Guided Skiing

Prepare for the high altitude. There are medications which doctors may prescribe to help overcome altitude sickness. Check with your physician first before taking any medications.  If you are coming from sea level, skiing an easy partial day before your Silverton day will help with the altitude. Most importantly, remember to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water.

Relax! There is no mad dash to ski it up as fast as possible like at a regular ski area. The nice thing about Silverton is the snow will still be there, so relax and enjoy your day. Guided skiing moves at a different pace than at a hectic ski resort with high speed lifts and agro attitudes. Most groups ski 4-5 runs a day (8,000-12,000 feet of vert) and are completely worn out. But if you want to ski as much vert as humanly possible by skipping lunch, snacks, and bathroom breaks and sprinting instead of hiking, let your guide know and they will try to accommodate you.

If there has been a big dump or change in winds recently, don’t expect to be skiing big, steep lines as it can take a while to get these runs open. Tree skiing is more common after fresh snowfall. We will try to get the best runs open further out on the ridge as quickly as possible, so we may hike right past runs with fresh snow and blast holes to get to more distant terrain.  Many times we will start to blast a run, only to learn that it needs more time before we can open it. Skier compaction allows us to keep the mountain open. Please feel free to ask your guide what that means. Our snowpack is unlike any other so please have patience, stability assessment always takes a bit longer in the San Juan Mountains.

If you are of an exceptional fitness level, and want to ski the steepest, most rocky, 6 foot wide chutes all day at a frantic pace, try to bring your own group of 8 skiers. Eight is the magic number for getting your own guided group. If you are a returning guest and want to request a guide, feel free to do so when you arrive. The mornings are hectic so please make your request more than once. Private guides are also a great option. Most people enjoy skiing the regular steeps of Silverton with standard groups at a regular pace. But we know there are some (about 2%) who aren’t happy unless they are going as big as possible all day. To best accommodate the needs of insane skiers follow the above tips.

Pay attention to your guide all day, do exactly as you are told. The guide will only take you where he/she feels comfortable as your safety is their priority. The better you listen, the more the guide can open it up for you with longer pitches, steeper lines, etc. Let your guide know if you want to huck your meat or ride steeps as much as possible. If you don’t tell them, they won’t know. The guide may not be able to accommodate your request based on snow conditions and avalanche hazard, but they will try their best.