By Ryan Brandt

April 23, 2002 Despite some of the worst snow conditions in decades, two commercial ski areas in Colorado say they had banner years by offering a novel combination of backcountry skiing without the hiking slog.

First reported by the Denver Post on Sunday, Berthoud Pass and the Silverton Outdoor Learning and Recreation Center relied on skiers' interest in expert, ungroomed powder terrain and brought it all the way to the bank—literally.

"Bookings were out of control," said Berthoud's Scotty Brent. "We were pretty much booked full after the beginning of the season. Considering we didn't do any advertising and the snow was the worst I've ever seen in Colorado—and I've been here for 30 years—it went amazingly well."

Berthoud surrendered to the season pass price wars of competitors last year, announcing in September that they would not operate lifts for 2001-2002 season. But instead of ceasing operations entirely, they replaced chairs with snowcats, offering fresh tracks to skiers and boarders willing to fork over the $185 fee.

"It's very intimate, it's like having your own private ski area," said Brent.

The Silverton Outdoor Learning and Recreation Center, which offers access to a combined 1,650 acres of private and public terrain in the San Juan Mountains via a second-hand lift picked up from California's Mammoth Mountain (see "No-Frill, All Thrills," Outside magazine, November, 2001) reported similar success. The 20 guide-accompanied guests permitted in the terrain each day must go through a safety talk, bring an avalanche beacon, probe pole, and shovel (or rent one from the mountain), and fork over the $99 before hitting the chutes.

"They ski powder pretty much all day. By the end of the day, there are no unhappy faces and everyone's pretty exhausted as well," said Aaron Brill, the mastermind behind what has been called the country's first "commercial backcountry ski area."

Yet even as Silverton and Berthoud celebrate their successes, both face government regulations that may inhibit next year's season. Silverton is awaiting the conclusion of a BLM Environmental Impact Statement, which will dictate how many guests can be accommodated each day. According to Brill, all ski resorts that use public land must go through this process, with the hope of a 40-year permit waiting on the other side. The EIS is expected to be released mid-season next year. In the meantime, Brill remains hopeful that the BLM will allow a temporary boost to between 40 and 80 guests a day.

"I think we're going to get a positive result from the EIS because ours is totally based on avalanche issues, compared to the issues faced by most resorts like water quality and others," said Brill. "I think they'd be hard-pressed not to issue us the long term permit in the end."

This year, Berthoud worked on a temporary one-year outfitter's permit issued by the U.S. Forest Service, according to the Post. While the mountain has applied for a renewal, Forest Service regulations dictate a resort may lose their permit to operate as a ski area if lifts go unused for two seasons. As Daniel Lavato, district ranger for the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest told the Post, "We allowed one year of nonuse, and if their intent is to continue (as a snowcat operation), they would have to remove the facilities associated with the ski area on national forest land."

"We're still working out the Forest Service regulations," said Brent. "While we don't know what's going to happen, we think things are looking good for next year."