The Dream Stream 5.14.16
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After skiing the Lightning Bolt the day before, Brittany and I decided to tackle the Dream Stream the following day. The Dream Stream is the prominent avalanche path that is visible on the side of Ajax Mountain from downtown Telluride. Every few years, a Youtube video will pop up from this slide path when Telluride Helitrax bombs the route and a massive avalanche pours off the mountainside. Thankfully, with stable spring conditions we weren’t too worried about that, at least first thing in the morning.
Like the route the day before, we had great views of Telluride and the box canyon that it sits in:
The route passes by mining ruins before reaching the summit of Ajax. Clouds were starting to develop, so we didn’t have great visibility but conditions were pretty prime corn skiing. Brittany:
The Dream Stream is a pretty spectacular spot to make some turns, the views don’t get more spectacular. Frank:
Eventually you hit the actual slide path and begin making your way down as far as you care to. The route ends in a cliff, so we turned around and reascended Ajax.
Back on the other side of Ajax, we found similarly good corn skiing, though it was a bit past its prime at the bottom. Brittany:
A slight detour at the bottom of our route led us to Bridal Veil falls and the power station.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- miners were way crazier and tougher than any of us. So cool to make turns while feeling the spray of the falls:
Another great line in the San Juans- thanks to our new friends for showing us around!
Great deal from The Feed:
- Bluebird Backcountry Ski Area - February 14, 2020
- Gear Review: Smith 4D MAG Goggles - January 6, 2020
- Gear Review: LEKI Tour Stick Vario Carbon Ski Poles - December 9, 2019
I made the first known ski descent with my friend Steve Moose in 1977. He made the first known solo descent the following year while I was making a first descent in an extremely steep chute above Bear Creek(I forget the name) I moved to Alaska and Steve was killed in a hang gliding accident in Bear Creek shortly after. Scott Burbank
Thanks for the history Scott! I wish we knew more about a lot of first known descents 🙂 Telluride backcountry in the 70’s must have been a different world.
It was certainly a different world, 6 by 8 streets and not much on the mesas. Our small band of back country skiers were fond of saying “if it holds snow it is skiable”
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Definitely with you on that one! If it has snow, it can be skied. 🙂