Thread: Mushroom Bowl, Vail

Im looking to check this out sometime this season. Just curious about the terrain. Lots of drops? Steeps? ect...


im sure its avy prone, but is most the terrain visible from the top or an adjacent "safe" area so I can check it out alone and scope for future trips with a buddy (damn friends are so fuggin cheap and dont have beacons yet)...

pretty flat. tree well prone if anything.

fun little trip though. good sightseeing and good snow, generally, but pretty flat. the only steeps in there end up being a bad slog out to highline. not a great place to make a wrong turn. better to get someone to show ya.

Originally Posted by gonzo

pretty flat. tree well prone if anything.

fun little trip though. good sightseeing and good snow, generally, but pretty flat. the only steeps in there end up being a bad slog out to highline. not a great place to make a wrong turn. better to get someone to show ya.

yeah, that sounds like a good idea...

Mushroom used to be my playground. It isn't terribly steep, but watch some of the big faces in there, as they WILL slide just as bad anything else. There are a few nice trees and intermixed with them are some great 20 and 30 footers with nice landing zones. Go with someone who knows the area, as the slog out can be a bear if you don't know where you're going. Once you know the area though, you can do some great laps - pair it with laps on Terminator X-Line. Let me know if you want more info.... man, I miss Vail.

Originally Posted by MOHSHSIHd

Im looking to check this out sometime this season. Just curious about the terrain. Lots of drops? Steeps? ect...


im sure its avy prone, but is most the terrain visible from the top or an adjacent "safe" area so I can check it out alone and scope for future trips with a buddy (damn friends are so fuggin cheap and dont have beacons yet)...

You dumb fucking dildo, go to the top of Orient Express and gape at the goods.... Can you really be this fucking dumb in person??!

Originally Posted by BlurredElevens

You dumb fucking dildo, go to the top of Orient Express and gape at the goods.... Can you really be this fucking dumb in person??!

guess you will never find out huh?

Originally Posted by MOHSHSIHd

guess you will never find out huh?

I hope not, we've discussed taking you out, but we're all still blown away at how incredibly dumb you are. Try and impress us.

Originally Posted by BlurredElevens

I hope not, we've discussed taking you out, but we're all still blown away at how incredibly dumb you are. Try and impress us.

Hate to jump in here, but should one feel highly privileged to have an offer extended from Blurred? Just busting your balls here man, as I've seen that you and your crew kill it, just caught my attention the way it was phrased.

Originally Posted by Nate Dogg

Hate to jump in here, but should one feel highly privileged to have an offer extended from Blurred? Just busting your balls here man, as I've seen that you and your crew kill it, just caught my attention the way it was phrased.

Ask yourself this.

Would you feel privileged to ski knee deep untracked blower all winter?

Thought so.

Well put Blurred. We can go track Mushroom next time i'm in your neighborhood. MOHSHSIHd will have to watch us disappear over the edge.

Originally Posted by BlurredElevens

Ask yourself this.

Would you feel privileged to ski knee deep untracked blower all winter?

Thought so.

No doubt about that, just point me to the sign-up sheet! Step back MOHSHSIHd, I'm next in line

There is a four wheel drive/cat road that runs down mushroom bowl back to the resort. I believe it's called the commando run. I used it once or twice to scope the area out before skiing anything else in there.

Yeah, asking questions about skiing on a ski message board is really dumb....i should just go wander around solo and keep my mouth shut....thats a much better idea

Originally Posted by MOHSHSIHd

Yeah, asking questions about skiing on a ski message board is really dumb....i should just go wander around solo and keep my mouth shut....thats a much better idea

Sn8+JoHS, it is not that you ask questions, it is how you ask them.

try thinking first, and then posting. also, try posting in such a way that people will believe you will be an asset and not a liability in the BC. believe it or not, digging someone out of tree wells, talking them down once cliffed out, and having them kick off a slide on top of you, for an entire run is not super sweet..... my guess is that this would happen if i was to ski with you...

also, giving directions into fairly sketchy, avy prone areas to someone that does not appear to have the needed skills to negotiate that area is simply irresponsible.

try consulting a topo map of the area, and you can figure out the general lay of the land in mushroom bowl pretty easily. then ask specifics about a proposed route. also, try skiing it with someone who has done it before... usually a good idea. there are a couple folks in eagle county familiar with mushroom bowl, it should not be difficult to find one. then post a well informed TR so people will actually think you are not retarded.

sorry to be so blunt, but fuck man, it is not that hard, you know?

Any of you guys know anything about this?

