Ski a round

Going to Breckenridge, or Keystone or Copper is not a “ski trip.” That’s just going skiing. Now, heading to Aspen, or Steamboat or Telluride, that’s a ski trip. Specifically, it’s a ski trip that threatens to break your bank account.

But there’s an entire quarter of the state loaded with great skiing that doesn’t cost a fortune and isn’t packed to the gills with Denverites. On a weeklong trip, a dedicated skier can make a vast loop — in short, U.S. Highway 50 to Colorado Highway 550 to U.S. Highway 160 and then Interstate 25 — and hit Wolf Creek, Silverton Mountain, Purgatory — and, since they’re on the way, Monarch, Crested Butte, Hesperus and Kendall Mountain. No mega resort can match the variety they offer. Or the powder.

1 — Monarch

Tickets: $52

Contact: 1-888-996-7669, skimonarch.com

Monarch can hardly be called a Western slope, lying as it does smack-dab in the middle of the state, but it’s right on U.S. Highway 50, and much too nice to simply pass by. Hike up to Mirkwood Basin to find Monarch’s steeps and tree shots, or head to the Panorama chair to find the bumps and the cruisers.

2 — Crested Butte

Tickets: $79

Contact: 1-888-317-6482, 1-800-810-7669, skicb.com

An hour north of Gunnison on Colorado Highway 135, Crested Butte requires a bigger detour than the rest of the ski areas on this loop, but the mountain’s magnificent steeps and the town of Crested Butte’s irresistible vibe make it worth the drive.

To find the best powder on the Butte, take the T-bar up to the Spellbound and Phoenix bowls and strap those boots on tight. Or, head to the Headwall, the Peak or the Peel for double-diamond steeps.

3 — Silverton Mountain

Tickets: $129 February-March

Contact: 1-970-387-5706, silvertonmountain.com

A decade ago, there wasn’t much more than a gas station open in the old mining town during winter. Today, thanks to Silverton Mountain, the town is, if not exactly lively, at least awake. On a recent visit, a coyote was the only thing moving on Greene Street, but there were a dozen restaurants and a half-dozen hotels up and running. The source of this renaissance lies 6.5 miles up Colorado Highway 110A. Silverton Mountain looks like an unlikely savior. A tiny parking area off the highway surrounds a single, double chairlift that stretches out of sight up a steep pitch.

A short hike up the hill lies the base area — nothing more than a plastic tent, a balky wood stove and a few dilapidated couches. An old school bus out back serves as the rental shop. It’s in no way, shape or form a normal ski resort, or even a normal ski area. Most of the year, you need a guide to get on the mountain, driving the price of a lift ticket to $129, and every day it’s open (typically, Thursdays-Sundays, though weather closures are not unusual), skiers are required to carry an avalanche beacon, avalanche probe and avalanche shovel.

Basically, Silverton is snowcat skiing, with that double chairlift taking the place of the cat. At the top of the lift, guides lead groups of eight skiers on hikes that can last five minutes or an hour, seeking out open alpine bowls or steep chutes, laying down careful boundaries to avoid avalanche danger and preserve as much powder as possible for the next group.

4 — Kendall Mountain

Tickets: $15

Contact: 1-970-387-5228, skikendall.com

If not everyone in your family is down with double-blacks and bottomless powder, tiny Silverton does manage to squeeze in one other option: Kendall Mountain. Located a few hundred yards from “downtown,” across the bridge, this community hill got its first chairlift, a used double, last year.

Kendall boasts all of 200-odd feet of vertical and 35 acres of terrain, but there are some not-bad tree runs and it gets nearly as much powder as its big, bad brother up the highway. Plus, lift tickets are $15 — no avalanche beacon required.

5 — Purgatory

Tickets: $60

Contact: 1-800-982-6103, durangomountainresort.com

If the weather’s nasty at Silverton, or either Molas or Red Mountain pass is closed, waiting it out in Purgatory is a figurative and a literal option. These days, the Purgatory ski area is formally known as Durango Mountain Resort, a less-evocative but evidently more sales-friendly title.

Located 25 miles north of Durango, DMR/Purgatory is the closest thing the southwest corner of the state has to the big Summit County resorts. DMR has time shares and restaurants and paid parking (although most of the lots are free). And it’s a big, wide open mountain with 19 lifts.

The terrain is a far cry from Silverton. It’s loaded with blue cruisers interspersed with a few black bump runs. It’s what you might call Texan friendly. But the snow’s good and the views of the highest peaks in the San Juan Mountains are spectacular.

6 — Hesperus

Tickets: $32

Contact: 1-970-259-3711, ski-hesperus.com

If you’re staying a night in Durango proper, it would be a shame not to make the 15-minute drive west up U.S. Highway 160 to Hesperus.

The tiny ski area appears to be utterly unchanged from the 1960s, with a base area serving hot dogs and lift tickets from behind the counter inside a Quonset hut and a single chairlift crawling its way up 700 feet of vertical. Even the run markers appear to be leftovers from sometime during the Kennedy administration, with the blue squares and black diamonds bleached by the sun.

Really, it looks more like a converted cow pasture — which it is, right down to the barbed wire boundary fences. But Hesperus’ clientele is mostly kids, tubers and dudes in coveralls or camouflage.

Which means that the area’s steeper terrain stays nearly untouched, hanging on to virgin powder for an absurdly long time after every snowstorm.

Small rock ledges and steepish turns through the scrub oak can keep even expert skiers occupied for hours — and Hesperus is lighted and open until 9 p.m., so skiers will have plenty of time to explore every nook and cranny.

7 — Wolf Creek

Tickets: $48

Contact: 1-970-264-5639, wolfcreekski.com

Wolf Creek is the final stop on the loop and by many measures, we’ve saved the best for last.

Wolf Creek gets more snow than any other ski area in the state and, thanks to its remote location, is less crowded than nearly any other, too.

Wolf Creek is surprisingly large.

Hike up 11,900-foot Alberta Peak and you’ll have miles of trails to choose from to your left and right.

The tree runs off the Alberta Lift, on the area’s southern side, offer skiers untouched powder runs for weeks after a big storm.

Alberta Peak and the corniced Knife Ridge to its south are steep enough to test even the best skiers, while the central area around the Bonanza and Treasure chairs will keep beginner and intermediate skiers smiling.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0275 or awineke@gazette.com

SAVE SOME CASH

Call ahead or check each resort’s Web site for ski-lodge package deals or advance ticket prices. Many give a discount for buying online.

PLACES TO STOP ON THE WAY

1. Monarch

2. Crested Butte

3. Silverton Mountain

4. Kendall Mountain

5. Purgatory

6. Hesperus

7. Wolf Creek