A Small Hut for Big Skiing in the San Juans: Aladdin’s Lamp

4 of my hut companions and I leaned into plastic deck chairs going through the wind-scoured peaks looming over Silverton, passing round a flask of low cost mezcal, recounting the day’s ski runs. Calling the circumstances harsh would have been an understatement. Sketchy avalanche circumstances pushed us into 1000’s of vertical ft of bounce flip survival snowboarding by means of breakable crust with painfully transient pockets of semi-soft powder. So dangerous it was nearly humorous. Nearly.

I traded the flask for my weathered guidebook, flipping to a web page that had been dog-eared for six years working – a backup possibility within the occasion our annual Aladdin’s Lamp hut journey landed over circumstances like these. That’s the great thing about Aladdin’s Lamp Hut; you’re by no means caught to a single zone. It’s a backcountry hut in Colorado’s San Juan vary that provides skiers easy accessibility to just about any ski zone close to Silverton or alongside US Freeway 550 between Purgatory resort and Ouray.

So the following day we pivoted, driving as a substitute ten minutes south to a zone extra shielded from the March solar. Circumstances, fortuitously, had been reverse the day prior to this as if a genie had granted our powder needs (sorry, I needed to).

The writer snowboarding above the Aladdin’s Lamp hut with the Grand Turk as backdrop.

Aladdin’s Lamp is a personal hut located simply two miles north of the summit of Molas Go within the coronary heart of Colorado’s San Juan mountain vary, or about 4.6 miles south of Silverton on US Freeway 550. It’s not your typical backcountry hut expertise, although. It’s functionally a entrance nation hut with main backcountry power. The method is lower than 1 / 4 mile. Most years you possibly can stroll to it on a packed snow path with out skis.

That additionally means the packing listing can, if you want, develop to close car-camping capacities. A number of journeys to the automotive is effectively inside purpose. Contemporary greens, in depth and complicated dinner elements, and a complete (intact) birthday cake discovered their method to the hut. My spouse didn’t hesitate so as to add sufficient Aperol, seltzer, and prosecco to my duffel to intoxicate the grownup inhabitants of Cortina d’Ampezzo with Aperol Spritzes– glass bottles and all.

I’d be mendacity if I wasn’t a little bit bit anxious about sharing this little slice of backcountry heaven with the nice readers of Wildsnow. However alas, this little gem is simply too good to not share.

The Hut

Owned and operated by Kennan Harvey, a 30-year journey photographer, the Lamp may hardly be in a extra spectacular location due to the view of the Grand Turk and the intimidating east-facing Zipper Couloir slicing down its face. The hut is perched at 10,500’ in a gap within the bushes that absolutely block the close by freeway, delivering a near-backcountry really feel.

Named after the 1880’s mining declare beneath it, the hut has a short 30-year historical past. Earlier than its evolution right into a backcountry snowboarding refuge, the unique house owners had been aiming as a substitute for a water bottling plant. You received’t persuade me that it turned out the incorrect means.

As you stroll up and onto the modest however accommodating deck, a glance again to the east reveals a completely new, equally spectacular view of the jagged peaks of the Weminuche Wilderness. We’ve spent a whole lot of time on that deck over time. Particularly within the spring, when the ski days begin and finish eye-wateringly early, the deck will get drenched in afternoon solar. It paired notably effectively with this yr’s post-skiing theme, “Euro après by means of the many years,” which after all was accompanied by Aperol Spritzes, alpine charcuterie, berets, retro shades, cumbersome sweaters, and heavy zinc sunscreen.

Graham Ward get pleasure from an apres-ski beverage outdoors the hut.

The entrance door opens into the principle room, a comfy squeeze for tight-knit teams. A small kitchen, beneficiant eating desk, wooden burning range, and some window benches spherical it out. Simply sufficient to really feel like loads and nothing extra. “A superbly proportioned little hut for a bunch of eight that basically like one another,” described my spouse, Rachel.

From the kitchen reverse the entrance door is one other door to a storage room the place the wooden lives that doubles as a gear staging space. There are hooks for backpacks and spots for skis, in addition to easy coolers and different storage nooks and crannies. You’ll additionally discover a crate of emergency Crocs for post-skiing foot bliss. The slim room triples as a hallway resulting in the bathroom. That’s proper – the lavatory is inside. I can’t overstate how necessary this characteristic has been to a handful of group members over time.

A slim staircase leads upstairs from the north fringe of the lounge to the sleeping quarters. The A-frame room is spacious and graced with massive home windows into the Wilderness. Bunk beds lie in two corners, and a queen occupies one other. Plentiful lodging for eight with some mattress sharing.

Cam Patterson Trying down in the direction of Aladdin’s Lamp from Grand Turk. PC: Stephen Licciardi

Backcountry Snowboarding Entry

The quintessential A-frame character is value a go to in itself, however the backcountry snowboarding instantly surrounding the hut, in addition to the simple entry to any of the opposite zones round Silverton, Purple Mountain Go, and Molas Go a brief drive away, is what units Aladdin’s Lamp other than others in Colorado and even different huts within the San Juans, a lot of that are deeper into the backcountry.

Be warned, although. This area isn’t recognized for its abundance of mellow terrain or avalanche security (apart from the plentiful low-angled choices on Purple Mountain Go). Among the most spectacular slide paths within the state slice by means of these mountains in each route. Happily, there are ski touring choices for many circumstances, they usually’re detailed in Beacon’s Backcountry Snowboarding Silverton Colorado guidebook by Josh Kling.

