Press Room: snowcat skiing reviews & press
It wasn’t just powderhounds that sought out the San Juan Ski Company last season. The media got wind of what great skiing we were having in our corner of Southwest Colorado and our announcement to sell the business in March 2012 only added fuel to the flame. (The snowcat skiing company is no longer on the market and will continue to run under the Rule ownership for the season.) Countless writers published posts, blogs and articles on the SJSC. Below are links to a dozen or so snowcat skiing reviews and press.
October 2012
Colorado’s Secret Ski Resorts
In search of fresh snow, our writer treks, splitboards
and uses snowcats to discover the lesser-known ski resorts
of southern Colorado’s stunning San Juan mountains
Colorado … “Any experienced rider can confirm that a day skiing the San Juans by snowcat ranks as one of the great experiences available anywhere in the world.”
The Examinar “The San Juan Ski Company has decided to forge ahead and continue its Colorado snowcat operation during the 2012-13 ski season. Owner Bob Rule put the company up for sale in March and anticipated the end of a 15-year run in the San Juan Mountains near Durango Mountain Resort. A sales deal has not yet been reached, however, so Rule plans to continue…”
Winter/Spring 2012
Teton Gravity Research
FOR SALE: Colorado’s Largest Cat Skiing Operation
“There’s a place in Southwest Colorado that promises no lift lines, if a storm rolls through you are 100% guaranteed fresh tracks all day, and there are endless options of terrain—old growth trees, high-alpine bowls, north-facing couloirs prime for mid-winter skiing and south-facing chutes that are perfect for harvesting spring-time corn…”
Santa Fe New Mexican
Snowcats Move You at San Juan Ski
“The 15-person “snow coach” slides around another corner and rears the summit of 12,500-foot Grayrock Peak. We’re seven miles out from the edges of Durango Mountain Resort, with another four miles to go by snowcat until the boxy vehicle pirouettes to a stop. We climb down onto a wind-swept shoulder above tree line and gasp at the views of the surrounding San Juan Mountains: to the northeast, boxy Lizard Head; to the west, three 14,000-plus peaks topped by Mount Wilson at 14,276 feet; to the south, the La Plata range and Sleeping Ute Mountain; to the west, the saw blade summits of the Weiminuche Wilderness, including
14,059-foot Sunlight Peak; and just to the northeast, the broad-faced Engineer Mountain at 12,927 feet.”
San Juan Ski Company Leads Colorado Snowcat Trips
“Backcountry and sidecountry skiing has certainly gained in popularity in recent years. As this season’s unusual snowpack and resulting avalanche danger in many areas has shown, venturing out of the avalanche-controlled confines of a ski resort can be a risky proposition.
For less-experienced backcountry skiers and those who simply do not want to hike for all of their turns, snowcat operations such as Colorado’s San Juan Ski Company can provide a safe introduction to the backcountry experience.”
Go Colorado “Ping! My eyes spring open at 6:30 a.m. like cash registers on a sale. This is just wrong, I think, downright wrong to wake up 10 minutes before I instructed my alarm to bellow talk radio into the stony quiet of my studio apartment. I close my eyes and struggle to rightfully reclaim my 10 minutes of winks, but blurry thoughts are already creeping into my head: thoughts of virgin powder snow, high peaks in the San Juans, wide-open meadows and obese floaty boards strapped to my trusty old Langes. Today is a powder day.”
Ski Net … “The lines are endless, and first tracks weeks after it’s snowed are far from scarce.”
Ski Net … “SJSC territory equals nearly 60 square miles—more terrain than all of Colorado’s resorts combined—and hides countless tree lines, bowls, and chutes.”
Ski Net…”Baubles and goodies are nice, but face shots all day in one of the most scenic mountain ranges in the West are much, much nicer.”
OnTheSnow
