“Silverton- The place to go when you want to be seen” -Ben F., spring ’09
“That was like downing a bottle of viagra, going to the strip club, and then going home with the dudes” -Ben F., spring ’05
Both times I have gone to Silverton, I went with my friend Ben. The first time, back in 2005, we went guided. This remains one of the most disappointing ski days I have ever had. Despite a fast group, we were only able to get 4 runs in, and not a single one was in good conditions, although there was good snow all around us. That snow was for someone else, I guess. That’s where the viagra quote comes from- we saw great snow and great terrain, we just didn’t get to touch any of it. Our guide was completely overmatched by our group, and fell on a number of occasions, including losing all his gear at least once. Nobody in our group, even the telemarkers from Vermont who should have been blown away, were at all impressed.
This year, I decided to give the place another chance, this time unguided. With 22″ reported in the last 48 hours, we decided it just had to be good. We arrived to a few inches, perhaps as much as 7″ on the top. I had always wondered if Silverton exaggerated their reports, and at least on this day, it was very much the case. The skiing was OK, but I couldn’t help but continue to feel that Silverton’s marketing as the steepest ski area in CO/the US/sometimes even North America continues to be way overblown. Is it steeper than Vail? Yes. Is it steeper than Crested Butte? Not even close. It wouldn’t be a problem if there wasn’t so much hype, but that’s all the place seems to be- empty hype.
Which leads to the first quote above. The uber-cool hippster who just moved to Santa Fe(because he/she read in a magazine that Santa Fe was the hippest place to be) because a magazine like Outside/Men’s Journal/National Geographic Adventure told him/her that Silverton was the place to be will probably love the place. They’ll drive there in their genetically unmodified organic SUV that runs on vegetable oil (since the magazines told them it was cool). The magazine probably says that Silverton is the most euro-like place in all of the states, so he/she will probably bring an ice axe, because the magazine said that’s some bad-ass cool stuff to bring to the gnar of Silverton. Like this moron, with his upside-down ice axe ready to stab him in the butt:
I was reminded of all this last night when I was reading my first issue of National Geographic Adventure. It was a cheap subscription, and the article on Everett Ruess (disappeared in the desert SW in the 30′s) made the magazine, but the rest was just junk. Magazines like this love making cheesy little lists, and there it was, at #19: Ski Scar Face “Fewer than ten skiers a year attempt Scar Face at Silverton Mountain, the nastiest run at America’s Highest [sic: both Loveland and Breckenridge are higher], steepest [yeah right], and funkiest ski resort. This is a good thing. With its blind entry, impossibly narrow chutes [clearly it is possible], deadly cliff bands to sidestep, and a pitch that pushes 60 degrees over 2,200 vertical feet, Scar Face is more a prediction than a description.” Whatever. As Public Enemy famously sang, “Don’t Believe the Hype”
Public Enemy’s “Don’t Believe the Hype” (embedding was disabled so you’ve got to hit the link)
Hi,
Nice site. I like skiers to have a good time. Sorry your day wasn’t so fun. If you decide to come ski silverton again email me ahead of time and I will comp a unguided ticket for you and show you around to the steeper/more fun unguided terrain. There is a lot of sweet terrain but the mountain can be hard to navigate.
Silverton was higher than A Basin or Loveland with our peak of 13,487′ but perhaps they added new terrain. The ‘steepest’ comes from an average of pitch and since Silverton has no flats it is the steepest. For a writer in a cubicle Silverton is a scary place. For a skier who skis all the 14ers it is tame. It’s all a matter of perspective I guess. We had a guide circa 2005 that turned out to be a better climber than ski guide, but he no longer works for us (didn’t last a full season and we got more than a few complaints).
The snow report is something we get a lot of comments on. We can’t afford a snow reporter who gets there at 5am so our reports are almost always a day behind (i do them myself when I have time). So a 48 hr total is actually from 72hrs, but they require us to report each day etc. On the days we are not open we only update sporadically, so it could read 48hr total of 22″ from Mon and won’t be updated again until Thurs etc. It is a confusing process, but ultimately all the snow that is reported fell at some time, but usually not in the same 24hr period it was reported (if that makes sense). I guess that makes us ‘funky’.
I couldn’t find a way to PM you and just wanted to clarify and I hope to ski with you soon!
-Aaron
Aaron-
Thank you so much for your comments. One thing I don’t think I’d ever say is that you or your staff don’t have a ton of passion for skiing and your ski area. I really do love the idea of Silverton mountain, and it’s great to see what it’s done for the town as well. Your guides were super friendly and helpful on the unguided day we skied this spring. They pointed us to the 3 stooges area, saying that was the best snow and terrain open at the time (and it was the best run we had that day) We also noticed that a skinny little run in the trees (string, maybe?) didn’t have tracks in it and we were able to find it and put a set of tracks in it. It was pretty fun all in all, but our expectations were set pretty high.
