Lost Wonder Hut Backcountry Skiing Trip, Garfield, Colorado

Mar 25

It’s been one of the worst winters on record in Colorado from a lack of snowfall perspective. Regardless, I’ve learned that when you receive a hut trip invitation, you say yes. One of the nonprofits I volunteer for, Gore Range Gravity Alliance (GRGA), had reserved the Lost Wonder Hut for its ambassadors, board members, and other volunteers to use as a little getaway to spend some time together.

We met at the trailhead on a Sunday morning and after dividing up the food for folks to carry in, started heading towards the hut. As I mentioned, it’s been a pretty bad snow year so we walked along a dirt road for about a mile until we hit continuous snow and were able to put our skis on. We were then able to skin the remaining two miles to the hut.

After unpacking and settling in to the hut, I headed back out to do a little recon for the next day. I continued up the drainage for another mile and saw a face that looked like it’d provide a couple of options and be fun to ski. So I headed back to the hut to discuss options with the ladies.

Another ski option for the next day was the main south-facing couloir Mt. Aetna, a frequently skied line from the hut. The hut is very close to the bottom of the line and provides really easy access. What made Mt. Aetna somewhat unattractive were 80 mph forecasted wind gusts at the top the following day. I was concerned about my ability to remain standing in wind gusts that high and also concerned that the snow wouldn’t soften enough to provide an enjoyable ski with that kind of wind forecast. This plus the bottom 1/4 of the line was melted out and would require some boulder walking to get to snow.

We decided we’d ski the line I had scouted earlier in the day on the south face of Sewanee Peak. With the mountain being lower, the wind forecast was a little better and it faced a little more south, which I hoped meant a better chance of corn skiing because the snow would soften more. Plus it’s fun to pick out a line you’ve never seen or heard of before and just go ski it.

The next morning, I headed out with Johna and Amanda. The wind was quite strong that morning in the valley with frequent wind gusts north of 30 mph. We left the hut feeling uncertain about the amount of skiing we’d actually do that day because the wind potentially wouldn’t let things soften up. We headed out with the mentality that we’d keep going until it didn’t make sense. We followed the valley bottom to the north, eventually turned east, and started heading up towards the face at around 11,400’. As we approached the bottom of the face, the wind died down significantly and the snow began to soften. It must have been something about how the face is shaped that protected it from the winds we were experiencing that day.

This lifted our spirits as we felt like we might get some decent skiing in! Amanda was most inspired by the looker’s left side of the “V” and so we headed up that couloir first. The snow felt really good on the way up. After transitioning at the top, we skied down and I got my first corn turns of the year. Having really enjoyed that run, we decided to transition and head back up to ski the right side of the V. When we got to the bottom after that lap, the snow was getting a little too soft so we decided to call it and head back to the hut. What an awesome day!

The following morning, we packed up, cleaned the hut, and just headed back to the trailhead. Between the skiing and making new friends, it was an awesome trip!