Backcountry Skiing at Second Creek

Walking down hill in the winter seems like such a waste of time when there is nice, fluffy snow on the ground.  Amy and I rented backcountry skiis at EMS and set out to find some powder.  On a recommendation from the Jay at EMS, we headed for Berthoud Pass west of Denver, specifically the Second Creek area.

The day was gorgeous and, unlike the mountains east of the Divide, the powder was abundant.  We parked at the popular trail head and started out.  I've been skiing in various forms since I was a tot but Amy is a neophyte.  These backcountry skis were much like the old-school cross country skis I grew up with but shorter, fatter and with metal edges.  Supposedly these help you when going down hill.  For uphill movement, there are fish scales on the bottoms replacing the usual waxing ritual I've grown accustomed to.

The first hundred feet of the trail was a real eye-openner!   The fish-scales didn't really help on the steep terrain we encountered.  The snow was so light and fluffy that our poles sank in several feet and the going was definitely rough.  After some good thrashing about, we made it onto a more packed down part of the trail and it wasn't as steep.  Still, we had to herring-bone up the trail most of the time.  Eventually, we made it to the base of a very steep, open glade.  Sidestepping was the only way to get up this.

Despite the hard work and  unaccustomed motions, the area was beautiful.  The sun shone down fiercely on ample snow.  Across the valley stood the Divide with Mt. Flora and Colorado Mines Peak prominent.  Ahead of us loomed the long, corniced ridge of Mt. Vasquez (?) and the Mount Vasquez Wilderness.

The peaks of the Continental Divide seen across the valley

Charles herring-bones up the trail.

After much exertion and perhaps a mile of travel, we reached the relatively flat area where the avalanches run out.  In the summer, there is likely a bog or meadow here, but in January, it's acres and acres of wind-swept snow and many options as to direction of travel.  A slope to the north was crowded with people practicing telemark turns.  We skied up the side of this hill and found the objective of the day, the dilapidated 2nd Creek Ski Cabin. 

We turned around here and headed out.  After all the hard work of going up hill, I was looking forward to letting gravity do the work.  The tele-slope was quite a bit steeper from above than it appeared from below.  I gamely set out and attempted a tele-turn falling definitively on my hindquarters... repeatedly.  Apparently, it's harder than it looks!  I tried my default alpine techniques to steer myself and fared little better.  The combination of dense powder and free heels gave me pretty much the same result as the tele-turns.  The only graceful option was to continue in a strait line and then fall over.  I achieved some screaming speed on the way down to the flats and ran out half-way to the base of the avalanche chutes.

Amy, meanwhile, was having conciderably less success and, after a couple of falls, took her skis off and scooted down the slope.  Back on the gentle slopes, we tried some easy skis and gradually made our way down toward the steepest hill by cutting various traverses in untrammelled snow back and forth.  When confronted by the steep glade, Amy gave up and slid down skis in hand.  I gamely tried to muscle my way through a couple turns, failed, fell, and resigned myself to traversing back and forth at shallow angles down the hillside.

The beautiful flats near Second Creek Cabin.  Note the avalanche chutes on the ridge to the left.

The tele-hill and Mount Vasquez from near the cabin.

The hour was getting late and I could tell it was going to take forever for Amy to ski the remaining mile to the car.  I set off down the now icy, narrow trails snowplowing like mad and swearing a blue streak.  Back country skis have metal edges, but as far as I can tell, they are not useful in any way.  Grrrr.  I arrived precipitously at the car, swapped skis for snowshoes, and headed back up the trail.  Where the woods were once crowded and sunny, they were now deserted and getting rather cold.  After some energetic hiking, I reached Amy at the base of the steep hill, gave her her pair of snowshoes, and we retreated without incident.

It was a memorable and gorgeous trip, but next time, we'll try a different mode of transportation or stay in the realm of the horizontal.