SummitPost.org

Howdy,

I will be visiting a friend in Leadville from Saturday until Wednesday of next week. While knocking off a couple of nearby 14ers is on my list if the weather cooperates, I thought I may luck out and there may be a great practice slope for self-arrest in the area. Living in Wisconsin, this is something I just do not get to practice, and it has probably been 5 years since the last time I practiced falling in all the odd body positions - the muscle memory is fading!

In Oregon where I am originally from, early June is an ideal time to find some consolidated, safe runout, 30-40 degree chutes to practice in - I hope the same holds true for CO. Thanks for your feedback; I searched this forum and came up with nothing so hopefully this thread can act as a reference and motivate us all to get out and practice!

Andy

I don't have a clue on conditions but what about Breck or Copper.

In the early 1970s when I lived in upstate NY, I would find toboggan and ski runs that had been compacted, and often had hard areas in excess of 30 degrees. The edge of a ravine will do, except your runout is likely to be wet.

I know St Mary's glacier just above the town on Alice on the Fall River Road is practiced on a lot. Not a huge hike to get to it either. It isn't really a glacier either more of a permanent snowfield.

Thanks for the suggestions guys! As it turned out, today I went to visit Vail (I had never been there and seems to be a place one should see). I looked up at the slopes and noticed that a short hike away was the half pipe area at the resort and it was still very well snowed in. There were bikers and hikers zooming all over the mountain so I figured it would be ok to trudge up there and practice - it worked out great! Easy access, plenty of people around in case I managed to hurt myself, etc. only downside was it wasn't that steep and I had trouble getting high speed going. Also, plenty of funny looks from people passing by