mountaingoatskiguides

Great year, deep and just a little dusty

2011-04-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

As a compliment to guiding work, I happen to be lucky enough to have a side job as a field assistant to Chris Landry, master snow scientist form Silverton. Together we just completed an 1100 mile tour of Colorado digging pits on the passes of the Great Divide, looking for dust in the snowpack. We found heavy concentrations of dust near the southwest part of the state due to proximity to the drier climes of our nation, which will be a factor in the melt off rate of snow when, if ever, the sun comes out. Overall the snow has been bountiful in most of the state especially up north near Summit County and Steamboat where the snowpack finished out at over three meters deep! This is good news for skiers, boaters and water managers west wide. Guiding is fun, science is interesting, next season Mountain Goat will transition further towards education of the next generations in such relevant topics as climate studies, ecosystem awareness, and human interaction. Until then I plan to plant a garden, ride the runoff, and sleep out under the stars as much as possible.

We made the news!

2011-01-17T18:35:00.000-08:00

Two quick notes: Much thanks to the French Canadians (you know who you are) it is nice to have people with so much enthusiasm for hiking up hill to ski the soft snow, and who are willing to hire a guide to take them there. And secondly Mountain Goat is about to show Texans a whole new world as described by John Briley in the Dallas Morning News. The piece is well written and this intrepid adventurer had a good enough time to publish his story. Mountain Goat trip in the news. Yeah!

A new years toast

2010-12-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

Thankful is the mountain goat this holiday season for many things: Living so full a life in such gravity infested mountains, having family, friends and ski guests braving the mountain passes to come visit this valley, and for the plentiful high quality h2ohhh, yeah.
Now a toast: Here is to a happy new year, great skiing, pushing boundaries and knowing limits, foresight, living for today and planning for tomorrow, getting up to get down, staying plucky and getting lucky, in good company! Cheers, now dip your feet in the champagne.
And a weather update: Dumping again! 80 inches Christmas week layered down a cake, and a foot today of super fluff delivered the icing. Someone must be enjoying some champagne in the sky, and we down here in the San Juans are getting all the sparkling bubbles! Enjoy.

Mountain Goat gleans recess out of Recession

2010-11-22T07:42:00.000-08:00

Life is a highway, in Silverton the highway is a real high way, more than 11000 feet high. This elevation gained at the summit of Red Mountain Pass offers a great starting point for skiing. That's old news. The new news is that even in an economic recession skiing is still fun! I may not be able to buy a full new setup, but I bet if I scrape my change jar I can get enough for new roll of duct tape to patch up my ski pants. Sure, there is a little more gear involved than duct tape, but true BC skiing can be a pretty affordable recreation. And recreation is still important, it's all in the word re- create, we all need this. Cool mountain air and the thrill of schusshing renews our sense of what's important. So forsake buying some cheap plastic stuff and instead consider a trip to Silverton. Mountain Goat offers the most affordable ski guide service in the state. We have access to a great lodge, the St. Paul, much improved. Hotels in town are downright cheap and the snow is already getting deep. Oh yeah, most of our permit area is out of cell range so you can have a real vacation!

Spring Update from Mtn Goat

2010-05-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

The winter of 09/10 offered Mountain Goat many memorable trips with good people. Diverse groups were able to attend several new and experimental courses, such as Intro to Ski guiding, and the Snowqueen weekend! We still find ourselves burning a bit of firewood in our homes and a recent 3 inch dusting made the mountains white again. This realm of Silverton is truly a bastion for winter to make itself comfortable and stay a while. Elk are moving up with the snowline and the winter hardy perennial flowers of the alpine tundra are peeking their heads up on the sun warmed slopes. Here is a photo from a personal ski trip in the Weminuche wilderness area. Thanks everyone who helped out as guides, and many thanks to teachers, organizers and those of you hardy folks who came on down to Silvertown. Git yer paws inside 'fore sundown! If anyone wants to book for next year just call down. Ski near the old mines before they fall down. Ski through the glades 'fore they blow down! 970-903-7892. Enjoy spring, I won't be writing too much over the summer., 'cept with a pen. MB.

