TR Wolf Creek Dec. 8-16, 2024

[marzNC]

We have finished the second day of what's become an annual early season trip to ski Wolf Creek in Colorado. @TNtoTaos and I drove from the southeast, together with Rita, and arrived on Dec. 7. Bill and Jason arrived the next day. We're in the same house in South Fork we were in last year. Took a few tries to find the right fit.

Happily it snowed today starting around lunch time. Will be on the frigid side tomorrow but we are all well prepared.

Bottom line is that Wolf Creek Ski Area (WCSA) has been 100% open for a few weeks. There are more bumps on the front side since those lifts were open a few weeks earlier than over on the Alberta side.

Have a full day lesson planned for Wednesday. Working with Eric Bloom again. Last year we had powder lessons with Eric. This time may be more about bumps.

 

[marzNC]

Day 1, Dec. 8, was relatively warm. Not quite warm enough to melt the snow though. It was sunny and a perfect day to get oriented again to WCSA. We spent some time exploring the new Tumbler lift that has a few nice green runs in the midst of trees. Rita hasn't been able to ski for a couple seasons so is starting out carefully. The snow was quite nice. Nothing that anyone from the east would call "icy."

While there were locals around, it was a pretty quiet Sunday. The last snowstorm was a while ago so people are waiting for more snow. Coverage is pretty average for early December.

WCSA ticket window
Divas in blue and red getting PM tickets, which start at 12:30


Something new are the reminders from WCSA ski patrol that are posted all over

 

[marzNC]

At the start of Day 2, Dec. 9, it was clear that the clouds were rolling in. Snow was in the forecast. It was cold. We warmed up off Raven. Finished off the morning with a ride up Alberta and took the cat track called Park Avenue back to the base for an early lunch. After lunch, snow was falling so visibility was limited. Weren't too many people around in general. We had a ball skiing the new snow!

This is Rita's first time to WCSA. We introduced her to the easiest green off Raven. Then she headed to Tumbler. She had a good 1-hr lesson after lunch.

Photos taken by Bill.

Morning views




After lunch there were powder turns to be had. We took the short cut to the Alberta lift by riding the magic carpet to the ski school building and then down from there. Feather Duster is the only blue after going out Coyote Park Trail. It had nice round bumps with a couple inches of fresh snow.

 

[badger]

I will be driving up there this Sunday to ski for three days. Going to start the season on the new Montero AW that I purchased to replace the Nela 80. I'm hoping for those sunny day forecasts to stick around ( they change pretty quickly) . Not a fan of flat light when getting used to new gear.

My DH of course, would prefer to have snow falling onto his bedsheets when he wakes up.

 

[marzNC]

Day 3, Dec. 10, was frigid and clear with temps in the single digits and only mid-teens by lunch time. However, the new snow was wonderful! There was 3-4 inches everywhere, with deeper pockets to be found. The groomed surfaces were great. The bumps runs were good fun if they weren't wind exposed.

Lifts start running at 8:30am and close at 4:00. I ended up getting Last Chair on the Treasure lift after taking a late afternoon break at the ski school at the top of Lynx (magic carpet). Had a nice chat with the two women working in the office today. It's nice to be able to ride the new Tumbler lift to get back to the main base from there.

Fresh snow at the end of Thumper, a blue bump run off Raven, 9:30am


View of terrain below Treasure Lift, picture by Jason


Front side behind the Treasure Lift, @TNtoTaos and I were heading up to go over to the Alberta side after lunch. Had warmed up to 13 degrees. Although there were more cars in the parking lot in the early morning than the day before because of the new snow, not many people were around in the afternoon.


Jason (blue) and Bill at the top of Alberta. The adventure run of the day was Tsumani. Too cold and too much fun to stop for pictures. We headed into the cafeteria for lunch afterwards. That required riding the Charity Jane lift, then going down to Elma in order to make it back to the main base.


There is a cat track called Park Avenue that goes all the way back to the main base if an intermediate who doesn't want to ski off-piste can take. There are several fun glades off Park Avenue. We took Park Avenue the day before to see how things looked. Plus it was time for lunch.

We typically meet up around 11:30 in the loft area above the cafeteria. The food is quite good and reasonably priced. Must be over $10 to use a credit card. The prices are all a multiple of 25¢ so when paying case the only coins involved are quarters.

View from top of Treasure in the late afternoon


Mine was the next-to-last car in the parking lot closest to the main lodge. I got there at 8:30 in the morning. Today we opted to drive all three SUVs for flexibility of arrival and departure times. The road was snow covered but not slick given the frigid temperatures. It's about a 30-minute drive to South Fork. Most travelers stay in Pagosa Springs, which is on the other side of the Wolf Creek Pass.