Speaking of expectations, that’s really the only point that the blog entry was about. If all you see are things like the NGA quote at the end of the entry, or the “got balls” bumper stickers, you’ll go to Silverton expecting some serious stuff. For someone in a cubicle, they may ski Silverton and be completely relieved to find that it’s within their abilities. For someone like me who has been lucky enough to ski places like Chamonix and Las Lenas and backcountry like the 14ers, Silverton might go the other way and not be quite as challenging as hoped for. If I arrived at Silverton not expecting death-defying steeps but just some semi-steep powder runs, I would probably think the place was the greatest place on earth.
Silverton is the steepest overall, I can see that. Your permitted area is indeed higher, it’s the lifts that are higher elsewhere. Not that important anyway…
I hope to find the time to visit next season and make some turns with you, for sure. Hopefully it’s an epic year and the only thing to complain about will be choking on faceshots.
One more thing for anyone else reading…
Don’t take my word for it, or National Geographic Explorer’s either. Go check it out yourself. You’ll probably find that Silverton is not America’s version of La Grave, but it also isn’t a Keystone clone. It’s somewhere inbetween and if you visit with that attitude, you’re likely to have a good time.
It is good to see that Aaron Brill was good enough to comment on the blog. Perhaps he will invite me to join you for a third try. I guess we can give it baseball rules and not give it an out until three strikes. Maybe I will give it a positive quote this time!
The thing I don’t understand from out guided trip was that they did ask skill level and separate the groups. As all of us quickly went to the “expert” group, why were we given a guide with less experience and skill? The fact that we skied all the worst snow on the mountain bothers me even more than the guides skiing ability. He continued to say it was out of his control on what we skied when we asked if we could ski some of the great powder we walked past. It even looked waist deep under the chair, but we would hike as far as possible to hit some frozen chicken heads. Sweet. Perhaps he wasn’t telling us the truth, but it seems the run choice wasn’t up to him?
This is the reason I like 14erskiers.com. Unbelievable posts.
Glad I wasn’t the only one that felt like that after visiting the Silverton Ski Area. On a guided day, We were told by the guide that we were semi-ski mountaineering in that we traversed less than 5 minutes from the lift and out of the orange lined gate into a gully that was flatter than dick’s ditch but less tracked out. Lame. Basically, we got 4 runs in with the guide. Seem like more waiting then riding the whole day. Surrounding terrain seems fun with a consistent slope angle for being in Colorado. Non guided days are also kinda lame in that they restrict the area you can ride. The wait for the shuttle was a bit longer without the guide. Over-hyped is a great description.
Its definitely no Valdez, J-Hole, Baker, Revolstoke, or Cham. Don’t bother. Just ski-tour around the area.
arvs-
Bummer you had that experience as well. If you’ve spent lots of time at Jackson, Valdez, and Cham, Silverton is bound to underwhelm.
More comments, some positive, on the main blog
I disagree with most of what has been said here. I have ridden the alps and the intermountain west extensively (inc;. J-hole, etc) and Silverton on a powder day is better than anything else I have ever ridden in-bounds. If you hit it on a big day, it is unreal. And yes, the response is: if you hit ANYWHERE on a big day, it can be unreal.
The difference is crowds, however. On a snow day, Silverton does not get tracked out. See how long the same amount of terrain/snow lasts at Jackson or Snowbird or Breck or wherever. Plus if you have your own gear, it’s about half the price. Finally, I get in about 6-7 runs per day. If you are getting only four it’s because of your own lack of motivation and hustle.
For the record, not a SINGLE group had more than 4 runs the day I skied Silverton guided. I would take Jackson 100/100 times over Silverton on a powder day. Actually, I’d take Jackson with no new snow over Silverton with a foot of fresh.
Nice post, sort of sums up some of my thoughts on the place. Yet I go there every year, usually two or three times. I like the skiing and the fellowship and the PBR by the wood stove.
The Brills are always awesome and the area is a great concept. I think more of the hyping goes on by chest-thumpers who like to put the yellow and black sticker on their Tacoma and pretend they are Doug Coombs. Not Silverton’s fault!
There’s only way place to find consistent untracked snow: and lifts are not part of the equation. I lower my expectations every time I ride chairs. Too many people go to silverton with unrealistic expectations. Terrain: it rips! I don’t know what was open when you were there but try mandatory air next time if you’re not feeling challenged. I average six runs every time I ski there. I recommend a spring trip Late;( my favorite day is closing day) also if you haven’t done it. Many days the whole mountain is open, powder on north slopes and corn on south. i have even been blessed with free shots of tequila compliments of the Brills. Like all resorts, you have to hit right.
