We’re getting nuked here in Colorado. Our dry spell is a distant memory. More snow is piled up around our house here in the “downvalley banana belt” than I think I’ve ever seen. But the avy danger is too high for my taste, what with two recent deaths in this region — and just a few days ago a snowcat tour client being partially buried on a mellow slope. Sure, we’ve been getting our stashes of low angled backcountry fluff. But knowing that the inbounds pow stashes of Aspen Highlands were prime, we headed up there yesterday. Result, face shots on an untracked line in Highland bowl, with desert being a series of virgin pow stashes on the lower mountain.
Louie gets some sweet goodness in the trees, Aspen Highlands.
Yes, we did hike. What would a day of skiing be without some human powered vert? I mean, I'd loose my reputation if I didn't at least climb some stairs.
I had to laugh. The nukage even caught Aspen Skiing Company with their pants down. Somehow the shuttle parking and turnaround didn't get plowed, so the clients had to play tow truck if they wanted to ski. Less injuries that way as all skiers get a warm-up before they hit the slopes. I hear they'll be implementing this procedure at Whistler as well. And yep, that's a BD Alias Avalung pack Louie is wearing, which is a good thing as you never know what could happen when pushing shuttle buses.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.