Tenmile Range Skiing: A Gem of the Colorado Backcountry
Diving into backcountry skiing can be daunting. You have to get the right gear, find good and reliable ski partners, figure out where to go, and learn how to stay alive. These barriers to entry have inspired backcountry meetups, countless blog posts, new product lines, and even a touring-only ski area.
Once you get your bearings, though, and begin notching ski tours, you enter a whole new world of possibilities. While resort skiing limits you to the confines of ski areas, backcountry skiing seemingly overwhelms you with options. You begin to love exploring new zones—like Colorado’s Tenmile Range.
Tenmile Range Skiing in Photos
Surrounded by at least five ski resorts within a 30-minute drive, the Tenmile Range sits in the heart of Summit County. It draws backcountry and in-bounds skiers alike, a distinctive spine of aesthetic snow-capped peaks from Frisco to Breckenridge.
While Breckenridge Ski Resort claims the ski terrain beneath Peak 8 to Peak 6, there is abundant powder skiing from steep chutes to mellow-angled open meadows to spacious tree skiing anywhere from Peak 1 to Peak 5. The famous Fourth-of-July Bowl on Peak 10 offers some of the best summer skiing in the state.
With multiple trailheads from Frisco to Breckenridge, you can find skin tracks leading out of the parking lot into the forest for your target ski lines. There can be some great ski descents accessed from Peak 6’s summit on Breckenridge Ski Resort. Traverse north using the ridge onto Peak 5 and beyond.
Whether you are dropping your in-bounds friends and relatives off at the nearby ski resort or going for a quick half-day tour in between work shifts, you can find solitude close by along this chain of peaks. The deeper you go, the more you trade crowds for nature. Pro tip: The Peaks Trail on the east side of the Tenmile Range provides a quick exit back to the car in case of a last-minute work call.
See more alpine touring insight in our Ultimate Guide to Backcountry Skiing
