Snowmass - Best Time of Day for Cirque/ Hanging Valley (2/9)

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Iristyle

New member
Still working on my Colorado game plan. The short term forecast looks good for a bunch more snow, and the long term looks like we'll be arriving around the time the smoke clears, so our drive on the 8th from Denver should be uneventful.

Thanks again for everyones assistance in my previous thread for formulating the plan.

Now I'm working on game-planning our days on the mountain... which lifts to take, what trails to take when, etc.

Can anyone comment on a game plan for our first day at Snowmass?

We're staying pretty close to where the Burlingame lift starts by the mall. I'm thinking that we should be able to ride Burlingame up, catch Coney Glade up, ride down to Big Burn, and from where that drops off, get over to the Cirque bar. Alternatively, we could ride downhill from our lodging and hop on the Village Express gondola and skip Coney Glade. Is there a better / faster / less crowded approach amongst the two? I'm going to assume Village Express is faster, but more crowded... maybe a good place to get to first thing in the morning before crowds start rolling in?

But then again, I see that Cirque doesn't open up until 10AM and we're hoping to be riding lifts when they open at 8:30. How long does the ride up/down/around take before we get to Cirque? We ride pretty fast...

Is it worth hanging out off of Sheer Bliss for a while until Cirque lift opens? Or are we too low to get to the good stuff under the Cirque headwall from that point? (Hard to tell from the trail map) We don't mind small hikes or traversing across ridge-tops, but traversing horizontally on pitched areas where the path is as wide as skis is a real pain on a snowboard, and we'd like to avoid that ;0

Or would it make more sense to instead head down to the base and take Elk Camp over to Naked Lady / Alpine Springs and up to High Alpine right away? Which also begs the question... is there a preferred lift for reaching High Alpine? I see that Naked Lady is a 'secondary' lift and is only a triple compared to Alpine Springs, which I believe is a quad. Any comments on that? I do have a pretty good map for the inside of Hanging Valley which should help us out quite a bit once we get to that point.

I guess what I'm getting at is... based on traffic, aspect, weather, etc... is it better to go for Hanging Valley first or The Cirque first?

And how about some of the more outlying areas if we start to get run down... like PowderHorn over by Campground lift. Good late day spot?


Thanks all for the assistance.
 
One other question I forgot to ask... in my previous post, it was mentioned that Sheer Bliss is 'never open'. Does that mean it's rarely open due to weather / wind hold.. or that it's literally never open?

Are there signs where lifts load that show lift status throughout the mountain?


Thanks
 
Lots of questions.

Aspen/Snowmass is generally not crowded. Liftlines should not rule your day.

Like many ski towns (Telluride, Sun Valley, etc), they are too far from a population source for a significant day skier population. And they do not have enough beds to fill the lifts. Most cheaper lodging was converted to condos for locals to own something. Many second home/condo owners do not financially need to rent their places to make ends meet. The skico's are a little SOL, but they helped create the beast.

You would be lucky to find a ten minute line @ 1030-1200. There may be some people in line, but the HSDQ gobble most lines in 5 minutes or less. Big Burn, Village, Alpine Springs and Elk Camp will be busiest.


snowmass.jpg


Yes, the Sheer Bliss/Nakes Lady are generally closed.
http://www.aspensnowmass.com/onmountain ... a=Snowmass
Check over the weekend if they are open, but I doubt it.
 
Yeah, lots of questions for sure. But if I can figure this all out *before* I get there, rather than after we arrive, I'll save a bunch of precious time. I had already printed out the map and started marking it up, etc -- so I am past that point ;0 I also have the 'mountain dissected' page torn from the Jan 07 issue of Skiing magazine which totally breaks down the entire Hanging Valley area -- various lines / pitches / where to traverse, etc.

Thanks for the advice about the lift lines... I had assumed that Aspen was much more crowded than what you describe. It's awesome news that it isn't.

So Sheer Bliss and Naked Lady are still operational then (under the right circumtances), but unlikely to be open. We'll check first thing in the AM to see what the status is -- but I'll just plan on them being closed.

Thanks for the tips!
 
Chris is absolutely right about the liftlines. The issue with Cirque/Hanging Valley is the long runouts and multiple lifts to get back up there. And potentially late openings/early closing of terrain. So you're not going to get a whole bunch of runs in that terrain no matter how empty the mountain is. But those logistics work in your favor on powder days in terms of preserving fresh snow. Thus my advice for only one day at Snowmass unless you have fresh powder. You'll get more steep runs in a day at Aspen Mt. or Highlands.
 
Those SKI Magazine photo maps are great!

I think Hanging Valley is more interesting than the Cirque.

A typical Cirque run starts with a steep entry, but soon moderates in the cirque proper. AMF/Gowdys can be reached via short traverse/hike from Big Burn lifts.

