to ski away in the most efficient and easiest way possible." He went on to say that he would rarely ever see anyone up in AK use anything other than powder skis with AT bindings. If you are truly a backcountry enthusiast, despite how fun snowboarding and telemarking may be, try to stick to a strong pair of wide skis with a binding that you can lock down. This way you can ensure you will stick that landing, making sure that it is not your last.

Avalanche Training: BCA Beacon Parks

This Sunday I visited Arapahoe Basin ski resort. It stays open much longer than most resorts in North America because of its proximity to the continental divide and annual snowfall of more than 400 inches. A-basin (Arapahoe Basin) is a fun local ski destination for adventurists nearly three quarters of the year. Typically skiers drive up to A-basin to visit the beach. However, when the resort received 21 inches of snow in the last 48 hours nobody was dressing up in party attire and drinking. Its funny how weather can change a skiers mind. This time of year everyone was trying to get one final day of good skiing in.

Our intention was to ski an backcountry chute off the North Pole gate that was just off the top of the leeway chairlift at A-Basin. Unfortunately because of the recent snowfall and weather on top of the mountain, ski patrol did not have a chance to go up to the North Pole gate for a couple days and would not open that section. "It receives a lot of wind-loading in a storm like this, we are going to wait 'till the afternoon to check out if it is safe to ski" said one ski patrolmen we talked to. The area called the “East Wall Traverse” was open but it was already skied out. Scott and I decided to rearrange our plans a little bit. We skied one run on the East Wall Traverse and although it was fun we decided to venture over to the avalanche training facility called, beacon park.

BCA (Back Country Access) is a company based out of Boulder, Colorado that specializes in creating avalanche beacons for backcountry skiers. They make the most affordable and reliable beacons on the market. It has become an industry standard and is the most commonly used beacon that I see. BCA has created beacon parks all around the world to test their product just like the one we visited at A-basin.

My friend Scott and I both use Pieps beacons, they work interchangeably with BCA and other models so we decided to test out our skills at the BCA beacon park. I like to use a pieps rather than a BCA because it is a three frequency beacon and has a longer range than a BCA. When we arrived there were 4 different hidden boxes we could turn on in the park. They were controlled by a small box with a BCA sticker on it. We flipped the switch on one of them, turned our beacons to search and began looking for it. Within a few minutes we were able to find the source of the signal and begin probing. When we hit the small metal box buried in the snow with our probe, a siren went off from the control box. It was actually a fun experiment. Here is a video of Scott finding the box on his own.

We then continued to train on a variety of different scenarios. We turned two different boxes on at the same time and tried to search for both at once. Another man came and joined us and we searched one final scenario. The man, who called himself Cheyenne, turned two random beacons on and we searched for them together. We found the two very quickly as a team. Cheyenne told us about a competition that A-basin puts on every year called the Basin Beacon Bowl where skiers search for buried boxes emmitting beacon signals just like we did. He said he won the contest the last two years before they moved him up to the pro division wehre competition was just too fearce. This is a great activity if you have the to get to a beacon park. I am happy that BCA and ski resorts are taking the initiative to create these parks for their guests to use and I encourage everyone with a beacon to try one out!

What do I do when the Snow Melts? Climb a 13er!

Although backcountry skiing usually starts in April as most of the resorts close down and the avalanche danger is a lot less severe, it is easy to get distracted by the new spring sunshine. Our minds start to wander towards other activities. Hiking and Mountain Biking are two of my favorite activities to participate in place of backcountry skiing. In this shot I am mimicking a 360 ski jump called a helicopter just below Mt. Powel. I often find that hiking and mountain biking can be very similar to skiing just without the snow.

I like cross-training because you can play through the same terrain you would if you had skis and there was snow but you get a different perspective on the land that you are traveling through. Venturing through the terrain I will ski in the summer is essential to choosing safe lines in the winter. Often, I look to see where fallen trees are and other obstacles that may be buried from the snow when I am hiking or biking. I think that summer travel through your favorite backcountry spots is also a great idea in regard to orienteering. Occasionally I will get caught in a really bad storm when I am skiing and it is really helpful to have familiar landmarks and a good sense of the trail when visibility is less than ideal. The other aspect of hiking and biking in the backcountry when the ski season begins to wind down is it keeps me in great shape. My personal goal is to skin into the Conundrum Hot Springs, which is a really tough ski tour, see this article in the Vail Daily. I will need to train for the trip by staying active even when the snow melts. Keeping my fitness level high in this mud season is important so that I can actually have fun on my trip.

Where is a fun place to train in the off-season? Fourteeners are common hiking destinations for most backcountry enthusiests in Colorado. My suggestion is to go off the beaten path away from the crowds in the spring and summer months and try to summit a 13,000 foot peak instead. Too many Coloradans have become caught up in the mentality “if it’s not a 14er, it’s not worth climbing.” When did we start judging a peak on its elevation rather than its historical significance, scenery and difficulty? Mt. Powell is the highest peak in the Gore Mountain Range at 13,580 feet. Although this peak doesn't sit in the pack of infamous 14ers, with an elevation gain of 4,500 feet and 12 miles worth of hiking, you’ll feel like you just climbed one.

