Silverton trip with Oakley

Last February I was invited on a shred trip to Silverton Colorado by my good friend and Oakley rep Eric.  After a dry start last year, snow had started to fall and having never been to Silverton I was excited to go.   The drive from Copper is around 5 hours and for the most part mellow until you get to Ouray and Red Mountain Pass.  The forecast was for snow and it was dumping over Red Mountain Pass which is one of the gnarliest in Colorado the drive was incredible and got the adrenaline pumping.

 The Town of Silverton still has its mining town roots intact, its calm and quiet but you can feel the power in the surrounding snow covered peaks.  After throwing my gear in my room at the Bent Elbow, i ventured out to meet everyone at Steller Pizza for some food and drinks.  We kept it kinda mellow and got to bed fairly early.  Up at 6am is a struggle unless there's a day of pow shredding to be had.

As always Oakley hooked it up with some new Canopy's and a Backcountry Pack.  Canopy is Oakleys new over sized lens profile goggle and with all the epic views i was stoked to have em.  We got to the base area which is an old bus and a yurt, filled out all the keep the lawyers happy paperwork, and met up with our guide to test beacons and go over the day plan

Silverton has one lift and one heli other than that there's a ton of hiking.  They allow 300 or so people on the mountain per day and everyone is split into groups and each has their own guide.  Important tip - make sure your group can not only shred but is in shape!  

Up the lift and a short hike later we arrived - my favorite place and my favorite moment, staring down a mountain of untracked pow

10" overnight and it was goooood.  All the lines at Silverton lead you back to the base area, it was socked in with light snow showers, and every time down id make sure to check out the heli to see if they were prepping it.  I was excited to come to Silverton and hike some incredible pow lines but having never been in a heli it was really all i was thinking about.  What was needed was a break in the weather so the pilot could see the lz.  A couple more runs and we got the word we in the queue for a drop.  

Due to the conditions we had to hit a lower lz right at tree line so it was a brief but awesome flight.  Then more pow.  Rode some sweet steep trees and a super fun natural half pipe.  After that another hike....

....and more pow

The day ended with that awesome feeling of being totally exhausted but pumped and blessed for the experience.  Silverton is an amazing place, a must for any shredders bucket list, I will be back.  Thanks to Eric, Josh. and Oakley for another amazing trip.  

PS - Thanks Pia for the amazing steak and lobster after my day in Silverton and 4 hour drive to Snowmass.