Eiseman Hut Ski Trip, Vail, Colorado
The Eiseman Hut - what an awesome place. This April, Mike and I spent a long weekend (3 days, 2 nights) at the hut with 12 other people. For those that aren’t familiar with the Eiseman Hut, it’s one of the the 10th Mountain Division Huts, and it’s located in Vail, Colorado. It’s arguably the best backcountry hut in Colorado for skiing. This was our first time to this hut, and it lived up to expectations.
Because of COVID-19, the entire hut needs to be rented by one group. We were lucky enough to have some friends that were able to reserve the hut for a coveted long weekend in April. We met 8 other people at the trailhead at 8:30am on Friday morning to begin the long skin in to the hut. The skin in to the hut is 6.9 miles and 2940 ft of vertical. We expected this to be one of the more challenging tours we’ve done since we would also be carrying in 30-40 pound overnight backpacks. With a group of 10 people, we didn’t set any speed records, but made it to the hut by mid afternoon and got the rest of the afternoon and evening to relax.
My initial impression of the hut was that it was much bigger than I was expecting. I had been concerned that a 16 person hut would feel cramped when filled to capacity, but that wasn’t the case at all. There was an entirely separate sleeping area with a mix of double beds, single beds, and bunk beds. The main area had a large dining area with two big tables, a large kitchen, and a big area to hang out and sit on cushions by the fire. We didn’t feel cramped the whole time. The first night we made enough pizza for a small army. We went to bed with very full stomachs to help give us energy for the next day.
Saturday morning we woke up around 7am, made breakfast, and enjoyed a cup of coffee while taking in the views from the hut. A group of us decided to head out shortly after breakfast up the ridge that runs north from the hut. We made a few runs in various zones. While it was April, there was still a persistent slab concern on north facing slopes (darn Colorado snowpack!) so we kept the steeper runs to south and west aspects while keeping it more mellow on the north facing slopes. After a few runs, we headed back to the hut and hung out for the rest of the day playing some card games and doing some puzzles. That night burritos were on the menu so once again, I went to bed with a very full belly.
Sunday morning we woke up to several inches of fresh snow. We couldn’t resist doing a lap or two on the terrain right outside of the hut before packing up and heading back to reality. These were probably the best runs of our trip. At around 10:30am, we were all packed up and ready to head back to the car as a big group. Thankfully, most of the day was spent going downhill, but we did put our skins back on for a ~1 mile section that was uphill. We made it back to the car without incident. It was a great weekend that we didn’t want to end, but we were certainly ready for a hot shower!
Overall, this has probably been my favorite hut trip to date. There are fantastic ski options right outside of the hut, the hut is very roomy and comfortable, and we left with several new friends. We hope we don’t have to wait too long to go back!