Leading friends down steep and snowy terrain

2010-03-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

A large and snowy winter has just slightly loosened it's grip on the San Juan mountains, evidence of avalanches having come down is all around. Several diverse groups have assembled in the trail head parking lots at the top of the pass for extensive touring on skis, snowboards, split boards, snow shoes and plain 'ol feet for some winter fun. It brings joy for a day or more to the young people who ski under the great blue sky, or become enveloped in a thick cloud of snow falling from everywhere. This has been a good year to teach conservative decision making lessons in the backcountry. I will post a couple of photos from some various trips. Thanks for making the adventures happen.

Up next, spring ski season: we hope and plan to make longer and overnight ski camping trips, to explore new places, and watch as this great stored mass of water begins to melt on its way to the sea!

Students reach the summit

2010-02-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

Standing on top of a mountain in winter is an experience that is hard to forget. Especially when you got there from your own strength. And when the sky is blue and 10 inches of super powder await your descent, there is a contagious happiness felt in all present. Timberline Academy living up to their name on the Summit of Mcmillan Peak. 12804 feet, Feb 8th 2010.

2010-01-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

The snow is deep, the skiing fine

But you can't just rip any old line.

You've got to choose and be wise,

'Cause 'lanches happen of great size.

They rush down mountains and swallow you up,

They even could tip over your pickup truck.

So be safe out there, travel with care,

And remember that feeling of summer night air.

If you want to ski, I will ski with you,

My favorite time is when the sky is blue.

If you come with me I will show you what I know,

And we will wear suntan lotion, 'cause the reflection off the snow.

There are places out there and not to far,

Where you can't even hear the sound of a car.

The quiet of winter will calm your head,

And you will feel a rolling motion lying in your bed.

Skiing's not extreme, it's more like flying,

If you haven't skied the San Juans yet, it's certainly worth trying.

So Much Snow

2010-01-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

We hath received a dumping of royal proportions! The snow fell so deep it buried my entire truck, twice! All roads in to Silverton were closed for two days, the only road open was the one to the Mountain Goat's favorite powdery trees, Ahh sweet bliss to swish in such a product. The locals have severe back aches from too much shoveling. From now until late spring there will be superb snow coverage in the San Juan mountains. You want numbers, well I cant't be specific but let's just say several feet in many places. I would show you a photo, but my camera broke form soooo much snoooowwww!

Great Storm Coming

2010-01-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

Fat flakes are falling at long last. Nature is about to make up for lost time, as a winter storm warning is in effect for the San Juan Range of Southwestern Colorado. To view a picture that is sure to bring excitement to any skiers heart, click on over to NOAA for a promise of a bright future. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Todays forecast for Silverton Colorado.

Powdered sugar

2010-01-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

After the holidays are over and it hasn't snowed in over three weeks I like to remember the desserts of Christmas time by skiing snow called "Powdered Sugar". It reminds me of delicious cookies rolled in that magically sweet substance. It makes a whooshing sound as it pours down the mountain in front of skiers, gaining momentum. It is a time for good turns high alpine January light, and waiting for that good ol' jet to swing our way. The local powder hounds are enthusiastically skiing off of nearly every big peak imaginable in a classic San Juan snowpack. Thats the news for now, and here is a photo from a not so secret mountain ridge across the street from Silverton Mountain.

Ever seen sky like this?

2009-12-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Yes I have seen sky like this, I have yet to capture it in photographs until now. I have heard that this is a phenomenon caused by tiny ice crystals in the sky. Like clouds of ice bending the light into winter rainbow clouds. 'Tis for sights such as this that I wander in the cold mountains.

