Turkey Chute 3.19.16
(Last Updated On: March 30, 2016)
Brittany and I once again headed to the San Juans to explore the backcountry while avalanche conditions remained low. On the 18th, we skied Red 3, and realized just how bad the winds had been in the area. Thankfully, we also realized that sheltered NE aspects were actually skiing really well. A few years back, we had been skiing outside Silverton and got our first glimpse of the Turkey chute. Since it’s deeply inset and faces NE, it seemed like a good choice given the windswept conditions.
Legend has it that it’s called the Turkey chute because it’s often skiable by Thanksgiving. Makes sense to me- after all we have a Halloween bowl near Crested Butte for the same reason.
My friend Will headed up from Durango and we got a leisurely start towards the backside of the chute. It was a beautiful day and once we got above treeline the views were great.
Rocking the Zero G’s:
Like I said, it had been windy. These old tracks told the story:
We booted the last bit to the top of the Turkey Chute, and gained a nice view of a line on Kendall Peak that we skied in 2012:
The Turkey chute is a straight shot, 1,000′ couloir with big rock walls- and a ton of fun. There were a handful of older tracks in it, but it was wide enough to find the recycled snow and the conditions were, if anything, better than expected. Me:
Will:
Brittany:
Beautiful colors and textures on the rock walls:
Looking towards Lake City, and a few other mountains that we’ve skied:
All in all, we found good snow in a great couloir on a perfect day in the San Juan range- what more could we ask for?
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Frank Konsella
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