ASPEN — There is, in a typical ski season, what might be described as a powder crescendo, an almost audible upsurge as the swelling volume of snow building throughout winter escalates toward its inevitable climax.
Often it is punctuated by a specific storm cycle, a midwinter, multiday snowfall bolstered by complementary winds and cold temperatures on a soft yet established base. If you’re lucky, it also will include a guy named Bob Perl- mutter.
“This is one of the best days of the year,” Perlmutter acknowledged from his perspective as lead guide for the Aspen Mountain Powder Tours (AMPT) snowcat skiing service last week. “It doesn’t get too much better.”
As a 26-year guide for the long-established cat-skiing tour on the flanks of Aspen’s Richmond Ridge, Perlmutter puts in an average of nearly 60 powder skiing days a year. He is granted the luxury of claiming them all as “powder days,” since AMPT actually guarantees fresh tracks to guests every time they crank up the cats. To paraphrase a famous literary line, however, some cats are more guaranteed than others.
Such was the case last Tuesday, when a statewide storm cycle that dumped about 21 inches of fresh wind-whipped snow in the Aspen/Snowmass vicinity reached its peak, and two snowcats carrying two guides and a dozen guests each made the most of what locals described as “the best skiing we’ve had all winter.”
“Talk about good luck,” said John Dicuollo of Carbondale, who made his reservation through more than a month in advance with the ambition of showcasing the new jumbo-sized “Gigawatt” powder ski (135mm underfoot) from Black Diamond Equipment Co. “The skiing hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been this good all season.”
With ski testers from several major magazines and industry websites in tow, it didn’t take long for a clever scribe from Telluride named Rob Story to re-dub the featured fat ski as the “Giggle-watt,” emblematic of the Cheshire cat smile spreading wider across his face with every lap.
Powder skiing and snowboarding were the norm virtually statewide last week, but it’s during these over-stimulating snow fixes that the advantages of skiing from a snowcat are most evident — whether it takes place in Aspen or any of Colorado’s many other cat skiing operations from Steamboat to the San Juans.
As the masses race for first tracks in Summit County and Vail, cat skiers snuggle into the security of knowing that their day includes no crowds or lift lines. Instead of battling the elements between runs as they dangle from a chair above the trees, cat riders step into a heated cabin and savor the trip back to the summit. A gourmet lunch awaits in a fire-warmed hut. And unlike a helicopter, the tank-treaded cats are almost never shut down by foul weather.
The rule among seasoned cat skiers is often the more snow the better. Less experienced skiers and snowboarders reap the benefits of guides such as Perlmutter, who shares his backcountry knowledge on the backside of Aspen Mountain with a confident smile that quickly puts nerves to rest. After a basic backcountry orientation, terrain is selected according to daily snow conditions and the group’s overall experience.
With close to 1,200 skiable acres in its permit, Aspen/ Snowmass-owned AMPT offers a variety of terrain for solid intermediates on up, ranging from the steepest (but not real steep) pitch on McFarland’s, the lengthy slope of Hurricane and the playful tree runs in Little Annie’s Glades and Wine Tree. A typical day includes about 10 laps in the cat and more than 10,000 vertical feet of powder skiing in the spectacular setting of the Elk Mountains, capped by a lap down the front face of Ajax Mountain back to town.
Every effort is made to ensure that guests won’t have to cross any ski tracks but their own.
“If we can’t find fresh tracks, we won’t go,” Perlmutter said. “But we can usually find something.”