 

[marzNC]

I will be driving up there this Sunday to ski for three days. Going to start the season on the new Montero AW that I purchased to replace the Nela 80. I'm hoping for those sunny day forecasts to stick around ( they change pretty quickly) . Not a fan of flat light when getting used to new gear.

My DH of course, would prefer to have snow falling onto his bedsheets when he wakes up.

PM sent. We'll probably still be skiing after you get to Wolf Creek. We're staying on the South Fork side again.

 

[marzNC]

Day 4, Dec. 11, is the day I had set up a Full Day lesson with Eric Bloom. This is the third year in a row that my ski buddies and I have worked with him. Since the weather was a bit warmer and there was fresh snow around, the idea of hiking Knife Ridge was on the table. We decided to go for it after 90 minutes or so.

While we had done the steep hike before, the conditions weren't good for heading out towards Horseshoe Bowl. We just walked out the metal stairs and walkway without skis for a look. Then went in the other direction to ski down.

Not many pictures while doing the hike. I used The Ski Pack since that's the only way I can hike with skis. Since the snowcat wasn't running, we did the entire hike along the ridge to Horseshoe Bowl. It took about an hour. That's the longest in-bounds hike I've ever done.

After lunch, Bill took it easy. Jason and I continued to work with Eric on fundamentals, meaning we mostly did drills on easy groomers. Also spent a little time on working on carving on groomers and did a run down Thumper (blue bumps). The new snow was nicely packed down so conditions were quite nice. The last few runs we found untracked snow in the glade between green trails off Raven. Following an instructor in that sort of terrain I ski faster and get to learn new terrain, which helps gain confidence. When I needed a rest, during a ride up Bonaza we heard about the poma lift. It's still run one day a season. The top is really steep! Overall the afternoon was a great review and added a few ideas as well.

I was the last one going up the steep section. (Jason's photo)


Bill near the ski patrol hut (Jason's photo)


Snowcats parked


View looking west, the ridge top of WCSA is right on the continental divide

We skied down Horseshoe Bowl on the left, the snow below the bowl was very nice
While it's possible to hike farther out, we stopped where the snowcat drops people off


Instructor Eric Bloom (orange helmet) in back, MarzNC, Bill, Jason

 

[RachelV]

Looks like a great week! Definitely jealous of the skiing you all are getting in. I gotta motivate to drive the extra few hours to SW Colorado more often (or - ever ).

 

[marzNC]

Looks like a great week! Definitely jealous of the skiing you all are getting in. I gotta motivate to drive the extra few hours to SW Colorado more often (or - ever ).

As Monarch expands terrain, may be worth the slightly shorter drive from the Denver area. If you do decide to do a long weekend, I think the two most interesting places to stay are the LOGE Wolf Creek Lodge (not related to WCSA) and the tiny cabins at Tiny Timbers.

Jason learned yesterday that 69+ ski for free at Monarch. The senior rate is for 62-68. The past few seasons Monarch hasn't been open or only very little terrain so we haven't bothered to stop in before or after the Wolf Creek stay. This season they have two of the main mountain lifts open already. The man from MN Jason talked to was going to do a day trip. He's old enough to be sticking to greens and blues these days.

Based on our experience at Monarch one afternoon during a powder storm in Feb 2021, and trip reports I've seen on other ski forums, powder skiing there is quite fun.

The MN man also told us about the Great Sand Dunes National Park. It's only about an hour from South Fork. He went there the day it was frigid at WCSA. He highly recommended it.

 

[marzNC]

On Day 5, Dec. 12, it was back to warmish weather, meaning in the low 30s air temperature. There was no risk of melting snow. By 2pm it was already feeling pretty cool. That's about the time the sun is getting low enough to go behind the Continental Divide ridge. I prefer to ski the front side off the Raven, Bonanza, or Treasure lifts after 1:30 or so. The Alberta terrain is all in shadow by then. The long ride up Alberta on the fixed-grip quad can feel pretty cold.

Today I did adventure skiing with Jason and Bill in the morning, then skied with Lorraine on the front side after lunch. We have a default time and place to meet up for lunch at the main base. Lorraine and I took an afternoon break at the cabin cafe at the top of the Treasure lift. The hot chocolate was good. They will be serving waffles soon.

There are plenty of areas on the Alberta side with untouched snow. Could use another foot or so to cover up more of the underbrush and downed trees.

