{"id":794988,"date":"2019-04-19T13:41:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T19:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=364657"},"modified":"2019-04-19T13:41:11","modified_gmt":"2019-04-19T19:41:11","slug":"a-tour-of-the-gore-range","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/a-tour-of-the-gore-range\/","title":{"rendered":"A tour of the Gore Range"},"content":{"rendered":"
Late sunrise illuminates a couple of camps at Slate Creek in the Gore Range.<\/strong>
Courtesy Art Burrows<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After working his way up to 13,000 feet above tree line deep in the Gore Range, Art Burrows and his backcountry skiing group were greeted by an interesting tribe of locals on a spring evening in 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe skied right up to a large herd of mountain goats,\u201d Burrows recalled more than a decade later, \u201cwho were very curious and interested in getting minerals that we might be leaving there. That was our first night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey probably hadn\u2019t seen anybody for a good eight months at that point,\u201d Burrows said. \u201cBut they were very curious.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s experiences like these that litter the truly wild backcountry of the Gore Range and Eagle\u2019s Nest Wilderness when avid skiers like Burrows take spring trips out there each year. Considering the stark dangers and extreme conditions that exist in this remote stretch of northern Summit County, only the most experienced and prepared backcountry skiers seek out adventure in the Gore each year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an expansive land of jagged peaks that appear to be endless. And though there is not a single 14er in this stretch, the dozens upon dozens of 13ers atop 12ers atop 11,000-foot mountains make the Gore what it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unique in its geography. It\u2019s not skied very much because it\u2019s difficult,\u201d said Burrows, a two-time World Telemark Master\u2019s Champion. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of work to get up to the ski zones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is probably an equal amount of danger in the Gore than in the Tenmile (Range),\u201d Burrows said. \u201cThe Gore is more complex. And the terrain can be steeper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the challenge, Burrows has skied in the Gore numerous times in his life, including that memorable trip in 2006 when he met the herd of mountain goats local at the Dora Plateau. Burrows and his group set out around the time of Memorial Day, which is typically the best time of year to ski the Gore. Mid-winter can prove too cold and too sketchy in terms of the quality of the snowpack when you\u2019re miles away from civilization.<\/p>\n

Burrow\u2019s group began their trip from Lower Cataract Lake near the tiny northern Summit County town of Heeney. From there, at just over 8,000 feet, the group headed up toward Surprise Lake before reaching Dora Plateau. While camping at the plateau right before a storm Burrows experienced one of the most spectacular views he\u2019s ever witnessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an incredibly rugged valley in there,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the topography is just spectacular, especially in the evening during sunset.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Burrows, an avid photographer, he let the experience of photographing nature come to him. Each spring is when nature\u2019s inherent powerful beauty can be seen in full force, during a time of year when winter\u2019s frost slowly gives way to summer\u2019s grace in the backcountry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaking up at Double Bubble Lake and shooting the new snow,\u201d Burrows said, \u201csmall powder avalanches coming off the rock faces, was quite beautiful. And, just the deep blue sky after the storm was particularly beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I go for a specific purpose shooting photos I usually fail,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause nature and reality always present something different. So I tend to go with the flow, get up early, stay out late into the twilight periods and just always be looking around, always have my cameras ready and take it as it comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest of the trip included skiing down the 13,420-foot Eagle\u2019s Nest, one of the Gore Range\u2019s most impressive mountains. Burrows and his crew also skied down the south flank of an even more impressive peak, the highest in all of the Gore Range, 13,580-foot Mount Powell. From there, Burrows and the group traversed over to Upper Slate Lake, where they camped for the third night. Then for the fourth and final night, the group skied over Atlas Pass and one last pass before descending down into East Vail.<\/p>\n

Compared to when Burrows first stepped foot in the Gore Range 40 years ago, the Gore may still be one of the least traveled backcountry areas in Summit County. Still, there is more traffic and more negative effects on the environment out there now than there was back then. Namely, the Gore is littered with deadfall trees that hamper summertime recreationists, such as hikers, once the snow melts. It\u2019s a reality of clogged-up recreating arteries those who love traversing in the Gore will have to address moving forward.<\/p>\n

Winter, and even relative-winter in the springtime, is different, though. With a strong snowpack, skiers like Art are able to traverse through the Gore much more easily. And when they do, they get to enjoy what he regards as one of the best ski mountaineering routes he\u2019s ever taken.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be an ultimate ski mountaineering route,\u201d Burrows said of his 2006 track. \u201cThat would be one of the best ski mountaineering routes in Colorado, if they did Cataract Lake to East Vail, or even further.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Late sunrise illuminates a couple of camps at Slate Creek in the Gore Range.Courtesy Art Burrows After working his way up to 13,000 feet above tree line deep in the Gore Range, Art Burrows and his backcountry skiing group were greeted by an interesting tribe of locals on a spring evening in 2006. \u201cWe skied […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 17:37:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}