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Backcountry Skiing blogs, videos, photos, and a whole lotta stoke.

Endless Winter: 12 Months of Backcountry Skiing | Southern Rockies Backcountry, NM United States | 12/01/08, by lowPro

It started off simply, just some friends joking around about being able to ski 12 months straight. Wishful thinking, dreaming of snowy peaks even in the hottest, driest months. Sure almost anyone can ski out a hundred day season at their own local ski resort, but this was different. This was a challenge to earn your turns, year round in the Southern Rockies. We were not the first and we will not be the last, I hope. Perhaps it was the incessant fear of Global Warming, but something spoke to me that now was the time to attempt endless winter..............


The 2007/2008 season was a record breaker in many places. Silverton started out the season with a 6 foot storm that kept them from starting out the season; skied that. Crested Butte received over 400 inches of snow! Skied that too. Aspen open for skiing midsummer! Uh huh, we went there as well. This global warming thing had taken a backseat to older weather patterns that hadn't been seen in over a decade. Wolf Creek received over 9 feet in their first two weeks of the season!  We were able to seek out snowfields that were refreshed with heavy storms all season long. In Taos we opened with a 60 inch base and we were able to ski powder into June, corn into July. As the months progressed and the snow built up, we plotted our late season adventures. Angel of Shavano, Sin Nombre, Lake Fork, etc.


It truly was an endless winter, until July that is. Finally the sun came out and the turns started being more elusive and harder to find. The real challenge of summer time skiing in the Rockies is up to date information. The internet was key in searching out the longest and biggest snowfields. All in all, you don't know unless you go, and I found myself walking up many a dry trail wondering if I would finally see snow around the next bend. Nothing is more special than a soft turn over a bright blue glacial lake while the sun shines down upon your back. This is truly where earning 'em takes on new meaning and significance.


Along the way, many lessons were learned, not the very least being if you plan on skiing year round down here you'd better be prepared for some hiking. Earning your turns is almost impossible without a sound partner and some sturdy footwear. I was fortunate to have both and we persevered through long approaches filled with "You guys going skiing?" or my personal favorite, heard in Rocky Mountain National Park, "are the lifts running up there?". I guess that summer hikers cannot find the "elusive summer skier" in their Rocky Mountain Nature guides, and are usually somewhat perplexed when sighting one. Nonetheless we persevered and even met some interesting folks along the way.




So what are the rules? What was the criteria for a "ski day"? What defines the Southern Rockies? These and many other questions were asked. We figured on 3 basic criteria: 1. Earn your turns- at least 10 of em   2. Year round means every month for a year straight, no matter when you start or end   3. Southern rockies - Colorado is the boundary line for what most people consider "southern",  our summer skiing trips were to 2 of the last dwindling glaciers left this far south. We had hoped to achieve our goal only within the Sangre De Cristo mountain range, but ended up only getting 9 months in this most southern range of the Rockies. Nonetheless, the travel was worth it and usually an adventure in itself. We traveled away from our home turf for 3 trips. Once we skied Andrew's Glacier, located in Rocky Mountain National Park, and twice we skied Montezuma Basin located on the side of Castle And Conundrum peaks near Aspen.


I know what you're thinking, that these boys are crazy! But I assure you, we're ALMOST upstanding hard working members of our community. Despite this obscene obsession with suncups and long hikes carrying monster packs, we still have HOT girlfriends who love us, dogs who come along for the fun, and employers who understand! I know its not what you'd think, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. We skied almost every type of snow from wind blasted sastrugi to deep blower pow, or soft velvety corn to heavy mank, even old re-pow glacial snow and rotten sugar to dark ice. I can honestly say I prefer powder the most; "deep, over-your-head", late season stuff, but will ski just about anything anywhere now. I will not lie and say that my style was always perfect, but Tele Matt lived up to his name, and dropped the knee every chance he could.



So what now? Well, my season has finally come to a close and it is time to start the new one. Already the flakes have started falling, and the peaks have turned white. Soon we will be looking up and plotting our new goals. Perhaps a new steeper, narrower couloir? Maybe huge GS turns down Wheeler Peak? We will see. Winter has finally returned to the Sangre de Cristo's and our opportunity to seek out fresh lines and new mountains has never been greater.




So....... Wax em up, try it on, and get out there. Maybe your endless winter is about to start, mine is well under way. I wish you luck, and if you go............ take pictures.