How To Do Silverton

**Buster Highmen** · 09-13-2005, 11:54 AM

Therre's enough information about the operation itself, as well as lodging, etc. in Silverton here:
http://www.silvertonmountain.com .

Generally, the lift ticket is more expensive ($129 for the required guided skiing), but hotels and food are much, much cheaper than other ski towns ($25 dorms to $100+ B&Bs).

But here's some notes about getting there:

Flying:
A) Into Denver. This requires a 7+ hour drive.
B) Into Durango. This is usually expensive, but the airport is a little more than an hour away from Silverton. Sometimes there's deals, but you have to watch closely. The driving route goes over Coal Bank Pass and then Molas Pass. While not totally trivial, theses passes don't close nearly as often as Red Mountain, North of Silverton.
C) Into Albuquerque. This is a lot cheaper than Durango, but requires a 5+ hour drive. This driving route goes through Durango.
D) Into Montrose, Grand Junction or even Gunnison.
These are all on the expensive side and require a drive of over 2 hours, going over Red Mountain Pass, which closes when there's a significant storm.

Skiing:
First, get there on time (before 8:30). Go up to the tent and fill out your release forms and get whatever gear you may want together (beacon, shovel, probe, pack). Be sure that you bring lotsa water and the food you want up from town. Resources for water and food are limited.

Second, Assemble in the parking lot and be patient. They have a lot to do. Be straightforward about your abilities and they'll try to put you in a group of others with similar abilities.

It's really, really, really good if you have a group of 8 people of similar spirit and ability.

Paramount is having folks that can listen to the guide and be patient in addition to knowing that all 8 in your group are of similar caliber.

The more relaxed you are, the better the whole day will be. Attitude is everything and will be rewarded with the goods.

Hope that helps. I'm pretty sure I've answered all the stock questions about going there that I can. As for the experience, opinion varies. If you don't want to be guided, don't go. Personally, I've had kickass times every time I've gone.

**Vicious** · 09-13-2005, 12:24 PM

It's well worth the cost. And, you are right on about the cheaper costs of hotels and food in town in comparison to other mtn towns. My brother and I stayed in a nice room for under $50/night.

The drive from Denver is closer to 6 hours, depending on the weather. It's actually a bit faster to go down 285 and over through Gunnison as opposed to all the way out I-70 to Grand Jct and down, again weather permitting. If you drive from Denver, I'd suggest going down the day before, skiing at least two days in a row and then driving back up the following day. My bro and I drove back to Denver the evening after one of our ski days and it was hell.

Yes, Red Mtn Pass can be a bit of a doozie (I can't believe I said that) in a storm, but what lies on the other side will make it well worth your while.

If you go, I'd suggest trying to get your own group of 8 together, then you can go your own pace and have a blast. Either way it's a great day.

I haven't talked to many people who've had bad experiences there, but I'm sure there are a few.

Here's a mental picture of my latest voyage there: Driving down on Thursday was a bitch as we were traveling through the finale of a storm and Red Mtn closed right after we got through. Lucky for us, we woke up on Friday to absolute bluebird and the 3+ feet that the storm had left over the past 48 hours. No doubt some of the best days I've ever had.

Can't wait to go back.

Perhaps Silverton would be a good place to have a mini-summit??

**NorCalSJK** · 09-14-2005, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by Vicious

Perhaps Silverton would be a good place to have a mini-summit??

Depending on what time of year(March?), I could do it...i'll be in school/work mode until then and will need a good break around that time. I have been needing an excuse to go to Colorado and this sounds like a great one.

**mittens** · 09-14-2005, 01:56 PM

I hit Silverton last season with two buddies of mine from PC. We had blue bird conditions, deep pow. It was one of the coldest mornings I have ever had.
We were lucky enough to get in a group of ski instructors from Telluride.
All Sweeds, some hot rippen chicks too! We even got to do a first descent.

One word of advice: Beware the Grand Imperial Hotel. We had made a reservation months prior and when we arrived the place was locked and all the lights out. We didn't reach the owners until the following day.His reply--I must have been drunk when I made that reservation!??

We were lucky enough to find a room that night, the place is quite empty in the winter.

We also skied Wolf Creek the day before. 3 feet of super dry pow. Cool place, but lots of flat run out.

**aspenskibum** · 09-16-2005, 05:56 PM

Perhaps Silverton would be a good place to have a mini-summit??[/QUOTE]

I have been wanting to check silverton out, i hear it is well worth the money and the hype, if anyone needs me to help fill out their 8 person group, let me know, pretty much any time after new years would be awesome.

**aspenskibum** · 09-16-2005, 05:58 PM

i just made up my mind im going to keep this thread alive, or restarted throughout this winter i WANT silverton

**Buster Highmen** · 09-16-2005, 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by aspenskibum

Perhaps Silverton would be a good place to have a mini-summit??

I have been wanting to check silverton out, i hear it is well worth the money and the hype, if anyone needs me to help fill out their 8 person group, let me know, pretty much any time after new years would be awesome.

Can you ski? Do you know Donny B. or Reed?

**Vicious** · 09-17-2005, 10:37 AM

I'll keep in touch via this thread. I think it'd be great to get a few groups down there for the same weekend.

And no, I can't ski...I'll just watch from the base.

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

I have been wanting to check silverton out, i hear it is well worth the money and the hype, if anyone needs me to help fill out their 8 person group, let me know, pretty much any time after new years would be awesome.
Can you ski? Do you know Donny B. or Reed?

