2011 - 2012 Colorado BC Conditions/Stoke Thread

Mike.Records

Mike.Records

Active member
The snow is starting to stack up and the skiing is getting better out there every day. This thread is a place to post up observations, questions, trips reports etc. Post up some stoke!
 
Saint Mary's Glacier - 11.3.2011

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Full Trip Report
 
Dry Gulch 11.8.2011



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Dry Gulch has some serious avalanche terrain interwoven with the early season zones we ski. If you head up there make sure to be aware of the terrain traps that exist, and please shoot me a PM with any questions.

Full Trip Report

 
Ya I'll be going to the Dec. 8th class......got to find a new beacon after pawning mine the other year when I was mad broke, kind of like now.....F*CK
 
good thread! hope to fill it with MANY shots this winter.

I'm gonna plan on being at that class on dec. 8th, didn't take advantage of these last year...
 
Kebler Pass - 11.16.2011



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This is the first time I have skied in this area, and it was great to see somewhere new. The more mild winds than the front range were very noticeable. The snow is still thin down low, but its pretty good up high.



Full Trip Report



 
Word, thanks. Gotten out the last two days on the sled, I'll post up some pictures soon. Obviously not what it will be like in a couple months, but the access on the roads here with a sled is amazing.
 
buddy of mine told me it's skiing pretty good. you can definitely make it to the road from the summit area without hitting rocks.
 
^those trip reports are great! Looking to hit up dry gulch this week maybe. Think itll be much better than on the 8th?

oh, and here's the week before halloween, I want another storm like this guy...

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Thanks man, saw your POV over on coloradopowderforecast awhile ago, SICK! I think the early season zone we ski in Dry Gulch should definitely be better than when I was back there last. The biggest problem then was the unsupportable facets from the surface all the way to the ground. I don't know if you have been back there before. As you enter the Gulch the shots we ski are the first two obvious cuts to the left, which you can see in the picture below. I think the biggest avy concerns on these lines are from cross loading from the west. Be careful going much further west on that south valley wall, it quickly turns into some pretty serious avy terrain.

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Yeah we started skinning up that wednesday and after a couple of shears and cracks and one big WHOMPH we got the hell out of there. Skied the other side which wasnt exactly killer but better than being dead.

That East/North facing stuff is really sketchy right now. The snow looked really good but just too many signs to ignore.
 
i keep praying to wake up one day and check open snow and see that we are going to get hammered, we might be seeing something next weak end.

a good snow will help everyone, some more coverage in the BC will be great, as well as the resorts opening some more terrain.

 
loveland pass has been skiing pretty nicely. lots of the steeper (if you wanna call it that) stuff on the LL side is nice and packed down right now.
 
avy conditions are mad sketch right now we got like 4 questionable layers and varying conditions every day. be careful out there right now i was planning on making a scouting mission up near loveland pass today but decided against it because i am currently without beacon.
 
Bummer to hear the snow was so unstable. Thinking back on the two feet of facets I skied back there I believe it.

Saturday in the CB BC:

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Nice work again man, I'm hoping to finally get out in to the BC this week. I'm looking at some stuff out past Gothic town site up here. Did you ski from the peak of Purple? You should hit me up if your ever up here mid week my days off are tuesday, wednesday, thursday, so let me know if your gonna be in town and mabey we can get some goods together. by the way i think that this is probably the best thread I have found on this website so far and I can't wait to add some real info to it. Keep on rippin' up the BC.
 
Thanks man, I'd definitely love to get out. I won't be back in CB for two weeks, but after that I'll be there til about Christmas. I'll make sure to hit you up when I'm back in town. Didn't ski off the peak of Purple, just off the E/NE slopes of Purple ridge.

I'm interested to hear about the terrain you are looking at past Gothic. Is the road still open back there? Once it closes access is gonna be rough.
 
FKNA mike, hit me up when you go somewhere fun. I figured that moving to summit would gain me some BC buddies but everyone just wants to ski park! lol.
 
