Welcome to SNOWREPORT.ORG, where powder meets the soul.

Surrounding the Holy Cross Wilderness in Colorado, the 10th Mountain Huts offer the back country enthusiast a sirene winter experience in beautifully crafted cabins. While each hut offers its own unique experience, I've found the trails between the huts to be the hidden treasure. 

During my first trip to the 10th Mountain Hut, I had the pleasure to meet an outdoor bum who had earlier that day treked from Uncle Buds to 10th Mountain. He described the trail as one of the most beautiful in the system, but suggested the journey from 10th Mountain to Uncle Buds to be the preferred direction.

In March, 2007 my friend and I made the trek. It proved to be a true adventure every mile of the way and is captured waypoint-by-waypoint on HutTrip.com - 10th Mountain to Uncle Buds.  This picture is my friend breaking trail during our final ascent. 

For those interested, many of the 10th Mountain Huts are named after a few of the many heros of WWII. The 10th Mountain Hut and Uncle Buds in particular have many books, letters and journals where you can learn more about Camp Hale, the 10th Mountain Division, their journey to Europe and for some, their return to the United States of America. 

Winter has always been my favorite time of year. The timeless beauty of a snow covered world is absolute perfection. From snow cascading over mountain peaks to melting snow runoff, the Colorado Hut system playground represents a treasure of moments in time.

Since 1992, I have had the annual privlege of venturing into the Colorado backcountry with friends and experiencing many 10th Mountain Huts.  With so many huts in Colorado, it is always an adventure to experience new huts. This year we will venture to Janet's Cabin. Janet's is situated in the Gore range  above Copper Mountain Resort (Lat: 39º 27' 50.2" Lon: 106º 13' 48.5" Elev: 11,610'). Based on tales from friends and some of my own reading, the skiing around the hut is phenomenal and the setting beneath Sugarloaf Peak and Jacque Peak spectactular. 

Resources:

• 10th Mountain GPS Coordinates
• Topo Map
• Aerial Map

January 1, 2006

Happy New Year and welcome to SNOWREPORT.ORG. We're off to a stellar season in the central and northern Rocky Mountains, with most ski resorts reporting 200% snow pack.  According to friends in Telluride, Colorado and Taos, New Mexico, the snow is finally falling to the south as well. 

Having recently purchased a condo near the Winter Park/Mary Jane Ski Resort, we're looking forward to a long season of the steep and the deep! If you're looking for a nice, clean and reasonable accomodations in the area, please check it out. Mention SNOWREPORT.ORG and receive a 10% discount on the listed rates!

If you have not ventured to the Fraser Valley recently, you should pay a visit this winter. Berthoud Pass boasts some of the best back country terrain in Colorado with easy hitch hiking access back to the top of the pass at 11,307'. 

November 12, 2005

Looks like two winter seasons have past since I last posted, so I apologize for the severe lack of attention this site has received. It has been my intention to make something worth while here for the ultra glise experience, so here you go.

Thinking back over my own ultra glise experiences, I was drawn to the first time I met Craig Dotsie at Mt. Waterman in southern California. It was the  winter of '91-'92 the year the drought finally broke and Mt. Waterman was boasting a 120" base in February. The owner of Mt. Waterman sat at the bottom of the mountain with a high-low pushing snow out of the way to keep the chair lift operating --- it was heaven on earth.

The drive up Angeles Crest Highway was spectacular. Filled with waterfalls and blooming desert fauna, it was far different than the Colorado 500 along I-70.  It wasn't until the final 500 vertical feet that the rain turned to snow, so driving was relatively painless. Let's just say the snow crystals contained a bit more that the 7% moisture content carried in the Utah Wasatch mountain snow.

Craig was the proud publisher of Le Chronicle du Couloir, which in the early 90's was an 8 page paper magazine with xerox'd black-and-white pictures. One thing was clear, this guy knew his stuff and had incredible experiences to share with his readers. I was just getting into my own free-hill revolution, so I found his magazine an incredible guide to distill the numerous choices one must make when they step into the back country.