Blazing Beauty

2009-12-15T08:50:00.000-08:00

They don't even make sunglasses dark enough for the blazing blue that presented itself after the sky emptied itself of absolutely every last snow crystal. The sun arose and glinted off every piece of new surface made soft shaped by swirling winds. The mountains, invisible in howling winds and blowing snow yesterday, showed white against the blue, with sharp cornices and jagged crowns of snowslides scattered amongst the alpine bowls. The kids ventured out with foggy breaths, like little engines that could huffing up the hills.

P.S. Check out the new Colorado Mountain Journal for other mountain reverent writings, and ski tour descriptions by Mountain Goat.

Special Delivery

2009-12-08T10:45:00.000-08:00

"Twas the middle of the night, not a star in sight

When a roofalanche occurred, oh what a fright.

The wind blew, the chimney shook

And when I rose in the morning to have a look,

Everywhere there were drifts of snow,

So deep I thought my truck wouldn't go.

But sure enough it wasn't stuck,

I made it to Main with a bit of luck.

I parked it there and started up the street,

Looking to find a bit of breakfast meat.

I made it to the cafe, the passes were closed,

And on my way home, on this snow bank I posed.

one inch new snow, or more?

2009-12-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

One inch new skis like a foot in Silverton. The San Juans with their swirling winds, and mighty spires of stone seem to collect snow at an exponential rate. I think it is the elevation. Or magnetic attraction. This photo was yesterday, snow still thin but skiing just like fancy powdered sugar. And now? Check the NOAA forecast for yo self.

BC should be cheap!

2009-11-30T10:30:00.000-08:00

Ok enough about hot humid places, back to Silverton where the temp outside this morning was 6. Anticipation for the ski season is strong and speculation is rampant. People talk about El Nino, the jet stream, and climate change. Here at Mountain Goat our policy is to count our flakes once they are on the ground, or blowing up over our shoulders. One thing is for sure, and that is weather, in fact there is a 100% chance of weather, today and for the rest of the season. Our goal this year is to be ready to take full advantage of whatever weather comes our way, for example if it blows hard out of the South, we will have a ski day on the sheltered North sides. This is basic to most skiers.

Another fact that is taken for granted among skiers is that skiing is expensive almost exclusively so. This has to change, so this year at Mountain Goat we will be instituting a powder to the masses concept, we will offer specific Backcountry weekends starting in January at less than half of other ski guide service pricing. See the website www.mountaingoatskiguides.com for details. Why pay more than you would at a ski area, when you have to hike up a mountain? Join us for a ski day in Silverton on a Sunday, where you will get exercise, meet other local BC skiers and get the most from a professional guide for less than the price of a Vail ticket!

Fair and Square

2009-11-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

So they say jet travel is one of the worst things for global warming. Well I did it anyway, and it was so worth it cause it is cold in Silverton. I do not take it lightly however to up and jet off half way around the world. It has to be a special mission, in this case I flew to Costa Rica, to see how the people of the tropical world live. And boy did it put life in perspective. It made me feel lucky that there are still places that are cool enough for it to snow, and it made me a lot more thankful for each and every cup of coffee I drink cause there are some folks working long hot days in snaky fields to bring us the beans.

The most important thing I goat out of the trip was the importance of fairness. The world is not entirely fair and it probably won't ever be but we are lucky enough to be in a position to choose with our dollars how we support trade with these fine neighbors of ours. I believe this makes a difference in other peoples lives and comes back to us. For example I met a man in Nicaragua who was buying wood, hard wood. He chose to pay a little more for his wood to purchase material that had been felled in a hurricane and was ethically harvested and the soil replanted afterwards. This gives credibility to the governments certification program and promotes laws to protect these rain forests for generations to come. These forests are the lungs of our earth and are responsible for filtering out and sequestering the carbon dioxide I emitted on my flight. Which brings it right back to benefitting ourselves in the form of global cooling when we buy ethically harvested hard wood or fair trade coffee!

