The most recent Colorado storms that have failed to hit the Aspen area in any significant way have been very good to the Marble area (west of Aspen) with a snowpack measuring nearly 2 meters deep (how Euro of me). I made it up there for a couple days this weekend, but Saturday was the winner. We skied several laps, one towards Anthracite Creek and another down Marble bowl. Both proved to be more than worth the hike up. This is by far the best ski day of the year thus far. The crew had a little bit of Louie Dawson, a little bit of Jeff Jackson, a lot of Hudson the dog and myself. We didn’t get a very early start, showing up around 11 AM, there were quite a few familiar faces at the trailhead.
We made our way up to Marble Peak and the possibilities were endless. After a quick snowpit, a run down to Anthracite was decided on. Everyone enjoyed sipping on cold icy smoke from top to bottom. We skied about 1,500 vertical (that’s around 460 meters for those of you in the rest of the world) and it was time re-apply the fur. Heading up a ridge made for an extremely safe route back up and after some skin problems we made the top again. Getting late in the day, we opted for skiing Marble Bowl back to the truck. The pictures do most of the talking.
One note before we go on with the photos: Marble is a terrific place with lots of room if you’re willing to do an access climb then a few extra laps. But parking is limited. Always carpool, be ready to park in the town of Marble if necessary, and leave plenty of room on the road next to your parking so the quarry stone truck can get by. If you don’t leave enough room, you could ruin it for everyone by making the quarry’s job harder. They plow the road, so they call the shots. The stone truck driver is a backcountry skier, so say hi and ask him what his needs are. He’s a nice guy (Lou knows him).
Jordan White is a strong alpinist who finished skiing all 54 Colorado 14,000 foot peaks in 2009. He guides, tends bar, and lives the all-around perfect life in Aspen.
