February 2002

What in the heck is going on in Silverton?

By Jen Ader

Silverton, Colorado. The Silverton Mountain Ski Area and Silverton Outdoor Learning and Recreation Center (SOLRC) opened in mid January 2002. You may know of the Silverton area from good skiing adventures in a county that consists of 80% public land. As a part of the creating force of this project, I can assure you that we created this place to be the antithesis of the ski resorts that sell real estate, pollute and drive local people out of town. We at Silverton Mountain want to create a place where skiing and learning are the focus, not golf courses and condos.

Residents in Silverton have been looking for a new economic force since the mine closed about 10 years ago. This new ski area and learning center has been embraced by the majority of locals because of its anti-real estate driven motives, limits on daily skiers visits, and economic hope.

There will no development or lifts on public land. Silverton Mountain is requiring beacons and shovels for all chairlift riders as part of our educational component. There will be extensive avalanche mitigation work but teaching visitors to be aware of their surroundings is an element of our mission. Part of our goal is to provide affordable priced skiing and hiking opportunities to advanced and expert skiers in an area generally too unstable to backcountry ski (prior to avalanche mitigation). Bridger Bowl in Montana is a perfect example of a mountain with continental snow pack and lots of hiking terrain. "The ridge" at Bridger is a model of how we would like to operate.

In the winter of 2002, Silverton Mountain will operate as a guided operation on 1600 acres of both private and public land for this season due to the slow pace of bureaucratic decision-making. The experience will cost $99 a day but you will only have to share the lift with 19 other people. Beyond our guided tours we will offer many education courses from avalanche awareness and wilderness first aid, to adventure writing. For a full list of courses check www.silvertonmountain.com.