Hayden Peak: East Side Trees

Type: Backcountry or Sidecountry

We skied perfect powder with no base on Jan 18th 2020, must be due to the trees and east-facing aspect.

There are lots of rock drops that could easily be skied off, so be extremely cautious if your ski abilities are lacking.

We saw no evidence of avalanche debris or broken trees, but it does not mean that it is not possible. Be sure to take all precautions and carry all of the proper safety equipment.

Drive 7.6 miles from the traffic circle in Aspen at 82 on Castle Creek Road. There is a small sign and parking area in the right side of the road.

When we started up the skin, we were assuming that we would ski the looker's right line from the top, but the skin track put us on the looker's left line when we topped out.

Now the initial drop-in point was on top of a series of rocks, but they were easily avoided by skiing back through the trees to the left. We dropped to the right side of the initial 25-ft rock with some mandatory 3-5ft pillows, but no problems. Now it would be possible to ski all the way to the bottom of the drop-in line, but we skied half of the right line and half of the left line. Trees were not too dense in our opinion, but I am sure that is up for debate!

The road can be seen from the drop-in, so it should be easy navigating for most.