Report from Montezuma Basin, Colorado Backcountry Skiing

This is what Montezuma Basin was like after Colorado’s recent dumps. Nice one Ted!

Bonus shot below is from Ted — his quad on Montezuma road, Colorado. He got this quad last year for ski access. I’ve always thought a quad would be useful for Colorado ski mountaineers — perhaps even more useful than a snowmobile. The trend toward keeping roads gated during shoulder seasons drives us to such means. For example, the Independence Pass road out of Aspen is gated early in the fall and stays gated during the best of the spring ski season. Certain individuals, including hunting outfitters, somehow obtain permission to unlock the gate and drive the road, but the rest of us are ignored. ATVs are allowed on the closed Independence Pass road (at least ’till someone decides they need to be “regulated.” Motors are sometimes the solution when we’re shut out of our own land by the whims of government ‘crats.