After a quick orientation with your guide, you're chair lifted up to the main ridge, where you have two options... (1) boot pack up the ridge passed Hollywood Rock toward the Billboard or (2) boot pack down the ridge toward the north-facing cornices that empty into the avy runs through the spruce forest. Our first turns of the day... Ropey Dee Dope 1... a cornice huck into a tight, steep (>45 degree) couloir. Yup, that's exactly how our guide, Dorian, initially sussed out our group's abilities, right out of the gates. That's just badass. Despite no new snow in a month, the snowpack was recrystallized powder and super chalky, which made turns in the tight couloir much more, dare I say, "comfortable".
Our second run took us north, down the ridge, into Riff, an initially cliff-banded entry into a classic wide open and heavily-featured couloir. Our third run took us again down the ridge further north to Cabin, an open cirque that emptied lower into an avalanche path called Sugarhill. We hit boot-deep powder on the entry into Cabin, which Dorian indicated was the best snow on the mountain and that they were "managing" it very carefully in light of the lack of recent storm snow. All of the runs down the east side of the ridge drop you onto the Exit Road, where the bus picks you up for a 1-minute shuttle back to the base of the double-chair lift.
Oh, and yes, Silverton serves up single-drop heli access to the far east ridge. I love this mountain.
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| Silverton's Aster B3, which spends late spring to early summer at their heli operations in the Chugach Mountains, AK. |
Our fourth and final run of the day, found us boot packing up the hill to the base of the Billboard in the later afternoon sun. We dropped into Gene Simmons, which joined Tiger Main about 1,000 feet below the ridge. Tiger Main is one of the two prominent avalanche paths below the main ridge on the west side. Skiing Tiger Main eventually took us down a ~2,500 ft descent through a tight gully. For the record, I hate gullies... like loathe them with a passion. However, this particular gully was pure enjoyment. It was perfect corn snow in the late afternoon, alpine sun. Mildly moguled in sections with super cool features to pop off the entire run. The gully spilled out onto the main road, where our bus driver, Ari (lovingly nicknamed "Speedwagon") at first passed us on the road, not even noticing us waiting there to be picked up. When Speedwagon circled back to get us, Dorian hopped into the driver seat, as we later found out, because Ari was a bit too stoned to drive. Heeheee.
A little après-ski in the parking lot, followed by more après-ski in the Quonset hut made for a wonderful closing to a fun day.
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| Apres-ski in the Quanset hut. |
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