Berthoud Pass 12.27.15
(Last Updated On: January 5, 2016)
Berthoud Pass will always hold a special place in my heart, since it’s where I started backcountry skiing, and I’m sure I’ve been over that pass at least a thousand times, since I used to race at Winter Park. Of course it’s a lot different now compared to the early 90’s when I started backcountry skiing there. The lifts even started turning again in between, though they are all gone now. Since I was staying in Golden for a few days after Christmas, I figured I should return to my old stomping grounds.
Keith Spargo and I dodged traffic and made it to the pass where we were able to get out of the cold and change in the warming house. I have to admit, I do like the warming house feature. With plenty of wind and new snow, we took it easy and did the three creek tour, keeping it mellow. Here’s a few photos from the day:
Postage Stamp in the background:
Front Range:
Keith getting deep:
Some big older slides in the area:
…And one token shot of me, on the dark shaded north-facing terrain.
We found a ride pretty quickly, being a busy part of a busy day. It’s always an adventure- this particular driver was very excited about his friend’s RAZR that had been converted into a mini snowcat, more or less. I’ve seen a few around the Crested Butte area- it would certainly be a nice way to commute for those living in Irwin. It was good to be “home”, but it’s also always good to go home, to Crested Butte 🙂
We choose the BCA Float packs when we’re skiing the backcountry, just in case:
Frank Konsella
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Frank,
i live in CB South and am interested in beta on ski mountaineering. I ski around here but want to get in the alpine without snow machine.
Any feedback is appreciated.
Andrew