silverton CO beta

[jaysunn]

I am hoping to get to Colorado this season. Can any alpinezone members share some knowledge.
I know I won't be hitting any of the lines in the video, however the actual town looks so cool.
Here's a Pretty cool video I found in regards to free skiing. Still
trying to use the YouTube embed feature. But here's the link. I'll figure it out on my laptop when time permits.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oCcEPL-X48Q

Edit: please move if I am in the wrong forum. Thanks.

 

[AHM]

It depends on what you are looking for......................

I am hoping to get to Colorado this season. Can any alpinezone members share some knowledge.
I know I won't be hitting any of the lines in the video, however the actual town looks so cool.
Here's a Pretty cool video I found in regards to free skiing. Still
trying to use the YouTube embed feature. But here's the link. I'll figure it out on my laptop when time permits.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oCcEPL-X48Q

Edit: please move if I am in the wrong forum. Thanks.

Jaysunn,

Depends on what you are looking for. If it were me, I would actually not bother with the ski area. I would book some time with a guide service in Ouray or Durango and hit the backcountry. The hill can get skied out, but definitely has great terrain. The town is very cool, pretty cheap and lots of fun. It is a cold place to ski, so think ice coast temps much of the season. Hit Avalanche Pizza, Montanoya rum bar, Triangle is cheap and good. Some rooms have kitchens at some of the places to make it even cheaper.

One of the early shots in the video looks like Tiger 1. If you hit the ski area, I would go guided as you will get farther out.

I would acclimitize first as the elevation is high, higher than most of CO and you will be hiking for sure. If you go the backcountry, do not go unguided unless you have a very solid understanding of snowpack stability. The deep instabilities in the CO snowpack make things come to life and then go dormant only to come back as more snow loads on it. All three of the passes, Red, Moles and Coal bank all get closed due to slides. THere will be skin tracks, cars and trucks at all of the turnouts in all the passes. Use the CAIC website to get an understanding as well as google earth.

Some ideas for the back country: easy tour is McMillian. Right off the Red Mt Pass pull out. Good acclimitizer and easy skiing. Skin tracks will be all over the place. Bigger line would be Red 3. Don't try this unless you have a guide. There are many many more from great tree lines to bigger wide open faces, a la Red 3.

Get a map from Ouray Sports or whatever it is called. Google it and you will find it. Talk to San Juan Mt Guides and they can set you up with a great guide and tour. A super idea would be some guided skiing out of the Ophir hut. You will need to skin into the hut from the road, about 6 miles, but this would be a huge coup for most ice coasters going to silverton. The hut is awesome and has incredible skiing out of it. Have fun

 

[jaysunn]

Wow @ahm thank you so much for the incredible reply. Very informative. I here about the elevation in that area, and I look forward to attempting to get out there. Thanks for taking the time to get this information to me.

Jaysunn

 

[Nick]

I am hoping to get to Colorado this season. Can any alpinezone members share some knowledge.
I know I won't be hitting any of the lines in the video, however the actual town looks so cool.
Here's a Pretty cool video I found in regards to free skiing. Still
trying to use the YouTube embed feature. But here's the link. I'll figure it out on my laptop when time permits.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oCcEPL-X48Q

Edit: please move if I am in the wrong forum. Thanks.

Just an FYI, to embed a Youtube video, you take the part after watch?v= and put YOUTUBE and /YOUTUBE around it.

There is also a YouTube button so you can just highlight that part.

Here it is:



Ski Stef and VDK03 from the forum here were also out there last year, I think. Maybe they can chime in with more info.

Here is her trip report from last year:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php/119708-Silverton-Mountain-Silverton-CO-3-2-13

 

[j law]

Silverton is the closest thing I've done to Heli-skiing and it is awesome... it's my favorite resort in the world and I've skied on 3 continents. I really love that place and am glad they have been able to make it work for so long (seems like there are always rumors of them losing money and going out of business).

-Get ready to hike. The lift only takes you so high and to access many of the different aspects, you'll need to hike. As mentioned, the elevation is seriously high so just make sure you're in good skiing and hiking shape. Even at the end of some runs you'll need to hike back to the road
-Get in a group with people of a similar level. If you didn't know, in season they only offer "guided" skiing which means you'll be in a group of about 8... and you're only as fast as your the slowest person. And given the price you'll pay, you don't want to feel frustrated if you're waiting for some gaper from Georgia who is out for their first time in 2 years. On the flip side, you don't want to hold up your group either. My brother couldn't keep up with us one year and called it quits early b/c he felt guilty.
-Don't expect to ski 15,000 feet. The hikes take time (and energy). You'll be lucky to get 6 runs in
-Know how to ski powder (or don't waste your money). They do a great job of "farming" the powder. I've been there when they haven't had snow in 2 weeks and you are still skiing untouched powder all day.
-Be careful! The guides will help you but they are more likely to have avalanches since there is so much snow and it doesn't get packed down as much as the big resorts. And there are rocks everywhere! My buddy was snowboarding and came to stop with the rest of us. While facing uphill, he wanted to take a rest and started to put his knees down and then screams in pain! He knelt into a rock that was like a scalpel and ended up needed almost forty stitches... crazy shit!
-Stay at the Triangle Hotel in town... but don't get your expectations too high. It's cheap and you get what you pay for (but it's more than adequate too).
-I get what the other poster was saying in that there is a ton of backcountry around but I think Silverton is a better deal and you'll definitely log more time skiing than you would in the backcountry (and I love the backcountry)

Good luck and enjoy the trip!!!

 

[jaysunn]

Thanks @jlaw this place sounds so sweet. Sorry about your buddies knee. Sounds like it hurt. Thank you for this valuable information. Can't be over informed from what it sounds like.

Jaysunn

 

[mattchuck2]

I went last year and also stayed at the Triangle. Report here:

http://skiequalsmc2.blogspot.com/2013/03/silverton-mountain-colorado-3172013.html

Select pics:

 

[vdk03]

Silverton is an unforgettable experience. I would definitely make the trip if you can, Stef and I will be going there at least once a year as long as we're still in colorado. Your first time out here I would ski/ride the 'resort' as it's basically lift serviced backcountry. Definitely go with a guide, not only will they help keep you out of avalanche danger but they will show you the terrain and clue you in on good lines etc...
It really is an expert mtn, you dont want to be the guy holding up seven other skiers. Be in good enough shape to hike at 12,000' and then ski knee deep powder down some seriously steep lines. (theres a reason most groups only get 4-6 runs in a day).
If you dont have powder ski's or a rockered big mtn board, i would definitely get them for this trip...you can rent there.
I can't tell you to much about the towns amenities, we went with a group of 8 and rented a house in town, cooked our own dinners...etc basically just went to the mountain and the rental home. We'll be going with pretty much the same group again this year and hopefully renting the same place.
This is Ski Stefs trip report from last year for some pics and more info
http://forums.alpinezone.com/showth...ntain-Silverton-CO-3-2-13?highlight=silverton