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Backcountry Skiing with Giants @ Rocky Mountain National Park

August 5, 2025

Epic Mountains and Steep Lines

By Mike Soucy

“A crystal clear Colorado sky opens above us, a blue so deep it makes you dizzy. The occasional bright white wispy cloud dances across the firmament, punctuating the deep blue vault of heaven stretching over this paradise.” -Neil Hanson

Roots of Skiing in RMNP

Massive glaciers carved out the landscape that is now the third most popular National Park in the United States based on visitation. What today is known as Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) was first visited by humans 11,000 years ago. Spearheads and scrapers along with other artifacts shed light into this land’s past. Up until the 1700’s RMNP was a summer get-away for the Ute tribe who enjoyed the vast alpine tundras, green valleys, and turquoise lakes. Early Spanish explorers, French fur traders, and the United States Military steered clear of the intimidating mountain range up until 1843 when Rufus Sage wrote down the first accounts of the park. (NPS 2015)

Skiing in Rocky Mountain National Park began informally in the 1910s and 1920s, long before chairlifts or developed ski areas existed. Early backcountry adventurers, including local mail carriers, park rangers, and members of the Colorado Mountain Club, used wooden skis to traverse and explore snowbound trails, particularly along Trail Ridge and around Hidden Valley. By the 1930s, winter recreation had grown significantly: the National Park Service maintained plowed roads for skiers, high-elevation ski races were organized, and a simple rope tow was installed at Hidden Valley in 1941. These early efforts laid the groundwork for what would become Hidden Valley Ski Area in 1955, highlighting how skiing evolved from practical travel into recreational adventure in RMNP (KUNC).

Ski With Knowledge in the Park

RMNP contains many classic Colorado ski lines. Some of the classics that are outlined in the book are the Y couloir on Ypsilon peak (55 degrees), the Dragontail couloir in the Tyndall Gorge (55 degrees), the Elevator Shaft in Chaos Canyon (55 degrees), the Sky couloir in the Loch Vale (55 degrees), and McHenrys Notch in the Upper Glacier Gorge (55 degrees). RMNP also contains mellower tours for those who wish to enjoy the view and keep their risk tolerance low such as Fall River South, Upper Hidden Valley, Lower Hidden Valley, and Chaos Canyon.

For many, Longs Peak is the ultimate goal in Rocky Mountain National Park. The guardian of the park and its highest peak, reaching 14,255’, Longs catches anyone’s eye. The notable diamond face and flat summit comparable in size to a football field make Longs one of the most well-known peaks in Colorado, and Rocky Mountain National Park a go-to destination for many mountain-oriented travelers. Due to its popularity and extreme terrain, more than 70 people have made Longs their last climb due to hypothermia, past medical conditions, altitude-related injuries, or falling. A summit of Longs in any season is to be taken seriously!

In the summer of 2022 a to the park itself happened at Hallett Peak in Chaos Canyon. A very large debris slide came free off the southside of Hallett Peak. Apartment complex size boulders slid as well as other varying size boulders and the existing snowfield. In some areas the debris ripped all the way down to the bedrock. No injuries or deaths occurred due to the slide. One of the unexpected by-products of the slide is the change in color of Lake Haiyaha from its typical clear alpine lake look to a sea-green from the “rock-flour” transported into the lake after the slide. Chaos Canyon past Lake Haiyaha is closed until further notice because there are still many active slide areas.

What is one part of the avalanche recipe that never changes? Terrain. Terrain is the only constant. With Backcountry Skiing Rocky Mountain National Park and Rakkup’s powerful planning and execution tools, you can read your run the night, week, or month before. Refer to it as you travel through the field, assess your conditions, and adjust your plan as necessary.

Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale

The RMNP ski atlas, map, and digital guidebook boasts thirteen distinct areas with a total of fifty-five runs. Of the thirteen areas, nine of them are classified as complex terrain that include high angle open terrain, intricate cliffy terrain containing steep couloirs, and/or spines that may have significant overhead hazard.

It is critical in this area to familiarize yourself with ATES. The Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES) is a standardized system used to classify backcountry terrain based on its potential avalanche risk. It divides terrain into 5 categories: Non-Avalanche (ATES 0), Simple (ATES 1), Challenging (ATES 2), Complex (ATES 3) and Extreme (ATES 4). These ratings consider factors like slope angle, terrain traps, exposure, and the ability to avoid avalanche-prone areas.

ATES is important because it helps skiers, snowboarders, and winter travelers make informed decisions by matching their experience level and the day’s avalanche conditions to the terrain they plan to enter. Unlike avalanche forecasts, which change daily, ATES provides a fixed rating of terrain difficulty, making it a valuable planning tool, especially when combined with real-time avalanche bulletins and personal risk assessment.

Works Cited

National Park Service. (n.d.). Chapter 7: Publicity pays off. In Rocky Mountain National Park: A history. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/romo/buchholtz/chap7.htm

Hood, G. (2014, August 1). A past still visible: Finding Estes Park’s lost ski resort. KUNC. Retrieved from https://www.kunc.org/arts-life/2014-08-01/a-past-still-visible-finding-estes-parks-lost-ski-resort