For some Coloradans, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season make this the perfect time to head into the backcountry for some rustic solitude.
And with the state’s network of backcountry huts — like the and the — there’s no need to completely rough it in a tent (or snow cave) to get that solitude for Christmas or New Year’s Eve.
In fact, Cindy Carpenter, of the 10th Mountain Division Huts, says New Year’s Eve is among the first dates to go for hut bookings every year.
Some families even do Christmas with the kids in a hut.
“It’s such a bonding thing,” says Belinda Monson, whose family has been skiing and snowshoeing to the , which is about two-and-a-half miles from Vail Pass, for a night or two around Christmas since 1989. “You go in there, you’re away from everything, you take all your stuff.”
Monson says the family loves it.
“What’s nice about it is, you go back to basics, you play games up there, you go sledding, you do outside activities in the snow. And it’s so unique to Colorado.”
The family takes up a big batch of frozen spaghetti, and cookies — always cook-ies, she says. As the family has grown, they keep going. When there are babies, they’re pulled by a parent in a Burley child-carrier sled. The group now includes her two grown children and their families, a niece and a nephew, and her sister.
“Now we’re 11 strong because everyone’s married and has kids. It’s really fun,” adds Monson, of Wolcott.
Scott Fortner of Breckenridge has done Christmas with his family at Shrine as well. He and his wife and daughter went with three other families — five kids total, he says, and they had a blast.
“It was great, they went sledding and they went cross-country skiing, and they built jumps and little kickers.
“And no electronics. Everybody was fine with it.”
He says Shrine was a nice option for them because it’s an easier hut trip — not far from the road, plus it has running water. Because of the ease, they brought things he wouldn’t normally take on a hut trip, like a can of whipped cream for the morning pancakes.
They went up to Shrine on Christmas Day.
“Santa came to the house, and then everyone got to bring one toy, or whatever they wanted to bring up,” he says.
That year, there wasn’t a tree at Shrine, but his friends who take a hut trip every Christmas have seen someone haul a tree into the hut to decorate with popcorn. But for New Year’s hut-goers, the heaviest goods they’ll lug to the hut is the champagne. Christina Vela of Denver has spent several New Year’s Eves at huts: twice at , south of Edwards, and once at , north of Vail. Both huts are above 11,000 feet.
“Each year, we bring several bottles of the bubbly, noisemakers, streamers and all kinds of fun hats or sparkling paper tiaras to pass out to the group when we get close to New Year’s Eve,” she says.
One year, one member of their group made snow-ice lanterns, molding snow over the fireplace and refreezing it outside. He placed votives in each to illuminate the porch for their midnight countdown.
They always do the countdown outdoors, she says.
“At midnight, we gather together outside watching the stars, do our own countdown and make as much noise as we can into the pitch darkness. Then we run back inside to have a dance party — or go directly to sleep,” Vela says.
If your group doesn’t book the entire hut, you’re likely to be sharing it with another party, especially for that popular New Year’s Eve night. For some hut-goers, that’s just fine — sometimes they don’t know everyone in their group, anyway, but the experience can bring people together.
“From Eiseman hut, we were able to see some of Vail’s fireworks in the far distance, but really we didn’t pay much attention to them. We were more focused on a (very cold) toast on the front porch instead,” says Paul Lenhart, of Louisville, by e-mail. “It was a great bunch of people, some of which I had met at other hut trips and many that I met for the first time. They were a great group to spend the holiday with.”
There can be trials and tribulations for holiday hut-goers. For example, New Year’s revelers must deal with the effects of mixing altitude with alcohol. Lenhart says he “made a conscious decision to ignore my personal mental warnings about drinking at altitude when I had hiking planned for the next day.” The dance party they threw in the kitchen was worth the trouble, though. Also: “I had carried in a box of wine that added a silly amount of weight to my already overloaded pack, so I’d be damned if I didn’t have a couple drinks.”
One year, Vela recalls hiking in during a big cold snap.
“It was about minus-10 when we started hiking and warmed up to a balmy 3 during the day,” she says. Their water froze on the way in, and everyone was so exhausted by the cold that most people decided to celebrate at midnight New York time and go to bed early.
Still, she says it’s worth it.
“It is wonderful being off the grid during this time. We are there completely present in the moment with the people with whom we are spending our time.”
Jenny Yurechko of Aspen says she’s “super excited” to be spending her first New Year’s Eve in a hut this year.
“New Year’s Eve, trying to book a hut is nearly impossible, because they all sell out the year before,” she says. “But I looked online and the was available, probably because it’s a 10-mile trek one way.”
She and her boyfriend plan to snowmobile the first seven miles and don skins on their skis for the last three, which are steep.
If that sounds very Colorado, Lenhart’s New Year’s bash at the Eiseman hut had a similar tale of toughness.
“The party also maintained it’s complete Coloradoness by having one party show up at the cabin shortly before midnight, riding in on a fat bike.”
Jenn Fields: 303-954-1599, jfields@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jennfields
Colorado huts
San Juan Huts: or 970-626-3033
10th Mountain Division Hut Association: huts.org or 970-925-5775
10th Mountain members can submit an entry to the annual lottery on March 1 to book huts for the following winter season. For tips on getting ready for a hut trip, go to
