Then turn around and either bomb down Guanella Pass road, or navigate back down through the trails. Something else? It’s your land, yours to explore, enjoy, and protect. So it turns out that Colorado has had a lot of ski resorts over the years. We trudged on with Will taking quite the beating from the sticky snow as he pulled the sled. The 23-minute flick focuses on three shuttered ski areas: Geneva Basin Ski Area, Berthoud Pass Ski Area, and Cuchara Mountain Resort. • -525.65 m Descent, 0.2 mi Headlamps were eventually pulled out, hot chocolate was cooked up and down layers were added. Turns out it was a few summer rental cabins, not the ski resort we were after so back to the road we went. The Mountain Top offers ski and snow accommodations, such as trolley transportation available from guest rooms at Grand Geneva and Timber Ridge Lodge, three chairlifts, two carpet lifts, a six-acre terrain park, excellent group rates, food and drinks at Leinenkugel's Mountain Top Lodge and even night skiing. Reality was waiting for us…and it was not going to be kind! Geneva Basin Ski Area: Georgetown. NEW! Like everyone else on the planet I tend to overuse the “life gets in the way” excuse. Winter closure for Guanella Pass Road: There is a forest service gate that is usually closed in the winter. The climb can be long but its usually relatively quiet for the front range. This means she thinks up the itineraries and when they're even remotely close to home she is the one out there scouting the routes, campsites and local businesses. So we helped test it, or at least use it. Check out the history of Geneva Basin here – look at those lift prices! They have great maps, and several of their hikes crisscross the Santa Fe to Taos thru-hike. The car was unloaded by 8pm, laundry was started and workweek lunches were finished by 9pm, showers may or may not have happened before we crashed into bed at 10pm. We haphazardly piled everything into the car and headed back toward Denver. The Guanella Pass Rd (closed to traffic in winter, but there may be snowmobiles) is paved so it can melt out on low snow years and sunny days. "It is important to tell you this: If I had to stay in one area, in one mountain, in one place to snowboard for the rest of my life, it would be Temple Basin. Monday’s alarms were not even kind of welcome at 5am! 3h 06m. Geneva Basin, Guanella Pass, Colorado For those of you that come to our homepage often, yes, this page is a remake of our trip from 3 years ago. • -174.85 m Descent, 0.1 mi By 10pm we were all fast asleep…and relatively warm! I’ve driven this road many, many times…if you are ever concerned that you may be losing appreciation for your car try hiking or skinning up a mountain road! Early 80's, $8 ticket with my Gold C coupon book. The last page was not worthy of the great time we had. Jul 29, 2015 - This Pin was discovered by Dave Petersen /MidwestPete. In reality, “life got in the way” is really just a nice-ish way of saying “something more important came up”, because, no, my life did not actually get in the way of…me truly living my life. the abandoned ski resort whose old runs spell ski when viewed from the top of Bierstadt. It didn’t quite fit the description but we were not about to skin right past only to backtrack later so we went exploring. We’d also driven over Guanella Pass multiple times so our chances of getting lost were slim. Once we gained the main ridge we found the ski patrol hut at the top of the old lift line path where we stayed the night. I recently acquired Powder Ghost Towns, a book detailing the history of Colorado’s abandoned ski resorts. Taking other people's content (text, photos, etc) without permission is a copyright violation and Well, this time the mountains were calling, but you get my point.How the heck does life get in the way? We took the road up Guanella Pass as far as we could – just past the Guanella Pass Campground – then skinned up and were on our way! It was calming and beautiful. We veered off the road and into Geneva Basin just as the darkness was falling. An Adventure Projects staff member will review this and take an appropriate action, but we generally don't reply. After our last experience winter camping I jumped at the chance to borrow gear, no way was I going to freeze again! Many of these resorts have closed down but almost all are still on public land, and skiable.. Steep. “It’s a pain to get there these days,” he says. 1.7 km Soon after we reached the Guanella Pass summit snow laden clouds rolled in and fluffy white flakes started falling. I knew the area fairly well from previous hikes – my first 14er was Bierstadt and I hiked Square Top and Mt Wilcox. La Dôle is a prime observation point over the entire Mont-Blanc chain and a large part of the Chablais mountains. Unfortunately, Grunow had no insurance for the chalet at the time and it would have cost $500,000 to rebuild it. Just over two weekends ago we headed west to Georgetown for a weekend in the backcountry. • -620.33 m Descent. The best part was the book full of stories from past visitors and the huge map of the Geneva Basin resort! You can also read about skiing Geneva Basin here. Being a jerk / offensive? With the proper gear [borrowed or purchased] I’d go again…I’m a sucker for misery if it promises gorgeous mountain views and a little solitude. It was a rather slow climb but we kept moving – the book said there was a cabin at the top that was open year round. 