Leadville – It’s late April and you’re already jonesing. But just because Colorado’s major ski areas have called it quits on one of the best snow seasons in history, that doesn’t mean you have to. With the help of the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association, there is still plenty of snow within striking distance for skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers with a hankering for high places.
With a half-dozen 10th Mountain huts hovering at or above 11,500 feet (roughly the timberline in Colorado), the draw for many late-season visitors is the abundance of well-preserved spring snow accessible right out the front door. Take the Sangree M. Froelicher Hut, for example, the highest in the 10th Mountain system at 11,700 feet. It’s a relatively easy 3.5-mile hike to the hut from the 10,160-foot trailhead at Buckeye Gulch. From there, acres of open slopes on 12,867-foot Buckeye Peak and nearby Chicago Ridge offer more ski terrain than most mountaineers can cover in a weekend.
“I didn’t realize it was the highest one,” said Regina Kornmesser, a repeat visitor to Sangree’s Hut from Colorado Springs. “I picked it because it’s about the same distance we’d normally drive to go skiing. We had a group up here for New Year’s and the skiing was great.”
Sangree’s Hut and others in the 10th Mountain system will shut their doors for the winter season at the end of the month, although facilities in the related Summit Huts Association and huts in the Alfred A. Braun system near Aspen remain open to ski mountaineers well into May. Most of Colorado’s highest huts (listed below) have space available for late-season skiers. Check the Web at www.huts.org for more information and reservations.
Sangree’s Hut
At 11,700 feet, the Sangree M. Froelicher Hut sits just south of 12,867-foot Buckeye Peak, offering outstanding views of the Sawatch Range and several of Colorado’s tallest mountains. Buckeye and the east slope of Chicago Ridge nearby also hold several good ski slopes for varying ability levels, novice to expert.
Built in 1998 as the privately owned Belvedere Hut, it was purchased in 2003 by the 10th Mountain Association and renamed to honor Froelicher, a staff sergeant killed in action in Italy in 1945. Sangree’s Hut is also home to the Alpine Resource Center, a unique 600-square-foot area on the lower level of the hut available for educational non-profit organizations participating in the 10th Mountain’s Backcountry Exploration Program.
* Elevation: 11,700 feet.
* Layout and capacity: Upstairs has one room with a double bed, one room with four single beds, and 10 single beds in a communal sleeping area. Capacity 16.
* Location: About 10 miles north of Leadville, just southeast of Cooper Hill ski area.
* Trailhead: Buckeye Gulch, elevation 10,160 feet, 3.5 miles.
* Closing day: April 30.
Goodwin-Greene
Tucked into the rugged Elk Mountains south of Aspen, the Alfred A. Braun hut system takes Colorado ski touring to the next level. Routes to the huts are unmarked and often require skiers to travel under or across potentially hazardous avalanche paths. The Goodwin-Greene hut, built in the ’70s in memory of mountaineers Peter Goodwin and Carl Greene, is no exception. The hut is infamously known as the proposed destination of the Ken Torp party, which stirred a media blizzard after getting lost in a storm and splitting into three feuding factions that either skied out or were rescued in 1993.
It’s also known for access to excellent spring ski routes near the timberline at the head of the Difficult Creek drainage. Nearby Gold Hill, just south of the hut, stands 12,361 feet, with lots of terrain for an ambitious ski tour.
* Elevation: 11,680 feet.
* Layout and capacity: Goodwin-Greene hut is a one-level structure that sleeps 10 (three doubles, four singles). Minimum booking of four spaces. The hut was fully renovated in 2001.
* Location: This high-altitude hut is located near the timberline at the head of the Difficult Creek drainage about 12 miles south of the Aspen Mountain Ski Area. Routes are not marked or maintained.
* Trailhead: Ashcroft, elevation 9,498 feet, 5.1 miles.
* Closing day: May 31.
Jackal Hut
Sitting high on the south face of a dramatic summit, the Jackal Hut is renowned for excellent skiing out the front door and stunning views of the Tennessee Pass area and several 14,000-foot peaks of the surrounding Sawatch Range. There are many open slopes and glades around the hut, as well as opportunities to explore above 12,000 feet at nearby Pearl Peak and Elk Ridge. Built from donations by Jack Schuss and Al Zesiger (Jack-Al, get it?), the hut is near the timberline in an area used by 10th Mountain Division troops during war training in the 1940s.
