With this warm spring weather, it is time to think about a hike. One of my favorite places is the redrock country around Ghost Ranch, which is a taste of the Canyon Country within reach of home. I haven't settled on an exact route, but perhaps we would start on the Kitchen Mesa trail, go cross-country south from the mesa top, find a place down and loop back to the cars. We would leave Los Alamos at 8 AM, stop at Bode's for breakfast burritos, and perhaps stop for dinner at the Abiquiu Inn on the way home.
published by Norbert Ensslin on Thu, 2016-01-14 11:23
Leader:
Norbert Ensslin
Telephone:
505-662-1408
Date:
Sun, 2016-02-07
Difficulty:
Moderate
Technicality:
Intermediate
Are dogs allowed?:
Not allowed
This ski tour was done as a hike in 2014, and was an enjoyable outing. This year we should be able to do it on skis! The trip will start from the Valle Grande Visitor Center at 9:30 AM, so let's meet at Sullivan Field at 9:00 to carpool up to the Valle. The trip is open to members of the Mountaineers and their guests. Before departing, all skiers must pay an access fee or show an NPS pass and sign a Mountaineers trip waiver. A few of us should try to arrive early so we can take one or more cars to the end of the route for a car switch.
Several of us would like to head to Durango and Purgatory for a ski weekend, taking advantage of a very good snow year. Purgatory currently has a very good 48" base, and is a special ski area thanks to the views of the peaks of the Weminuche Wilderness to its east. While the first few of us are downhill skiers, there are numerous snowshoe and cross-country opportunities around Purgatory, Molas Pass, and beyond. A Pajarito season pass (Power Pass Plus or New Mexico Power Pass Plus) is good for 3 free days of skiing at Purgatory.
This ski tour is a repeat of the popular trip from Pajarito Mountain to the Valle Grande visitor center that the Mountaineers have done for the past few years. This is a Los Alamos Mountaineers trip, but is also open to members of the Southwest Nordic SkiClub, the New Mexico Cross Country Ski Club, and other guests who are known to the trip participants from these clubs.
published by brett.kettering on Tue, 2016-01-05 12:51
Leader:
Brett Kettering
Telephone:
505-412-2033
Date:
Sun, 2016-01-17
Difficulty:
Moderate
Technicality:
Intermediate
Are dogs allowed?:
Not allowed
Last year Michael Altherr led a trip to the Brazos Overlook. I wasn't able to go, but wanted to do this trip.
We'll be going on Sunday, 1/17/16.
This is a 7.5 - 8 mile round trip on skis. We'll find some hills to skin and ski along the way. The trailhead is on Hwy 64, east of Tierra Amarilla. I have Michael's GPS track from last year and some waypoints that I put along the path. I can send those to you in a variety of formats so that you can see the area.
MLK Weekend - the long weekend in January - is an excellent time of the year for winter adventures, whether on groomed ski slopes or in the wilderness backcountry. We haven't done a Leadville weekend for a few years, so I'd like to try one again. We will rent a house in Leadville and use that town - the highest city in the U.S. - as a base for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and downhill skiing. The highest peaks in Colorado form the western skyline for Leadville.
Avalanche transceivers are tools you hope you never have to use, but we all sometimes let our searching skills get a little rusty. The plan is to get a group of people together to bury some avalanche transceivers and practice different search strategies. This will involve some trudging around in the snow, some digging, and maybe a little skiing.
published by mraltherr1@gmail.com on Tue, 2016-01-05 18:28
Leader:
Michael Altherr
Telephone:
505 231 3561
Date:
Sat, 2016-01-09
Difficulty:
Moderate
Technicality:
Intermediate
Are dogs allowed?:
Not allowed
I am totally stoked by our recent weather pattern, and it looks even better heading into this weekend. Skiing in the Jemez is almost always a challenge, and the last couple of years have been extremely difficult to catch suitable conditions. However, when conditions permit there's ample backcountry fun just outside our backdoor. I am interested in a bit of a combination road trip/ski trip to evaluate local conditions at a couple of my favorite ski trails in the Jemez.
I'd like to do the Spruce Hole trip again - with an addition. The basic route is an 8 mile out/back ski tour - with fabulous views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from SF Baldy to the Crestones from the top of Pinerealosa Peak. There is opportunity for long kick/glide skiing on top of Pinerealosa Peak, and/or a couple of hills for tele turns. It can be helpful to have climbing skins, to ski up Pinerealosa, but not required.