0.2 km NOT OKAY! I knew the area fairly well from previous hikes – my first 14er was Bierstadt and I hiked Square Top and Mt Wilcox. Plus, who doesn’t want a little fresh snow when you’re headed to a ski resort, abandoned or not! No matter where you live your version of “winter” comes with cooler temperatures than your version of “summer”. Distance: 0.5 miles (one-way). Map of Santa Fe Ski Basin to Spirit Lake or Lake Katherine, from the book Day Hikes in the Santa Fe Area, 8th Edition. If you’re ready to get out and play on your public lands and less interested in knowing the ins and outs of federal land management agencies, skip ahead a few sections. — 5.5mi A long, gradual climb to an old abandoned ski area, Geneva Basin. Few obstacles. It needed to be found and explored! This route takes the road the whole way for extra mileage. We studied the trail map of the Geneva Basin resort, picked a route and headed upward. She is the brains and legs behind all of the adventures created here at Adventure Feet First. Experts only. If from the north, you have to skin up and over Guanella Pass before dropping into the basin where the ski area is. They weren’t completely unfamiliar locales. The entire trip would be along the Guanella Pass Road, which was also the winter route for Bierstadt and Mt Evans. Geneva Basin (originally Indianhead Ski Area) opened in 1963.Geneva Basin was developed by an Illinois family after their Indianhead Ski Area in Michigan, (now Indianhead Mountain Resort). Sure, life got in the way – the boring responsibilities sucked up a good portion of my time and all of my free time was wasted on fun things like trail running, snowboarding and brunching. A long, gradual climb to an old abandoned ski area, Geneva Basin. When we came upon the cabin all the misery of the skin up was forgotten – the setting was gorgeous and the cabin was perfect! This one is better and dedicated to our close friends, the Gilbert Family. your own Pins on Pinterest We managed to put up the tent and get everything pulled together as the snow piled up around us. Hazardous terrain. Just keep one important thing in mind; as the USFS reminds us, “It’s all yours.” Public lands belong to every U.S. citizen. Morning dawned slowly, partly because I kept burying my head back into my sleeping bag determined to avoid the cold until the sun was fully available to warm me. The weather was weird all weekend – very sporadic. • -2,035 ft Descent Could it be our destination? Hike it both ways to work up your appetite for lunch at the 6th Alley Bar & Grill, or ride the chairlift to mid-mountain for lunch on the lodge deck and a hike back down to the base area. It was definitely “well used” but I kind of loved that part of it! The climb can be long but its usually relatively quiet for the front range. It's that good....Yes, you have to hike into the area, but it's one of the most beautiful places to hike in the entire world...and yes, the place is not like a n At the time, the park boasted two chair lifts, which allowed skiers to ascend to the top of Guanella Pass. Luckily gear testers tend to have a lot of gear to…well, test. Indianhead went into foreclosure in 1965 and the property was sold at auction to former Colorado Governor Roy Romer and the Walter J. Burke family. Road was dry for about 200 yards below the turn-off to the ski area parking lot. This is mostly because I don’t handle big changes in temperature very well and once I’m warm I don’t want to face the snow just to empty my bladder before falling asleep. But seriously, our website and/or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and are required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy.By continuing to use our site, you consent to the use of cookies. I kinda liked it, we had no time to get tired of whatever was happening before it changed gears! • -848 ft Descent Geneva Basin Ski Area; Metadata. Spam? Two more were added a few years later to give access to beginner hills and bowls that dot the area. 0.3 km Explore miles of lift-serviced alpine skiing and snowboarding. Discover (and save!) • -1,890 ft Descent Tell me more about this hike. Hike bierstadt while you are in the area. What used to be a ski resort is now a day hike for many. By the time we got back down to our campsite clouds had moved in and the snow started again, only to move out before we were finished packing up. Descend the Upper Summer Road for a 0.8-mile loop hike; Ascent: 340 feet; Difficulty: Easy to moderate And it was. Your FREE account works with all Adventure Projects sites. For anyone in search of specific stats – the mileage from the parking lot just above the Guanella Pass Campground was about 4.75 miles one way to Geneva Basin. After a fair bit of exploring we headed back down the mountain. A few miles in we rounded the bend to see a jumble of buildings nestled in the trees. It was like a miniature hut, but with more personalization by every visitor! There are two options when skinning into Geneva Basin: approaching from the north or the south. Let me start out this article with a little honesty…I do not exactly *love* winter camping. We gained about 750ft on our way in and roughly 