A TABLE SET FOR A KING

OCTOBER, 2006
BACKCOUNTRY MAGAZINE

Source: Jenn Weede

In yoga they call it mula bandha. In the San Isabel National Forest they call it No Name Bowl. Perched atop the Continental Divide, root lock is the undulation of hopscotch rock bands and I-can’t-see-below-me cornices into 50 degree bowls that grip the sphincter, make you sit up straight and breathe deep before you drop in.

A quiet gem in one of Colorado’s snowiest spots, the lift-access terrain from unpretentious Monarch Mountain makes you stand up and take notice. If it hasn’t snowed, you’ll want a Valium. If it has, you want to be stone-cold sober for the descent, which on a powder day is the ascent yogis seek. Fortunately, at about 12,000 feet, the Divide attracts storms like gurus lure followers. With an average of 350” annually, you’ll more often be averted from the steeps due to avalanche danger than lack of snow.

Even when the snow is deep, access is a breeze. Since Monarch Mountain annexed 130 acres called Mirkwood Basin in spring 2005, the area’s Breezeway lift spares lungs and quads 850 feet of uphill effort to indulge almost endless extreme ski terrain. Mirkwood Basin is in-bounds, hike-to-terrain.

Just beyond the snowcat track above Mirkwood, a backcountry access point opens up another 770 acres worth fighting over. Backcountry skiers have encountered hostility here from snowcat guides. But it’s resentment without warrant according to Salida Ranger District snow specialist Chris Welker. He confirmed: “Yes, it’s open to backcountry skiers.” (He blew out a knee tele skiing there last season.)

The fact that Monarch runs its snowcat operation in this terrain is a blessing and a curse. It means more tracks than you’d encounter were it solely earn-your-turns terrain. It also means guides and clients regularly monitor and compress the snow, giving you better odds skiing steeper terrain than you’d be wise to ski on pristine never-skied slopes.

Slackers and snowboarders will gravitate to Mirkwood Basin - perfectly pitched powder pillows in fairy tale forests, air-enticing cornices, yeehaw bowls into thank-God funnels - and they do. A mere 10-minute, 300-foot hike from the lift and a packed cat track back to the area, Mirkwood is rarely untracked, but rarely tracked out. Consider Colorado’s avalanche danger, the fact that Mirkwood is patrolled and bombed (by skiers as well as dynamite) means skiable steeps when similar backcountry slopes would be more than sketch.

Beyond Mirkwood, this rider wished for a second plank for mobility because the steeps are as short as they are sweet, and it’s Kansas in between. Most of Monarch’s backcountry pitches offer up 600-900 feet of vertical, and you gotta pay to play. For skier Eddie Meier, a University of Utah senior who straightlines Mirkwood, the huckables and Russian roulette with trees, chutes, rocks and cliff bands are worth every ski skate and pole push. Even if you prefer to maintain ski-to-snow contact, the exploration, rugged terrain and vast vistas are remarkable. But if air is your thing, you’ll find the terrain ample reward for the effort.

Despite 15 years of guiding here, Kelly Millward still admits: “This is where I’ll be on my day off.” He’s not alone: the combination of affordability, lack of crowds, double-black diamond terrain, and abundant snow lure ski area employees from all over Colorado on their days off.

SOURCE

SKI: Monarch Mountain: www.skimonarch.com. 888-996-7669

EAT: Amicas. 719-539-5219. 136 E Second Street, Salida

Bongo Billy’s. www.bongobillys.com 719-539-4261. 300 West Sacket Ave., Salida

STAY: The Gazebo Inn Bed & Breakfast. www.gazebocountryinn.com 800-565-7806.