During the seasonal migration to Seward I had the opportunity to meet up with Brian Dodd and Ross Downer in the Wind River Range for a bit skiing and exploring in some of the most impressive mountains the Rockies have to offer. The Winds stretch for about 100 miles, contain 19 of 20 of Wyoming's 13,000 ft. summits, and makeup three of the state's designated wilderness areas. After notable snowfall in the region throughout the winter, early May looked like a great time to visit.
We accessed the mountains via the Elkhart trailhead outside of Pinedale; a quaint little blue collar town on the eastern fringe of the range. After parking as far up the access road as winter snow removal operations allowed, we began skiing toward the Titcomb Basin region of the Range.
After covering the 20 mile approach in two days, we established a base camp at the southern end of the Basin that would serve as home base for the next week. Luckily, we enjoyed sunshine and mild temperatures at the upper elevations of the range immediately following a 4 day period of high winds and snow before our arrival.
Following a full day of fortifying camp, evaluating the snowpack, and resting, we began exploring the region via three different valleys immediately accessible from camp. The skiing potential became immediately apparent and we enjoyed increasingly good runs as the new snow stabilized and a 4-5 day corn cycle progressed.
During the remainder of our trip we polished off our leftover food and took advantage of the reading material we'd carried in as winter weather returned to Wyoming. After two days of futilely watching for a weather window to ski some of the new snow piling up outside our tents, it was time to head back to the real world. Leaving cold temps and a newly fallen foot of snow wasn't easy, but will serve as motivation for return trips to the area in future years.
