Thread: Independence Pass?

Anyone have any beta on the conditions up there. My uncle is coming into town for our annual Memorial Day excursion up there. Any snow left for next weekend? thanks

Skied Indy on thurs. The bread 'n butter terrain(Mountain Boy & 4th of July etc.) is in. Some snow on Geissler too. Been good freezes lately. Some of it is textured/tracked,so scout for the smooth snow & you'll do fine.

I skied Indy yesterday with MakersTeleMark and there are still some good lines. Mountainboy proper is still in good shape but the lower shelf is melted out so you have to traverse hard right to a small gully to get to the lower meadow then a boot back to the hairpin. We did 4th of July and it was really good yesterday. Nice smooth surface and you could actually ride all the way to the river (barely and it should be melted out on the lower part in the next couple of days.). The river isn't running high at all so crossing is a breeze.

up there yesterday. Its getting time to bring the bike instead although if you were jonesin, mountain boy as mentioned above is still in for a couple hundred vert.

http://www.wildsnow.com/7472/indepen...ountry-skiing/

Blarney looking grim


Mountainboy



Grizzly looks FAT as always


so does Snowmass...as always


Makers had fun I think


our line

Thanks guys.....Might as well give it a go.

Good pics and description Montana. Nice to meet you guys, thanks for the ride.
Dose - you should be able to still have some fun up there. A little more downclimbing probably, but it is fun to be able to just hop across the river instead of the usual routine.

TGR always delivers...peeps everywhere. Glad to give you a ride and nice to meet you.

Hey Matt, good to see you post pics that don't have a big blurry spot in the corner.

Originally Posted by smmokan

Hey Matt, good to see you post pics that don't have a big blurry spot in the corner.

it's a new camera but the 3rd generation of the same one I've had before. The first 2 developed that stupid dark spot, hopefully this one doesn't.

Originally Posted by montanaskier

We did 4th of July and it was really good yesterday. Nice smooth surface and you could actually ride all the way to the river (barely and it should be melted out on the lower part in the next couple of days.). The river isn't running high at all so crossing is a breeze.

Montana, what time did you hit 4th of July...or what time do you think its in its prime??

we dropped in between 10:45 and 11 and it was $$$. Was 28 degrees as we pulled out of Minturn so there was a good freeze the night before. It was nice outside but not super warm when we dropped, not a hint of wind either. Those things could move that prime # up a bit I'm sure.

was back up at the pass yesterday. Full on gaper season but not a ton of skiers. Skied 4th of July again but a different line than last week. Was colder and windier than last week, we dropped at 11 and it was still firm but edgeable.

The line yesterday


I had fun


You had to walk out to the river this week but still not bad. I don't think that exit gully will have any snow left after this week.

Thanks for the update... I'm packed for the season this year...