1,000ft on the way out. Everyone that had been there left behind something from their visit, adding to the character of the place! Bogus Basin offers world-class groomed runs, powder, and freestyle terrain. I mean, I think I still prefer camping through summer storms, but I’m glad I gave it another shot. Heidi is the founder of Adventure Feet First and the Creator of Experiences. The other day I decided to check out one called Geneva Basin.. View Backcountry Skiing in a larger map. In fact, this strange facility contains a weather station and an aviation radar. Since it’s just open to whoever shows up there were some interesting finds in the cabin – like a multiple half full bottles of rum/bourbon/whiskey, a whole slew of board/card games, ramen noodles + canned tuna, dog food, a hammock, instant eggs and a well tuned guitar! Constructed in 1963 as Indianhead Ski Area, the resort suffered numerous financial hardships throughout its history and eventually closed in 1984 after an empty chair fell from a ski lift. And I hate the dentist.Why is the teeny, tiny apartment we moved into over a month ago still not unpacked? 6.3mi Geneva Basin is an oasis for low-angle powder turns. Grunow was a lifelong businessman, with several in the Lake Geneva area over that time. Cookies make us hungry! Discover (and save!) William "Billy" Grunow built the ski area in 1957, when he was 27. On the backside of Guanella Pass, the now abandoned ski resort features a ski patrol hut at the base where you can find old trail maps. It may be hard to imagine today, but this mountainside was once a small ski area known as Geneva Basin. Will had done this previously and said that it would be a lot of climbing for a single day trip. We’d also driven over Guanella Pass multiple times so our chances of getting lost were slim. Tag: Geneva Basin Ski Area. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details may not fully reflect the modified file. Sadly, gone." This route takes the road the whole way for extra mileage. About a mile later I recognized a bend in the road – this had to be it! Lots of sugary, faceted snow. Life got in the way. Notice. your own Pins on Pinterest With 91 named runs, 4 high-speed quads, 11 lifts, 2600 acres of terrain, and 360-degree mountain access, you can spend days, literally, exploring all that Bogus Basin … There were no promise of fresh snow or beautiful wilderness mornings motivating us, just a boring drive home to real life responsibilities. • -575.92 m Descent, 1.1 mi Slowly we emerged from the tent and set up our gear for some mountain exploration. Unless it did. At least 175 from what I can tell. The climb tops out at the old ski patrol hut (maintained by volunteers). I recommend you buy this book. And then read into why it was shut down…glad I wasn’t on that lift! Sorry blog, something more important came up! The snow that fell overnight turned into sticky mashed potatoes. only about 5" of snow on the road. Minor route-finding, cool destination! How do the things we choose to do every day get in the way? When asking people about winter hiking one of the first concerns they bring up is…being cold. Thanks to its proximity to a popular fourteener, the Guanella Pass road is lined with cars all summer, but the fun doesn’t have to end when the winter road closure takes effect each November. New to The Mountain Top is the Burton Riglet Park, built with young children in mind. Jul 29, 2015 - This Pin was discovered by Dave Petersen /MidwestPete. Half Moon Vista Trail . Its pretty cool! Eventually the cleared road came into view and we knew we were back. I have a very strong love-hate relationship with camping in the snow. 1.7 km But I’m paying attention to you now, so here’s what went down two weekends ago…. And by “perfect” I mean full of mountain character! The Best Layers For Winter Hiking Adventures, Tips + Tricks To Actually Enjoy Winter Camping, What Are Public Lands + How You Can Use Them. We all flipped through the book for a bit then settled on Geneva Basin, just south of Georgetown. However, being cold is something you can [somewhat] easily mitigate with the proper layers…used in the proper order and at the proper times. USFS - Arapaho National Forests - Clear Creek Ranger District. On Saturday afternoon we packed up the Forester and started our drive into the mountains. Geneva Basin Ski Area . February 3, 2019 January 3, 2021 by bcgrandlake, posted in Adventure, Spring/Summer/Fall, Winter. Some obstacles. • -574 ft Descent "Geneva Basin was a great area. • -281 ft Descent We quickly learned that riding down a “blue square” is far more fun than skinning up one! From there the skin track got much steeper as we continued up the resort through one of the clear cut ski runs. IF YOU SEE THEM PLEASE DONT STEAL THEM! Obviously we mean life got busy and priorities got shuffled. Winter Access: Requires a significant hike and is not recommended. When a ski lift collapsed in 1984, the resort closed for good, and nature has taken its course in the intervening decades: an old patrol hut (backcountry skiers often spend the night here) and a couple of tiny storage shacks are the only hints that Geneva Basin saw nearly 25,000 skiers in its last season. Geneva Basin Ski Area (originally Indianhead Ski Area) opened in 1963.Geneva Basin was developed by an