Thread: What is your favorite backcountry ski tour in the US?

Last spring, I skied the Teton Crest. Was a great experience. Great country, great skiing.

Looking to do something similar spring of 2013.

What are some awesome ski touring/camping trips in the lower 48?

Anyone out there who can recommend a great backcountry trip in the Sierras? Cascades? Rockies?

What have you done that was great?

Grand Traverse from Crested Butte to Aspen. The big boys do it in as little as eight hours, but you could easily spend a week if you added some camping/huts?
The hut system around Aspen is really nice!

http://www.huts.org/

I'm not that widely experienced but I loved the Wallowas tour in N.E. Oregon that runs from Aneroid Lake up over Dollar Pass, down to Bonney Lakes (where there used to be a hut), then up over another pass (forgot name) down to the Big Sheep shelter then over to the Wing Ridge Hut.

I've done a few overnighters at the Wing Ridge shelter by itself and there's a ton of great skiing out of there too.

No Canada? There's a ton of good options around Nelson/Kootenay Pass too.

Aside from that I've only piffled around near the huts on Red Mountain Pass and Treasure Mountain near Silverton.

(edit) It's kind of weird that there aren't more hut options in the WA Cascades, so I can't refer to more than day trip stuff up here.

The Pickets Traverse

The Alpine Lakes Traverse

Or just slaying it on Rainier

Whatever tour I'm on, cause I'm so soul.

Not a lot of great hits in the Sierra. Pear Lake is a beautiful place, but the skiing is nothing too crazy. Although Emerald Express is a collet than slides into a lake.

I know Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer and Enginerd did a trams Sierra tour that started around here. There is a TR some where on tgr

Forbidden Tour/ Snoqualmie Haute route in the Cascades. There are so many good ones. Check out Pro Ski Northbend for samples.
http://vimeo.com/1383861.

Also Sisters and Broken Top OR on a good year

From my personal experience, Shasta, Adams, and anywhere in GTNP.

Toured across Glacier NP in the mid 90's. haven't found/had a ski tour experience that rivals since.

Ski Shasta and if you're down there might as well hit Lassen and it's surrounding peaks. Nothing super gnarly but they're classics!

The Teton crest is damn fine too

Spearhead Traverse... Blackcomb to Whistler.
Forbidden Tour.. North Cascades
Snoqualmie Haute route...North Cascades.

i had some friends do the great western divide tour in the sierra nevada. It's described in the first ed. moynier book. they did it north to south. toured in morning, then bagged a nearby bigger descent in the afternoon. it's a point to point. they'd done a lot of touring in the sierra, including an annual week-long spring tour for about 10 yrs (then they moved back east). if memory serves, that was their favorite. of course, i don't know the other long tours they'd done. given a week, thst's the top sierrra pt to point on my list.

happy planning

Check out Lou Dawson's 1979/80 Elk Mountain Traverse near Aspen. My personal favorite, although not as much of a tour as a climb and ski, is up North Castle Peak, down West Castle to the Conundrum valley and hot springs. Take a dip in the pools, stay the night and head back in the am.
P.S. Make sure you have crampons, as climbing back up West Castle in the Spring morning can be a slippery slope to say the least.

Can't believe the Absarokas haven't been mentioned yet! Any iteration of a traverse of that range ("wildest" in the lower 48) would be awesome. Very skiable terrain throughout, unparalleled scenery, huge wilderness factor (definitely more so than the Teton Crest). The Togwotee Pass-Sylvan Pass piques my interest the most, though doing a mega effort all the way to Cooke City would be amazing (and longer) as well. Last year, all-around badass Forrest McCarthy did another epic crossing of this range beginning near Cody, WY and ending in the Paradise Valley, MT. http://forrestmccarthy.blogspot.com/...-traverse.html