Silverton Mountain

     Jordan has officially turned into a teenager.  His behavior has deteriorated to the point that dad has started making efforts to sell the boy to a foster family some place far away, like maybe North Korea. Attempts thus far to relocate the boy have failed so dad has decided to get rid of him another way.  

     Silverton is a unique and special kind of place that happens to be located a little over an hour away from our home base in SW Colorado.

     http://www.silvertonmountain.com/page/mountain/stats

     There is not another ski hill like it in the United States.  The level of difficulty here and magnitude of the place has to be seen to be appreciated.  They decided to pick the easiest looking run for starters to see of Jordan was up to the task.  The picture only shows the lower half of the run, with a massive slide just to the left.  It is a spring day and the sun has yet to soften the icy slope into what they hope will develop into a soft snow corn as the day progresses.  One run down, 3 more to go.

     After a full hour round trip they are back up to the chair lift and having a look at the trail map to see what they should try next.  The warning on the sign seems hopeful for dads underlying efforts to rid himself of the boy.

     They decide to go big and make the 1/2 mile trek from the top of the chair lift at 12,300' to somewhere above the 13,000' mark.  Doesn't seem so bad at first, like a stroll in the park.

     Part way up Jordan complains that he can't breath and feels like his ski boots are cinder blocks on his feet.   Dad kindly points out that they would be almost half way up Everest at their current elevation, and that 30-40 lbs of gear hiking up a 40 degree slope in snow and wind can take ones breath away.  The top of the chair lift can barely be seen back down the mountain to the left side of the photo.  This hike takes about an hour.

Dad is stoked because he got there about 10 minutes ahead of the boy.

     From this vantage point you get a view of entire ski area which sits astride a large horse-shoe shaped bowl.  Some of terrain to the right is accessed by foot.  The rest of the background requires a heli drop for additional cost from the top of the chair lift.  They are standing at the top of their second run 2 hours into the day.  The far terrain on the left is a reflection of what they will be dropping into on this run. Jordan smiles because he still doesn't believe his dad is actually trying to kill him.

 Jordan scouts his line as they exit the chute from where they began this run.  Note the massive slide in the upper left of the photo on the far side of this particular bowl.

Jordan is trying to point out the line they just skied.  There are 3 different avalanche slide paths in this photo that ran all the way into the creek at the bottom of the canyon.  The avalanche danger is significantly reduced at this time of the year which is why they are not with a ski guide.  But a full array of avalanche rescue gear is still required to be on the mountain.  The lift operator scans their beacons several times throughout the day when they get on the lift.

     Run three, dad skis to low before crossing over the ridge and misses the gate to drop into the lower half of a run called Hogsback.  Jordan yells down, "DAD, YOUR STANDING OVER A CLIFF, YOU CAN'T GET ON THE RUN FROM THERE."   Dad has to hike up a bit to follow Jordan into the lower bowl.  Jordan starts working his way down and dad feels a little bad for trying to kill the boy when he has just made an effort to keep him safe.

A breather to take in the scenery.  Again, terrain to the left is heli access, and the right is chair lift and boot access.  From here they ski down a mile or so to the "Silverton Correction Facility" bus that will pick them up and ferry them another mile or so back down to the lift.

The pair have eaten a bit on the lift and drank all they carried to push on through the day without taking a lunch break.  After a 30 minute hike, here they are at the beginning of their 4th run.  The sign reads, "Mandatory" at the ski gate.  Apparently the ski patrol didn't have room to include the full name, "Madatory Air" on the little sign. Air to what?  As they get ready to drop in a couple of guys hike by on their way to another run and warn, "don't go that way, it funnels down into a cliff and you have to repel down about 50-100ft, it is super scary." The guys hike on, dad and Jordan drop in hoping for another adventure.

     About half way down the run chokes into a gully thick with trees and seems to drop off into nowhere. If you lean out and look down a tree can be seen about 15ft down with a large diameter rope hanging off it.  From there no more can be seen.   Dad loads up his skis and grabs his poles just above the baskets and down climbs slowly to the rope station.  From here he could hold onto a tree to secure himself and spot Jordan while he does the same.
     At this point dad has his best chance to really be rid of the boy, but has started to second guess his efforts.  In the absence of a harness, belay devices, crampons and ice axes dad instructs Jordan how to wrap the rope around his arm for friction and how to toe kick his way down.  The picture of course does it no justice.  It is about an 80 degree slope down about 60 feet, then around a corner and out of site for the last 30 feet beside a frozen water fall to where the rope still comes up about 20ft short of a safe landing.  A fall here would result in devastating traumatic or fatal injuries.  Jordan is informed of consequences of failure and encouraged to overcome his fears and make NO mistakes on his descent.

"Like this?" he says . . .

Down he goes and disappears around the corner on the right of the chute.  Dad takes his turn and is impressed on the way down to see how tough it really is and and how well the boy coped with his own fear.

     By this time another couple of guys are watching dad work his way down from the top.  One of them is older and very nervous about the process dad coaches him down a bit since he was dropping right into the ice falls and struggling. This view shows the bottom half of the descent that is hidden from view until you turn the corner about half way down the rope.

They have made their way out to the fire road get a better view of what they just came through.  The line of descent is directly down the the rock band right in the center of the photo from the solid line of pine trees at the top of the cliffs.  The ski out from there is through another slide debris field.  This run turned out to be the biggest adventure out of an already adventurous day.  Dad is glad to have survived a repel route that probably should have been accomplished with alpine mountaineering gear appropriate to the setting.  He is even a little proud of the boy and does not regret that Jordan survived as well.

They made it down to the lift with only 5 minutes to spare for a fifth run.  They started the day with a goal of 4 runs and had no intention of doing any long hikes.  A fine performance for a 14yr old novice, first trip to Silverton Mountain.  Dad is really starting to feel proud.   Last hike of the day is only about 15 minutes and they actually have to rest a bit before making the final run.

Last run down Riff Raff, a regular old run so steep that moguls can't even properly form on it.

Through the last chute and out to  the fire road.  What a wild experience for dad and the boy.  CAN'T WAIT UNTIL SKI SEASON STARTS UP AGAIN NEXT YEAR.