To do my small part, I will continue to offer human powered recreation of a quality just as exotic as a tour to a far off place, and will offer discounts to guests who carpool. Fill up the car and the whole car gets free premium service. Which includes a photo CD of yourself surfing the white wave, and fair trade certified chocolate!

Open for Season

2009-10-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of skiing today in and area called Georgia gulch, above Silverton. Is skiing that important? Why is this Mountain Goat guy always writing about flying and floating and powder snow flying up around yo' face? No where else can a machine or creature descend a rugged snowy mountain like a human on skis. We get out into the highest ridge country, the top of the state of Colorado, and we just cruise. Looking for lines of esthetic beauty, ways to flow like a drop of water down with old gravity. When we find a line we just turn our head and our skis follow and the next thing is we are going 60 mph with wind in our hair letting fly with the biggest yeeeeeehaaaaaawww that ever was heard. Oh wait, just kidding I was day dreaming again. Backcountry skiing is inherently dangerous and requires scientific understanding of snow and conservative decision making. Mountain goat recommends avalanche school to everyone. We are open for business, come design the trip of your daydreams. Happy, safe winter to all.

Winter arrival

2009-10-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

In the high country above Silverton Co. two inches fresh snow fell with winds that blew it in to depths to 18 inches. In places where the new cold smoke fell on old dense early season base the skiing seems realistic. Trees are out of the question. Still good access to the high country. Elevation and Aspect have a large influence on snow depths here at this time. True north above 12000 is very cold and wintry. One degree here in town this morning and now the sun is out.

Cross training tips for skiers

2009-10-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

The winter is coming for certain, how big it will be is up for speculation by el nino scientists and local powderhounds. But wait don't get too excited, and go hard charging on shallow snow. We have the whole season ahead and it would be silly to bang yo self up. (This is the guide in me talking) I like to cross train at this time of year to get in shape and enjoy the last bit of summer. A recent trip to the dessert canyon country of Utah was a great time for some mountain goating about. 'Cause mid winter when its 20 degrees below zero I know we will be yearning for some sand between the toes. So enjoy the last little bits of warmth, and train up. I will see you all soon in winter land.

Cinnamon Rolls

2009-10-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when the snow gets to a certain temperature it can make cinnamon rolls, beautiful spiral rolls like wheels frozen in motion. Sometimes when we ski we need something to get our wheels into motion. I am pleased to report that within 63 steps of Mountain Goat Headquarters the Avalanche Bakery is producing the finest cinnamon rolls in the county. Dillon Runyon, graduated from the Natural Gourmet Institute, worked as pastry chef in New York city and now offers the finest baked goods that eager skiers could dream of. Welcome to town. Gotta run and go get one.

Essence of skiing

2009-10-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes over a long hot summer we forget what skiing is all about. Here is a short video that will remind you. Mountain Goat, First Turns, 50cm's new.

First snow has come

2009-09-26T06:22:00.000-07:00

The first snow has fallen in the high mountain valley of Silverton. Mountain Goat Ski Guides has a new office. Just installed a great big wood stove. Courses are booking. New for this year is a winter leadership course, and a hot shower in our ski lodge. This should be the best year yet to come on down to the San Juans.

Why sit down?

2009-08-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

One reason I sit down to write is for my own entertainment and to practice at the internet. I also hope to place nice photos for those who might take interest. This is an intriguing world. I wonder all the time to what avail is all the hubub, but I know 'tis to do our best that we must strive. In my endeavoring thusly I hope to share the fun with you. So here is an example. MB.

2009-08-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

Oh the simplicity of wandering through the mountains, so straight forward it is. Just follow the dotted line of a trail on a map and experience the world rolling by in slow motion, allowing us to notice. The perfection in a columbine, the melted swirled gelato of quartzite, a flicker flashing by through the trees. Thoughts slow down and clarify, mental sentences grow longer. An hour of heavy hiking at altitude has plenty of space for thought. Summer or winter, there is quietude of the mind and joy in the heart, when we walk in the paintbrush tundra.

