I left early Sunday morning (2.7)from Aspen to try out a tiny little ski area called Sunlight just outside of Glenwood Springs. I say tiny only in relation to its big brothers in the state, it actually has over 2,000 ft of vertical and 680 acres of terrain. Not too bad for a mtn about 3 hours from Denver considering that most front rangers have never even heard of it.
I've been waiting for the conditions to be right before coming here. Since their trail report read as 100% open, I decided to cut the Aspen trip a day short.
I arrived at 8:40 and snagged the second closest spot to the stairs, which were less than 100 yards from the lift.
Lift ticket was $60 for a normal day, but today it was $40 if you wore Broncos attire.
I've heard so much about "the heathens" trail on the east ridge portion of the mtn, so I decided to check it out. Yea, I guess the top of it is about 52 degrees (as they claim) but it's literally only sustained for about 10 feet. But that whole portion of the mtn has some pretty sweet terrain. Tight trees, narrow gullies, and optional rocks to jump off of if you were so inclined.
I did 5-6 or runs in this spot, trying to ski a different line each time. The traverse out of this area is a little flat, but has enough pitch to where to minimal poling is required. On a pow day though, you may want to consider letting a few other people break ground first so that they can flatten out the snow in the run out since a lot of poling is probably required.
I lapped the segundo chair a few times, and skied Casanova glade which is a nice low angle tree run with moderated spaced trees (mostly Aspens). I also went skiers left of the Segundo chair, which has some pretty tight trees with a little bit steeper pitch.
At lunch, I bought a couple drinks and some chicken tenders for $4. Not too shabby!
Entrance to the bar. Will the real doorknob please stand up? (Guess the deadbolt should've been a dead giveaway?!)
Where does one purchase said Pontiac???
After lunch, I stopped by ski patrol to ask about which glades were skiing well, and they were kind enough to reveal a couple unmarked stashed, and help me fix my GoPro mount with guerilla tape. Special thanks to Jack for pointing me in the right direction!
Overall, this is a awesome little mountain that is worth checking out. As far as the negatives, I really can't come up with any. Yea the lifts were slow, but there are always trade offs. I'd much rather have this place keep its small, friendly vibe than turn into a mega resort were you need to throw elbows to compete for pow stashes. The greens at the top which you have to take to get to the east ridge are a little flat and require poling, but I don't think that's a really big takeaway. Next time you are skiing Aspen, or are in the area, you owe it to yourself to check this place out, you won't be disappointed.
I've been waiting for the conditions to be right before coming here. Since their trail report read as 100% open, I decided to cut the Aspen trip a day short.
I arrived at 8:40 and snagged the second closest spot to the stairs, which were less than 100 yards from the lift.
Lift ticket was $60 for a normal day, but today it was $40 if you wore Broncos attire.
I've heard so much about "the heathens" trail on the east ridge portion of the mtn, so I decided to check it out. Yea, I guess the top of it is about 52 degrees (as they claim) but it's literally only sustained for about 10 feet. But that whole portion of the mtn has some pretty sweet terrain. Tight trees, narrow gullies, and optional rocks to jump off of if you were so inclined.
I did 5-6 or runs in this spot, trying to ski a different line each time. The traverse out of this area is a little flat, but has enough pitch to where to minimal poling is required. On a pow day though, you may want to consider letting a few other people break ground first so that they can flatten out the snow in the run out since a lot of poling is probably required.
I lapped the segundo chair a few times, and skied Casanova glade which is a nice low angle tree run with moderated spaced trees (mostly Aspens). I also went skiers left of the Segundo chair, which has some pretty tight trees with a little bit steeper pitch.
At lunch, I bought a couple drinks and some chicken tenders for $4. Not too shabby!
Entrance to the bar. Will the real doorknob please stand up? (Guess the deadbolt should've been a dead giveaway?!)
Where does one purchase said Pontiac???
After lunch, I stopped by ski patrol to ask about which glades were skiing well, and they were kind enough to reveal a couple unmarked stashed, and help me fix my GoPro mount with guerilla tape. Special thanks to Jack for pointing me in the right direction!
Overall, this is a awesome little mountain that is worth checking out. As far as the negatives, I really can't come up with any. Yea the lifts were slow, but there are always trade offs. I'd much rather have this place keep its small, friendly vibe than turn into a mega resort were you need to throw elbows to compete for pow stashes. The greens at the top which you have to take to get to the east ridge are a little flat and require poling, but I don't think that's a really big takeaway. Next time you are skiing Aspen, or are in the area, you owe it to yourself to check this place out, you won't be disappointed.
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