If there’s one place in the US that rivals the mighty Mt. Baker for ridiculously deep powder days, it’s Wolf Creek, Colorado. After getting pounded with over 60 inches during the first week of December, last weekend an even bigger storm moved in dropping another 60 inches of white, fluffy snow. Wolf Creek is a hidden gem of snowboarding: a family owned resort in the middle of nowhere that gets more snow than anywhere in the state. Massive storms pummel the mountain all winter long, with nobody there to ride it. It’s like a private country club resort, where members are treated to a personal powder experience that puts any backcountry snowcat or heli operation to shame, at least in the US.

CrookedCop took a crew from Aspen down for that first round, and after seeing the photos I had to go check out all this snow for myself. Especially after looking at the weather, which indicated several more large storms moving in. Plus, when I actually thought about it, I hadn't been to Wolf Creek in over five years! Calls were made, schedules were changed, and it was time to hit the road.

First stop, I had to drop off Justin Bemis’ (soon to be mine) snowmobile in Breckenridge, where I rounded up the crew for the trip. Although there were countless pros in town for the Oakley event, nobody seemed to realize the importance of the situation. The people from The Underground know what’s up though, and they were in. Andy Schultz, his roomate Neil and Jeff Bourgoult had to wait ‘til morning to head down while Nic Drago quickly packed his things and we took off, taking advantage of the one sunny day, just a short break in the storms, to navigate our way down.

The drive to Wolf Creek is one of the most scenic and peaceful drives in all of Colorado, passing over high alpine passes down into valleys filled with farmland, cattle ranches and historic little towns that time forgot. Don't get me wrong...the reward at the end is more than worth it, but the old adage we use so often here at SNOWBOARD, "It's not the destination but the journey" applies so perfectly to this particular drive.

Warm Colorado sunshine.

The Sangre De Cristos.

One of my favorite pit stops: Villa Grove. Don't blink, you might miss it.

Villa Grove Trade. This building has serious history.

Phone booths. You don't see those much anymore.

You can stop in and grab a stupid big buffalo burger.

As night fell, we headed through North Fork up towards the pass. We made it up and over to Pagosa Springs and more snow started to fall as we parked the truck, almost like it was greeting us. Welcome to powder heaven.

This was the scene when we arrived at the hill the next morning. What they said was 5 inches (but seemed like way more) fell on top of the 30 inches from the day before, making it at least 3 feet of perfectly soft white stuff.

Our first chair ride up = STOKED!

There was more than enough to go around, as Monday morning at Wolf Creek isn't exactly what you would call crowded.

It was straight into the trees for us.

Drago likes it.

I was testing out the Lib Skate Banana for my first time for the big pow day. Reverse camber in the deep stuff kills it! There was a few times I would have fully gone down if not for the Banana. I love it.

Is that a person under there?

Andy lovin' life.

Oh yeah.

Jeff gettin' some.

Follow cam through the trees.

We spent the whole morning ripping the front side, then headed over to Alberta Chair. The one time I counted there were eleven people total on the chair, including us.

Waterfall area is the goods.

So many sick lines. We didn't cross a single track all day, unless of course you had to, to avoid getting stuck.

Safety meeting.

Skate Banana with SNOWBOARD Unions. A perfect combo.

We rode amazing run after run from 9 am to 4 pm. Floating on the snow was effortless, it didn't even feel like riding!

From about 1 pm on it started snowing again, heavily. We had an amazing day and were looking forward to what the next morning would bring.

A jack-knifed semi on the way down the pass back to Pagosa showed exactly how crazy it was about to get.

The next morning, as Nic put it, was "Hammerville".

Holy dumpage!

50" in 72 hours and it was still pounding out. That's 87" in 7 days at the bottom. This was insane.

It was snowing so hard we could barely even see!

Head for the trees again!

There goes Jeff.

Even Nic was happy for a run or two. This was seriously the most snow I've ever ridden. Ever. It was chest deep in spots.

Drago thinking the same thing.

As incredible as it was, by midday we had to get out of there. The boys had to get back to Breck for work that night, and I had to trek it back to Denver. Plus my 4 wheel drive was acting funny so I was afraid of getting stuck.

This much snow was from just a few hours in the parking lot. Crazy! Sure enough, I heard on the radio that an avalanche closed down the pass after we left. We just made it out!

Instead of going back to Breck, I took Hwy 160 East to hook back up with I-25. This takes you through more misty little towns like Monte Vista and Alamosa. Pretty cool stuff.

Old timey.

Draplin would dig it.

Someday I would love to buy a ranch or something and just disappear out here. No one would ever find me. But until then, we'll keep bringing you stories from the mountains.

Eventually, the truck made it home after a big Colorado lap, and it was even snowing in Denver. Wow. After living in Portland for so long, I forgot how much snow this state really gets. It's still coming down, with another small system moving in today. Regardless, it'll be weeks before Wolf Creek gets tracked out after that monster dump. If you are in need of a powder fix, hop on a plane, get in a car...hell, ride a bike! Whatever it takes to get there, I promise you it'll be worth it. Check out www.wolfcreekski.com for the latest conditions.