Illinois family after their Indianhead Ski Area in Michigan, (now Indianhead Mountain Resort) [1].The Basin closed in 1965, and was auction off to former Colorado Governor Roy Romer and the Burk Family. Please explain. He owned it until March 7, 1988, when a fire destroyed the chalet and closed the ski area for good. Base Camp 2018 Year in Review. Geneva Basin Ski Area was originally opened as Indianhead Ski Area in 1963. Land Manager: USFS - Arapaho National Forests - Clear Creek Ranger District, 0.9 mi Very steep. I’ll buy…all six cups it’ll take use to get through the first half of that discussion! It was still a long, slow hike and we were all ecstatic to see the Guanella summit…it was all downhill from there! Nov 7, 2016 - This Pin was discovered by Melanie Miller. Why didn’t I change the oil in my Forester before it hit the 9K-since-last-change mark? The long-closed Geneva Basin Ski Area, situated a few miles south of the Guanella Pass summit, boasts an annual snowfall of 300”—on par with Aspen Highlands and Crested Butte, sans the long commute—and enough high-quality runs t… • -258.53 m Descent, 1.7 mi • -1,725 ft Descent It was high altitude and sheltered which made for some great powder. 1.4 km Winter 2018 The months of January - March in Colorado were unusually dry, even high up in the mountains. This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. your own Pins on Pinterest Not for beginners. Moderately steep terrain. The little cabin had a kitchen area, a table + chairs and a back room with a wood stove and bunks for sleeping. As a trail running, bikepacker and overall adventure seeker Heidi is definitely the person you want creating your adventures! Minor steeper, uneven terrain. I first explored the 1,250 vertical feet of this ski basin on a scorching late-spring day and almost bonked during the arduous eight-mile uphill slog. Geneva Basin is accessed from Highway 285. But…winter camping did not suck! Discover (and save!) -Ted C.-----"I used to ski Geneva Basin all the time in the '70s. Luckily the road was buried under lots of snow so it wasn’t completely demoralizing! Life got in the way.Why is there a 7 year gap in my dental history? The area enjoys the reputation of being one of the oldest alpine ski areas having short lift lines and extreme terrain. All the hubble bubble about life started out as my excuse for being two weeks behind in posting about the exciting things in my life. Shortened as The Basin or A-Basin, Arapahoe Basin is a ski area that’s located in Colorado (within the White River National Forest). Geneva Basin Ski Area, Guanella Pass. Lost Ski Areas Having grown up skiing in New England, surrounded by may local and state wide smaller hills seemingly tucked onto every hill of some note, it has now mostly gone away. 2.8 km In which case we should meet for a cup of coffee to talk the philosophy of life. This meant we got to follow skin/snowshoe tracks up to the summit of the pass. However, in the late 80's, numerous attempts were made to reopen the area. There is a ton of terrain to be tracked here. Making turns was nearly impossible and there were many, many comical, slow motion crashes! 3h 00m, made it to the ski area via the road, which is closed. We knew we had a lot of uphill and it seemed to just drag on and on. The Guanella Pass Rd (closed to traffic in winter, but there may be snowmobiles) is paved so it can melt out on low snow years and sunny days. — I LEFT MY SPLITBOARD SKINS IN THE HUT AT THE TOP AND WILL BE BACK ON THURSDAY TO RETRIEVE THEM! It first opened in 1963 with two chairlifts: a … The snow had warmed up a lot in the bright sunshine so riding was…interesting. Life got in the way.Why do I have way too many flagged emails that need my attention? La Dôle; La Dôle is an iconic peak in the Lake Geneva basin that can be easily recognized with its large white “ball”. • -85.78 m Descent, 1.1 mi He was kind enough to carry the tent + cook stove in since he had the sled so we did what we could to do some stellar trail breaking. Check out the history of Geneva Basin here – look at those lift prices! The hike out was…a little daunting. No bulbous lodge, no bozos, the ultimate ski experience for me. Skinning down the “old road” for just 10-15 minutes, you’ll find yourself standing in the ski area parking lot, looking up at a variety of old ski runs that have been slowly returning to their natural state over the last three decades. Because being cold sucks and winter is kind of known for its cold weather. Tricky terrain. Originally dubbed Indianhead Ski Area, Geneva Basin is easily Colorado’s most famous abandoned ski resort. This is about an injury or accident Date: 4/12 ... (Guanella pass beginning in Grant) we skinned roughly 4 miles up the road to the base of the abandoned ski area. The town I grew up in had a municipal two rope tow hill, Mount Nebo, were you could go ski in the evenings after school. Somehow we managed to sleep a solid 9 hours – apparently skinning with packs is a lot of work and wears a person out! The Basin is open up till early June—the period can sometimes get extended up till even July. Berthoud Pass is a highly popular backcountry ski spot, and as a kid, DelPiccolo would hike up Geneva Basin’s former ski runs with his family.
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