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.