San Juan Mountains Backcountry Skiing
Explore Colorado’s Best Backcountry Skiing
Explore some of Colorado’s best backcountry skiing with a private guide in the San Juan Mountains. Based in Ouray during the winter season, Skyward Mountaineering offers guided ski touring and splitboarding on Red Mountain Pass, around Silverton, and throughout the peaks above Ouray. From easy, 30° powder turns to steep couloirs and advanced ski mountaineering descents, our local AMGA certified Ski Guides customize each day around the current snow and avalanche conditions and your skiing abilities to find the best terrain.
Beginner to expert backcountry ski tours in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
No previous backcountry skiing experience is required, though skiers and riders must be at least intermediate resort skiers. Advanced skiers will have access to steeper terrain and our guides can provide coaching and instruction on how to ski varied conditions in the backcountry to help you improve.
Full day (8 hours) of backcountry skiing.
San Juan Mountains, Colorado with popular touring at Red Mountain Pass and Silverton.
11,018 ft / 3,358 m
Choose Your Backcountry Skiing Adventure in the San Juan Mountains
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Silverton is a premier destination for advanced backcountry skiing in Colorado, with steep terrain, dramatic peaks, narrow couloirs, and challenging ski descents. The area offers exceptional opportunities for experienced skiers looking to progress into steeper and more technical terrain. Classics in the area include:
Skiing from the summit of Kendall Mountain 4,000 feet right down into the town of Silverton!
The steep chutes and trees of upper Prospect Gulch, accessed directly from the Silverton Ski Area parking.
Steep, exposed, and epic, there is an abundance of extreme and exciting ski terrain in the Silverton area. We recommend skiers have a higher level of experience due to the advanced terrain throughout this part of the San Juan Mountains. Couloirs, steep trees, chutes, and technical descents from local peaks await.
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Connecting the famous Colorado mining towns of Ouray and Silverton along Highway 550 lies Red Mountain Pass. “The Million Dollar Highway” is famous for its narrow, exposed roadway and is equally well known among backcountry skiers for having some of the finest, easily accessible backcountry ski tours in all of Colorado. From easy, sheltered, low angle powder runs, steep and narrow couloirs, and numerous 13,000 ft alpine peaks, Red Mountain Pass has an abundance of world class ski terrain to choose from. The pass provides options for skiers and splitboarders of different experience levels and our local guides use the current snowpack, avalanche conditions, and your skiing abilities to select the best terrain. Even when avalanche danger is high, Red Mountain Pass is a great hub for skiers and splitboarders, with safe, low angle, sheltered terrain too.
Vince Anderson has been skiing and guiding backcountry tours on Red Mountain Pass for over 30 years and shares his wealth of local knowledge and terrain expertise with our guide team.
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Ouray is Skyward Mountaineering’s winter basecamp in the heart of the San Juan Mountains. With accessible backcountry ski terrain throughout the surrounding valleys and high peaks, Ouray has a mix of powder skiing, glades, alpine bowls, and more technical objectives, making it possible for our guides to tailor each day to your goals and ability. Staying in Ouray also puts you close to Red Mountain Pass and the broader San Juans backcountry, giving us the flexibility to choose the best terrain and snow conditions.
Above Ouray, up Camp Bird Road is the Hayden Backcountry Lodge, our favorite local ski hut for unparalleled access to world class backcountry ski terrain. Further up Camp Bird Road is Yankee Boy Basin which has some of the best spring skiing in Colorado, once the snowpack is more stable. Ski excellent alpine runs or venture into steeper, technical ski mountaineering terrain such as the Snake Couloir on Mount Sneffels.
Planning Your Backcountry Ski Trip To The San Juans
The Backcountry Skiing Progression
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Build your backcountry skills while exploring the rolling hills, powder runs, chutes, and bowls on Red Mountain Pass. These guided ski tours are ideal for resort skiers and snowboarders who are new to backcountry travel or have some touring experience and want to improve their technique. Our ski guides are also passionate instructors with experience coaching skiers and snowboarders to improve their skinning efficiency while earning your turns on the way up and confidence on the descent in the variable snow conditions found in the backcountry. Learn how to transition from on-piste resort runs to off-piste in the backcountry.
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For experienced backcountry skiers and splitboarders looking for steeper, more challenging terrain, the San Juans offer an exceptional range of objectives. Guided days can include steep couloirs, alpine bowls, and technical descents around Red Mountain Pass and Silverton. The latter half of winter often has more stable snow conditions and deep powder days sow we can venture deeper into the backcountry and into steeper terrain.
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Level up your backcountry skiing and venture into more technical terrain with a guided ski mountaineering descent in the San Juan Mountains. Conditions are typically best in the spring when the snowpack is more stable and we’re able to ski steeper terrain, with narrow couloirs and exposed faces. Ski from the summit of a Colorado 14’er or an iconic couloir. Learn efficient snow climbing techniques, like booting up a couloir with crampons and an ice axe, accessing steep terrain by rappelling into the line, and belayed skiing in no fall terrain. These trips are designed for experienced backcountry skiers who want to combine alpine climbing skills with technical skiing and pursue ambitious objectives with an experienced Ski Guide.
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Experience the San Juan Mountains on a multi-day, hut-based ski tour, traveling through remote alpine terrain and staying overnight in a backcountry lodge. Hut trips provide the opportunity to venture farther into the mountains with the comfort of European style, catered huts, no need to carry a heavy winter camping kit. Our primary hut choice is the Hayden Backcountry Lodge which has terrain for all abilities and choices to still ski excellent runs even during higher avalanche hazard.
Develop Backcountry Skiing Skills
Learning backcountry skiing techniques through private guiding with Skyward Mountaineering offers a highly personalized alternative to taking a traditional course. With a private guide, instruction can be tailored to your current ability, goals, and comfort level, allowing you to spend more time practicing the skills that matter most to you. This one-on-one approach can make the learning experience feel more relevant and practical, while also allowing you to progress at your own pace.
For skiers and snowboarders who prefer a group course, Skyward Mountaineering offers several open enrollment ski mountaineering courses and AIARE avalanche education courses, as a cost effective option.
Why Choose Skyward Mountaineering
Skyward Mountaineering has guided climbers and skiers throughout the San Juan Mountains for over 30 years. Founded in 1996 by IFMGA
Guide, Vince Anderson, we have been the longest continuously owned guide service in the area, bringing decades of local experience to every trip. As an AMGA Accredited Business, we adhere to the highest level of risk management, guide training, customer support, and ethical business practices. Our guides are certified Ski Guides with an intimate knowledge of the terrain, snowpack, and weather. Combining strong skiing abilities with professional guide training and a commitment to thoughtful, conservative decision making, we continually evaluate conditions to adjust the plan and find the best skiing.
Every backcountry ski day is different. We tailor your trip to your experience, goals, fitness, and current conditions. Whether you're skinning uphill for the first time at Red Mountain Pass or looking to descend steep, technical runs in Silverton, we'll help create an experience that matches your ambitions.
The San Juan Mountains offer an enormous variety of terrain and knowing where to find the best snow is critical. Our local guides know the nuances of Red Mountain Pass, Silverton, Ouray, and the surrounding peaks, allowing us to make informed decisions about terrain and objectives throughout the season.
Book a Day of Guided Backcountry Skiing in the San Juan Mountains
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