jamesdeluxe
Administrator
After yesterday at Sunlight, I drove an hour to Grand Junction's hometown hill, Powderhorn:
For those who haven't been to that part of Colorado, as you head west on I-70 from Glenwood Springs, the landscape quickly transforms into a high desert similar to southern Utah or New Mexico. Here are shots from the last 20 minutes of the drive to Powderhorn:
I don't have much to add to what Tony covered in his 2013 TR other than to say that I had a great day. While Powderhorn's vertical drop of 1,650 feet isn't overwhelming on paper, it seemed to ski larger than that and there are many acres inside that map, allegedly 1,600/although that sounds high. In addition to all the rolling blue squares, there was more challenging terrain than I'd expected, especially if you like trees.
Two lifts serve the entire ski area; the one on the looker's left is a HSQ that was installed three years ago; the one on the right is a really slow double. People were really happy to have the new lift as previously you were looking at 15-minute rides on both sides of the mountain:
The most unique part of the Powderhorn experience is that it's literally where the desert meets the mountain, on the edge of what's reportedly the world's largest flat-topped mountain, the Grand Mesa. Visually, it reminded me a lot of skiing at Pajarito near Los Alamos, NM. My pix don't convey the breathtaking vista but here's what I have:
It was a busy day there -- full parking lots and locals said it was at 100% capacity; however, as a single I skied onto virtually every chair and I'd often have to wait several minutes for someone to ski by me on trails to use as a photo subject. Powderhorn didn't get quite as much snow as what I skied the previous day at Sunlight; however, conditions were good on-piste with only a few scratchy spots in high-traffic areas. Offpiste it was quite nice:
Looking toward the West End sector:
Aspen groves all over the mountain:
A dumping ground for boulders becomes a quasi terrain park -- reminded me of Corvatsch at St. Moritz:
I ended the day with a Shock Top and watched the end of the Chiefs/Titans game:
For those who haven't been to that part of Colorado, as you head west on I-70 from Glenwood Springs, the landscape quickly transforms into a high desert similar to southern Utah or New Mexico. Here are shots from the last 20 minutes of the drive to Powderhorn:
I don't have much to add to what Tony covered in his 2013 TR other than to say that I had a great day. While Powderhorn's vertical drop of 1,650 feet isn't overwhelming on paper, it seemed to ski larger than that and there are many acres inside that map, allegedly 1,600/although that sounds high. In addition to all the rolling blue squares, there was more challenging terrain than I'd expected, especially if you like trees.
Two lifts serve the entire ski area; the one on the looker's left is a HSQ that was installed three years ago; the one on the right is a really slow double. People were really happy to have the new lift as previously you were looking at 15-minute rides on both sides of the mountain:
The most unique part of the Powderhorn experience is that it's literally where the desert meets the mountain, on the edge of what's reportedly the world's largest flat-topped mountain, the Grand Mesa. Visually, it reminded me a lot of skiing at Pajarito near Los Alamos, NM. My pix don't convey the breathtaking vista but here's what I have:
It was a busy day there -- full parking lots and locals said it was at 100% capacity; however, as a single I skied onto virtually every chair and I'd often have to wait several minutes for someone to ski by me on trails to use as a photo subject. Powderhorn didn't get quite as much snow as what I skied the previous day at Sunlight; however, conditions were good on-piste with only a few scratchy spots in high-traffic areas. Offpiste it was quite nice:
Looking toward the West End sector:
Aspen groves all over the mountain:
A dumping ground for boulders becomes a quasi terrain park -- reminded me of Corvatsch at St. Moritz:
I ended the day with a Shock Top and watched the end of the Chiefs/Titans game:
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