Unguided Skiing

• Have your PASS and PHOTO ID ready for check in. If you don’t have your pass you will need your confirmation email.
• You MUST COMPLETE OUR ONLINE WAIVER IN ADVANCE. Please follow the links in your confirmation email(s) to compete waivers for your skier profile.
• Expect long lines each day at the lift ticket windows and please be patient. You must check in and get a lift ticket each day.
• You MUST show your beacon, shovel, and probe at the ticket window to get a lift ticket. No plastic shovels, no analog beacons. Rentals are available on limited basis. Rent online here.
• We are offering après ski once again, the bar opens at noon! We also invite you to après in town at one of our wonderful bars / breweries / restaurants in town.
• Parking is limited so be sure to carpool from Silverton up to the ski area.
• $99 Heli can ONLY be booked online ahead of time. Find your email with your discount code and follow the link. Many days will sell out, no additional spots will be released in advance of a ski day nor is there a waitlist. Please find a date with remaining space.
• If you are heliskiing you must bring a SKI STRAP, if you do not have a ski strap you can buy one at the base area.
• Camping is not allowed in our parking lots, please camp elsewhere and drive to the mountain each morning.
• Passholders cannot make reservations. Unguided skiing is first come, first served.

They search out the goods all season long and love sharing secret stashes with you!

The mountain has all kinds of exposures and depending on the wind direction, certain areas may load extra deep. Some areas will always be deeper than others, but north is usually a good place to start, unless the wind loaded south sides that day.

Be sure to arrive early if you want to hit the longer hike-to terrain. Ski patrol needs time to sweep at the end of the day and the more distant areas usually close first. Terrain options get scaled back near the end of the day, so don’t wait until the end for the classic run. Last lift upload is at 3:00pm.

Hit the backside first, then westside. The backside gets the sun first so the snow will usually be better earlier. In the spring the backside will usually close at 11:00am due to wet snow avalanche hazards.

If you want to hit the distant hikes it is usually best to wait a few days after fresh snow. The ski patrol needs time to open new runs and they keep working further out each day. Hikes beyond 45 minutes usually require a guide, but the majority of the terrain can be accessed without a guide. Guides and guided skiers can ski runs before they open to unguided skiers when conditions allow.

With 1,819 acres and only a few skiers a day, you might see a bunch of people at the base area because the parking lot is so small, but once you get up top there are many nooks and crannies where fresh snow abounds. You just have to look for it. Obviously the areas that can be seen from the lift get hit first and most often, but they might not be the best so keep looking beyond the main gullies and you will find it.

Certain areas of the mountain have thin cover all season long, regardless of what type of snow year it is. Snow does not fall in an even blanket in high alpine mountains. A foot of fresh will likely not leave any of the new snow on the ridge tops but deposit it in favored locations. The ridges are usually thin all season as the wind scours the snow from them and loads it on the slopes. Super steep areas like Waterfall Ramp, Two Smokes, Skid Mark, etc. are thin all year because the snow has a tough time sticking to these steep rocky areas. You just have to accept that it is thin for a short section in those areas and enjoy the great snow above and below them. Snow settles rapidly, so 3 feet of new snow will usually be reduced to 1 foot of new snow within 24-48 hours.

There will always be sucker tracks heading to big dead end cliffs or ice falls on the backside. Don’t assume if someone else made it, that you can also. If you miss a traverse, it is always best to spend 5 minutes to hike back up 30 feet to avoid cliffs rather than to keep heading down into ‘no mans land.’ Scout before you drop and you can find all sorts of fun.