Over the past month and a half, snowstorms in the Sawatch have been few and far between.  Conditions up at Monarch have been an unpleasant combination of wind-blown hardpack and exposed rocks.  Not wanting to break bodies or equipment we’ve been doing far less skiing that we had hoped. In fact, over the past two weeks I’ve spent way more time riding my fat bike than my skis.  Then on Monday the high country got 5 inches of fresh powder and with the solid base already laid down we headed up to Monarch to check it out.

Monarch has a hike-to “side country” area called Mirkwood Basin.  They do some mitigation work but no grooming so it’s like backcountry skiing without those pesky avalanches that can ruin your day.  The only catch is, to get there you have to walk.  Uphill.  In ski boots.  At an elevation of 11,900 feet.  You kind of have to want it.  

It was a bright, sunny afternoon when I boarded the Breezeway lift to start my journey to Mirkwood.  Ms. Seeking was attending a woman’s ski clinic so I was left to my own devices.  By ‘devices’ I mean ski runs that she has the good sense not to go down.

At the top of Breezeway I crossed under the Mirkwood gate, took off my skis and started walking.  It’s about a 20-minute hike from the gate to the top of the ridge that overlooks Mirkwood.  About halfway up a woman on skins passed me while I was bent over trying to catch my breath.  The cardiovascular fitness still isn’t quite where it needs to be.  At that point, clouds began rolling in over the continental divide and visibility started dropping.  

Pardon me, snowcat coming through!

As I approached the top of the ridge in the clouds a couple of young guys, a skier and a snowboarder, also caught and passed me.  I met up with them again at the top.  They looked to be in their twenties and were up from Crested Butte for the day.  They said it was their first time in Mirkwood and asked if I’d join them to show them the way.  It was only my second time in Mirkwood but hey, in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king, so sure, why not?  

Besides, while we were standing there discussing our route, I noticed the skier dude had no poles and was only wearing one glove.  It seems he’d dropped his glove on the lift ride up and hadn’t bothered to go pick it up.  It was 25 degrees and windy but he didn’t seem to care. He didn’t have poles because, well, that was just his thing.  Clearly these guys needed all the help they could get.

At the top. A menu with a variety of spicy offerings!

For my Texas friends…

We traversed over to Elation Ridge, which is the farthest north run in the basin and dropped in one at a time.  Elation is a glade run, meaning there are plenty of trees.   Visibility was near zero due to the clouds so within five minutes the three of us were all separated.  Fortunately, it’s next to impossible to get lost in Mirkwood as the whole place is a huge funnel that ends up at a cat track at the bottom that takes you back to Monarch proper.  

I saw an opening in the trees and dropped off a steep ridge under a cliff band.  After a few turns I stopped and saw the snowboarder below me almost to the exit road.  I descended a little further down to him and after a few minutes we heard the skier dude above us.  Well, at least I didn’t lose anyone leading our impromptu tour!

Due to the lousy visibility photos were kind of pointless (look, a tree in the clouds!) so I didn’t take many but I will say we managed to find some untracked snow so it was an enjoyable if somewhat blind run down.  Was it worth the climb?  I’d say it broadly fell into the category of type 1.5 fun.

Post-fun hot tub soak!