Silverton Mountain CO 1-8/ 1-9-09

T

TRam

Member
Sorry for the delay fellas. I have been very busy since my return with work and my wife being pregant.
Flew into Denver on a tues night and drove with my buddy to silverton thru hwy 285 due to a blizzard blowing threw vail pass I70 route. The trip took us 6.5hrs and was very scenic although we ran into snow over monarch pass and Red mountian pass. Red Mountian Pass is the most trechareous pass I have ever encountered and in foul weather should not be taken lightly.
Day 1 did guided sking (last week of unguided) 14" new since closing on Sun night they run thur through sun most of the year some only fri thru sun.
Out guide Kim was great and our group was older late 30's to mid 50 that where all good skiers and in fair condition. Really guys that could be on this board that take it that seriously. Did 5 runs and some good hiking (yes silverton does require a fair hiking ) The terrian and snow are unbeilvable! we did about 12000 vert and where pretty wiped as a group. The terrian was fall line no letup. You look over the tips at the top and can see the service road below below you pretty consistent 35-40 deg all the way down with higher deg lines on top and in sections. Most runs are about 2400 vert as you hike anywhere from 200 to 600 vert to get to some of the gnar lines around the bill board(top). Plus the lift base sits about 200 feet higher then west and south sides.

Day 2 guided with Kim again. More terrian opened up as they open terrian in phases to always give fresh tracks. I have read from a few that they didn't like silverton or the management but really they do a great job keeping it under control and maximizing the snow for all. They keep groups tight and keep a high value on fresh turns for others somthing that most on this board would appreciate. TGR fans might bitch since they cant rape and pillage the area. Did 4 runs with again hikes and was shot and driving back to Denver and Sante Fe. Again I am a big fan of this place for 119 bucks guided it can't be beat. Snow quality is awsome (ps they do get 400+ there on average) it is high altitude, and it is hard to get to, but man once you are there you will just smile. I will post some pics soon and answer whatever questions you have.
 
Good read... I remember a really nasty drive over Red Mountain Pass with my father in the early 80s. First time I ever saw him visibly frightened.

Not sure how you managed to do this:
driving back to Denver and Sante Fe
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Tram must have a rare constitution to fly in from Florida and be doing those hikes at Silverton (starting at 12,200) only 2 days later with no complaints.

I only had one hike my day there, but I had been in Aspen and Telluride 8 days and had no problem. I would recommend a minimum of 4 days sleeping at 8,000+ before skiing Silverton for a typical skier who lives near sea level.

There was an extensive thread on Epic a couple of years ago, warning of visiting skiers that had problems with the pace. Something like 60% of clientele is Colorado locals. No question about quality of terrain and often snow too. But each skier needs to assess his/her ability and rate of acclimitization to altitude and plan accordingly to get the most out of the Silverton experience.

they do get 400+ there on average
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I am skeptical of this claim from my conversations with Knox Williams, who ran the Colorado Avalanche Information Center for over 30 years and was working in the field most of that time. He says it's unlikely that Silverton would exceed nearby Red Mt. Pass snowfall by any more than 10%. Red Mt. Pass average November - April over past 30+ years is 295 inches.
 
Red Mountian Pass is the most trechareous pass I have ever encountered and in foul weather should not be taken lightly.
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In general one doesn't have to worry about it in truly treacherous weather. That pass usually shuts down at the blink of an eye in bad weather. Which leaves you with a 4 hour drive around through Telluride to Durango and then over two more passes to get into Silverton (I've had to do exactly that too). Best bet from Denver is to go south on I-25 to 160 & over Wolf Creek pass to Durango and then up if you have reservations for skiing at Silverton.

I have read from a few that they didn't like silverton or the management but really they do a great job keeping it under control and maximizing the snow for all. They keep groups tight and keep a high value on fresh turns for others somthing that most on this board would appreciate.
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I don't mind pacing a group, but one at a time for all of 10 turns, then another 10 turns before collecting the whole group up yet again just sucks. The sections the guides do need to be 2x to 3x longer much of the time and the # of runs should end up more like 7 per day at that pace, not 4-5 IMO. Not exactly pillaging, but better than all the standing around one ends up doing each run with guided skiing there now. Current practice is not horrific as the terrain & snow is generally fantastic, but it's certainly less than ideal. Management of the terrain and all the other stuff - the above was my only issue. Liked everything else including riding in a used UPS van back to the base, etc...
 
James-My other friend that we meet there was from Santa Fe hence the driving comment there.
EMSC- Kim did that for the first 2 runs and then after assesing our ability and sanity as a group allowed us to do the runs in 1/3rds which was fine by me. We also did a few tree runs that where just straight nasty (in a good way) where we all went freely down the mountain trying to stay in audial communication. She was really good about this but I now there policy is strict.
Tony-Isn't the base of silverton about the same alt as the top of red mountian pass? Could the extra 100inch on mid mountain be accounted for by the alt or the orintation of the mountian (micro climate) or the favroable wind blow in. Either way I have no reason to doubt the resort or the couple of guides I asked. On top of that they recived 200 inch this dec and tyhe mountian seemed to ski like that. Silverton requires more snow to fill in rocks and the terrrian, simalar to Snowbird, Jackson, Mammoth. Just a thought.
PS I am having trouble shrinking my pics to fit here any advice. I am using IrfanVeiw
 
The new limit is up to 1024x768 and up to 200 KB. For ski photos I more often than not find that 15% JPEG compression gets them below 200 KB, even at 1024x768.
 
I'm inclined to trust the analysis of someone whose job was to observe Colorado snow patterns in the field for 30 years. Knox says there are only 3 places in the state over 400: Buffalo Pass, Kebler Pass and Wolf Creek Pass.

Silverton's lift goes from 10,400 - 12,200. Red Mt. Pass is 11,100. Most Colorado ski areas measure around 11,000 or just below. And several of them go up to 12,000. Within these areas do we see much more snow at 12,000 than 11,000? Not IMHO. Often we see less due to wind blowing off the light and dry snow.
 
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