Looking up on Serenity (steeper than the picture, per usual)


View of the base of the Elma and Alberta lifts


The start of the Knife Ridge hike is steep but short, the hut is for ski patrol. There were a few places where I had to make a new foot hold. Under the fresh snow, it was very solid. Not quite ice, but close.


Afternoon view of Powder Puff, a blue on the frontside

 

[marzNC]

Given the warmish weather, it was much easier to take pictures of the views. The first three put together is the panorama as seen from the top of the Raven lift. Essentially standing on the Continental Divide.





Starting a sunset

 

[marzNC]

A big advantage of driving out to Colorado for an early season trip is that I can take along a complete assortment of base layers and other small stuff that I use for skiing depending on the weather. That means not only am I prepared for any weather condition or temperature, I can experiment to see what works best. Then when I fly to ski later in the season, I have a much better idea of what to pack.

We use the Women's Restroom at the base of the main lodge that has the cafeteria as our locker room to boot up and store our bootbags. We always have lunch there so it's easier to change stuff out at lunch time. I'm using a small Dakine 6.5L backpack. On warm days, I can stuff a vest or base layer in there for flexibility without going back to the locker room.

I brought three different vests that provide very different levels of warmth.

I brought two mid-layer jackets. Haven't used the down one yet.

I brought the usual stuff for frigid temps such as the Hot Buns and Boot Gloves. Only used the Boot Gloves in the morning when the daytime high was 13.

I brought gaiters of different warm levels. Have used all three options.

I brought the Hestra 3-finger mitts, Hestra gloves, and a light weight pair of gloves. Plus the heated glove liners that I use in the 3-finer mitts when it's cold. Hasn't been warm enough for the light weight gloves but I've used every Hestra combination already.

Starting a couple seasons ago, I take pictures of base layer combinations that work well.

 

[marzNC]

Hard to say exactly what's going to happen from a weather standpoint the next few days. Our last skiing will be on Monday morning. Given that a few more people were around yesterday morning and at Mountain Pizza in South Fork last night, there will be more folks at WCSA this weekend no matter what. College exam periods are probably over by now. Plenty of license plates from NM, OK, and TX in the WCSA parking lots.

Was warm yesterday, will be cold and windy today, and warms up again on Saturday. The chance of snow today is around lunch time. So we could get lucky with a refresh on top of the groomers. They were pretty solid yesterday. Still nothing at WCSA is anything like snow conditions in the northeast can be in December. I wouldn't call any of what we've been skiing "icy."

 

[VickiK]

Sounds fantastic. @badger , have a great time and let us know if those Montero's are .

 

[marzNC]

Day 6, Dec. 13, was another frigid day. Not only cold temps but also wind at times. There was a little snow in bursts midday, but didn't really amount to much.

In the morning, the adventure runs on the Alberta side were Bank Shot and Abracadabra. After the first half of Bank Shot, we cut left into the mellow trees to enjoy cruising through soft snow where getting fresh tracks was possible. Abracadabra is near Feather Duster, which is the easiest way down from that section. We managed to explore powder in the trees and find our way over to Feather Duster pretty well. There is a note at the base of Alberta that notes that Feature Duster is a bump run. The only groomed trail from the top of Alberta is the cat track back to the main base.

The ride up Alberta was pretty cold so we didn't go for a third run. I was able to find a route through the trees from the top of Charity Jane that means avoiding the down and up just before the loading area of Alberta and Elma. The second time, I didn't have to poll at all. Always takes a few times to find the route that we learned from an instructor during the first trip to WCSA.

It's clear that college winter breaks in Texas and Oklahoma have started. The age demographic in the parking lot 8:30-9:00am and at lunch time in the main lodge was clearly younger than earlier in the week. There were many small groups of young adults, including groups of all snowboarders.

With the cold wind at lunch time, it seemed as if many people left around then. Although it stopped snowing and the sun even came out about the time we were ready to head out after lunch.

The expectation is that we'll need to get to the parking lot a bit earlier to assure getting in the optimal parking lot just below the main lodge. That means arriving 8:15-8:30 instead of 8:30-8:45.

I stuck my phone in an insulated holder from the start of the day. So no pics worth posting.

 

[marzNC]

Lift tickets and season passes at WCSA are very reasonable. My crew this year all qualify for senior rates (65-79) so that's even better. In addition, Mon-Thu, Dec. 9-12, were Local Appreciation Days (don't have to be a local) so a Sr. ticket was only $49. A regular senior ticket is $60, and peak days are $72. A regular ticket for ages 13-64 is $91. Peak Days are the typical holiday periods plus the big spring break week in March.