"One
skier triggered a fairly good sized slide, east to SE aspect in an area
known as King Tuts in East Vail Chutes yesterday. Took a ride over a 30 foot
cliff, but came out ok."

Originally Posted by Dirk Diggler

Any of you guys know anything about this?

"One
skier triggered a fairly good sized slide, east to SE aspect in an area
known as King Tuts in East Vail Chutes yesterday. Took a ride over a 30 foot
cliff, but came out ok."

We talked to one guy on the bus that set off some snow on a se aspect. Didn't say anything about a ride over a cliff, but was looking pretty spooked...

Brett, do you remember that conversation?

Originally Posted by marshalolson

try consulting a topo map of the area

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=13...83&layer=DRG25

If you buy a membership, you can get huge size maps and overlay them with photos. Pretty cool shiz.

I think I'm gonna buy hard copy maps of the area and put them on the wall.

Originally Posted by Dirk Diggler

Any of you guys know anything about this?

"One
skier triggered a fairly good sized slide, east to SE aspect in an area
known as King Tuts in East Vail Chutes yesterday. Took a ride over a 30 foot
cliff, but came out ok."

Yeah, they were skiing tweeners and set some shit off. The king tut slide I saw was due to wind loading, and it sheared pretty good. I don't know why those people were skiing that aspect, the snow is mank due to the temps. The slides are this new snow thats getting wet and heavy in that aspect and it's sliding on the old layer.

Skiing King Tut is about the worst avy prone spot in East Vail, and at this time of the year you're just asking for trouble back there. The last person to die in a slide in East Vail died there.

Lurch, just FYI, the Commando Run is a tour that goes from Vail pass to Vail Village, via a series of ridglines which eventually drop you at the farthest E edge of Siberia peak. You finish by skinning up outside the area boundary, and dropping over into Mushroom, and the exit is on the cat road you're thinking of, which delivers you back to the Golden Peak area.

It's one of my personal favs, but it's long and a bit tricky the first time out, so you should go with people that know. Highly recommended, but be prepared to start at sunrise, and finish not too long before sunset by the time you get back up the car at the Pass.

I haven't done it yet this year... The skiing is not that great, it's more of a tour, but if there's some interest, I would consider taking a couple peeps out... EDIT: after I return from Silverton this weekend.

Originally Posted by Yossarian

Lurch, just FYI, the Commando Run is a tour that goes from Vail pass to Vail Village, via a series of ridglines which eventually drop you at the farthest E edge of Siberia peak. You finish by skinning up outside the area boundary, and dropping over into Mushroom, and the exit is on the cat road you're thinking of, which delivers you back to the Golden Peak area.

It's one of my personal favs, but it's long and a bit tricky the first time out, so you should go with people that know. Highly recommended, but be prepared to start at sunrise, and finish not too long before sunset by the time you get back up the car at the Pass.

I haven't done it yet this year... The skiing is not that great, it's more of a tour, but if there's some interest, I would consider taking a couple peeps out... EDIT: after I return from Silverton this weekend.

I've done it on a mountain bike and thought it was a little long; that must be one long ass skin. For some reason I thought the guide book was saying that the road was called commando run. Either my reading comprehension sucks or the guide book was not very good.

Or I could be full of shit too. It does happen. Anyway, it's a very nice tour. If you're interested, lemme know...

Skinning up to Benchmark then dropping into Mushroom is considered part of the Commmando Run. However, people also drop right down into Outer Mongolia and take Silk Road (Two Elk drainage) and ride China or Teacup out. Regardless, it is a super fun tour. I have also ridden it once in the summer. It is a sick ride. You can take the Two Elk drainage right out into Minturn.

Originally Posted by Lurch

I've done it on a mountain bike and thought it was a little long that must be one long ass skin. For some reason I thought the guide book was saying that the road was called commando run either my reading comprehension sucks or the guide book was not very good.

Yoss is correct, Commando run is just a singletrack trail from Vail Pass to Vail. The road you're thinking of is Benchmark road, which you can drive and get to Marvins bowl in the summer. (I still haven't figured out why they groom it in the winter......evac route from east vail maybe??)

I remember my first Minturn-Mile loop - we got to the bottom and everybody started taking shoes out of their packs. I was like "Nobody told me to bring shoes...." They all laughed and welcomed me to the club.

Long story short, I believe we drank margaritas for many hours at the little bar in Minturn before I tried to navigate my way to the bus in ski boots at 9:00 at night (it resulted in a phone call to my roomate promising a sixer if he'd come and get my sorry ass).

I agree you shouldn't lead people with little avy bc skills into the backcountry. A probe shovel and beacon are not enough. Except if you're a guide with certification for taking jongs into the bc.