* Elevation: 11,660 feet.
* Layout and capacity: Upstairs: one room with a double bed, one room with four single beds, and 10 single beds in a communal sleeping area. Capacity 16.
* Location: About 15 miles north of Leadville, Jackal Hut is the closest hut to the Camp Hale site. The hut is in the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area.
* Trailhead: South Camp Hale, elevation 9,280 feet, 3.8 miles.
* Closing Day: April 30.
Skinner Hut
The Skinner Hut is found at 11,620 feet, on the east side of Hagerman Pass near the Continental Divide. While the high elevation and remote locale make for excellent ski descents well into spring, they also qualify Skinner as the most difficult of the 10th Mountain huts for access. An arduous 10.6-mile trek spans nearly 2,000 vertical feet and a constant reminder of the hut’s name through that essential piece of ski equipment: climbing skins. Slogging the trail on snowshoes is a spirit-breaking endeavor. The steep Glacier Creek route is the most popular, but no route to the Skinner Hut is considered moderate. Those who make the effort will be rewarded with quality ski touring above the timberline in the Hagerman Pass area of the Divide and numerous descents on the surrounding steep terrain. Superb views include the 14,036-foot summit of Mount Sherman in the Mosquito Mountains east of Leadville.
* Elevation: 11,620 feet.
* Layout and capacity: 3 small rooms with double beds, additional 10 beds in communal sleeping area. Capacity 16 people.
* Location: Perched at timberline on the east side of Hagerman Pass near the town of Leadville.
* Trailhead: Turquoise Lake (via Glacier Creek Trail), elevation 9,760 feet, 10.6 miles.
* Closing Day: April 30.
Janet’s Cabin
Representing the Summit Huts Association, Janet’s Cabin attracts all levels of skiers with a plentiful variety of terrain. Its timberline location in the Guller Creek Drainage next to Copper Mountain Resort allows for skiing in the trees below the hut, although the corn snow on the ridge and bowls above the hut is the primary spring attraction. After a 5 1/2-mile hike to the 3,000-square-foot hut, advanced skiers will find good turns on Sugarloaf Peak, Elk Mountain and Searle Pass.
* Elevation: 11,610 feet.
* Layout and capacity: Beds are all upstairs, bunk-style in four different rooms (one room with a single bunk and two single beds, two rooms with a double bunk and two single beds, and a room with two double bunks, no double beds). Capacity 20.
* Location: Janet’s Cabin is the easternmost hut with reservations taken by 10th Mountain, about 5 miles south of Vail Pass and Interstate 70, near Copper Mountain Resort. The hut is in the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area.
* Trailhead: Union Creek, elevation 9,820 feet, 5.5 miles. Vail Pass, elevation 10,580 feet, 5.4 miles. Copper Mountain “West Tenmile Roundabout,” elevation 10,640 feet, 6 miles.
* Closing Day: May 20.
Fowler-Hilliard Hut
The setting of the Fowler-Hilliard Hut is considered among the most spectacular of any in the 10th Mountain system. The hut sits at timberline on the shoulder of 11,905-foot Resolution Mountain, with terrific views of some of Colorado’s highest peaks. Nearby Resolution Bowl is one of the hut’s primary attractions for skiers, along with several open slopes between the hut and Ptarmigan Hill to the east.
* Elevation: 11,500 feet.
* Layout and capacity: Upstairs: one room with a double bed, one room with four single beds, and 10 single beds in a communal sleeping area. Capacity 16.
* Location: Fowler-Hilliard Hut is located in a group of high mountains about 6 miles west of Vail Pass. The hut is located in the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area.
* Trailhead: Camp Hale (via Resolution Creek), elevation 9,250 feet, 6.5 miles. Pando (via McAllister Gulch), elevation 9,200 feet, 5 miles.
* Closing Day: April 30.
Staff writer Scott Willoughby can be reached at 303-820-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com.
