Front Range

The calendar read that it had recently turned to summer, but there was still some good skiing to be had, especially if you looked in the right places. The Fletcher Mountain Northeast Couloirs are one of those places that hold snow late into the year, along with its neighboring Atlantic Peak. Although I have skied Fletcher from the west side, I had never skied it from the east, though it had been on my list for quite some time. I was able to rally my friend Natalie into joining me, as well as my friend Jess, who invited her friend Chad. We were a foursome that started early in the morning from McCullough Gulch Road.

I’ll be honest, it was one of my first true ski mountaineering lines. This line in Tenmile Canyon – a line I don’t even know the name of and still have trouble trying to find exactly which one it was as I pass by it on I-70 – it was this line that gave me the thirst. This line gave me the craving. It was this line that started love for ski mountaineering. It was this line that brought me to where I am today.

From across the way at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, the Widow Maker is easy to spot. It’s ominous avalanche path swoops across the mountain and calls to backcountry skiers who dare. But, it’s an avalanche path, which means it does slide. Skiing the Widow Maker on a pow-day in the heart of winter would certainly lead to grave outcomes. Yet, our day was in spring. Late spring really – the day after a cement-like snow fell and bonded quickly to the stable snowpack beneath it. The Widow Maker was a good choice for the day.

Rocky Mountain National Park harbors some fantastic backcountry skiing. Unfortunately, with the seasonal closure of Trail Ridge Road until around Memorial Day, much of the skiing is difficult to access. However, the Bear Lake zone is accessible all winter long and holds some of the best backcountry skiing in the Front Range that is not on the I-70 corridor with plenty of route options for both winter and spring. Although I had skied a few times in this area when I resided on the Front Range 10 years ago, I had long forgotten the specific lines in the Bear Lake “Terrain Park”. So, after a good sized spring storm late last April, I revisited the area with my friends Zach and Scott.

Mid June skiing on Apache peak in the Indian Peaks Wilderness on the front range of Colorado! Apache doesn’t require the longest of approaches, it’s still a 13 or 14 mile day, and most of that was spent with the skis on the back. It would be a bit shorter if the road was open past Brainard lake, but unfortunately it’s almost always closed there- at least when the skiing is still good. At least the trail was heavily trafficked and in good shape, so we made good time to Lake Isabelle…