TR: Buffalo Mountain, Silver Couloir (25 Feb 2016)
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Buffalo Mountain is one of those peaks that skiers see all the time, but many of them don’t actually notice it. Unless, you’re a backcountry skier, that is.
Standing just north of I-70, Buffalo Mountain is synonymous with Summit County. In fact, the northern part of Silverthorne is nestled along its slopes. If you’ve ever stayed at one of those condos up on Wildernest Drive, you’re just a hop, skip and a jump away.
Yet, somehow, even with all of our backcountry experience all over the state, Frank and I have never actually skied on Buffalo. Not once. So, when our friend Larry suggested it to me, I thought it was a pretty good idea – especially after the large wind event we’d had the day before. We chose a line that we felt would not be wind loaded at the top, and the Silver Couloir rang true to that.
On the way up, it’s always inspiring to see what other potential lines you could ski. This is a shortie for sure, but I bet it’s fun….
Though it’s not necessary to summit Buffalo to ski the Silver Couloir, we had time to spare and summited anyways. From the top, we admired the various peaks of the Gore, like Red.
I believe this is Snow with Grand Traverse Peak behind.
After the wind event, the snow was a bit grippy in the Silver Couloir. But, it was still decent skiing for the most part. Larry.
And then out the bottom….
A couple of pics that Larry snapped of me.
Huge rock walls in the Silver Couloir for sure!
As I have always heard, getting out of the Silver Couloir can be tricky. I highly recommend using a GPS 🙂
All and all, it was another fun day in the mountains. Glad to be getting after some bigger lines!
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