For sure dude, I might try to get out later in the week if we get some snow. Lemme know if you have any spots you wanna hit. I'd really like to explore Geneva Basin once we get some more snow. Plus I remember you mentioning exploring vail pass, I'm all for taking the sled up there once it fills in.
 
mike/nyles, dont leave me out! haha, but really i'd love to join, my brother is at college so i don't have any bc buddies anymore
 
you guys have sleds? just picked up a big boy, 05 summit 1000. I'm currently in tahoe for the next week or so but once I'm back I'd love to meet more guys with sleds up in vail pass and out of montezuma. Let me know if this "storm" rolling in tomorrow helps
 
I wish NS had a multiquote feature... Damn, that sounds like a big sled, I'm sure it'll be fun. I have a 2007 Summit 800, and would love to get out for some Vail Pass & Montezuma action this winter.
 
can't get up this weekend, skis/boots are in for mounts :(

if you go up, have fun/be safe
 
scratch that, ill get them back friday night

i'd love to go ski something saturday if it snows
 
Skied Mount Bellview today. It was a nice tour, did not ski from the summit, but dropped in some where in the 12,100 ft range skied a S/SE aspect, snow was very stable, but was quite variable with pockets of goodness. The road is still open, but pretty rough, we made it just past the 403 trailhead (we were driving a turbo diesel Dodge with 4 chains). People were mostly parking at the Judd Falls trailhead just past the town of Gothic and then sledding from there. I would say its only a matter of days before they put the gate up and that will be the end of any motorized access.
 
we got some sleds and are looking to get out in the BC this year. We are trying to start out small at the Montezuma Basin. How is it looking now? And how will it be by around the 17th or so? And Any other advice on this spot/idea?
 
I'm sure Reed knows better than me about Montezuma, I have not been up there this year, and I'm not sure how much sledding experience you have, but... I'm willing to bet Montezuma is not in yet, and I doubt it will be by the 17th unless things really change. If you go out sledding I would HIGHLY recommend staying on roads. Sledding off roads at the moment is sort of like a game of Russian Roulette between your sled and all the logs, stumps, and rocks around.
 
I want to get out and roam around tuesday or thursday. lemme know if anyone is down to meet up! vail still looks thin I hear even with the new snow today. I hear areas in current creek at berthoud are filling nice up to XYZ chutes, thinking of maybe checking that out
 
ill hit you up if i can get out of school.

I need to finish this week, finals next, my college apps, and them im free to ski!
 
I was just up on BP on Friday and again today. On Friday (12/2) we hiked up Russel (I almost skinned all the way! almost.) and skied around to Moonlight bowl. Every thing up there was pretty wind affected and scoured, with a nice slab of chalk, so we chose to ski a low-angle area to avoid some convexities. There are a lot of large, old crowns up there too....hmmm...

We came out below XYZ and, looking up at them from the bottom, they are still looking pretty naked. I didn't see any tracks down them, and I don't think I'm the one to lay down the tracks in there yet. They were also wind affected...(and this new unconsolidated storm layer was acting pretty slough-y on a similar aspect near triple rock TODAY)...so I don't know how they'll react to that.

That said, I've been having most of my fun below treeline on BP recently, it's nice and soft!

ENJOY!!

 
front range sup! We should meet up on berthoud or something sometime or something! (BP is currently my go-to zone around here...but I'm totally open to other things. It's just so damn easy to make a few quick laps...)
 
I spend a fair amount of time on the front range, when do you have off for winter break?

Also, gretzels - thanks for the BP conditions updates. Glad to hear things are finally starting to fill in a bit. I'll be interested to see how much snow the storm tonight brings in.
 
where are you at? i live in boulder

i was thinking more like rmnp, rollins, etc. but i'm not sure if there's enough snow around there yet
 
Next 3 days off probably headed into the CB Backcountry at least one of those days if anyone is out this way and wants to team up. This will be true every tuesday through thursday until April, so if anyone is headed to Gunnison County mid week and looking to get out into the BC let me know.
 
As mike says: "I go to school in fort collins".....I'm pretty nomadic around for skiing purposes though, haha!

Dude! Exploring RMNP is a goal of mine this season. The only place I have skied in there was in the mummy range this summer (random...but a cool zone for sure.) I'd love to ski dragon's tail given the right day.

I don't know if you have been on OpenSnow (the new CPF) but there is a thread in there with some other people who are interested in RMNP, and one dude who is seems to be pretty knowledgeable (I don't know if he's on NS though...): http://opensnow.com/forum#/discussion/26/rocky-mountain-national-park-riders

Have you skied in RMNP at all? We should get out!

 
My brother know the park better than I do, but I've skied around the dream lake chutes a few times, same trailhead as dragon's tail. There's some sweet stuff in/around there.

I got to the top of dragon's tail in June, but didn't ski it because I was with my dad, but it looks sick.

You have gear/any other bc partners?
 
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