Don's Pictures

           Well, it was Bob's birthday ... again!  More precisely, it was his 60th this time.  Ten years ago we went backcountry skiing in the southwest corner of the state to celebrate.  We spent a week skiing around Animas Forks, Red Mtn pass and Wolf Creek and had a great time.

          Thinking that we had to do it again,  we decided to go to Silverton Mtn and try out their new guided, lift-serviced ski area.  We only had a few days and thought this would be a quick way to get a lot of quality backcountry skiing in.

          So, we showed up Sat morning, April 24th, with 50 - 60 other assorted skiers and snowboarders to register, hear the safety spiel and divide up into groups.  We had the choice of choosing a 'fast' group or 'medium' group.  Since there were only two classifications, the 'medium' group was a polite way of saying slow, incompetent grannies.   Naturally I balked when Bob chose the 'medium' group.  "Hey, come on!  We're no beginners from Kansas.  We've been skiing longer than half these guys have been living."  Deciding that too loud an objection might draw attention I might later regret, I submitted to the 'medium' tag and joined the rest of our group of other, 'older' skiers in the lift line for our first run.

          Silverton is known for having every condition - light powder,  heavy, crusty, open, tight - often on the same run.  Our experience was no exception.  Our first run was a nice, crusty, steep tree run.  What might have been a fun and enjoyable experience under better circumstances proved to be a struggle for all of us.  I was now beginning to rethink my earlier disdain at being categorized as a 'medium' skier and wondering what kind of experience the 'fast' groups were having.

          Well, to continue on, the rest of our runs improved.  While none of them turned out to be epic, they did improve and bring on smiles from everyone.  We did a total of FOUR runs for the entire day, finishing up just at 4:00 pm, including a 15 minute lunch break.  While we didn't set any kind of records, we did manage to outlast half our group who left after two runs.  I can also attest to the fact that I could barely stand at the end and probably shouldn't have even taken the last run.  But then again, when would I be back here again?  I'd rather have taken the last run and crawled back than not have taken the last run and wondered how good it might have been.

	First run of the day.
	Doesn't this look great?  Another example of it looking better than it actually was.  At one point we were skiing on top of the 'powder', skittering around on a hard crust.
	Our guide, John, who would commute every day from Crested Butte.
	Looking up at the start of our next run.
	The top of the Tiger Paw run.  We started slightly down and to the left of the two skiers pictured.
	Starting out on the lower section of Tiger Paw.
	Continuing down Tiger Paw
	And a little farther down.
	The incredibly elaborate base facilities.
	And the end of a fine day.
	The Wingate House in Silverton where we stayed.
	Panorama of Silverton
	End of the trip.  We stopped for a short hike at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.