**aspenskibum** · 09-18-2005, 11:36 PM

I don't know anyone on this site, i mostly got an acount here for the gear swap section, but i have had trouble finding people that are as obsessed with skiing as i am, i can ski enough to keep up with almost anyone, although huck/trick wise i could always be better.

**Buster Highmen** · 09-19-2005, 12:56 PM

Duely noted.

**Pinner** · 09-19-2005, 09:47 PM

You need a whole lot of tricks to keep up with Buster's mad stylings.

**aspenskibum** · 09-21-2005, 03:19 AM

i finally got my daffies last year, i've really been wanting to go for the double, but thats a bit scary. I tried a mid air crotch grab with horrifying results last year, so im a little nervous about trying anything too crazy, might just stick with my favorite trick, window roll down to fakie yard sale. I bust that one wiht mad steeze.

**snowfire** · 01-03-2006, 10:21 PM

Anyone still coming to Silverton? GFP and I are skiing on the 2nd (a Thursday) of Feb before our Avy II. It would be cool to get a group together.

Or, you all could come ski the Durango area backcountry with me any weekend this month. Not that I know the area yet or anything.

**shirk** · 01-04-2006, 09:36 AM

wooohaaa nice thread bump.

I am planning on hitting Silverton sometime after Jan 19th. If any mags are going around that time it would be great to hook up. Planning on swinging down via WolfCreek if the weather co-operates with some pow.

snowfire, would be nice to hook up some Durango bc around that same time.

**snowfire** · 01-07-2006, 11:14 PM

Originally Posted by shirk

wooohaaa nice thread bump.

I am planning on hitting Silverton sometime after Jan 19th. If any mags are going around that time it would be great to hook up. Planning on swinging down via WolfCreek if the weather co-operates with some pow.

snowfire, would be nice to hook up some Durango bc around that same time.

sweet! Let me know, pm or something. I only check internet about once a week so let me know about a week ahead of time if possible.

**Storm11** · 01-09-2006, 03:49 PM

Yous guys had better start praying for snow if you're coming on the 19th...Got to go up for free yesterday and it was THIN THIN THIN... Everything is either
a. skiied off
b. wind crust
or
c. bare

I think I got about 8 fresh turns out of 4 entire runs. We need snow down here bad. If you're looking for some descent BC though, there's a few good runs up on Red Mountain that are pretty well covered and the north faces of Minnehaha (right next to Silverton Mountain) are still good, but getting pretty well tracked unfortunately.

**shirk** · 01-10-2006, 07:42 AM

Thanks for the beta. I'll make the decision on timing once I get to Summit County area. Would be real nice to time a storm. How is base coverage?

**gtsnowcrack** · 01-10-2006, 11:53 AM

We were there last weekend and they are still opening areas up but they need snow on the backside bad. We went down waterfall twice. Rocks required very carefull sideslipping/steping/line selection.

Then we took skidmark once... sketchy but good powder at the bottom. By sketchy I mean walking down a very steep wall of rocks with a rope in one hand.

The front side has snow but in the mornings the runouts are pretty crusty and hard.

My opinion: Good skiing just don't bring good skis (it's all about the rock skis)

**shirk** · 01-13-2006, 09:30 AM

Sadly Silverton will now have to wait for another time another year.

Going to the Straightline camp in Cham has changed my road trip plans. Don't think I will be doing any skiing in CO on my drive through. Well unless it's dumping.

**snowfire** · 01-13-2006, 03:12 PM

hmm this is not sounding good. should I be thinking twice about skiing there on Feb 1?? I don't want to pay $120 to ski shitty snow for a day.

Nice to hear insight from those who were just there.

**gtsnowcrack** · 01-13-2006, 04:23 PM

Keep an eye on the snow reports. I don't think you have to worry about getting reservations right away so if it's bad just ski the day at one of the other resorts in the area. I think they're just starting the year off a little slow in the snow department. However it was starting to snow when we were leaving... figures.

**snowfire** · 01-14-2006, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by gtsnowcrack

Keep an eye on the snow reports. I don't think you have to worry about getting reservations right away so if it's bad just ski the day at one of the other resorts in the area. I think they're just starting the year off a little slow in the snow department. However it was starting to snow when we were leaving... figures.

yeah, I think we're just going to make last-minute reservations, and if it's not looking good we'll go somewhere in the bc. I don't think it's worth skiing at any of the other resorts, there's no snow. There are actually rumors flying around Durango that Purg is going to close within a week or two if they don't get a bunch of snow. Apparently they're 300% over budget for the year already... probably because of all the snowmaking. I guess the huge majority of their snow is manmade right now. No one knows if they're going to close for the year or just until it snows. Who knows if there's any truth to that or not, but it would suck if there was. I wouldn't doubt that they've lost a ton of money this year.

ps. I never know what's up with Silverton...their website always reports tons of snow and shows deep powder pictures, but everyone I've talked to who has been there in the last couple of weeks has reported it's not great. What's the deal? The site reported today they've gotten 11 inches this week, while the CAIC reported Red Mtn. Pass has gotten like 2. I don't know where those 11 inches are coming from.

**HikeforTurns** · 01-16-2006, 11:31 AM

Any word on the latest snowfall totals? I made a reservation two months ago for this thursday at Silverton. It worked well with my scheduled Avalanche Level I course on fri/sat/sun. (I figured Silverton would be sick by now, hopefully they got a little bit out of this last storm)