This just in from prolific Colorado ski mountaineer Dave Bourassa. Looks like Montezuma Basin might have the best early season conditions in history:
 |
| Backcountry skiing Montezuma Basin, Colorado. |
Hey Lou,
Figured you might be interested in this. Just got back from a great day skiing the Castle Couloir off the north face of Castle Peak and Conundrum Couloir off Conundrum peak today. Myself and three other ski partners skied off the summit of Castle peak, in what could be mistaken as mid-winter conditions, and then had amazing turns down the Castle couloir. Conditions were prime for a couple of great descents down two Elk Range classics. Skied Castle clean without hitting any rocks. We found a nicely knitted and consolidated snowpack up there and also got to savor a good 10-12″ of light fresh powder that had fallen overnight. Winds were really strong during the morning and some of the slopes started to get loaded up as we called it a day around noon. Not too bad for an early season outing.
Take care,
Dave Bourassa
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.
