TR Silverton Mtn 4-11-14

[stradissimo]

Last Friday, Apr 11th, I went up to Silverton Mountain for some unguided skiing.

One thing I noticed at Silverton Mtn was a notable lack of teletubbies. I guess Purgatory is where the gopro heros go to get sweet, sweet footage of the blues.

There were lots of people there, but I think I was the only one gaping and taking pictures. I only live an hour away from Silverton, but the San Juans never fail to get me gaping.

Here's the view from the top of Cabin in the morning. It looks a little wind blown. They said they recorded a 102 mph gust the night before.
You can see Billboard on the right, and the Grande Couloir in the middle. When I was buying my ticket, they announced that they might open the Grande for hikers. My mind started rolling on that...


At the bottom of Cabin, I took a picture up the valley. There was the grand, calling "come to me, suffer for me".


When I got to the top of the lift, they said they were going to open the Grande. I went there via Billboard. Here's a picture west from the top of Billboard. Black Bear Pass is over there somewhere, and Telluride is on the other side of that.


I dropped off Billboard and made my way over to the Grande.


One death march later, I was at the top. There was a guided group up there waiting on the last person to make it up.



This is the view before dropping in.


I had one of the best runs of my life down the Grande. I was on new Cochises, which I got for a song from dawgcatching, and they let me bomb GS turns all the way down. The snow was kind of crappy on the top third and pretty awesome the rest of the way down. I wish I had some video.

That's it for the pictures for that day.

But, I'll leave you with this. The week before, I was up on McMillan peak, just west of Silverton Mountain and watched a Golden Eagle take out a fully grown Blue Heron in mid-flight. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. Full-on nature show.

[pruitt]

Looks like a fun trip. Silverton is back to the top of my list for next year.

[garuda]

Looks like a blast! Thanks for sharing the good pics.

[thin cover]

nice one! Silverton is one of kind. We were there also... taking pics

[stradissimo]

nice one! Silverton is one of kind. We were there also... taking pics

Man, I would have liked to run into you there. Your pictures are great.

The support you got here convinced me that TGR mags have hearts of gold.

Silverton Mountain is so big it's impossible to know what's going on on all of it. I thought I heard a chopper flying, but I never saw it. It might have been flying people to the top all day and it escaped me. It's a great place to get small (in an old Steve Martin kind of way.)

[Shadam]

nice ...

somtimes a seemingly shity hike gets super orsum when some form of nature totally blows you away ...

birds sure can put on a good show ...

feel free to take that out of context ...

[nkanskis2]

Thanks for posting. Good to know that late season there is awesome too. I guess it's when they open all the terrain! (had two awesome trips there earlier this season, but with all that snow Billboard was off-limits).

[hatchgreenchile]

Gaping in the San Juans is only natural.
Looks like you got some dust down there!
Quality stoke. Keep it coming.

[Alpinord]

At the bottom of Cabin, I took a picture up the valley. There was the grand, calling "come to me, suffer for me".

Speaking of standing around taking pictures, from 1 week prior at the same spot:



Nice TR Strad, glad you found some good snow. I thought when we hit the first day of unguided and 12" of fresh, the conditions would be degrading, especially with the dust layer and more wind. Hopefully, corn camp season will be worthwhile and we can connect.

[treewell-dweller]

I thought I heard a chopper flying, but I never saw it. It might have been flying people to the top all day and it escaped me. It's a great place to get small (in an old Steve Martin kind of way.)

Pretty sure the heli has been out in AK since the start of unguided season 2 weeks ago. The Grande must have been sweet since it looks like you got up there early. Good work!

[hortence]

I had one of the best runs of my life down the [...]

You are not the first to ski Silverton and say this, nor will you be the last.

[bamboocoreONLY]

that boot pack looks exactly how you described it as a death march hahaha. fun line though! nice!

[kasi]

These snow falling intensity in my mind that in next summer vacation i will go to the tour of snow falling and i think my family member,s also along with me..