Sugar Bowls Approach

Type: Backcountry or Sidecountry

Lou Dawson's "Light Tours of Colorado" has the best beta for this tour.

To start: either skin to the summit of Buttermilk Resort OR take one of the lifts to the summit.

From there, follow the Buttermilk Ridge trail, there should be a very well-established skin track, as well as signage at the Buttermilk Summit. Reminder that this will take you off resort and into the backcountry, albeit with limited to no avalanche danger.

Skin the track until you reach two very obvious glades, the Sugar Bowls. These will be the first option for skiing along the traverse, so no route-finding whatsoever, and only around 1 mile each way from Buttermilk (and relatively flat in both directions).

There will likely be signs of other skiers, or other skiers in the area, as well as an uphill skintrack from the bottom of the bowls.

Once you arrive at the bowls, rip skins, ski as far down as you wish, transition, and skin back to the top of the bowls / end of the skin track. Make as many laps in here in either bowl as you wish, reminder though that you'll have to put your skins back on for the mile traverse to the Buttermilk summit. The bonus prize here is that you now get to ski all of Buttermilk to the base to finish out the day.

If you drive to the Tiehack parking lot after 3PM MST it is usually fairly empty and one can ride the Tiehack to the top, ski the bowls, ski freshly groomed cord on Buttermilk back to the Tiehack lot and leave. A really solid afternoon ski with fun and easy logistics.