Editor’s Note: Safety is always the number one concern for all backcountry exploring. Before heading into the backcountry, be certain of conditions. Always contact the
BERTHOUD PASS — Berthoud Pass has a following like Bruce Campbell from the 1990s “Evil Dead” movies. There are diehards who know every line, and there are people who are experimenting — they barely know anything, but know that what little they’ve seen is life-alteringly amazing. And then there’s everyone in-between.
It has a dramatic story as the site of a bankrupt ski resort with a history of questionable finances and sordid relationships with the U.S. Forest Service. The west side of the pass has Russell Peak, formerly the venue for the Berthoud Bad-(Ass) Championships.
Veteran ski journalist Tom Winter calls Russell Peak a “classic descent” with eastern exposure lines, with mandatory airs and a frozen waterfall. The east side’s Mine Peak accesses tighter, more technical terrain, everything from short, quick laps to committed tours, Winter adds. Hitchhiking and car shuttling allow you to lap Floral Park and Hell’s Half Acre on the east side. Part of Berthoud’s appeal is that it contains so many different aspects that, although it’s easy to walk right into avalanche danger, it’s difficult once you’ve read forecasts not to find something that should be safe.
Colorado Avalanche Information Center ( ) is a good place to start for those forecasts in planning which face to ski. Friends of Berthoud Pass ( ) offers avalanche education, trip reports, maps, and a skier forum, and the old maps of Berthoud Pass Ski Resort ( ) are a good guiding tool, although you should still have topographical maps to determine aspects and grades.
Powder Addiction snowcat guides ( ) will bring the pow hungry to the lesser-traveled Jones Pass, a more-challenging-to-access destination past the Henderson Mine in the hamlet of Berthoud Falls.
Get there: Take Interstate 70 west to exit 232. Follow U.S. 40 west for 17.8 miles to Berthoud Pass Ditch (parking lot at the top of the pass).
Access: It’s best to use skins to climb the east side, and ski down to get a car shuttle up the west side. Floral Park on the east side can be road-lapped with a car shuttle and a short hike.
Best time to go: This pass has aspects facing every direction, providing optimal snow conditions throughout winter and into the spring.
Best line: This is a tough region in which to determine a “best line” because it’s so massive. On the east side of the pass, Floral Park has some intermediate terrain (Bonanza, Powder Line). The west side has Sun Bowl, Meadows 1-4, Placer Basin, and Trappers Glade below Russell Peak. Famous expert chutes include Nitro and Rush on the west side; the Fingers, The Knuckle, The Choke on the east side in Hell’s Half Acre.
— MacKenzie Ryan