A Half-Day PM ticket starts at 12:30pm: $75 for ages 13-64, $51 for 65-79.

Someone 80+ skis for free with ID.

Lifts are open 8:30am-4:00pm. The ticket office opens at 8:00am, although my crew make use of multi-day ticket options or get a day ticket the afternoon before. It's possible to get tickets online. WCSA went to RFID a few years ago. For early season, it hasn't been worth the effort. There are a few ticket machines around the base for people who buy online to print their RFID ticket card without waiting in line at a ticket window.

Since I'm doing two trips to WCSA this season, I opted to join the Gray Wolves ski club during the summer to get the specially discounted season pass during the pre-season sale that happens the first week of October. The membership fee is $15, which must be paid by August 15 to quality for the Gray Wolves season pass special discount. The club is based in Pagosa Springs. I've met a few Gray Wolves who have retired to Pagosa. They had skied WCSA before retiring in Colorado. Some gather in the Base Camp picnic building in the mornings after packing in what used to be called the 4x4 lot. My impression is that most of those folks are ready to ski when lifts open at 8:30am midweek.

 

[marzNC]

Not many pictures while doing the hike. I used The Ski Pack since that's the only way I can hike with skis. Since the snowcat wasn't running, we did the entire hike along the ridge to Horseshoe Bowl. It took about an hour. That's the longest in-bounds hike I've ever done.

We got a few pictures from Eric since he went first on the metal walkway. I didn't use the SkiPack there but used it again later on.

I'm glad to have done the hike with an instructor (Wed, Dec. 11). I would do it again in good weather for powder turns. At the same time, there is plenty of advanced terrain so I wouldn't care if the opportunity didn't come up during future trips to ski WCSA.




A view of some of the terrain that can be skied based on a shorter hike. Meaning instead of heading out to where the snowcat picks up for Horseshoe Bowl. There is also a short hike possible from where the snowcat drops people off above Horseshoe Bowl.

 

[marzNC]

Day 7, Dec 14, was a perfect day from a weather standpoint. Temperatures got up into the low 30s in the sun, but never felt too warm. The snow conditions were very good since it was all cold snow, whether on groomers or off-piste. The more popular off-piste areas on the front side are skier packed, so there is not much exposed rock or wood to worry about.

I started the day solo on Tumbler and Nova, the two chairlifts for novices. 2024-25 is the first full season for Tumbler. It's near the Lynx ski school office and ski instructor locker room. Riding Tumbler is a much easier way to get to the Treasure lift and the main base. Nova is mainly for kids in lesson programs or the youngest kids who are never-evers. It's right at the main base but requires walking up a little hill.

I tend to ride beginner lifts for the views.

Riding Tumbler chairlift



View from Nova chairlift


View of main base buildings and loading areas for Bonanza (triple, left) and Raven (high-speed, center)

 

[TNtoTaos]

Looks like a great week! Definitely jealous of the skiing you all are getting in. I gotta motivate to drive the extra few hours to SW Colorado more often (or - ever ).

Definitely -- this is my 3rd season as part of Meimei's crew, and it's well worth the effort to get here for skiing in Dec. The snow quality has been great, despite the only storm being on Day 2. That 4-5" powder refresh was fantastic!

 

[Skac1919]

A big advantage of driving out to Colorado for an early season trip is that I can take along a complete assortment of base layers and other small stuff that I use for skiing depending on the weather. That means not only am I prepared for any weather condition or temperature, I can experiment to see what works best. Then when I fly to ski later in the season, I have a much better idea of what to pack.

We use the Women's Restroom at the base of the main lodge that has the cafeteria as our locker room to boot up and store our bootbags. We always have lunch there so it's easier to change stuff out at lunch time. I'm using a small Dakine 6.5L backpack. On warm days, I can stuff a vest or base layer in there for flexibility without going back to the locker room.

I brought three different vests that provide very different levels of warmth.

I brought two mid-layer jackets. Haven't used the down one yet.

I brought the usual stuff for frigid temps such as the Hot Buns and Boot Gloves. Only used the Boot Gloves in the morning when the daytime high was 13.

I brought gaiters of different warm levels. Have used all three options.

I brought the Hestra 3-finger mitts, Hestra gloves, and a light weight pair of gloves. Plus the heated glove liners that I use in the 3-finer mitts when it's cold. Hasn't been warm enough for the light weight gloves but I've used every Hestra combination already.

Starting a couple seasons ago, I take pictures of base layer combinations that work well.

View attachment 23995
View attachment 23996

Beautiful photos thank you for sharing!! Are you doing two base layer tops, vest + jacket? Or a third layer in there too?