A couple days ago, my friend Al and I got up on some of Colorado’s high terrain. Water stats folks are reporting snowpack is around 200 percent of normal in places. For the middle of June, sure looks like it. We did a bit of bit of dirt hiking — just a bit. Some of the snow is suncupped, but quite a bit of very nice skiable surface is still to be had. Key now is to pick routes with higher trailheads unless you’re comfortable with significant distance in your running shoes. North facing terrain could also have smoother snow, depending on how much has been peeling off when it gets warm. Easy to suss out.
Independence Pass, Colorado, June 12, 2016.
Quite fun skiing on into mid June. I’m even doing some gear testing. What gets me is we defer a lot of our home upkeep and improvement until summer. I get antsy to complete those projects, then skiing runs long and tension develops. Yet it’s a good tension to have. Either way, something gets done. I just hope to get some home improvement done in November!
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.
