Colorado Hiking Above the Lifts: Highlands, Silverton, Telluride

[ChrisC]

This is right in line with what I was thinking. At least a solid week after heading to lower altitude before I start to settle into that local altitude.


Which I didn't realize, I thought it was quick succession (a few days).

I am not really impacted too much by altitude until it starts topping 10k and you are hiking - especially around 12k for the first 2 days before some acclimatization. The steepness of the hike can also be impactful.

For example, Revelation Bowl 12, 570' to Gold Hill 12,900' is a gradual stroll. Yes, it can take a while to get all the way out to the Gold Hill stairs for GH Chutes 9 and 10 (30 min), but not all that taxing. For me, this is the best effort-to-reward hiking on the mountain. European style couloirs opening to big unskied aprons and bowls in Palmyra Basin. I am very happy to lap this on nice days taking in the views.

On the other hand, Bald Mountain is a to steep little 20-minute 300-400' hike to 11,880' that I like to avoid on the first day unless there is new snow. Jackpot and Wilcat are the best unless wind-scoured.

Palmyra Peak is a different beast at 13,150 about 2 hours from the summit of the Prospect Lift at 11, 800'. The biggest issue is that it takes over/destroys the ski day - it's one and done. Also, there are really only two runs/chutes from the Palmyra: Roy Boy and Seniors. I always take Roy Boy (skiers left) right below the summit since its entrance is hidden and the more accessible/visible Seniors can sport bumps a day or two after the last snowfall on a nice Spring Day. I only do this hike every couple of years as a special occasion event.

The other entry points on the Palmyra Ridge are much better at 5-25 minutes: Black Iron, Dihedal Chute, Lakeview/WestLake and La Rosa are my favorites. Not a bad effort-to-reward ratio especially since this gets tons of blow-in snow/wind-loading and can be 2x reported snowfall.

Finally, the best effort-to-reward ratio is Bear Creek sidecountry. A 20 minute hike to Gold Hill summit 12,900 and you have a 4,150' vertical run to the town of Telluride at 8,750'. These routes encompass bowls, watergferfalls, chutes and rapels.

Silverton hikes are quite substantial - especially once you get past Mandatory Air to Nightmare and Tiger Claw. Definitely need some acclimization. More recently, we have been doing a half day of guiding and a half day of 2/3 heli runs - located on the south side basin or the eastern side (which will now be lift served for next year 23/24).

Aspen's Highland Bowl is a tough hike to do immediately. I have found A-Basin's North Pole Chutes/First&Second Notch hikes to be OK. Same with Loveland's ridges. Tucker Mountain used to be a slog since the cat did not really accomplish much.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Aspen's Highland Bowl is a tough hike to do immediately.

I've been fortunate to have done it 3x, all after sleeping in Colorado resorts for a full week. But:

it takes over/destroys the ski day - it's one and done.

That's what Highlands Bowl is for me.

Finally, the best effort-to-reward ratio is Bear Creek sidecountry.

I have no doubt this is true. I should have thought of this in 2004 when I arrived at a NASJA meeting in late March after 3 weeks of warm weather. I did know about it late March 2019 but there had been a two foot dump the previous week and there was high avalanche risk.

Proactive management would handle Bear Creek like Aspen Ski Corp has Highlands Bowl. They pay ski bums to bootpack it in November to break up the weak layer, awarding one free ski day for every bootpack day. I'm sure patrol has intense control work in Highlands Bowl throughout the season too.

 

[ChrisC]

Proactive management would handle Bear Creek like Aspen Ski Corp has Highlands Bowl. They pay ski bums to bootpack it in November to break up the weak layer, awarding one free ski day for every bootpack day. I'm sure patrol has intense control work there throughout the season too.

Bear Creek lies outside of Telluride's official resort boundaries and presently does very little control work there.

The real visionary of Telluride (besides the founders - Alred) is Dave Riley who came to the mountain from Mt. Hood Meadows. He added all of the fabled hike-to-expert terrain (Mountain Quail, Palmyra Peak, Gold Hille Chutes 1-10) and improved access to the side-country (Bear Creek) with the Revelation Bowl lift.