Thanks to Everyone.

2009-04-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

This is a thank you to all who adventured with Mountain Goat this season. This is a small business in a big mountain range. The reason I guide is to ski and to meet people from all walks of life. I was fortunate enough to guide some interesting characters this season. A NASA astro physicist, a navy explosives technician, a Wall Street Hedge fund manager, some front range weekend warriors. And of course many fun loving students of the mountain classroom....Colorado College, Dawson School, Telluride High, Silverton public. You all know who you are, thanks for coming, see you all next year!

Elements

2009-03-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

There are all sorts of great books on weather, you can learn a great deal about the climate that surrounds our earth. Say for example you were to study orographic lifting as related to snowfall. You could read in your book that as an air mass drives against a rise in the earth like a mountain range, the air is forced upwards. As it rises it cools, sometimes to a point at which it can no longer hold moisture. Then it snows. To know this from science class and then to experience it in action, lets say when it is snowing uphill in the upper Cement Creek drainage of the San Juan range, this is true experiential education. This is the goal of Mountain Goat Ski Guides. This and checking the moisture content, with our faces!

Mike Barney Assessing snow

2009-02-26T17:48:00.000-08:00

Observation skills are honed in skiing like no other sport. As we descend a snow covered landscape we are constantly looking ahead at the snow coming under our feet and deciphering how to best schuush down through. We instantly access memory of other days skiing when we perhaps skied some similar snow or aspect. Like a pilot who through his understanding and experience can literally see air in his minds eye, so can a skier see a world in a blank white surface.

2009-02-25T16:43:00.001-08:00

I wonder what is over that next ridge... I think I shall wander over there and see...

2009-02-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

New storm, rain in town couple feet up high. Skiing like British Columbia. The Best turns of the year. Enough talk for now, I'm back out there.

2009-02-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

Just finished a two day course with the Colorado College, some of the most fun loving adventurous kids I have ever met. They are also some of the most well travelled. There are grants available for these kids to simply go on mountaineering adventures around the world. Which I think is great because there is so much to see in this lovely world. But it raised the question in my mind, can you see it all? And what is the value in seeing more exotic places and doing more adventurous trips? It certainly opens ones eyes to the big world, which is precious knowledge, but what do these kids do with the information that wild places are out there? Is there a way to be a conscientious traveller? To give back? Because it sure takes a ton of resources to travel the world by jet. Just cause it is cheap and easy should we do it. I am opening the discussion. I do believe strongly in the value of expeditioning, and especially in difficult, human powered travel. There is so much to see on the way. And best of all one can observe the inter relatedness of our world as one travels from one ecological area to another, or simply from one elevation to another. So get out there do something grand you all, but give a little on the way and spend that gas like it is a magical treasure. I put forth here that a Smith ski goggle lense is one thousand times a better use of the petroleum treasure than a plastic one use water bottle. Think of the view of all those snowflakes in your face. MB.

This is the Playground

2009-02-08T17:17:00.000-08:00

Science is nice and important and gives people good jobs and spreads information, but play spreads jubilation. I am thankful for the people who do the research and management of our public lands. But I am especially glad that these mountains simply exist, because we get to go out into them and play. Like a kid at recess that goes on and on.

Is Play important? or just selfish galavanting. I think maybe a little of both. When I go out dancing on the smoothed over earth covered in snow, skiing, I find myself full to the brim with love for this life I have been given. And when exploring I gain new insights into the ways of this mysterious world, and through understanding comes familiarity and then reverence. I believe that wild places fill me with wonder and enthusiasm for learning. After all what is the point of learning and building civilization and being humans if not to dance across the earth full of wonder and joy?

