Solitude Expert Skiing
Expert skiers will find Solitude offers some challenging terrain, but may be bored after several days if conditions are not favorable for off-piste skiing in Honeycomb Canyon.
On the whole, Solitude’s intermediate terrain is more challenging than its peer resorts, but its advanced skiing is less challenging. In fact, there are many black trails that we feel could be marked blue and vice-versa.
Solitude’s advanced terrain is split into several pods. The Eagle Express serves a number of groomed runs on the front side of the mountain. The rhyming triple-trails of Rumble, Grumble and Stumble together with Serenity are all marked as “blue/black,” meaning they are intermediate when groomed and advanced when ungroomed. The lone black run off the Eagle Express is Challenger.
The Powderhorn II quad services a half dozen advanced runs in an open bowl. These trails are often groomed and tailor-made for fast GS turns. The ungroomed areas between the trails can also be fun on a powder day or as an introduction to steeper ungroomed skiing because of the easy bailouts back onto the groomers.
Off the backside of the Powderhorn II quad one finds Solitude’s most challenging expert runs. Perhaps the giant warning signs are a bit of overkill as the terrain is quite steep, but would not merit a second diamond at a resort like Jackson Hole or Taos. Milk Run and Parachute are the class of the four backside runs, all of which are steep and treed.
One trail worth singling out for attention is Headwall Forest, a single black run off the Summit double. It is a steep glade with widely spaced pine trees that is one of the most entertaining tree runs we have found anywhere in the Rockies.
The best expert and advanced terrain at the resort is found in Honeycomb Canyon at the back of the resort. Here a mix of chutes, trees and bowls offer a suitable challenge for any expert skier. Large pockets of powder tend to persist for several days after any snowfall.
The far wall of Honeycomb Canyon is accessed from the top the Summit double, while the near wall (in the shade and more heavily forested) is accessible from the Eagle Ridge trail on the front site of the resort.