Ski Southeast Messageboard

No, not the terrain park... Rocky Mountain National Park. Just like the rest of the country, we're off to a crap-tastic start to the ski season this year, and because of that it's slim pickings. I haven't even bothered skiing inbounds much this year, and I've spent the last few days out poking around in the BC. My friend and I went up to RMNP this morning to explore around the old Hidden Valley Ski Resort, which sits between 9,500-11,500 feet and straddles Trail Ridge Road. We found some good snow, and some not so good snow... but it was skiing. Here are some pics from the day:



On the way up... the approach was 2+ miles and 2200 vert:







When we got near tree line, the wind was whipping and it didn't make sense to go much further:







2200' down... the top 1/3 was soft snow- some spots were 12" of sugary powder, some were a sucky wind crust:







That's Trail Ridge Road down below:











It's definitely a zone I'll be back to, as there's lots of potential above the road. Now if we could just get another 3-4 feet....

KD, that looks great; and thanks for not being shy about giving the location, no state secrets there I suspect.



that field held a lot of snow given what is visible in the surroundings

(and the black and white-- very nice)

D- the open terrain above the road is mostly north and northeast facing, so it doesn't get much direct sunlight. Any terrain that faces south is baked and bare, and if it faces east or west it's not much better.

Bump... here's a few more shots from Christmas day (obviously not skiing):

man, those colors really POP

Great pics, Mtn. Evans in the last shot?

Nope, that's Longs Peak (with Mt. Meeker actually blocking most of it) and the Twin Sisters on the far right.

nice pics, you do have an eye.



hmm. is that section of trail ridge road normally closed that time of year? is so, how close could you get in a normal year?

Pags- Trail Ridge typically closes at Many Parks Curve in late October or early November and stays closed until sometime in late spring. You can drive about a mile past where we parked (at the old HIdden Valley ski area), but that still makes a skin up the road a LONG way in. It's much faster to skin up the old ski area like we did.



The best option is during good snow years, when they open the road in May- there should still be plenty of coverage above the road. That means you could literally drive right up to the base of the "fun stuff" and lap it easily.

Now that I can see the map, I see what you mean. In addition to stealing some bad snow year turns, you can say you bagged a lost ski area, which is cool.



the map reminds me that in summer the drive up the old fall river road is a pretty good alternative to the traffic on trail ridge.