June Kayaking

It's shaping up to be a big year for whitewater in Colorado. Snow pack is the deepest in about 30 years in the South Platte River (Denver) and Colorado River (West Slope) basins. Although it is mid-June, the mountains remain white and the ski lifts are still running at Arapaho Basin.

June 1st on Independence Pass near Aspen:

When flows reach 20,000 cfs on the Colorado River near Grand Junction, CO the "Big Sur" wave forms. The last time that Big Sur ran for any length of time was in 1995. Some buddies and I visited Big Sur when it started running in early June:

Near Big Sur is Plateau Creek, an easy scenic Class III float:

The "slaughterhouse" section of the Roaring Fork near Aspen:

Preston setting up for Slaugherhouse falls:

The snow melt in the mountains has left verdant meadows. Dry Park, west of Carbondale, CO:

Wildflowers on the Slaughterhouse shuttle:

This last weekend found me on Bailey Canyon on the North Fork of the South Platte River. 615 cfs puts the Class V- Bailey run on the high side of manageable. Our crew of 5 enjoyed five swims and two broken paddles. An exciting day on the river!

Gavin in falls 2 of 4 falls:

Flooded creekin' fun in "the steeps."

No line looks good in Trashcan:

Paul headed to the rodeo in Deer Creek Rapid:

All smiles on the float out:

The season is young. I'm looking forward to many more miles of whitewater fun this summer.

Raft & Ski Utah

Kate and Dan were glad to receive an invite for a late March Westwater Canyon overnight raft trip. Westwater is located on the Colorado River, just past the Utah border.

As the trip neared, weather forecasts called for a series of major winter storms to pound Colorado's mountains. We weighed powder skiing with a potentially cold Utah adventure. Forecasts called for below freezing temperatures and light snow in Westwater canyon. After deliberation, we decided to do the best of both: float Westwater over the weekend and then ski in La Sal Mountains near Moab, UT on Monday.

Gear was packed:

We arrived in Fruita, CO, one hour from the Westwater putin on Friday night and spent a nice evening at the Super 8 Motel. Words of wisdom on Fruita: the H Motel is a pit. The Feedlot Restaurant is fantastic.

We launched on Westwater after running shuttle with 7 rafts and one token kayaker, who spent much of his time on different rafts.

The float into Westwater canyon is though the beautiful Chinle and Wingate formations. Proterozoic basement rocks are exposed in the heart of the canyon.

There is more than one good surf opportunity in Westwater Canyon:

We enjoyed the Upper Dolores Camp, just above the "big rapids" of Westwater. Kate poses in front of Little Dolores Creek:

Upper Little D camp from above:

Kate is bitten by the rafting bug:

To our great relief, we got on the river under partly sunny skies on Sunday morning to enter the heart of the Canyon:

With no raft flips or unintentional excitement, we floated the 7 flat lonely miles to the Cisco takeout. Both Kate and Dan took a try at the oars.

After getting off the river, we headed down to the comfort of the Red Cliff Ranch on the Colorado River near Moab, UT.

The next morning, we headed up La Sal Mountain loop for some skiing. Not your typical views on the way to the mountain:

We switched around gear in the car, trading kayaks and drysuits for skis and skins:

There's nothing like touring with snow covered mountains in front of you and Canyonlands below!

Kate makes some turns on soft consolidated La Sal Mountain snow:

We took the long way home after skiing and took one last look down Castle Valley.

...and took a look at the mountains we had enjoyed during the day.

...and made funny faces.

Silverton 2011

Once again, we headed down to Silverton for a weekend of steep and deep skiing. This year's crew was limited to six, Glen, Jay, Pete, Connor, Fab and myself. The White Wolfe Haus comfortably accommodated the smaller crew, down from eight last year.

The Pacific La Nina year has left Southwest Colorado with below average snowpack. We were dismayed to see a good bit of bare ground in-town Silverton, relative to last year's enormous snow piles. The forecast called for a sunny Friday, 40% chance of 1 - 3 inches Saturday and 40% chance of 1 - 3 inches Sunday.

The Crew:

Our guide took us down Left Nightmare for the first run; the coverage was thin and this zone had not been skied yet this year. Typical Silverton steeps:

The gully below Left Nightmare offered some nice tele-turns for Pete, who consistently killed it on tele skis.

Everyone had memorable crashes. Not everyone was lucky enough to get theirs on film: 

Fab enjoying a bluebird day below Left Nightmare:

Nightmare Basin. Our lines were on the right (skier's left).

Pete drops a knee on Cabin.

The crew made one hike to the "Billboard," a radio repeater mounted on the flank of Storm Peak and about 900 vertical feet above the top of the lift.

Jay and Pete at the Billboard: 

The crew at the top:

Glen and Fab kickin' it at 13,000 ft:

Clearance rack goggles and pants complete the ensemble:

Storm peak:

The Pope Face descends from the Billboard at about 45 to 50 degrees. The average slope from the Billboard to the bottom of the "Porn Star Chute" is 35-degrees. Pete makes it look easy on tele's.

Pete gloating over a killer line on Pope Face:

Fab tempting fate on the Pope Face "no fall zone"

Below the Pope Face, our guide took us on the 45-degree "Porn Star" chute, which constricts to less than a ski length in the middle.

Glen going for the squeeze on Porn Star:

The apron below Porn Star offered some phenomenal skiing:

Our line from the Billboard down:

Jay posing for the camera:

Connor enjoying the view:

Tiger #5, one of our last runs of the first day. Pete jumping his tele turns:

...and showing off the bottom of his demo boards:

Jay catching a little air on Tiger #5:

On Saturday, our second day at Silverton, it started to snow. There were a few inches in the morning, maybe a half foot by noon and perhaps a foot by the end of the day. Skiing storm snow is a special fluffy treat. 

Pete and Glen contemplate powder skiing:

Fab goes deep in lower Cabin:

Glen and Connor in lower Cabin:

Jay(?) enjoying waist deep powder skiing:

Connor in the storm:

Saturday featured some excellent steeps, including the 50-degree waterfall ramp:

The snow loaded deep on Rope-Dee Ramp:

Fab enters the white room:

Saturday left everyone with an ice cream headache and jones for more powder skiing on Sunday.

Punching a snowflake on the way down Sunset:

Snow accumulation from noon until 3:30PM on Saturday:

Yurt Yeti Jay shows off a beard-full of powder shots Saturday apres-ski.

On Sunday, about a foot of snow had fell in town, maybe one and a half feet at the base of the Silverton Lift and two feet or more on the top of the mountain. After two days of hiking and skiing, the remaining skiers from the crew were beat, but couldn't miss a day of truly epic powder skiing. The sun flirted with clouds throughout the day. Winds were cold, but the snow was deep and light in the trees.

Jay finding a deep pocket:

An awesome sequence of Jay laying first tracks on Sunset:

The last run of the day was down Concision. Wind-blown crust at top, bottomless powder after the wind roll. One of the nicest lines of the trip for me:

We'll be back in 2012 for the third annual Silverton adventure.

Parting shot: Silverton liftline on an 18-inch powder day.