Parts of West Side & South Side Terrain. Click to enlarge.The
Chatter Creek ski terrain is accessed by
five cat road networks. These
start at Vertebrae Lodge and fan out to the extremidies of the tenure. Follow the
links below to view photographs and descriptions of the skiing areas and runs serviced by these road networks. To find information about a particular ski run or ski area at Chatter Creek, refer to our
Ski Run Index.
Chatter Creek is grateful to
Steve Neill of
Alpenglow Aviation of Golden, for much of the aerial photography presented here.
The five road networks are:
A.
South Side Super Road : leaving Vertebrae Lodge, the road climbs to
MCO, passes branches to
Elbow Drive,
RUZM Gully and the
Gong Show and continues to
South Park,
Lakeview and
Harbourview. There are also branches to
SX3 and
SX2. Click the link to take a tour.
B.
West Side and Oyster Bowl Road : leaving Vertebrae Lodge, the road rises through the
Staff Trees and the lower
Table and then climbs through the
Clamshell bowl to the
Pearl, which is the col at the top of the ridge to the west of the lodge. In the Clamshell, a branch crosses the bowl northward to
Forbidden Fruit and the
Plank. At the Pearl, the road crosses to the west of the ridge and into
Oyster Bowl in the new
Lakeside Addition. In Oyster Bowl the road branches north to
Game Creek and south to three more large watersheds in the
Lakeside Addition.
C.
Lodge Ridge Road : leaving Vertebrae Lodge, the road climbs the south end of Lodge Ridge to its crest, which it follows north to a point beyond
Spruce Pass on the east and close to the
Chatter glacier on the west. The road services
Mommy's Run and
Crystal Lite to the east and
Dewar's Bowl and the
Chatter Creek watershed to the west.
D.
Road to Vertebrae Glacier : leaving Vertebrae Lodge, the road traverses
Lodge Ridge to the
Spruce Creek gully, between Lodge Ridge and the
Megahooped Trees. Beyond the trees, a branch forks north to
Spruce Pass. The main road turns back and climbs above the trees, where a second branch forks south to
Mullet Bowl and
Steph's Thumb. It then continues to climb
Stovepipe Mountain, crossing the whole slope between
Jo-pal and
Megahooped, and skirts a ridge to pass onto the
Windlip, north of Jo-Pal. Near the top of the Windlip, the road turns north through the
Keyhole and onto the
Plateau at the top of
Vertebrae glacier. Before the Keyhole, a branch of the road forks to continue to the top of the Windlip and a pass-through to Jo-Pal. On the Plateau, a branch of the road turns southeast to cross the glacier.
E.
East Ridge Super Road : leaving Vertebrae Lodge, the road passes south across the
Home Run cut block and onto the flank of
East Ridge. The road traverses the west side of East Ridge as it climbs to the crest, at it's south end, which is called
the Nose. From the Nose, the road reverses direction and climbs the crest of the East Ridge north to a point on
Super Spruce, high above and a little south of the
Megahooped Trees.
This Ski Weblog (blog) is part of the
Chatter News family of blogs about
snowcat skiing at Chatter Creek. Use the links above to view the cat skiing terrain serviced by each of the
five major Chatter Creek
road networks. If you're looking for a particular Chatter Creek ski run or zone, or any Chatter Creek name, try our
Ski Run Index.
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