Colorado’s 10th Mountain Division Huts
Posted on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Working as a school counselor I get some awesome breaks. Flying from Rochester, N.Y., to Denver last month to meet up with friends, I dreamed of my first telemark powder turns. In my mind I tried to experience the up-and-down bouncing I see in the Powder Whore videos.
My friends Dave and Jenn, both experienced backcountry skiers, set up a four-day, three-night hut skiing trip in the Aspen backcountry. Fortunately for us, Aspen received a lot of snow in late February and we were in for what was shaping up to be a great hut trip.
As I reflect on this trip, I feel my body beginning to shake with excitement. The first day we drove four hours to Aspen and skinned three hours to the Markley hut. This was my first time skinning, the air was crisp, the snow was deep, and the views were expansive. Arriving at the hut, we started the wood-burning stove, put snow in the pot to melt for cooking and drinking water, and prepared for our first run before sunset.
Dave set me up with skins and skis the width of water skis to float in the powder. The skins were half the width of the skis, so a lot of ski base was exposed and on the steep skin track up I could not gain traction and kept sliding backward. In the interest of safety, as it was going to get dark soon and I didn’t want to put anyone in danger, I decided to return to the hut. Although I told myself not to be disappointed, I was. I committed to charge hard the next days and I was happy that I made a responsible decision, as safety is always number one in the mountains.
The next day Dave was awesome and sacrificed his skins for me, cutting them into split skins with a knife on a cutting board. We skinned six hours to the Goodwin Greene hut, and we were all tuckered. Jenn (culinary excellence incarnate) put together a snack and we gorged on fruit, nuts, and chocolate before dinners of pasta with shrimp; turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy; and bean, chicken, guacamole, cheese and salsa double-decker hard/soft shell tacos. I ate better on the hut trip carrying the food on my back than at home with the convenience of a refrigerator.
Earning turns was the greatest experience. The Goodwin Greene hut was surrounded by 360 degrees of skiable, wide-open powder gardens. The snowpack was well bonded, and we did a lot of low-angle spanking (Dan’s name for low-angle-slope skiing) as well as 35-degree steep and deep runs. I got my first face shots — from crashing. As I continued to do laps, I was excited to link turns, bounce up and down in the powder, learn the kick turn while skinning up the hill, and experience the peace and joy that comes from being in the mountains and sharing the experience with good friends and new friends. On the final day I did some low-angle spanking before we skinned out, socked in by an incoming snowstorm.
Later on the trip I earned my first real face shots skiing the ridge at Loveland, as I floated over the gunpowder residue from the avalanche control explosives, kicking out my back leg to spray powder. Where will the skin track lead next?
Andy Fleming is a Cloudveil Inspired Mountain Ambassador.