Expectations are the seeds of disappointment.
I just returned from my first Silverton trip unguided. Simply put, the place is amazing and I still had a crappy day…?!?! I would like to add to some of the good and bad comments.
The good:
1) The place is very steep. Anyone who thinks Breckenridge or A Basin or Loveland or Berthoud compare is crazy (never skied Crested Butte, but the snowfall at CB pales in comparison to SM and the crowds dwarf those at SM so they are incomparable in my book) because Silverton’s steeps are sustained pitches unlike the 200 foot steep pitches in Summit/Eagle/Grand County areas. It’s as steep or steeper than the steepest section of Wolf Creeks Knife Ridge almost everywhere. Sustained pitches like Kirkwood/Squaw/Jackson but all of these resorts see crowds that demolish them FAST.
2) The place is HEINOUS in the best possible way. Cliffs, rock drops, log slides galore!!!!
3) The place is REAL…I only saw 1 person that could have been stereotyped as a gapper/punter (camel jacket, no hat or goggles, alone…and people were nice and concerned for him) and everyone I met was happy to give me Beta and nobody gave me the classic I’m a local so I’m better than you BS so common at resorts.
4) The unguided terrain was beyond sufficient to satisfy me
5) I expected 4 runs and got 6…would have gotten 7 or 8 but I was exhausted from 2 days at Wolf Creek and my partner got injured (mild). Might have pulled more than that if I had not gotten lost in treefall hell 3 times and Hiked twice for no reward and Gone slow down 50 degree mogul fields.
6) All of this and I did NOT look for (even avoided) the hardest terrain and barley hiked.
The bad: How could I have had a crappy day with all that good stuff to say?
I figure a guide would have made it all better but it sounds like thats not so, based on threads above.
1) Snow report said 19 inches over 3 days (this was about half true… snow accumulations were far more variable than I’m used to).
2) They reported a 40-60 inch base. B@?? S!$$ 1-60 inches is more correct. LOTS of places on North and South faces with grass and moss rock peaking through one inch of snow. (on a 19 inch powder day).
I’m NOT taking about 40 inch base with 41 inch rocks (I expect that everywhere I ride)…I mean one inch base with 2 inch rocks.
3) The have been bragging about 99% open on Dec 3rd but it’s clear this is due the opening of terrain that is not ready by most rational standards.
4) If you don’t know where your going, your probably heading for something un-enjoyable. Blind unmarked cliff’s that may or may not be clean, deadfall hell in the tree’s, shoot’s that have snow in the top but not in the bottom (makes skiing anything without scouting impossible or at least super ballsy with potentially fatal consequences).
5) I went on what I think was the busiest day they have ever had. Half of Denver seemed to have made the pilgrimage. The place was tracked out-ish by noon (for the out of towner)
6) GULLIES. If you aren’t familiar with the place you WILL be in a gully almost immediately. We were in line for first chair and our first run was 500 vertical feet of great powder and 1000 vertical feet of heinous tracked out gully, no fresh snow, sun crust, virtually no base on the walls of the gully, grass everywhere. Hell. WTF! I don’t ask a lot but when in line at first chair I expect at least one good run.
7) After realizing the fresh snow was retarded variable, base was somewhere between perfect and non existent, hidden obstacles we guaranteed and everywhere, cliffs and shoots may or may not have any snow in or below them I basically lost all confidence and said F this place. I certainly was not gonna go on some long hike just to get lost again and end up in a vertical, tracked out gully that might have a mandatory but unrunnable cliff (seemed like a serious possibility)
9) Lots of runs require hiking in AND out. Would it be fair to consider the uphill at the bottom as equivalent to the flats that they claim they don’t have. What would you prefer, a flat run out or a hike out.
Bottom line. Amazing but failed to meet expectations. This place must be SICK for anybody who has taken the time to learn it’s ins and outs. As long as a huge crowd does not materialize out of nowhere (like it did Thursday) it would be great experience (not necessarily a perfect ski day) for anyone on a powder day. Luckily at $50 it won’t cost an arm and a leg to get your ass kicked the first few time you go.
PS. I snow board. I have worked at Breckenridge, A Basin, Winter Park, The Old Berthoud Pass ski area Loveland and sorta Kirkwood. I am admittedly a powder day poser (I can ride almost anything on a powder day but have trouble on extreme terrain once its tracked out) so the lower stretches of the mountain (that got tracked out early) were a major challenge. But I’ll be back
It just dawned on me that everything I just said about Silverton would be true of almost any early season backcountry trip conducted on unfamiliar terrain in the vast majority of the worlds mountain regions. The never claimed to be a resort, just lift access backcountry. What you do with that is up to you.
Good stuff Casey, thanks for posting!