Double Shot

Skinning up a steep slope in the San Juans, Colorado

Skinning up a steep slope, looking at what would be our second descent route of the day.

Skiing in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Upon arriving at the summit, our north face descent route still needed some time to soften. Instead of waiting around up there, we decided to do a quick run down the east face, which was nice and soft already.

Skiing near Silverton in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Skier: Ann Driggers. The town of Silverton is located in the valley in the distance.

Skiing in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Having skinned back up the east face, the big north face was now good to go, and so we ended up scoring two nice corn lines today, the last day of May! See some more pics on Ann’s blog.

Frozen Smoothie

Skinning a high ridge in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Skinning up a high ridgeline in the San Juans this morning.

Spring skiing in the San Juans, Colorado, May

Skier: Chris Cover. The mountains have started getting some sun the last couple days, and the snow is quickly transitioning from powder to corn. Today our slope was well frozen, and the clouds and chilly winds were keeping it that way. So, unfortunately we weren’t able to ski this beauty with the soft conditions I was hoping for, but at least the snow was perfectly smooth so it was still a fun descent.

Cream Cheese Powder

Hiking into the clouds, Colorado

With heaps of snow and hardly anybody out skiing these days, the “low hanging fruit” abounds in the San Juans. Today we went up the same peak I’ve gone up 2 of the last 3 days. Normally these are the routes we do in the wintertime, so it feels a bit novel to be riding these in late May!

Backcountry skiing in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Ninja skier: Paul McElrea.

Backcountry skiing in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Perfect cream cheese powder, great for terminal velocity carving.

Mid Winter in May!

Skiing powder in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado in May

I woke up this morning thinking it was February, with a snowstorm outside! Matt and I went up and skied/splitboarded about a foot of fresh powder.

Snowy trees, Colorado

It’s amazing how wintery it still is up in the mountains, with a full mid-winter snowpack, even at the lower elevations. The spring skiing should be great around here, if spring ever comes.

Skiing United States Mountain

Skiing United States Mountain near Ouray, Colorado

As you drive into the town of Ouray on Main Street, you can often see a gleaming snowcapped peak looming up the valley to the southwest – this is United States Mountain. Today we hiked up there and scored a great ski/snowboard descent!

Skiing United States Mountain, San Juans, Colorado

Skier: Sean Hart.

United States Mountain near Ouray, Colorado

A view of the line we hiked and skied/snowboarded. There’s a large couloir hidden amongst the top cliffs, which we ascended and descended.