Telluride gets backcountry permit for Bear Creek
by D. Dion
The first time I ever ducked the rope at the top of the Telluride Ski Resort to ski the off-piste terrain in Bear Creek, I was following a friend. The snow in the creek was about three feet deeper than it was on the ski area, and it was pretty deep on the ski area—the whole mountain had been enveloped in clouds for three days. We had our avalanche beacons, shovels and packs, but as I watched her disappear over the ridge into the gray, snowy mist, I couldn't help but feel spooked.
Back then, it was still illegal to ski Bear Creek. The Forest Service had shut it down after a series of avalanche fatalities in 1986-87 and 1992; there would be another in 2002. The agency had gone so far as to arrest and prosecute a pair of skiers for trespassing into the closed area. Bear Creek only became more alluring, its mystique enhanced by tales of chest-deep powder runs and near-death scrapes with avalanches. Locals named the runs and chutes, and dropped in with increasing regularity.