The mountain was named after Major John Wesley Powell, who was a geologist, teacher and Civil War veteran. He was a great western explorer who climbed this peak on his way to the Grand Canyon. Powell is a perfect training peak for a 14er and a great challenge if you’re staying in the Vail Valley area and looking for a scenic camping trip. The ascent from the picturesque Piney Lake Ranch makes the first steps on your venture easy. The ranch is fully equipped with the amenities that every hiker is craving after a long day’s journey. Canoes, horses, lodging, food and supplies are all offered to backpackers and mountaineers passing by. But if you want to get away from it all, there’s an awesome vacant valley just beyond Piney Lake where you can pitch a tent. This relatively remote area makes for an exciting high alpine experience. It’s also one of the most beautiful hikes in the I-70 corridor. You could rush through Mt. Powell and tackle it in one day, but consider spending one or two nights camping in this valley soaking up the scenery.

Location: Drive 1 mile west from Vail Village on 1-70 exit 176 on North Frontage Road to Red Sandstone Road. Turn right and drive 0.7 miles to a fork in the road and go left on country road #700. This is a good gravel/4X4 road that leads to Piney Lake. Drive 11 miles and turn right outside the first wooden gate.

Final Days: Pond Skimming and Funky Atire

As today is the final day at Vail, I thought it was appropriate to post about common themes for closing days. Vail's final day celebration had many elements but the event that is infamous and at the core of the celebration is pond skimming. This article has a great summary of the history and activities that surround this event at Vail. Vail likes to call their event the World Pond Skimming Championship. This is the first year that Vail has held the pond skimming contest on the final day of the year. In years past, the resort held it on the second to last day as mentioned in this article. Vail is hoping to disperse the crowds and hopefully cut down on some of the partying by moving the event to Sunday rather than Saturday.

Not only do contestants fling themselves off a snow jump, but then attempt to skim across a 100 foot pond of water. The objective is to successfully go off the jump and skim across the entire pond to the other side without falling in. Over the years I have witnessed some pretty impressive costumes and tricks for this particular event. A lot of people try back flips and 360 and few land successfully or make it across the pond. It seems that the new wide powder skis with reverse camber technology make it easier on the contestants. The reverse camber concept came from water skis so it makes sense that they would perform while under these circumstances. However this event and final day at a resort has little to do with ski performance and tools. It is really a fun day where everyone gets dressed up, neon purple one piece suites seem to be a popular choice, to celebrate the season. Along with a pond skimming contest, a lot of skiers just have a big party on top of the mountain after the lifts close. Many resort fanatics want to preserve their final lift served run for as long as they can and some will wait until sunset or nightfall to make their final descent. This day also marks the beginning of the backcountry season. The lifts have closed down and it is time for everyone to earn their turns. Click here for more information on Vail's World Pond Skimming Championships. Here is the most recent article in the Vail Daily that outlines the events of the day.

Next Trip: Mount Holy Cross?

With the resort season winding down, the backcountry season begins. Around this time of year I always start thinking about the ideal backcountry adventures that I could plan. There is always one mountain that pops into my head. The only 14,000 foot peak in the Vail valley, Mount Holy Cross is essentially the reason there is so much protected forest land in Colorado.

Teddy Roosevelt declared the whole area surrounding Mt. Holy Cross a national treasure back in 1939 because of the perceived religious significance. Christians from all areas of the globe would travel to this mountain as a pilgrimage and testament to their faith. The mountain is only 14 miles from the town of Vail and is the largest peak in the Holy Cross wilderness. Half moon pass is the gateway to the mountain and is infamous for the moon lily flowers that blossom only on a on a full moon at night.

A friend recently contacted me about embarking on the challenge of skiing the cross this season and I became very intrigued. Although, I have climbed the mountain a several times in the summer, haling my skis in there was going to be a whole different story. The first thing I do when I am going to plan a adventure of this magnitude is do some research. When I typed in: Mount Holy Cross Ski Tour into Google, I came across this awesome blog post. This not only gave me the courage to think that this trip is manageable but also a lot of useful information about what time of year is best to ascend the cross.

After more research, we found that we had missed our window for this adventure. It is crucial to plan this trip while there is still snow on tigawon road and you can snowmobile or skin up there. By early April, the snow melt was too severe to make this trip a possiblity. I did read about one account of a couple proffessional skiers (Chris Davenport and Chris Anthony) who mountain biked up the 6 mile stretch of road carrying all of their equipment in a kiddie trailer behind them in mid April. They ended up skiing the cross successfully but endured a long 12 hour day of hard work. We ultimately decided that it would be too much work to attempt to both bike and skin up a 14er in one day.

Perfect Inbounds Skiing Conditions

Posted prior to a 19 inch day...