Southern Colorado Super Storm

Southern Colorado is finally getting the early season snow they are known for—Wolf Creek has received over 7 FEET of new snow since December 6th. Back to back storms brought the entire SOCO region up to speed, as October and November were a little drier than usual in terms of average snowfall. Well, all that is forgotten as Wolf Creek is now up to an 82 inch base with 168 total inches of snowfall so far.

When Wolf Creek gets hit, there’s only thing to do: Road Trip. All in hopes of seeing this the next day.

In storms like this the drive that normally takes 5 hours from Denver can take even longer. The roads can be treacherous and filled with all kinds of packed snow, blowing snow, wet snow, ice or a combination of everything. Truckers pull over for the night, cops patrol the highways for deadly accidents and 99% of people simply stay home. But as snowboarders who live for these moments, being blinded by winter conditions on the drive only brings smiles of anticipation for the fresh powder that awaits.

The way to Wolf Creek lies south on I-25, through Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Take a right at Walsenburg on to Hwy 160 and travel west though small towns that time seemingly forgot like Alamosa, Monte Vista and Del Norte. Luckily if you’re pulling an all-nighter to get to the town early in the morning, there is one gas station along that route that’s still open.

 

Stock up on the snacks.

On this particular trip we arrived in South Fork, at the base of the east side of Wolf Creek Pass, to blizzard conditions and giant wind drifts blocking every side road off the main highway. 30+ mph winds and heavy snowfall made it impossible to even get near the cabin. When a tractor finally cleared a space for us to park, a chilling 100-yard walk through two feet of snow just to get to the front door smacked us in the face with the reality of the situation. It was going to be good…

The next morning we arrived to an almost empty parking lot, as the West side of the pass was closed all day for avalanche control. What this meant was a very limited operating resort as most of the mountain’s employees couldn’t even get there, but an open one nonetheless. A couple hundred people, if that, shared the 52 inches that had fallen since the storm began.

It was dumping snow throughout the day with blowing winds and negative wind chill temperatures, so it was nearly impossible to take any riding photos. Sometimes you gotta forget about the camera and just ride. Everyone had a great day of face shots in the white room, ripping through trees and open powder fields. For me it was the first day of the season, and well worth the wait. And with more snow on the way, Silverton is next on the agenda. Check it out if you’re in the neighborhood.