By Mike Ryan
There are not many
more satisfying feelings than looking up from the bottom of a run and thinking,
“I can’t believe I just did that.” On TV they sometimes warn you “Don’t try this at
home.” With these mogul runs it’s more like, “Don’t do these alone.”
Wolverine, Wildfire
and Pika / Keystone, CO
These 3 runs are on
the south side of the Outback at Keystone. Located right next to each other,
you can start on one and end on the other, sometimes without even trying. You
drop into the trees immediately and the bumps are small and the trees
relatively thin, don’t worry, that’s about to change. You better hope the snow
is good and deep because you’re skiing over fallen trees and ice flows at
times. Just a little bit after you get scared to death and start cussing out
yourself or whoever suggested one of these runs, the trees thin out and you can
breath again.
The Shadows /
Steamboat Springs, CO
The Shadows is a
world famous run with a well-deserved reputation. Ski Magazine once rated
Steamboat as #1 for tree skiing in the entire U.S. The Shadows is one of those
runs you look up at and can’t believe you skied it. Though it looks like a
forest, the Aspen trees are thinned just enough so the bumps can kick your
butt. As the name signifies, the shadows you get at the right time of the day
are intoxicating. Either that or it’s the lack of oxygen from forgetting to
breathe.
Steep and Deep / Blue Sky
Basin, Vail, CO
Go left right off the
lift that brings you up to Blue Sky and head down the road just a few yards and
you’ll see the sign for Steep and Deep. You can’t see the run because of the
trees-isn’t that some kind of old saying? Don’t be afraid, okay be very, very
afraid but the trees don’t last long at all and it opens up to a glade which is
a pile of rocks in the summer. After this you have plenty of choices. You can
hit the glades, pick a bump run or just stay there and let your pants dry out.
Topher’s Trees / Mary
Jane @ Winter Park, CO
Mary Jane is the
tougher of the two mountains at Winter Park and is named after a madam from the
old mining days.This run is named for Christopher “Topher” Sendroy, a
snowboarder who died after falling into a tree well ( Didn’t we say not to do
these alone?) This tree run can wear you out more than a hooker at the original
MaryJane’s place of business and that’s with your clothes on.