At one point Telluride was running a pilot guide office for Bear Creek and Alta Lakes tours - like Europe. Article HERE.

Backcountry skiers now have the opportunity to take tours from Telluride Ski Resort guides through the nearby Bear Creek and Alta Lakes areas, but not everybody is thrilled about the idea. Costing several hundred dollars each, the resort began offering the trips March 23—but only to expert skiers and snowboarders. Telluride CEO Dave Riley tells The Denver Post the one-year pilot program, recently approved by the U.S. Forest Service, puts Telluride on the same level as Jackson Hole, Wyoming, or Chamonix, France, both fabled resorts with guided tours of world-class backcountry skiing. Telluride’s top-notch guides have studied the sometimes-perilous backcountry areas of the Bear Creek drainage, which can be treacherous for people who don’t know the area and are mesmerized by the powder and gorgeous setting.​

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And to show the ideas we bought to Telluride: Article HERE.

SNEWS: When you took the Telluride job, what were your big goals for what you thought you could accomplish at the ski area?​

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DR: I knew a fair amount about Telluride to begin with, and I knew I was walking into the coolest resort in the country. I would say that even if I wasn’t working here. What I didn’t know was that a lot of terrain in the permit area wasn’t open. It took literally about five minutes to think about that before I concluded that I needed to get that open, because it would differentiate Telluride from any other resort on this planet. I call it adventure terrain, not hike-to, or extreme. You can hike five minutes or 1.5 hours, depending on what you want to do. And it’s like going into the backcountry, but it is managed by ski patrol. They have a presence, the avalanche danger has been mitigated, and if you want to have that adventure, but don’t want to risk your lives by going into the backcountry, then Telluride offers that.​

Anyways, as noted in the latter article, Bear Creek will need to be more effectively managed. There is currently a decent amount of local backcountry ski touring coming back and forth from Ophir - primarily Ophir to Telluride. Lots of hardy souls in that ex-abandoned mining town.

Perhaps the ultimate line in Telluride's Bear Creek side-country is the San Joaquin Couloir - a 2-hour skin from the Delta Bowl of Upper Bear Creek. I did this once when I had more Ski instructor friends more than 10+ years ago. It looks insane from afar, but is doable with focus and stable conditions in Spring. Don't have my pics due to pre-smart phone days and not a place for camers. Compares to the best of the Alps. Another recent write-up from Unoffical Networks - Article HERE.

Part of the reason I enjoy skiing in Europe so much, is it resembles Telluride/Silverton - on of course a much larger and historical scale.

 

[Tony Crocker]

San Joaquin Couloir captures your eye from upper parts of Telluride. Looking at it straight on from a distance there is no sense of steepness or scale. ChrisC's second pic is very helpful in that regard. Telluride is one of those places where you really need a lot of local knowledge and/or connections to get the most out of it. And more lung capacity that I have at age 70, though I could probably handle Bear Creek guided OK.

 

[ChrisC]

Bear Creek upper bowls - Nellies - from my visit last Feb/March with 6” new - about the max you want to not worry too much avalanches/stability. San Joaquin Couloir on shaded mountain in far right background.

A local photographer did a great guide to Telluride’’s side country / hiking terrain that one can buy locally. Brett Schreckengost. His gallery: https://brettschreckengost.com/

He also created a site that he created with the maps, but it used Flash and browsers no longer load the maps. Should post my images.

Bear Creek map example:

Some interesting notes about Bear Creek avalanche fatalities:

Bear Creek is a sprawling, steep, chute-choked drainage; it’s some of the best lift-accessed backcountry in the country. It’s also some of the most technical and treacherous—according to a 2012 San Miguel County report, more skier deaths have occurred in Bear Creek than at any other location in the county, and all avalanche-related deaths were caused by extreme trauma, not suffocation. Access has been fraught for a long time.

Will need to do a post with info that has disappeared from the Internet.