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Martin at Chicago Basin, May 2011
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We had one good day of skiing at Chicago Basin, but the next day the weather turned against us. We tried to climb Mt. Jupiter (a peak that’s long been on Kurt’s to-do list) but retreated in the face of high winds and white-out conditions. We got back to our camp early in the day, and rather than spending a cold and damp night our tent we decided to make a frantic hike out to the DSRR railway to see if we could catch the afternoon train back to Durango and comfortable hotel room (there’s only one train each day). Here’s a rain-soaked Kurt back at the DSRR stop, happy to have made it back in time for the train.
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Kurt Mensch skiing down to our camp in the Chicago Basin
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Kurt Mensch on Sunlight; Eolus in the background
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Kurt Mensch at the saddle between Sunlight and Sunlight Spire; Windom in the background
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The peaks of Chicago Basin – Sunlight in the centre-left, Sunlight Spire in the centre and Windom on the right (in front of the sun)
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The peaks of Chicago Basin – Sunlight peeking out on the left, Windom in the centre and Jupiter on the right.
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Kurt Mensch on the ski in to Chicago Basin.
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In May 2011 Kurt Mensch and I went on a backcountry ski trip to the Chicago Basin in the San Juans. This was a rematch from the previous year when my ski bindings disintegrated just as we arrived at camp. Access to the area is via the Durango-Silverton railway (or a very long hike from the highway).