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....
The End of an Era...We are Shutting Down the Messageboard
The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.
We have started a Discord server and hope that you all will join us on there. Technology has changed over the years and maintaining the messageboard has become somewhat of a pain in the butt and Discord offers many features for users, the main one being a very polished mobile app.
We really hope you all will join us on Discord and think you will like the platform. Use the invite link below to join.
https://discord.gg/skisoutheast
The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.
We have started a Discord server and hope that you all will join us on there. Technology has changed over the years and maintaining the messageboard has become somewhat of a pain in the butt and Discord offers many features for users, the main one being a very polished mobile app.
We really hope you all will join us on Discord and think you will like the platform. Use the invite link below to join.
https://discord.gg/skisoutheast
TR: Playing in the Park in Colorado (with actual skiing pics!)
-
davidski
- Expert
- Posts: 6989
- Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:07 am
- Has thanked: 1 time
- Been thanked: 29 times
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)
that field held a lot of snow given what is visible in the surroundings
(and the black and white-- very nice)
-
dreamnofpow
- Expert
- Posts: 3447
- Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 4:35 pm
- Has thanked: 1 time
Great pics, Mtn. Evans in the last shot?
-
KneeDeep
- Expert
- Posts: 4814
- Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 3:50 pm
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.
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.
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.