Tell tale tracks

2009-02-01T07:58:00.000-08:00

The storm finished with silky textures to the fluff. Fried eggs on the lodge stove, and headed out into the fresh white canvas to paint our tracks onto the mountain sides. After a fresh storm the tracks of animals teach a lesson in how to move efficiently through the deep snow. The lynx goes in a straight lines between copses of trees listening for snowshoe hares. The coyote wanders hoping to get lucky. The fox works with the wind to sneak and pounce. The squirrel only hits the ground to get to the next tree full of loaded pine cones. The slinky white ermine surfaces and then submerges pointed nose piercing the powder sniffing for mice. The powder seeking people flow down the mountains like water seeking the path of least resistance like a single drop of water pulled by the hand of gravity.

Why go to the mountain lodge?

2009-01-29T20:14:00.000-08:00

Why would anyone want to sleep in an old rebuilt mining building turned ski lodge? It is drafty, dingy, musty, and dusty. There are strange sounds in the night. You have to build a roaring fire to get the place anywhere near comfortable. And you have to work hard to get there, it is uphill at 11000 feet. Then when you are there you have to chop wood to build a fire to heat the water to do the dishes. sounds like work.

Well it is the good work.

It feels good to keep yourself alive and warm and fed in the winter mountains. Food tastes better. You can't see a single other light anywhere except a million stars in the sky and a billion littler stars in the snow. Then you wake up to the alpenglow on the peaks just above and realize you are in the heart of the San Juan Range and you've got no emails to return, and all you have to do is ski all day, it is a simple soul satisfying feeling like no other. There is peace in these mountains, I think I'll stay a while.

Blower Snow

2009-01-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

I'll try to describe yesterdays snow with words. It was the kind that you blow on on your car windshield and it lifts weightlessly into the air in a thousand tiny sparkling diamonds. And when you ski though it you better plan ahead as to where you are going because you can't see for extended moments of pure white submergence. MB.

Skiing as Art?

2009-01-19T16:08:00.000-08:00

Just cross country skied out into South Mineral creek on a smooth groomer thanks to Bill Alsup. Bill is a giving person, of his time and work . He grooms trails for skiers and snomobilers alike. He used to drive race cars and was quite good at it. So now in this little quaint mountain town of Silverton he donates his cat time to make this place just a little bit better. Is Silverton Utopia?

Is skiing important? Yes. You get to go out into the places where no one is in the winter. The world is covered in a blanket that makes it fresh and clean and new. You get to paint your ski track art on that canvas. And to tell your story with your tracks. Where would you ski if you could ski anywhere on a mountain? How will you paint your lives art onto this world?

Hogan Loop

2009-01-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

Just got back from the Hogan Loop. Out the divide trail five miles in whiteout conditions following the sun in Antarctic conditions to camp at Eldorado Lake. A bowl of oats and three passes later we made the top of Vestal Valley, sat for a while in sunshine then skied to camp. It was a downright lunar experience in it's remoteness. But as beautiful as this land gets. Winter travel in true wilderness teaches foresight and demands proper planning. Essential are the down booties and appetizers and hot drinks at every meal. All i had is a picture from the summer. It sure is majestic.

2009-01-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

We just returned from an extraordinary day of ski touring with Michael to St Paul's Lodge for a picnic. This place is the most picturesque in all of Colorado that I have yet to encounter. It looks like a scene from Switzerland or Austria. It is truly spectacular. After a gourmet lunch we hiked further up Mc Millian mountain to do some telly turns in the knee deep powder. This is an experience not to be missed.

Michael is an expert in every way. He is patient and encouraging with all levels of skiers and has vast experience in the back country. What a day!

2008-12-31T13:36:00.000-08:00

Big snowfall all of December, great start to winter. Now blue sky and sunshine in the San Juans. First trip of the year goes out tomorrow, nordic touring on Red Mountain Pass. Lots of animal tracks and evidence of week old avalanches to look at, and the skiing is great.

The Beginning

2008-12-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

Alrighty then, here is the beginning of something never done before. This is the story of Mountain Goat Ski Guides, founded by Michael Barton to encourage and inspire education in the mountains in winter.