Hanging Valley requires a short 5min+ hike or so. Typically, some short chutes than a choice for glades or a big open face. I never made it into the woods, but the face proper from all kinds of entrance points was really great skiing.

The expert terrain off Campground is typical low expert bumps and not too crowded. High Alpine lift too.

Overall, a lot of the intermediate terrain is not overly interesting. Big, sprawling friendly, but not too steep.

More important than worrying about Snowmass terrain - set aside your best weather day for the Highlands Bowl. It's a great hike scenery wise with the Maroon Bells. However, they stagger the openings of the bowl - depending upon how much they got controlled for the day. The day I skied it, the bowl was only open to the summit, but only the not after it. The just had not controlled for the 6" yet. Not a lot of snow but with loading....not a full Bowl day.
 
My mom used to winter at Snowmass in the first half of the 1990's. I skied there a lot then though I haven't been there now in over a decade. I was always entertained skiing the powerline to skier's left on the Burn. It's ungroomed and has some trees to play with. It's also a great spot for people with mixed ability because there are groomed ways down on either side.
 
Irisstyle,

the best part of Snowmass is no crowds, on the lifts or on the slopes.
You sound like you're worried all the powder will be gone by 10:00. You'll be glad you aren't at Breck or Copper where the liftline madness can be aggravating.

We skiied at Snowmass on Friday, and Highlands Saturday, found plenty of soft powdery bumps without venturing into the cirque, Hanging valley wall, or even Highlands bowl! Mostly due to late openings in those areas due to avy blasting, gray skies/flat light, and the powder potential elsewhere.

Best two lifts for bumps are Sams (Wildcat) or High Alpine even tho it's an antique center-pole Riblet. under the Burn lift are some great moderately steep bumps, too.

The snow is the best I've seen it ten years! But there are still rocks exposed on the upper Wall, and in the Cirque especially on the windward (right) sides, - and those rocks are nasty to tender little ski or snowboard bottoms, tread warily.

The steep-n-deep of the Cirque and the Wall are not to be missed, but if there's fresh snow and/or wind, you'll just have to keep your eyes on the boards for openings. Best advice is to ski the Burn, ski past the Poma, for an update, then drop into Garrett Gulch off the left side of Sheer Bliss Run (repeat as needed). At the bottom it's a short run-out and 100-yd walk back to the Burn lift, or ski on down to coney glade (or over to Alpine Springs to access High Alpine and the Wall, a 5-minute hike from the top of that lift).

Powderhorn is a great run, but not for end-of-day tired legs- it's 2400 ft of soft bumps (which aren't very big right now, since the traffic can't quite keep up with the snowfall) Bear Claw, accessed from the top of Sam's Knob, and sort-of under the Campground lift is another great long, little-skied run.

Bumps were small and soft all over the mountain, even on Showcase under the High Alpine lift.

The only lift that starts at 8:30 is the 6-pack village express. Forget about Burilngame and Sheer Bliss lifts, it's a short run down to the 6-pack, and no line unless you don't get out of bed until 9:30. Sheer Bliss is a 16-minute ride, it's better to slide on by, and ride coney glade (4 min) plus the Burn (8 min)-

Even a detailed map won't help much in the Wall- . First drop is Roberto's a "wide" chute, short and not super-steep. Traverse across the top to the right, you'll come to a couple of steeper options, read the slope for where the rocks lurk and take your chances. after the first steep, bear right, and you'll come out on the top of the lower wall. If it's sunny and warm, the west-facing lower wall softens early, but there's a few gladed aspects that face slightly north. (you can scope out the lower wall easily from Elk Camp lift)

Best snow in the cirque is to drop in a short ways, then bear left. The steep isn't very long, then a gladed run-out, with some short steeps to the base of sheer bliss. (there's an unmarked traverse across to catch the base of high alpine lift, I'd say not worth it on a S/B.)

You can traverse across to the top of the Wall from the top of the Cirque, but it doesn't earn you any unique terrain, better to ski the cirque and ride the 2 alpine lifts to get to the Wall.

It's a really fun mountain to explore, I didn't even mention some stuff noted by others. Highlands is an awesome mountain too, but a long ridge with short steeps and long run-outs might not be so much fun with only a single stick and no poles.
 
Pajarito-Bred -

Awesome information. I've printed this out and I'm taking it with me.

You have to realize that I come from the East, so that means I'm used to lift lines and tracked out trails under most circumstances. Sure I know where to hide out in the woods to find the freshy several days post-storm based on familiarity with my local favs, but I don't have that kind of first-hand knowledge for the Aspen area. So I just want to make the most of the small opportunity I'm afforded to catch some nice snow and challenging natural terrain that I won't find in the park.

Here's to hoping I-70 westbound opens back up.... or else we're screwed! ;0

-e
 
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