San Juan Mountains Hut Based Ski Tours
Explore Colorado’s Backcountry Skiing at the Mount Hayden Lodge
Experience the best of Colorado’s backcountry skiing on an overnight, hut-based ski tour in the San Juan Mountains. Based at the Mount Hayden Backcountry Lodge in Richmond Basin, far from the crowds on Red Mountain Pass, you’ll wake up in remote high alpine terrain with access to powder, open bowls, well-spaced glades, and steep ski objectives right out the door. The Hayden Backcountry Lodge has some of the best ski terrain in the region with plentiful shaded, cold snow aspects, in beautiful alpine terrain
The terrain at Hayden Backcountry Lodge is best suited for intermediate to advanced backcountry skiers and splitboarders, our guided hut trips combine exceptional skiing with the experience of mountain living. The lodge's location also provides access to some of the San Juans' most iconic terrain, including Imogene Pass, Camp Bird, US Peak, and the surrounding peaks of Red Mountain Pass. Beyond the amazing terrain, the facilities are top notch, fully stocked, and a welcome relief from the several hour approach into the hidden valley high above Ouray.
Schedule: We recommend at least a 3 day itinerary to enjoy backcountry skiing at the Mount Hayden Backcountry Lodge. Reservations for the lodge are limited so advanced booking is strongly recommended.
Group Size: Our ski trips are mostly small ratio trips, with a maximum of 6 skiers per guide, though we encourage a second guide for groups of that size.
Location: Our hut based backcountry ski tours are primarily at Richmond Basin in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
Elevation: 11,100ft / 3,383m
Pricing: From $300 per skier.
Prerequisites: Previous backcountry skiing experience required. Skiers and snowboarders should be able to ski black diamond runs in the resort.
Trip Description: Intermediate to expert backcountry skiing. Terrain varies from well-spaced glades, steep couloirs, and open powder runs.
Ski World Class Terrain from a Remote Backcountry Hut
Mount Hayden Backcountry Lodge puts you in the heart of the San Juan Mountains, with unparalleled access to epic backcountry skiing. The lodge is a true hidden gem amongst some of the best skiing in Colorado. Skip the wasted time of driving between trailheads, lift lines, or pricey helicopter flights and instead enjoy the solitude and powder bowls, open glades and steep ski terrain at the Hayden Backcountry Lodge.
The flexibility to choose from a wide variety of terrain is one of the biggest advantages of a hut-based ski tour: you can spend several days exploring different terrain rather than being limited to a single day trip objective. Whether you're looking for quality powder turns, long ski tours, or a more ambitious ski mountaineering objective, the Hayden Lodge provides an ideal base for exploring the San Juan backcountry and our guides provide logistical support on the front end, tour planning during each day, and ongoing assessment of the avalanche hazard to ensure you’re skiing the best terrain without exposing the team to avoidable hazards.
Plan Your Hut-Based Ski Trip
Example 3-Day San Juan Hut Ski Tour
A multi-day trip gives you several days to explore this remote part of the San Juan Mountains, adapting each day's objectives to the snowpack, avalanche conditions, and abilities of your group. We recommend a minimum of three days to get the most out of this hut-based ski trip. Our itineraries are open-ended and with many available options, conditions will dictate our best plan of action, see example itinerary below. Actual itinerary will vary depending on conditions and preferences.
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Begin with a gear check in Ouray and then drop off a vehicle for our return via a different route. We then head up Red Mountain Pass to start our tour up to the summit of a 13,000 ft peak, requiring a small bit of scrambling at the end. From here, we have a few options to ski down: a relatively mild and open bowl into Richmond Basin or a steep and narrow couloir. Either way, the path leads to the warm comforts of the Mount Hayden Backcountry Lodge where we can stop for snacks, drop off some gear and then head out for a few more laps in the glades behind the hut. In the evening we’ll enjoy a warm cooked meal by the culinary wizard and hut caretaker. There is a small, but wonderful wood-fired hot tub to relax in after dinner too!
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After a leisurely morning breakfast and reviewing new conditions, we will make appropriate plans for exploring and skiing more of the terrain accessed from the hut. A popular tour is to head up to Imogene Pass (13,114 ft) and take a peek down towards Telluride, then enjoy the hard earned turns back down into the old mining area called Camp Bird. We then climb up the East face of US Peak and ski its rolling and open lower flanks. A short skin up the opposite side of the valley returns us to the hut where we can again relax and enjoy the civilized peacefulness of the winter mountain wilderness setting.
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After another leisurely morning breakfast we will take stock of our energy reserves and make plans for our best exit route down to where we deposited the vehicle on the first day. One good option is to tour up just a little bit from the hut to gain the entrance to a fun, but not too steep, gully that takes us down over 1,000 feet into the main valley. From here some easy traversing puts us onto an easily skied road which we can follow a few miles to the vehicle.