Silverton Mini TR
Silverton, CO was great as always, and it was fun to see some friends, do some skiing and enjoy the fantastic mountains. The first day we skied a very aesthetic little couloir known as “Crown Royal” as I think it goes off of Crown Peak. Conditions were mixed, but the chute was a 5-star beauty with some wild little rock fins standing out like Easter Island figure-heads.
Josh getting ready to BASE jump the first mini tower. This did not end well.
Dos Glickster doing what needs to be done.
Onna celebrating after surviving her forth day of backcountry skiing. Onna, Josh, Lorne.
Winter is primetime for potatoe planting in the San Juans.
Sunday was was even more fun as conditions were perfect for some kite assisted backcountry skiing. I’ve been into kiting since 2000, but have never really mastered it in the backcountry like Lorne Glick has. As a sport, it combines a huge number of skills (skiing, kiting, touring, avalanche awareness, etc.), any one of which could be a lifetime study by itself. I’ve had my bell wrung a few too many times when I got accidentally lifted, spun around and slammed into the ground, so I am still fairly conservative and tentative about where and when I go. Lorne has done it enough that he can set and retrieve his kite in about the same time it takes to transition to/from skinning, which means he’s able to efficiently combine it with touring. Plus, he’s got excellent kite handling skills. We covered about 14 miles on Sunday (see GPS track below), although Lorne has notched up some 30-40 mile days in the past, which is a butt-load of mountain mileage for a day no matter how you look at it.
LG connecting to a higher power - his Manta 2 10m.
The Battleship slide path - the stuff avalanche nightmares are made of.
Ye olde tiny hamlet of Silverton.
Lorne contemplating a descent into Cement.
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Category: Trip Reports
I’m always curious as to what guys who have impressive ski resumes use for skis. Just wondering what your friend Lorne uses?
For what it’s worth, I mount my skis five inches forward of center and upside down.
Even less than my two cents. Maybe time to not open that second Pabst Blue Ribbon!
Lorne was skiing on a 4 year old pair of K2 Coomba’s with Dynafit bindings.
Looks like a good ski snog with your Lorned-up Glick.
Good to see some photos of Lorne. The man is a living legend!
Andrew, what kind of kites are you using? Do you ever use the homemade traction kites (NASA parawings) anymore?
I may have missed your presentation, but it was an honor to ski the same range as you on Sunday!
Looks like a blast and I second the props to Lorne. He’s an All-American Badass while still humble, really cool, and a damn good heli pilot!
lorne lives!