When the avy circumstances do calm down within the spring, Aladdin’s Lamp is a perfect basecamp for dozens of traditional, difficult, and aesthetic ski strains.

Stephen Licciardi within the West Wishbone.

Accessed From the Hut: Grand Turk / Wishbone Couloirs 

In earlier years, steady circumstances allowed our group to enterprise simply 1,400 vertical ft and one mile to the northeast from the hut up into the south bowl of 13,160ft Grand Turk, which is crammed to the brim with ski strains. The Wishbone Couloirs off the south of Grand Turk type a enjoyable goal on their very own, however they will also be mixed with descents of the North, East, and/or West of Grand Turk. The route description for the long-lasting Zipper Couloir, perched above Aladdin’s Lamp when considered from the East, is detailed in Brittany and Frank Konsella’s Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Routes Colorado guidebook.

One basin to the South, Sultan Creek, is a fast jaunt from there. It incorporates its personal suite of enjoyable, open ski strains and faces, in addition to a number of steep, techy choices. Going one basin additional south, to the Molas Creek basin, opens extra average ski strains, together with quick, enjoyable, lappable mini-golf couloirs.

Kling’s guidebook additionally particulars an extended, extra complicated Turk-Sultan Traverse that begins proper at Aladdin’s Lamp. Skiers can head up and over Grand Turk through the Wishbone Couloirs, throughout the Deadwood Basin Traverse to Sultan Mountain, and down the technical and committing North Face of Sultan Mountain into Northstar Basin and all the way in which out to Silverton.

The writer in Coal Creek Powder. PC: Quinn Snowdon

South on US Freeway 550: Coal Creek / Deer Creek

Our March 2024 journey landed within the midst of a comparatively difficult snowpack, rising hazard, and a number of other close by skier-triggered slides. Happily, simply ten minutes of driving south on US Freeway 550 introduced our group to a wonderful, comparatively protected possibility: Coal Creek (detailed within the aforementioned Kling guidebook). After a brief method, we loved fluffy north-facing laps full of pillows, properly spaced glades, and a fast automotive shuttle.

Mix the Coal Creek descents with the following drainage to the north, Deer Creek, for further vert and comparable turns, all of that are scrumptiously lappable.

Accessed from the identical parking zone lies Engineer Mountain and its surrounding ski terrain, starting from steep, technical strains to glades and open meadows. It’s all detailed in Jon Kedrowski’s Traditional Colorado Ski Descents guidebook.

Even nearer to Aladdin’s Lamp is the entry level for Mt. Snowdon’s Bare Girl Couloir, a sporty line demanding steady circumstances, detailed within the Konsellas’ guidebook.

A bunch ascending the favored Chatanooga Chutes off Freeway 550 close to Silverton.

North on US Freeway 550: Purple Mountain Go

Nearly limitless snowboarding exists inside twenty minutes of driving north on Freeway 550. Roadside classics embody the steep, north-facing Chattanooga Chutes (detailed in Kling’s guidebook) and naturally the plethora of strains off Purple Mountain Go, that are featured in nearly each backcountry snowboarding guidebook protecting the San Juans.

As talked about earlier than, Purple Mountain Go has a few of the finest low-angled ski terrain within the space, and enjoyable strains exist on each facet and for many ability ranges.

Notes and Issues

Aladdin’s Lamp is a self managed hut, not a full-service hut like these proliferating on Purple Mountain Go and elsewhere. Kennan famous that there’s been some confusion prior to now. Friends pack it in, pack it out, cook dinner, and clear for themselves.

What do you have to carry apart from hut journey fundamentals? Kitchen rags or paper towels, pillowcases, sleeping luggage, and all of the meals you possibly can dream of. Want inspiration? Try these hut meal concepts from Julia Dubinina. And like all backcountry gem, pure or constructed, deal with Aladdin’s Lamp with respect and an ethos of stewardship so future generations of skiers can get pleasure from it, too.

Lose one other splitboard bolt whereas your skier pals heckled you throughout a transition? Cripple Creek Backcountry is a ten minute drive away in Silverton. Come down with a case of pneumonia like I did on the Lamp in 2012? The closest hospital, in addition to most different big-city lodging are in Durango, about an hour away.

Conclusion

I can’t state it higher than my pal, ski associate, and hut critic, Quinn Snowdon, when prompted for a quote: “With an method shorter than a splash round a highschool observe, gobs of nice snowboarding accessible from the backdoor and an adjoining, mellifluous water closet, (sans water, after all), there’s not way more a backcountry skier may ask for than Aladdin’s Lamp. A pilgrimage to the hut, in addition to the daring and unsparing strains that encompass it, ought to sit firmly atop any winter devotee’s bucket listing.”

To study extra about Aladdin’s Lamp, go to https://silvertonskihut.com/AladdinsLampHut.html

Bergen Tjossem is a ski fanatic, conservation skilled, and nature nerd based mostly in Vail, Colorado. His life and profession have centered round defending the pure surroundings and public lands that raised him, however as Ed Abbey put it, “It’s not sufficient to combat for the land; It’s much more necessary to get pleasure from it.” So when he’s not working his day job, you’ll discover Bergen ski touring earlier than daybreak, mountain climbing at nighttime, working trails till his legs fall off, snowboarding 13er’s along with his pals, or making the world’s finest pizza along with his spouse, Rachel. You could find him on Instagram.