Silverton in the New York Times: "I thought I was an expert before I came here"
Jan 15, 2007 · 02:28 PM · permalink
A couple of years ago, I was working a ski show in Chicago, and next to our booth were a couple of guys representing Durango Mountain Resort and Silverton Mountain. One of them, Sven, a stellar backcountry skier and photographer had an exchange (paraphrased below) with one Chicagoan sporting bulging biceps and a bulging gut to match:
“I want to ski something really challenging. I’m tired of always waiting for my friends at the end of runs. Do you have anything really difficult?”
“Durango has plenty of black and double black terrain that’s pretty challenging, maybe you need to pay a visit.”
“I’ve skied blacks and double blacks. Mammoth, Deer Valley, Vail. I’m looking for something challenging.”
“Well, I guide at Silverton Mountain and we have some of the most difficult hikable terrain in north America.”
“Hikable? I’ve hiked before, but I’m getting really bored with resort terrain—I want something hard.”
“Well, we can take you up higher to get to some of the really steep pitches.”
“Yeah, I’ve been to Jackson Hole. I’ve done steep. I mean really difficult.”
“Well, we could always rent a helicopter and rappel you into some of the cliffs—does that sound hard enough?”
“….”
The New York Times has a great little piece on Silverton Mountain—that home-grown upstart in the San Juans that specializes in scaring the bejesus out of health-club blowhards. They also specialize in serving up tons of powder and wicked steeps for those who like to keep their heads on straight.
Photo courtesy of Silverton Mountain.
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