This hut trip through Colorado’s San Juan Mountains is the closest you can get to skiing Europe without hopping a plane.
Borders are closed, but that doesn’t mean that big ski trips are a bust. This spring, San Juan Mountain Guides (SJMG) is introducing a European-style, hut-to-hut tour from Silverton to Ouray, Colo., with overnights at two or three full-service huts along the way.
This traverse offers up some of the best backcountry skiing in the state. Here’s what you need to know to gear up and get after it yourself.
The American Haute Route
Colorado’s San Juan mountains have some of the most complex terrain and reliable snowpack in the western U.S. The Interconnect Route, also called the American Haute Route, winds through the San Juans from Silverton to Ouray. The hut tour traverses 13,000-foot passes, carves down powdery bowls, and climbs up evergreen-covered shoulders.
It’s inspired by the Chamonix-Zermatt Haute Route, but it’s not just the route that’s Euro-inspired. The rest of the trip — format, lodging, perks — oozes European hut vibes.
In the U.S., this trip is unique. While there are many backcountry huts, there are few if any fully catered and supported hut-to-hut trips. And even sparser are trips with a heavy focus on skiing the region’s best terrain versus ones simply connecting one hut to the next.
San Juan Mountains Interconnect Route: Huts & More
On the Interconnect, guests will overnight at multiple full-service huts along the way. There’s no schlepping your sleeping bag or wearing the same stinky long underwear for 4 days. SJMG staff shuttle the bulk of your gear. You just carry a daypack with lunch and avi gear and earn your turns.
There are two options for skiing the Interconnect hut trip: the Interconnect 121 route and the Interconnect 22 route. Both Interconnect itineraries are 5 days and 4 nights, with all meals, lodging, and IFMGA/AMGA guiding included. The guide-to-skier ratio is 1:4.
Ophir Pass Ultimate Ski (OPUS) Hut
The Interconnect 121 starts in Silverton and climbs to OPUS Hut, a high-alpine wood and stone backcountry hut that clings to the southern slopes of the 13,666-foot Lookout Peak. The hut is surrounded by powdery tree runs and creamy bowls ready to be skinned and skied. Guests have at least half a day to sample the snow before breaking to toast to the guides and the goods and savor a delectable meal.
Day 2, guests skin up and over a 13,000-foot couloir before dropping to Columbine Lake and a dramatic traverse through several basins. From the shoulder of Trico Peak, where San Juan, San Miguel, and Ouray counties come together, you’ll descend to Red Mountain Alpine Lodge (RMAL). Depending on conditions (and how late you want to arrive for apres), the route can be direct or include bonus laps.
Red Mountain Alpine Lodge (RMAL)
Hayden Backcountry Lodge
