Pajarito-Bred
New member
Two main attractions at Highlands today, first to check out how my newly re-treaded knee ( you could say re-threaded) behaves in the bumps, and to check out the new "Deep Temerity" lift adjacent to Highlands Bowl. The snow report was 2" new on top of 21" in the past week, with a 68" summit depth, promising soft snow, not the nasty taloned moguls (at Beaver Creek) like I tweaked out my ACL Last February. Although I was able to salvage seven extra ski days last year, it was strictly Groomers only--
Dropping in to the bumps of Steeplechase might not seem the best way to test my knee, but I found that while the knee worked great, felt great, there remained progress to be made before I'd be back to making confident turns in the steep and narrow.
Steeplechase, and all the East face runs are now about twice as long, since we can all now blaze past the dreaded long cat-track back to the ridge, on down to the new lift. Below the track, on the newly opened terrain, not even a twig was touched, and the chute is narrowed further by numerous trees growing in the center, the result of years of avalanche control and ski-packed stability.
The new Deep Temerity lift is hidden away from the avalanche hazard of Highlands bowl, in the trees about 200 feet to the north. Its newly galvanized triple chairs are securely clamped to the cable, even around the bullwheel, but steeply hoists skiers back to the top of Loge peak (to the same point as the quad) 1700 vertical feet in just 7.3 minutes. Be careful not to get any cable marks on the back of your jacket!
We retired to the more moderate bump stashes to found along the main ridge for a while, where the a light dusting of fresh snow, the knee, the weather, and life in general were all fantastic.
Highlands is one of those mega-resort mountains only by virtue of its location between Ajax and Snowmass, but with only five lifts, a funky ridgeline layout, it feels more like a locals' place. Too bad about the sky-high prices (at least for non-locals) but theres plenty of kleenex boxes everywhere, cider and cookies (just like Snowmass!) We had to pay $10 to park but at least we were 20 steps from the escalator to the slopeside plaza. (If I were a bit younger I would complain far more vigorously about all the high$ foofrah)
Ok, back to the skiing. In the afternoon, the skies began to clear, the bowl was at last opened, and we headed straight back off the lift into the bowl. We didn't partake of the snowcat ride along the ridge where the real hiking begins, just took the wild traverse thru the trees to the edge of the bowl. Here there are a couple of South-ish facing chutes that drop in, the snow had set up a bit, but was soft and turnable, with excellent coverage for this almost-early season. the skiable terrain now extends far lower into the bowl, with several mini-chutes and ridges, before veering left to a short, sharp traverse back to Deep Temerity.
Dropping in to the bumps of Steeplechase might not seem the best way to test my knee, but I found that while the knee worked great, felt great, there remained progress to be made before I'd be back to making confident turns in the steep and narrow.
Steeplechase, and all the East face runs are now about twice as long, since we can all now blaze past the dreaded long cat-track back to the ridge, on down to the new lift. Below the track, on the newly opened terrain, not even a twig was touched, and the chute is narrowed further by numerous trees growing in the center, the result of years of avalanche control and ski-packed stability.
The new Deep Temerity lift is hidden away from the avalanche hazard of Highlands bowl, in the trees about 200 feet to the north. Its newly galvanized triple chairs are securely clamped to the cable, even around the bullwheel, but steeply hoists skiers back to the top of Loge peak (to the same point as the quad) 1700 vertical feet in just 7.3 minutes. Be careful not to get any cable marks on the back of your jacket!
We retired to the more moderate bump stashes to found along the main ridge for a while, where the a light dusting of fresh snow, the knee, the weather, and life in general were all fantastic.
Highlands is one of those mega-resort mountains only by virtue of its location between Ajax and Snowmass, but with only five lifts, a funky ridgeline layout, it feels more like a locals' place. Too bad about the sky-high prices (at least for non-locals) but theres plenty of kleenex boxes everywhere, cider and cookies (just like Snowmass!) We had to pay $10 to park but at least we were 20 steps from the escalator to the slopeside plaza. (If I were a bit younger I would complain far more vigorously about all the high$ foofrah)
Ok, back to the skiing. In the afternoon, the skies began to clear, the bowl was at last opened, and we headed straight back off the lift into the bowl. We didn't partake of the snowcat ride along the ridge where the real hiking begins, just took the wild traverse thru the trees to the edge of the bowl. Here there are a couple of South-ish facing chutes that drop in, the snow had set up a bit, but was soft and turnable, with excellent coverage for this almost-early season. the skiable terrain now extends far lower into the bowl, with several mini-chutes and ridges, before veering left to a short, sharp traverse back to Deep Temerity.
